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Cardinal William O'Connell Pilot photo

From the Archdiocesan Archives

Cardinal O'Connell's 1909 Thanksgiving Day address

Friday, November 29, 2024Culture

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... while an observer might view our society as "a materialistic people engrossed in selfish pursuits, made with the race for money, delirious from gigantic success, and worshipping only the god of our own power and genius," this day affords an opportunity to stop, think, and allow a "religious spirit" to assert itself.

Thomas
Lester

On Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 25, 1909, Cardinal William O'Connell of Boston delivered an address to veterans of the Ninth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment.
Veterans of the Civil War, "the fighting Ninth" was organized in Boston on June 11, 1861, and left for Washington, D.C., before the end of the month. The unit was attached to the Army of the Potomac and, over the course of the next three years, participated in the Peninsular, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, and Wilderness campaigns. Three years after its organization, the regiment departed the front on June 10, 1864, and was mustered out of service on June 21.
Cardinal O'Connell began his address by commending those present for attending Mass as a regiment, performing "an act which is at once a public profession of faith and of patriotism." For, he continues, devotion to one's country originates in one's devotion to God, and that a "happy blending" of religious and patriotic spirit are what allows a country to flourish.
Within this context, he frames the National Day of Thanksgiving as an expression by the nation and its people, that we are in the hands of God, and that we must give thanks for the way in which he has shaped our great nation.

Furthermore, while an observer might view our society as "a materialistic people engrossed in selfish pursuits, made with the race for money, delirious from gigantic success, and worshipping only the god of our own power and genius," this day affords an opportunity to stop, think, and allow a "religious spirit" to assert itself.
Cardinal O'Connell then moves on to comment about the regiment's devotion demonstrated during their three years service in the Army of the Potomac. With them, they hauled a large tent provided by Father Thomas Scully, their chaplain, so that Mass could be celebrated underneath it every Sunday. This dedication to celebrating Mass, he reveals, not only acts as a symbol of their sacrifice, as they knelt remembering the loved ones doing the same back home, but also gave them the strength to rise and face their foe in defense of their country.
He then turns to history, claiming, "There never has been a nation of atheists: there never has been a government of atheists," perhaps with exception the government of the French Revolution. For if people do not care what happens to them in eternity, how can they be loyal to their country, respect its justice system, respect its laws? They would simply do what was in their best interest.
Looking further back to antiquity, he claims that, to the Greeks, their "country" was Athens, or Sparta, or Thebes, and everything outside they considered barbaric. The Romans held a similar view of the republic and empire, he argues, and the outside world was meant to be conquered so its wealth could be returned to and serve Rome. "The individual existed for the State, not the State for the individual," he summarizes.
The power of Jesus Christ, in contrast, is that he "gave the world those principles from which alone can spring a rational, broad, enlightened, and enduring, because moral, patriotism. He came not to found a State, but to strengthen and sweeten human society," and to give vigor and strength to governments and law that would serve under God and advance humanity.
He draws on the Christmas message, "Peace on earth to men of good will," not peace in exchange for shameful acts, empty military glory, or unjust conquest, but by the triumph of truth, justice, charity, and temperance.
Although there is separation of church and state, he continues, our nation owes much to the former. It was religion that drove European settlers to settle on the Atlantic coast, and there are allusions to God in the Declaration of Independence and Constitution. Though the government cannot establish or prohibit the free exercise of religion, it "must call God to witness they will perform their duties under the Constitution with fidelity and loyalty."
Why is this? Because the basis of individual and national life is morality, and a strong moral compass can be found in religion, so it becomes a patriotic duty to "strengthen the religious spirit."
He concludes that the soldiers were ready to lay down their lives for their country, now they must "be equally ready to do what is less spectacular, but urgently necessary, be ready to live for it." By living honest, sober lives, by obeying the law, and being devoted to their families, they will set the example for others to follow, and by the growth of morality the country will endure.

- Thomas Lester is the archivist of the Archdiocese of Boston.