Young Lonigan - James T. Farrell [327]
“You are probably wondering why Mr. Joyce deliberately set out to embroil you. It was to test your patience, your courage, your honor, your charity. What, then, are the lessons of this ritual? On the one hand, it is calculated to impress upon you the virtues of patience and fortitude, to suggest the dangers that lie behind action that is too impulsive and hasty. In other words, to suggest that it is not always best to fly off the handle before you know what is really happening, because things are not always as they seem. Thus, a priest was not really insulted at all, as you supposed, because it seemed to you that he was.
“Specific parts of the ritual, which seem like sheer buffoonery to a superficial observer, actually embody a moral lesson. Thus we plant a member among you in the disguise of a priest to instil in you the lesson of reverence and respect for the clergy, and to drive home to you the duty incumbent on every member of our Order, the duty of defending the Church and the clergy wherever and whenever that defense may be needed. In the same manner, a blind man is planted in your midst to impress on you the virtue of charity, which is a cardinal principle of our Order, and to tell you in concrete terms that every member is to be as charitable as circumstances may warrant to the sick, the lame, the halt, the blind, the unfortunate.
“The part of our ritual dealing with blood sacrifice also has its purpose. It should re-enforce in your memories the lessons and glories of the Christian martyrs, and the grace and glory which shine resplendent upon him who earns the crown of martyrdom. It should inform you that when you come into this Order you come as a man prepared to defend his faith, his honor, and his country, to struggle to the utmost for these sacred causes as the needs require it. These are the principles on which this Order was founded, and on which it stands to date. And we believe that the best way of informing you of these principles, instead of merely telling them to you in a dry sermonizing talk, is by contriving a ritual of initiation which will inculcate them upon your minds in an unforgettable way.
“You have proven yourselves, and I am proud to welcome you in fraternal spirit into the Order of Christopher. Your conduct here this afternoon demonstrates to us that you have in you the best stuff of which Catholic American manhood is made. You have shown yourself ready to defend the faith, to sacrifice yourselves, to practice the virtue of charity. I am sure that our association in this Council of the Order of Christopher will be happy, enriching to our personal lives, fruitful in our mutual participation in the larger life of our Order, our Church, our city, and our great nation. I know that all of you, in joining us, will contribute your share to the manifold works which the Order of Christopher performs.
“As a final word, let me express the confident hope that you will appear regularly at our meetings, get acquainted with older members, and that you will immediately join the various phases of our activities for which you are individually the most suited.
“I will now administer the oath of admission. Raise your right hands, please!”
Studs raised his right hand, and in a mood of solemnity, repeated a simple oath pledging secrecy and the defense of his faith and his country.
VII
“I kind of suspected that it wasn’t the real goods all along,” a fellow in the lavatory line-up said amidst a rattle of conversation.
“It’s clever. Only I didn’t suspect it for a minute. I fell, hook, line and sinker.”
“Me, now, did I play chump.”
“You’re McCarthy, aren’t you? You were a very good candidate, though.”
“And say, are my kidneys floating?”
“I didn’t think it was all hoax until the guy shagged McCarthy down the middle aisle. Only I wish that