The Studs Lonigan Trilogy - James T. Farrell [224]
He paused.
“And there’s one thing all of you should not do, if you want to avoid these evils. That’s drink. Once does hurt. Once starts you off, and you’re in grave danger. Drink destroys character and will power, and stultifies the voice of conscience. It is the precursor of all sins. It poisons the body. Today in this country there are scores and hundreds of young people in every city whose hearts, livers, stomachs, vital organs have been ruined by drink. They are dying in their prime. Why? Because they didn’t believe that once would hurt. You know what Shakespeare, the greatest genius who ever lived, said of drink: ‘Oh, God, that men should put an enemy into their mouths, to steal away their brains.’
“You don’t want to do that. Because it is you, your kind, your class, to which America looks. And if America is to avoid that drastic, terrible fate which befell the proud and mighty empire of Rome, it is you, and others like you, who will have achieved the victory. I can’t save America. My generation cannot. But yours can. That is why Mother Church counts on you. She knows that today she must fight one of the greatest battles she has ever fought. She faces a world where materialism drives out the laws and will of God and Nature, where sin is rampant, where money is poured into the coffers of vice, making it rich and powerful, where great industries are built up only to pander to lust, where books, theatres, movies, universities, are all aligned on the side of godlessness, and where all these forces together constitute a mighty propagandistic effort to take her sons and daughters from her and give them into the hands of Satan. And her fight is your fight... (A pause:) Now, how are you going to fight? What are you going to say?
“Unless I am wrong, you’re going to say this: `Get thee behind me, Satan!’ You’re going to be manly and womanly, clean, upright, decent, and you’re going to stand four-square in the front line trenches of Mother Church in her ceaseless war against the world, the flesh, and the devil. You’re going to be soldiers of righteousness, and you’re going to say: ‘Jesus Christ, my Savior, has walked down the aisles of time, a white-robed figure of virtue and strength. And His Church has followed Him and His doctrine. With it, I take my stand. I shall not bargain away my soul, my honor, my right to be a member of that holy Church for a paltry night’s pleasure, for filthy pieces of silver. I shall not be another Judas!’ “
He wiped his face.
“Shakespeare laments: ‘Oh, that we should with joy, pleasance, revel, and applause, transform ourselves into beasts.’ You’re not going to do that. No! I know it. I know that the young men and the young women of St. Patrick’s parish are going to stand defending the gates of Truth and Righteousness, armed with Grace.
“ `Stand, therefore, having your loins girt with truth and having on the breast-plate of justice, and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.’
“In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, Amen!”
There was rustling and straining in the pews.
“And now, I want to ask you all to follow me in a prayer to Mary, asking her protection and aid in the struggle of the Catholic youth of this land for the triumph of virtue.”
He recited the prayer slowly, and the young people singsonged it after him, verbatim.
“O Victorious Lady! Thou who hast ever such powerful influence with Thy Divine Son, in conquering the hardest of hearts, intercede for those for whom we pray that their hearts being softened by the rays of Divine Grace, they may return to the unity of the true Faith, through Christ, Our Lord! Amen!