The Eleventh Virgin by Dorothy Day - A Book Review

The Eleventh Virgin is a gripping novel about a young woman who is navigating her life in the modern period of the early 1900s.  This work is commonly known to be an "autobiographical, pre­conversion novel" of the writer, Dorothy Day.[1]  Dorothy Day disliked The Eleventh Virgin and was known to comment on it that it was a “very bad book.”[2]  This is thought to be due to the fact that she was ashamed to how similar her novel was to her own life.  The life of June, the novel's protagonist, parallels Dorothy Day's with great accuracy.  The topics of sex, promiscuity, affairs, birth control, free speech, women's rights, and abortion are covered in this intriguing story.

The book starts by briefly introducing June at the age of four. The book continues to go through June's childhood and adolescent years and the different situations she went through like her time in university or her time at the different newspaper companies. While reading I was struck by the lax approach to religion and the generally unstructured child-rearing practices adopted by June's parents which ultimately lead to her radical beliefs like on commitment and love.  This reminded me of the countless examples of modern day parents who let their child wander rather than guiding them to choose what is right.

Dorothy Day's insights into the human heart are profound.  Her portrayal of June, who hungrily searches for love in countless crushes and an ultimately abusive and dysfunctional relationship in the third part of the book, is intensely heart-wrenching. This love drives her to the extreme act of putting a selfish man's wants above another human's rights and this decision ultimately leaves her alone. 

The Eleventh Virgin is like no other book I have read. I would recommend this book if you would like to come to a better learn about Dorothy Days earlier years and gain an understanding of the problems women at that time period encountered.  These problems have greatly impacted humanity, even up until to the present day. I enjoyed the clear structure of the book, which is split up into three parts covering June's "adolescence", "still adolescence", and "not so much".[3]  In regards to Dorothy Day, Miller states, "She was a figure who moved out of the social encyclicals of the popes and who then underwrote them in the thought and action of her life."[4]  Let us learn from this writing of Dorothy Day's and her pre-conversion experiences and then choose to live lives fully dedicated to Christ.


[1] Roberts, Nancy L. Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1984. eBook Academic Collection (EBSCOhost).
[2] Day, Dorothy. The Eleventh Virgin. New York: Albert and Charles Boni, 1924 (out of print) at: http://www.catholicworker.org/dorothyday/articles/1.html.
[3] Day, Dorothy. The Eleventh Virgin. 1924.
[4] Miller, W. D. "Day, Dorothy." New Catholic Encyclopedia, 2nd ed., 545-546. Vol. 4. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Gale Virtual Reference Library. http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/CX3407703054/GVRL?u=23009&sid=GVRL&xid=d000a7b6.

The Eleventh Virgin is available for purchase on Amazon.com: https://www.amazon.com/Eleventh-Virgin-Dorothy-Day/dp/0983760519

In Praise of Folly ~ Desiderius Erasmus

Upon choosing the text In Praise of Folly (also know as The Praise of Folly) by the Catholic Dutch humanist Desiderius Erasmus I was surprised to learn what the work is about. Prior to purchasing and reading the book I had never heard of Erasmus nor his work In Praise of Folly. Erasmus was from Rotterdam but eventually made his way to England where he met and befriended Sir Thomas More. In Praise of Folly was written by Erasmus to More on a trip back from Rome. Erasmus wrote the work to amuse himself and originally had no intention of publishing it, but he eventually did. In Praise of Folly ended up being one of the books which led to Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation. 

So without leaving my readers in suspense as to what In Praise of Folly is about I will give a description of the work. 

Published in Paris in 1511, In Praise of Folly is a witty satire which pokes fun at the learned in society as well as at the Catholic clergy and the Catholic Church. The narrator of the work is the goddess Folly who is the daughter of the god of wealth Plutus and the nymph Youth. Folly says she was suckled by the two jolly nymphs Drunkenness and Ignorance. Folly comes to her audience dressed as a jester in ridiculous and colorful garments. She begins her oration by extolling her own virtues and describing how she should be extolled because she brings such universal pleasure to all men. The work is kind of divided into parts in that Folly focuses on a certain topic of folly before turning to another topic of folly. 

