“So far as it is compatible with faith and piety, I am for accepting the American civilization with its usages and customs; leaving aside other reasons, it is the only way by which Catholicity can become the religion of our people.  The character and spirit of our people, and their institutions, must find themselves at home in our Church in the way those of other nations have done; and it is on this basis alone that the Catholic religion can make progress in our country.”

“What we need to-day is men whose spirit is that of the early martyrs.  We shall get them in proportion as Catholics cultivate a spirit of independence and personal conviction.  The highest development of religion in the soul is when it is assisted by free contemplation of the ultimate causes of things.  Intelligence and liberty are the human environments most favorable to the deepening of personal conviction of religious truth, and obedience to the interior movements of an enlightened conscience.  To a well-ordered mind the question of the hour is how the soul which aspires to the supernatural life shall utilize the advantages of liberty and intelligence.”

“The form of government of the United States is preferable to Catholics above other forms.  It is more favorable than others to the practice of those virtues which are the necessary conditions of the development of the religious life of man.  This government leaves men a larger margin for liberty of action, and hence for co-operation with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, than any other government under the sun.  With these popular institutions men enjoy greater liberty in working out their true destiny.  The Catholic Church will, therefore, flourish all the more in this republican country in proportion as her representatives keep, in their civil life, to the lines of their republicanism.”

“The two poles of the Paulist character are:  first, personal perfection.  He must respond to the principles of perfection as laid down by spiritual writers.  The backbone of a religious community is the desire for personal perfection actuating its members.  The desire for personal perfection is the foundation stone of a religious community; when this fails, it crumbles to pieces; when this ceases to be the dominant desire, the community is tottering.  Missionary works, parochial work, etc., are and must be made subordinate to personal perfection.  These works must be done in view of personal perfection.  The main purpose of each Paulist must be the attainment of personal perfection by the practice of those virtues without which it cannot be secured—­mortification, self-denial, detachment, and the like.  By the use of these means the grace of God makes the soul perfect.  The perfect soul is one which is guided instinctively by the indwelling Holy Spirit.  To attain to this is the end always to be aimed at in the practice of the virtues just named.  Second, zeal for souls; to labor for the conversion of the