Our Lady of Angels Parish Newsletter

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OUR LADY OF ANGELSHERMISTON, OREGON May 10, 1944 Dear Parishioner: On May 27th, 1944, two Sisters of St. Francis, Sister Mary Feliciana and Sister Mary Helen St. Clare, from St. Joseph's Academy, Pendleton, will arrive in Hermiston to conduct the annual Religious Vacation School. The Religious Vacation School will commence on May 29th and conclude on June 11th. Parents and guardians are requested to make timely arrangement that all the children of Grammar School and pre-school age may be able to attend the classes in Religion every day. The religious education of the children is not a matter of choice but of strict obligation. The Code of Canon Law, in Canon 1113 states: "Parents are under a grave obligation to see to the religious and moral education of their children, as well as to their physical and civic training, as far as they can, and moreover to provide for their temporal well-being". The Catholic Church alone has the right to authorize and supervise the religious education of Catholic children. The United States Supreme Court in its decision on the Oregon School Case of June 1st, 1925, has declared: "The fundamental theory of liberty upon which all governments in this Union repose excludes any general power of the State to standardize its children by forcing them to accept instruction from public teachers only. The child is not the mere creature of the State; those who nurture him and direct his destiny have the right coupled with the high duty, to recognize, and prepare him for additional duties". And Catholic parents are aware that the Church, the mystical body of Christ, is the first and last Court of Appeal in all matters pertaining to religion. Our religious Vacation School is open not only to Catholic children, but also to all those children whose parents wish to have them instructed in the Catholic Faith. All children who are of age and are sufficiently well instructed will make their First Holy Communion at the close of the Summer School—on June 11th. Through the kindness of Mr. and Mrs. A. F. Rohrman a school bus has been placed at our disposal to convey the children from Stanfield, Echo and Ordnance to Hermiston. The financial assistance of every Catholic is earnestly asked to make the Religious Vacation School one big success. The expenses entailed in conducting the Summer School (books, oil, gasoline, offering to Sisters, etc.) will be approximately $170.00. In order to meet these expenses the officers and members of the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine will solicit offerings at the Church door (before Mass), at Hermiston, Echo, and Ordnance on Sunday, May 21st, and at Boardman and Umatilla on Sunday, May 28th. Sincerely yours in Christ, THE CONFRATERNITY OF CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE, Rev. Fr. Cornelius O.F.M.Cap., Director, Mrs. J. Todd, President, Mrs. L. C. Smith, Secretary and Treasurer.