The first part has Folly defending her claim to being important to all humanity by explaining how marriage would not occur without her help. Folly allows man to say of an ugly woman that she is as beautiful as Venus causing marriages, births, and life to continue. All gatherings need Folly to bring amusement. Even friendships require Folly for them to succeed. Folly extolls self love saying all men need some self love to go anywhere in life. 

In the second part, Folly pokes fun at those of the upper class like lawyers, philosophers, gamblers, poets, and grammarians. These men see themselves as better than those classes below them making them smug and foolish. These men look down on the lower classes for their silly behavior saying they indulge in folly, yet Folly ridicules these upper class men for refusing to see the folly they themselves partake in. She says of philosophers and their blind conjectures, “they know nothing, even this is a sufficient argument, that they don’t agree among themselves and so are incomprehensible touching every particular.”(44) In this part of the text, Folly pays special attention to particularly condemning Catholic clergy including theologians, monks, and bishops. Folly attacks the clergy saying even though these men say they do not partake in Folly they truly do yet pretend it isn’t so. They ignore the Gospel and Scripture message, live in luxury, desire to inspire awe in their listeners through illogical speech, and basically focus on themselves but pretend it is in the name of Christ.

The final part of In Praise of Folly is on the Christian fool. The Scriptures speak highly of the ignorant simpleton who lives in the world but is not of the world. While the world turns its nose up at the simple fool and searches for wisdom Folly insists it misses that it is through foolishness that ones leads a truly Christian life. Christ and his apostles acted foolish by leaving behind all earthly goods and arming themselves with nothing but the sword of the spirit. Christ told his followers to rejoice in the face of persecution for his sake, which smacks of pure folly. Folly says Christianity is not a religion based on wisdom but one based on foolishness. To come closer to God requires one act the fool. “‘We are fools for Christ’s sake.’ You have heard from how great an author how great praises of folly; and to what other end but that without doubt he looked upon it as that one thing both necessary and profitable. ‘If anyone among ye,”’ says he, ‘seem to be wise, let him be a fool that he may be wise.’”(65) After focusing on the Christian fool, Folly concludes her oration telling her audience to drink, be merry, and enjoy life as her disciples.

For only being 71 pages long, In Praise of Folly packs a lot in and will take time to read and digest. Personally, I found it very difficult to read at first. Erasmus is articulate in his writing but his style takes getting use to for it is dense and very fact paced. The book also has no breaks for it is meant to be a speech of sorts by Folly. Because it has no section breaks, In Praise of Folly is hard to put down only because you know how difficult it will be to pick back up. A reread of the previous page or two sometimes is necessary to remember what is being discussed. However, after becoming more familiar with Erasmus’ writing style the book became easier to read and understand. The biting satire and dry humor became more apparent and I actually began to enjoy what I was reading. I did struggle at times with the fantasy Erasmus uses throughout the text. The amount of references made to ancient Roman and Greek gods and goddesses, characters in classical works like the Iliad by Homer, heroes like Perseus, and countless other authors, poets, and muses of ancient times can be overwhelming. While many of the references I got, there were just as many I needed to look up to understand what Erasmus was referring to. Depending on a reader’s background in fantasy, classic books (pre Renaissance), history, and mythology In Praise of Folly could either be a treat or a major headache.  

Overall, In Praise of Folly ended up going from a chore I kept forcing myself to read out of sheer necessity for this blog post to a more enjoyable, and dare I say, fun read. After reading In Praise of Folly I can understand how it was used by the Protestant Reformation as a tool to attack the Church. Erasmus was writing caricatures of the Catholic clergy but many took the images he created and turned them into history. There is a fascinating article about Erasmus’ In Praise of Folly and its unintended affect on the history of the Reformation titled  An Accidental Historian: Erasmus and the English History of the Reformation. by Gregory D. Dodd which can be found in the June 2013 issue of the academic journal Church History. 

