342 ANDREW J. SHIPMAN MEMORIAL 



longer upon any statute book anything to prevent a growth to 

 our full stature as free men of this great country. As the 

 heavy mists fade out before the glowing rays of the rising 

 sun, each age-long relic of prejudice and hatred dissolves into 

 nothingness, and the American who professes the Catholic 

 Faith has at last become in every sense the peer of his fellow- 

 man. 



This was not all accomplished suddenly or without toil and 

 struggle. It was not due particularly to the native recognition 

 of the fellow-man or woman of a different creed. Otherwise 

 the path onward and forward would not have been so thorny. 

 It was due to the persistent influx of a Catholic people, who, 

 amid all the stress and struggle, kept true to the direction 

 pointed by their Faith, and who by their earnestness and single- 

 heartedness won recognition for themselves among their fel- 

 low-citizens. We have impressed upon our fellow-men of 

 other faiths, or of no faith at all, that we Catholics intend to 

 be whole-souled and energetic members of this Commonwealth 

 and still greater land, that we intend to march in the van of 

 all that is to the interest of State and people, and that we 

 declare boldly our faith in this land and its people, in its insti- 

 tutions and its progress, and in it as the everlasting witness 

 of the watchfulness of God Almighty over the destinies of 

 man. 



The blossoming out of our Church and people in this great 

 Republic of the West has been a miracle of grace and an "ex- 

 altation of them of low degree." When we contrast the posi- 

 tion now with the position one hundred years ago, or even 

 later than that, our hearts must go up to God with feel- 

 ings of gratitude. But our task is not finished, such a glorious 

 reminiscence is but the "commencement," just as yours is to- 

 day. Here is where our work must begin ; here is where we 

 must make strong the glorious beginnings I have but recited. 

 If the past century was one of growth, one of foundation and 

 of establishment, so must the coming century be one of ex- 

 pansion and of achievement. If our fathers could do so much 

 with such slender materials, what ought we not do with the 

 wealth of mental, educational and material development which 

 we have at hand? 



It is precisely at this point that the mission of the Catho- 

 lic college woman comes into play. Remember that all this 



