little ones, and a complete forgetfulness of the claims of Him who said: "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these, ye have done it unto Me." Neither the efficiency of many of the State schools, for our Catholic schools are fully as efficient, nor the cry for "oral instruction," is a valid excuse for a Catholic parent sending his child to one of these schools, which have already been but the very vestibules of hell for so many of our deaf, for only in the Catholic Faith as taught and practised in our Catholic institutions, is to be found the counterbalance to the evil to which human nature is so prone, and only in the shadow of the Tabernacle can the Catholic parent be sure that his afflicted child will be safe, and that there only "Our Lord God will open the ears of their hearts and the gate of His mercy."

SEMINARY DEPARTMENT

PROCEEDINGS

FIRST SESSION

The first meeting of the Seminary Department opened at 2:45 Tuesday afternoon with the president, Very Rev. Walter Stehle, O. S. B., rector of St. Vincent College and Seminary, Beatty, Pa., in the chair.

After commenting on the unusually large attendance at the first meeting, due, he considered, to the interest taken in vocations, the subject for this year's discussion, the President declared the meeting open for business. The minutes of the third meeting of last year's session were adopted as printed in the annual report of 1911.

A Committee on Resolutions was appointed by the President. It consisted of Dr. Drumgoole, Dr. Peterson and Dr. Fenlon. Then followed the paper of the session, "Clerical and Religious Vocations from the Standpoint of the Parish Priest," by the Reverend Edwin Drury of Loretto, Ky. A vote of thanks was given Father Drury for his splendid and illuminating paper.

At the end of the discussion which followed, Dr. Walsh suggested that in to-morrow's discussion the idea of religious vocations as well as priestly receive due consideration as both are the subject of discussion, though the priesthood received most attention to-day.

Dr. Drumgoole said a book containing an account of the various religious orders of men and women, the conditions for admission, etc., seemed most desirable for the parish priest who wishes to help others to fulfill their vocations. It could be used in seminaries so that the young men would be better prepared for their future work.

The President suggested that a motion be made urging the Resolution Committee to embody this idea in their resolutions.

It was made, seconded, and carried. journed.

SECOND SESSION

The meeting then ad

The second meeting was called to order at 9:45 A. M., with the President in the chair. The minutes of the preceding meeting were read and adopted after the correction of an inaccuracy. A telegram from Dr. Dyer, S. S., of St. Mary's, Baltimore, was read. It told of his being kept from the meeting by business that stopped him on the way.

The President, Father Walter Stehle, O. S. B., opened the day's program by saying:

"When the Committee selected this subject, the members of the Committee did not intend to give any prominence to special interests; neither the secular priesthood nor the religious orders, male or female, were particularly in their minds; only the present needs of the Church were uppermost in their thoughts, but their primary motive in the selection was the realization of God's will and the furthering of His glory. The purpose of the whole discussion is the finding of ways and means how we may best accomplish this; how we may instruct the men who can do most to bring this about, how to do more for this end than has been done, and how this may be done with a higher motive. The first object that we may believe Go to have in calling a man or woman to his or her special vocation and setting him or her apart from the world is the personal sanctification of the person called. The interior man puts the care of himself above every other care,' says Thomas à Kempis. 'Any religious,' says the same incomparable writer, 'that seeks anything else but God only and the salvation of his own soul will find nothing but sorrow and trouble.'"

The paper of the meeting. "Vocations from the Standpoint of the Religious Orders," was read by the Reverend George Lee, C. S. Sp., of Millvale, Pa. A vote of thanks was given Father Lee for his beautiful paper. After discussion the meeting adjourned.

THIRD SESSION

The third meeting was held at 9:45 Thursday morning with the President in the chair. The report of the preceding meeting was read and adopted. The election of officers for the ensuing year then took place. The unanimous choice was as follows:

President, Very Rev. Henry T. Drumgoole, D. D., president of St. Charles Seminary, Overbrook, Pa.; Vice President, Very Rev. John B. Peterson, president of St. John's Seminary, Brighton, Mass.; Secretary, Rev. Francis V. Corcoran, D. D., Kenrick Seminary, St. Louis, Mo.

Then followed the reading of the paper of the meeting, "Vocations from the Viewpoint of the Seminary," by Rev. Bernard Feeney, of the St. Paul Seminary, Minnesota. A vote of thanks was given Father Feeney for his inspiring paper. The paper was discussed by Very Rev. Edward J. Walsh, C. M., president of Niagara University. The meeting was honored by the presence of Bishop Hartley, of Columbus, and Bishop Schrembs, of Toledo.

The resolutions of the meeting were read by the chairman of the committee and adopted. After a vote of thanks had been given the retiring officers for their efficient work, the meeting adjourned with prayer, as all the meetings began and closed.

B. RANDOLPH, C. M.,

Secretary.

RESOLUTIONS OF THE SEMINARY DEPARTMENT

The Seminary Department of the Catholic Educational Association urges that in the education of seminarians special emphasis be laid on the duty that will be incumbent on them as priests of developing and nurturing priestly and religious vocations among the people of their future charges. And in order that they may better understand the character of that duty, they should be made to realize that to satisfy the multiplying needs of the Church, whose administration God has committed to the children of men, America to-day requires, and will require, a constantly growing army of earnest, devoted and efficient men and women who, in the priesthood or in the Religious Orders, in the Brotherhoods or Sisterhoods of the Church, will cheerfully spend

their lives and be spent in the glory of God, for their own salvation and the salvation and good of their neighbor.

It is therefore earnestly recommended that all seminarians be deeply imbued with faith in God's Providence to supply every vocation needed for the work of saving souls. For this reason, a prayer for vocations should be offered daily in every seminary, in obedience to our Lord's words: "Pray ye that the Master of the harvest send laborers into His harvest."

Moreover, such a clear and exact study should be made of the nature and requirements of vocations, as will enable the future priest to give a discerning and confident judgment in the various cases that will come before him. Further, the seminarian should be taught the duty of giving clear and accurate instruction on the various religious vocations. This instruction should find its first place in both the day and the Sunday school; then, in the pulpit and, if need be, in the confessional.

Special stress should be laid on the advantages of such instruction to fathers and mothers in the Married Men's and Married Women's Sodalities, and to the Holy Name Societies, and from all should be exacted the tribute of prayer to God for suitable vocations.

Fathers should be reminded of the example of God Himself who sent His only begotten Son to minister to us; mothers should have pointed out to them the answered prayers of the devout Anna-all should be made to feel the sacred privilege and honor conferred on the family and the individual when the beckoning finger of God calls a son or a daughter to His closer service.

The seminarian should be further imbued with his special duty as a priest of developing and nurturing vocations not only by his prudent exhortation but especially by the encouraging example of his own apostolic spirit and life. His attention should be directed to the fact that daily, or at least frequent, Communion of children will offer a safeguard to the continued innocence of the growing boy or girl, will give splendid opportunity for implanting solid virtue, based on the love of God and early self-restraint, and will make easy the total surrender of one's self in answer to God's call to higher and holier living.

Finally, the Seminary Department of this Association would reverently venture to express congratulations to the Bishops after counting on the greater success that attends their present efforts to realize the directions of the Councils of Trent and of Baltimore, in nurturing promising vocations to the priesthood in colleges devoted particularly to this work.