I purchased my copy of In Praise of Folly at Amazon.com for $3 with Amazon Prime account.

___________

Erasmus, Desiderius. In Praise of Folly. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, Inc., 2003.
All photos found through Google Images.

Pope John Paul II - A Film Review

Pope John Paul II is an almost three-hour production that examines the extraordinary life of St. John Paul II.  Though it is currently in movie format, it was originally released as two parts in a TV mini-series on December 4, 2005 by CBS.  The film featured well-known stars such as Jon Voight, Cary Elwes, Ben Gazzara, James Cromwell, and Christopher Lee, and it received a nomination for “Best Family Television Movie or Special” at the Young Artist Awards.

I was inspired to watch Pope John Paul II after going through the extensive readings in my Church history class about him. Since I had previously seen this film close to 10 years ago, I was excited to re-watch it again from a more mature and knowledgeable point of view.

The date is May 13, 1981 and John Paul II (Jon Voight) is seen getting ready to greet people in St. Peter’s Square. The movie gives the air that it was a normal day and that all are happy and at ease.  That mood changes when John Paul II is shot four times and is immediately rushed to the hospital. We see the drama that surrounded this attempted assassination, and while John Paul II blacks out from blood loss we are transported back in time to Krakow in the year 1939. He was then known as Karol Wojtyła (Cary Elwes).  The first half of this film shows events from Karol’s life such as his experience under both Nazi and Soviet rule, along with his eventual ordination to the priesthood. 

Towards the middle of the movie, we see the now Cardinal Wojtyła at the Vatican.  This is his second time working as a cardinal to elect a new pope, as he had just previously been at the Vatican to elect the recently deceased Pope John Paul I.  After receiving the most votes he accepts his role and becomes the first non-Italian pope in over 400 years.  The next half of the movie carries on to show his beginnings as pope, the healing he went through after his the attempt on his life, and his overall influence in bringing about the fall of Communism.

This film made me think, laugh, and feel deep emotions due to its portrayal of John Paul II’s wit, charisma, and the suffering he went through in his life.  Besides the comments from my husband regarding a few poorly integrated green screens, I thoroughly enjoyed the film’s fantastic scenery and beautiful soundtrack. The only thing that bothered me was the transition from Cardinal Wojtyła (Cary Elwes) to Pope John Paul II (Jon Voight).  I was rather saddened to see Cary Elwes, who acted magnificently, going so soon, but in hindsight, I completely understand the importance of the cinematographic transition which happens at this point.

I would highly recommend this film to anyone interested in learning about St. John Paul II’s life, understanding his widespread influence, or gaining insight into the period of oppression that he witnessed. I give this film a 5 out of 5 stars!


Pope John Paul II can be purchased at: https://www.ignatius.com/Pope-John-Paul-II-P1969.aspx

St. Ignatius of Loyola

A Man of Action, The Soldier Saint

By

Maurice Quindoy

St. Ignatius of Loyola was born Ignacio Lopez and was baptized as Iñigo in 1491, in the Castle of Loyola, Spain.¹ He was the youngest of his brothers. He was orphaned and educated in the Court of the Spanish nobility, where he was instructed in good manners and the strength of spirit. He was raised in a society in which the “leader” gave orders to others and was expected to have the desire to be worth more. As indicated by the mandate of his family, he had to follow the military career. 

“In 1521, while defending the town of Pamplona against French attack, Ignatius was struck by a cannonball in the legs.”² He was transferred to Loyola for his recovery. There he bravely endured operations and pain. During his recovery, he wanted to read cavalry novels, which he liked a great deal but in the castle, the only two books there were Life of Christ and Lives of the Saints. Disappointed and without much interest, he began to read, but he liked them so much that he became captivated and spent entire days reading them without stopping. They gave him the desire and inspiration to imitate the feats of the saints and to be at the service of Christ. He said to himself, "These men were of the same frame as I; why then should I not do what they have done?”³ 

One night, Ignatius had a vision that comforted him greatly, the Mother of God, surrounded by light, carrying in her arms Her Son, Jesus.

