The Lone Star Catholic (Austin, Tex.), Vol. 46, No. 50, Ed. 1 Sunday, April 13, 1958 Page: 1 of 24
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Paul Blanshard: ‘Libertarian’
more offensive than original
DALE FRANCIS
II
Zhe national Catholic Action weekly
VOL.. XLVI—NO. 50
APRIL 13, 1958
Bernadette and Our lady
'■
EMMETT P. HOLMES, S.J.
3
t
$
g
Revised edition of "'American
Freedom and Catholic Power* * 3
■ The Lone Star Catholic
MAGAZINE SECTION
But is Paul Blanshard a libertarian? I have
personal experiences to offer in evidence. Back
when Blanshard began his series of articles in
The Nation, I wrote a week by week summary
and refutation of the articles for a radio series
sent from the University of Notre Dame to
Knights of Columbus broadcasters throughout the
midwest. I was struck by the fact that Blanshard
seemed always to insist,on the absolute authority
of the state.
When his series was enlarged into a book, I
investigated his background thoroughly and pre-
pared to do an article. I wrote to him beforehand
to ask some questions, however, and told him I
was tentatively titling my article, “The Fascism
of Paul Blanshard.”
I immediately received a registered letter
from Blanshard, telling me I could not use such a
title. I answered that I would be happy to discard
the title — and I did — and I then did what is al-
most unknown among writers on controversial
The feast of St. Bernadette Soubirous is
celebrated on Wednesday of this week,
April 16. This photo shows an artist’s
conception of one of the appearances of
the Blessed Virgin to St. Bernadette.
4
WORD has come into use among Cath-
olics, it is "blanshardism." When it is used it
refers to the use of the half-truth, the sly mis-
representations, the fact out of context.
The man out of whose writings the word
has been derived, Paul Blanshard, has just pub-
lished a new edition of his “American Freedom
and Catholic Power” and in many ways it is
more offensive than the original edition.
Blanshard is in a dircet line with Tom Wat-
son, that master of the invective of the 1920’s
whose notorious Menace has passed into the his-
tory of bigotry. Perhaps a. bit more clever, a
trifle less crude, the methods are nevertheless the
same.
In several articles which will follow this
I will take the book of Paul Blanshard chapter
by chapter and demonstrate the truth of my
claims. But in the beginning it might be worth
while to take a look at the man, Paul Blanshard.
Perhaps some will wonder why it is necessary
to discuss the author at all. It is necessary because
when a man claims to be a defender of liberty,
it is necessary to find out what he means by
liberty. When he accuses his fellow Americans of
being something less than real Americans, then
it is necessary to know what it means by this.
When he reaches into the past for facts to demon-
strate his thesis, it is worthwhile to reach into
his past.
-This is all the more important because the
Paul Blanshard of the present is basically the
Paul Blanshard of the past. His viewpoints may
have been toned down for the sake of expediency,
as he once explained in a magazine piece, but
basically they remain the same.
He calls himself a “libertarian.” Now by def-
inition this can mean one who believes in free
will, but it is likely Blanshard uses the word in
its secondary sense as “one who defends the right
of freedom of thought and action.”
Teaming up for the conversion of sinners
w HEN we hear the name of
Lourdes and Bernadette mentioned
we immediately think of the appari-
tions and the many miracles that
are performed at the shrine of our
Lady. We seldom ask ourselves just
what kind of devotion to Mary did
Bernadette possess? In fact when
saints devoted to our Lady are dis-
cussed, Bernadette is sometimes
overlooked. Yet she did have a great
devotion to the Mother of God.
Before the apparitions she pos-
sessed the simple ordinary devotion
to our Lady that children of her
age have. She did have an extraor-
dinary love for the Rosary and while
watching over her flocks she was
accustomed to recite it many times
during the course of the day.
During the apparition of Sun-
day, February 21, 1858,' our Lady
told her that she should pray espe-
cially for sinners and that she should
give this message to others. During
• this visit Mary taught her a special
prayer that Bernadette should re-
cite for the conversion of sinners.
No one knew what this prayer was
but Bernadette avowed on her death
bed that she had recited it each day.
After this apparition the devo-
tion of Bernadette took on a differ-
ent form, she became the helper of
the Refuge of Sinners. She offered
her whole life to God through our
Lady for the conversion of sinners.
This was the mission given to Bern-
adette by our Lady. The Saint’s de-
votion consisted in offering herself
for the conversion of sinners. She
prayed many hours even before en-
tering the convent at Nevers and
made many sacrifices to obtain the
return of lost souls. In many of her
severe illnesses when she was forced
to suffer much, she would say: “This
is for the greatest sinner whom our
Lady knows well.” Bernadette un-
derstood well the importance and
the efficacy of prayer for the con-
version of sinners through the inter-
cession of the Immaculate Virgin.
When we first look at Berna-
dette’s devotion to Mary we do not
see anything outstanding. But when
we examine it closely, we see that
it permeated her whole life. She
honored our Lady by doing the two
things Mary had asked of her, pray
for the conversion of. sinners and
do penance for them. These two
points governed her life and were
the essence of her devotion to our
Lady.
But this was not all of her de-
votion. Like the great saints she
was aware of the great intercessory
power of the Mother of God. When-
ever Bernadette was asked to pray
for various favors, she always re-
plied that she would seek the favor
through our Lady.
It is said that she prayed to our
Lady of Lourdes with exceptional
fervor. When one watched her pray
it seemed as though she was seeing
the beautiful lady again. When
praying or meditating on our Lady,
the image of Mary Immaculate as
she appeared in the grotto came
back to her. She always complained
that she was very sorry that she
could not recall more about the Lady
and how (Continued on page 13)
w
K
subjects, I sent him a copy of the points I plan-
ned to make.
The article. I wrote was absolutely factual.
I simply quoted Blanshard. But Blanshard did
not want to be quoted. He sent me a long bio-
graphical statement that attempted to explain
away his past and I included this without a word
changed in my article.
But still Blanshard, the lover of liberty, did
not want it to reach print. He then wrote a letter
to the president of the University of Notre Dame,
threatening suit against me and damage to the
university, if I persisted in publishing my article.
This was the action of the man who in his cur-
rent book says that in “Catholic schools there is no
academic freedom.”
Fortunately, there was academic freedom at
Notre Dame and Blanshard’s attempt to silence
me was unsuccessful. Blanshard had failed in his
effort to get my employer to limit my freedom—
which must have left (Continued on page 7)
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Francis, Dale. The Lone Star Catholic (Austin, Tex.), Vol. 46, No. 50, Ed. 1 Sunday, April 13, 1958, newspaper, April 13, 1958; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1528495/m1/1/?q=a+message+about+food+from+the+president: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting St. Edward’s University.