After this initial experience of conversion, he went through a stage where he was full of doubts about his vocation. Through perseverance and prayer he "gained a better understanding of God and God's plan for him.”⁴ Thus, he decided to follow the example of the saints and began to do penance for the sins of sinners as a form of surrender to God. At age 32, he left Loyola with the purpose of going on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. He stopped at the Sanctuary of Montserrat, in Spain where he decided to lead a life of prayer and penance after making a general confession. He lived for almost a year retired in a cave nearby, praying. He went through a period of aridity and began to write his first spiritual

experiences. These served him for his famous book on Spiritual Exercises.⁵. Finally, he came out of this spiritual dryness and went on to a deep spiritual enjoyment, becoming a great mystic. He managed to reach the Holy Land at age 33 and on his return to Spain, he began to study devotedly. He realized that, in order to help souls, knowledge and understanding was necessary by way of studying profusely. He converted many sinners as a result. He was imprisoned twice for preaching, but both times he regained his freedom. He considered prison and suffering as tests that God sent him to purify and sanctify himself.

When he was 38 years of age, he moved to France, where he continued studying for seven more years. He begged for alms from Spanish merchants to enable him to study, as well as his friends. There he encouraged many of his university colleagues to practice the Christian life with greater fervor. At this time in 1534, “six students in divinity associated themselves with Ignatius in his spiritual exercises.”⁶ Motivated by what St. Ignatius taught and preached, they made a vow of chastity, poverty and an apostolic life with him done in a simple ceremony. St. Ignatius maintained the faith of his followers through personal conversations and with the fulfillment of simple but disciplined rules of life. Soon after, his studies were interrupted for health reasons, and he was forced to return to Spain. This time, however, he did not stay at the Loyola Castle. Two years later, he met with his companions who were in Venice and because they were unable to travel to the Holy Land due to the Turkish wars, they moved to Rome to offer their services to the Pope.⁷ They decided to call their missionary organization the Society of Jesus or Jesuits because they were determined to fight against vice and error under the banner of Christ. Pope Paul III converted two of them to become professors of the University. To Ignatius, the Pope asked him to teach and preach the Spiritual Exercises and to catechize the people. The other partners worked with them as well. Pope Paul III gave them his approval and allowed them to be ordained priests. They were ordained in Venice by the Bishop of Arbe on June 24. Ignatius celebrated his first mass on Christmas night of the year 1538.

During that time, they dedicated themselves to preaching and to perform charitable works in Italy. Ignatius of Loyola, in agreement with his companions, decided to form a religious congregation under a rule that was approved by the Pope on September 27, 1540.⁸ They added to the vows of chastity and poverty, that of obedience, with which they undertook to obey a superior general, who in turn would be subject to the Pope, and under Ignatius’ charismatic leadership, the Jesuits grew very quickly. The Society of Jesus played a very important role in counteracting the effects of the religious Reformation led by the Protestant Martin Luther and with Ignatius’ effort and preaching, he won many souls for the one true Church of Christ. Ignatius spent the rest of his life in Rome, directing the congregation and dedicating his order to the education of the youth and the clergy. He also founded colleges and universities of very high academic quality. For Saint Ignatius, all his happiness consisted in working for God and suffering for his cause. The "military" spirit of Ignatius and the Society of Jesus is reflected in his vow of obedience to the Pope, the chief leader of the Jesuits. His book Spiritual Exercises is still used today by different religious groups, especially for retreats. St. Ignatius died suddenly, on July 31, 1556. He was beatified on July 27, 1609, by Paul V, and canonized in 1622 by Gregory XV.⁹

Endnotes

¹ Butler, Alban, Herbert Thurston, and Donald Attwater. Butler's Lives of the Saints. Westminster, MD: Christian Classics, 1956. Pg. 221.

² "St. Ignatius Loyola - Saints & Angels." Catholic Online. Accessed April 27, 2018. https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=56.

³ Butler, et al., Butler’s Lives, 222.

⁴ "St. Ignatius Loyola - Saints & Angels." Catholic Online. Accessed April 27, 2018. https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=56.
⁵ Butler, et al., Butler’s Lives, 222.

⁶ Butler, et al., Butler’s Lives, 223.

⁷ "Jesuit Order Established - Sep 27, 1540." HISTORY.com. Last modified September 27. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/jesuit-order-established.

⁸ Ibid.

⁹ Butler, et al., Butler’s Lives, 227.

“The Communist Manifesto”

by

Karl Marx and Friedrich Engles

A Book Review

The Communist Manifesto is a political pamphlet that was written and published by German philosophers Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in 1848. The document was originally known as The Manifesto of the Communist Party. It provides an outline as to how society should be run under the rule of communism. The Communist Manifesto “introduced their concept of socialism as a natural result of the conflicts inherent in the capitalist system.”¹ The focus of this “Manifesto,” however, concerns the class structure of society, capitalism, and the capitalist ways involving production as opposed to expounding on communism and its future. The document begins with a short preamble and then it is divided into four sections: section 1: Bourgeois and Proletarians, section 2: Proletarians and Communists, section 3: Socialist and Communist Literature, and section 4: Position of the Communists in Relation to the Various Existing Opposition Parties.²

In the first section, titled “Bourgeois and Proletarians,” Karl Marx viewed the structure of society as a function of its major classes and the struggle between these classes. In the first chapter of the “Manifesto,” he states that “in the earlier epochs of history, we find almost everywhere a complicated arrangement of society into various orders, a manifold gradation of social rank.”³ He also explains that each of the class struggles throughout history such as the “freeman and slave, patrician and plebeian, lord and serf, guild-master and journeyman, in a word, oppressor and oppressed, stood in constant opposition to one another.”⁴ During his time, Marx saw society as being split between two great classes, the bourgeoisie, and the proletariat. Also, a class, according to Marx, is defined as the ownership of property, which gives the owner the power to disregard others from the property and enable the owner to use it for personal purposes.

In section two, titled “Proletarians and Communists,” the bourgeois are defined as those who own the means of production such as the machinery and factory buildings, and their source of income is profit. The proletariat are those who own their labor and sell it for wages. In this way, a class is determined by property and not be income or status. Marx perceived the struggle between classes was previously limited to individual properties, but as capitalism matured, there eventually appeared a growing disparity between the social conditions of the bourgeois and the proletariat. This class conflict was displayed at the societal level, and the struggle for political power ensues. At this point, classes become political forces. Political power is then determined by power overproduction, which is capital, and because conditions for the exploited worker declines so much that a proletarian revolution occurs. The triumph of the workers will eliminate class division of property through public ownership through production. What results from all of this is a classless society.⁵

 

Section three and four of the “Manifesto” distinguished communism from other opposition movements and parties of the time, setting it apart from socialism. The important thing here is the assertion that communism does not aim to make the system better but to simply change it altogether. This, of course, can be achieved by overthrowing capitalism and to make way for the new era of a classless society.

The Three Phases Necessary to Achieve Marx’s Utopia⁶

Phase 1: The existing government must be overthrown by means of a revolution. Marx specified a complete destruction of the entire system in order to move on to phase 2.

Phase 2: A leader must emerge in order to gain control over the proletariat. In this phase, the new government exerts absolute control over the citizens’ personal choices. This includes religion, education, employment, and even marriage. Also, there has to be a collectivization of personal property and wealth.

Phase 3: Here utopia is attained, but in the real world, this has never happened. In order to achieve this, all non-communists must be destroyed for the Communist Party to accomplish its goal of supreme equality. This means a one-class system where property and wealth are shared by all. The government would control all of the production to keep everything at status quo. 

The Catholic Church’s Teachings Regarding Socialism

            In his encyclical Rerum Novarum, Pope Leo XIII discussed the situation of the poor and workers in the industrialized nations. He addressed the destitution of the masses and the wealth of a few by stating “the vast expansion of industrial pursuits and the marvelous discoveries of science; in the changed relations between masters and workmen; in the enormous fortunes of some few individuals, and the utter poverty of the masses.”⁷ He stated that “to remedy these wrongs the socialists, working on the poor man’s envy of the rich, are striving to do away with private property, and contend that individual possessions should become common property of all, to be administered by the State or by municipal bodies.”⁸

The Pope argued that this was wrong and it would cause workers to suffer first. He defined property or capital simply as another form of wages. This means then that socialism assaults the heart of what labor is for, which is the free use of what one has earned. In addition, he asserts that the socialist principle in contradiction of private property counters the virtue of justice because private property is a natural right. Also, permanent possession of things is part of human life, which extends into the future as well.

Pope Pius XI also spoke against the rise of socialism as an economic system in his encyclical Quadragesimo Anno. He stated that God created economic activity to serve humanity, not humanity to serve the economy. Moral laws are what guide the actions in the economic compass, in the same manner, it does in everything else. In economics, men should not seek to consider only individual interests, but also the common good.⁹

According to St. John Paul II in his encyclical Laborem Exercens, he states that “as a person he works, he performs various actions belonging to the work process; independently of their objective content, these actions must all serve to realize his humanity.”¹⁰ Additionally, since work is personal, it should also be respected. John Paul II articulates that “human work has an ethical value of its own which clearly and directly remain linked to the fact that the one who carries it out is a person, a conscious and free subject, that is to say a subject that decides about himself.”¹¹

Conclusion

The theory that Marx and Engels developed should be understood in the context of the difficulties that were suffered during the 19^th century. The Industrial Revolution produced a situation upon which the wealth was distributed to a very few while most people lived in poverty under horrible working conditions and with little to no political representation. The system seems to work in theory, but not necessarily in practice.

It seems that time and history have invalidated the assumptions and predictions of Marx concerning the class conflict. The capitalist ownership and control of production have been separated. Most of the industrial sector is controlled by managers who do not own capital, and these companies are formed by joint stock companies. Furthermore, workers have been divided and subdivided based on the different skillsets rather than being standardized. Instead of an increase in extreme wealth and poverty, we see more social mobility and the expansion of a large middle class. We also see that the strike has been established through collective bargaining and the legalization of strikes also, which have been the most severe demonstration of conflict between the workers and capitalist. There is definitely value in what Marx purports throughout history, but it is not necessarily as clear-cut as he claims. It seems that Marx was able to diagnose some of the ills of capitalist societies, but his remedies did not work and were probably much worse than the social ills he diagnosed, mainly because of the loss of liberty, which is apparent in the abolishment of private property.

The fundamental thing is the need for religion. It is only in living the Gospel that can eliminate evil at its root. The Church will always remain faithful in helping those in society that are in need and defending their rights. In considering the dignity of the worker, we must remember that although man is called to work, it is work that is for man, not the other way around. The subjective meaning of work must have priority over the objective meaning of work. Prioritizing the objective meaning of work means that the goods and services produced are valued over the individual who produced them. This denies the dignity of the person and treats him as the means to a purely material end.

Endnotes

¹ "Karl Marx - Facts & Summary." HISTORY.com. Accessed April 26, 2018. https://www.history.com/topics/karl-marx.

² Ibid.

³ Ibid.

⁴ Ibid.

⁵ Ibid.

⁶ "How Communism Works." HowStuffWorks. Last modified February 25, 2008. https://people.howstuffworks.com/communism1.htm.

⁷ "Rerum Novarum (May 15, 1891) | LEO XIII." Vatican. Accessed April 8, 2018. http://w2.vatican.va/content/leo-xiii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_l-xiii_enc_15051891_rerum-novarum.html. § 1.

⁸ Ibid, § 4.

⁹ "Quadragesimo Anno (May 15, 1931) | PIUS XI." Vatican. Accessed April 8, 2018. http://w2.vatican.va/content/pius-xi/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-xi_enc_19310515_quadragesimo-anno.html. § 49.

¹⁰ "Laborem Exercens (14 September 1981) | John Paul II." Vatican. Accessed April 8, 2018. http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_14091981_laborem-exercens.html. § 6.

¹¹ Ibid.