St. Michael's Magazine HITCHIN THE MAGAZINE COMMITTEE. Chairman: M. Phizacklea. Secretary : B. M. Smith. Committee: J. N. Kitchin, .J. B. Mdllllurray, A. H. Gudgeon, W. Penfold, D. Hassett, A. Buckel, J. L. Hunt, J. G . .Iones, C. Hayward. Volume XXXI. Number 4. Summer, 1959. VALETE ATQUEAVRTE. O NLY at the end of the Summer Term was it revealed that Fr. Roger, Headmaster for 8 years, was leaving us, to repeat his scholastic triumphs and add scienlific to historical qualifica­ tions ; a heroic act on his own part, reminiscen t of St. Ignati us Loyola, the hardened campaigner who sat at a schoolboy's desk before he founded the Society of J eSllS. We are con fident that Fr. Roger will earn not only a second acaclemic laurel wreath but the gratitude of pupils and teachers yet to come, for whose advantage he is beginning his schooldays anew; we can only hope that History will not lose what Science will gain. History in the school has certainly gained from his expert and informed teaching since 1950. Fr. Roger has made history, too, by steering the good ship St. Mic-hael into port: official reccgnition by the Ministry of Education after lhe inspection of last October. Old Boys of St. Michael's have also gained perhaps more than they realize from his devoted efforts to guide them towards careers most suited to their talents and character. Only a few understood how much of his thought, time and energy was spent in furthering their best interests; fewer still, perhaps, penetrated the seemingly uncompromising manner that hid his inner benevolence. He was above all homo bonce voiunlalis. His patience cracked now and then; but his was not the patience of a dictator issuing aggressive ultimata, but the long suffering of a tried religious, never mouthing but always striving lid majol em Dei gloriam. Tf Diogenes the Cynic had searched Hitchin with his lantern to find an honest man, he would have blown it out when he went into Fr. Roger's room. Fr. llernard comes to St. Michael's as Headmaster, bu t not as a stranger; he preceded Fr. Dunstan in the same capacity from 194-4 to 1948, only leaving to secure for our sister school at NotLingham the same governmental recog'n,tion which his successor--and-predecessor gaineo for us. Fr. Bernard is not only a graduate in secular studies, as a B.A. of London University, but a Licentiate in Sacred Scripture of the Roman 'Angelicum'. And he is not solely Headmaster. but SlIperior of the Community. Though the Hiz will not not allow him to secure for St. Michael's the aquatic prestig-e that he secured for the Recket School, at whose back door flows the smug' and silver Trent, we can be assured that neither educational nor administrative responsibili­ ties will allow him to forget the athletic interests of his new charg·e. On behalf of both Staff and hoys we extend to him a gen~ine welcome. As retiring Superior, Fr. Philip's name should perhaps, have preceded Fr. Roger's in these paragraphs; but to FT. Philip we are not saying good-bye; hardlv even all ·retloir. Not:! only is he staying near at hand, at \Valsworth House. where his tact and shrewdness will have ample scope, but he will be superintending, as before, our musical education. W e also wish to record our regTet at the departure of Mr. Jones, Senior Science Master and Commanding Officer of the Cadet Corps, who, after six years. is retllrnin.g to his native North. The efficiency of thel Corps is of his creation, and, we shall :1.11 miss his unruffled kindliness and svmpathy with all that' hay' connotes. Mr. Brosche will long- be remembered ; he is the kind of master who becomes a legend. A fine scholar, a most con­ scientious teacher, a tremendous disciplinarian, he was never satisfied except with the best; yet his Osiris-like exterior con­ cealed only from the wilfully unseeing the humanity that gave his lessons a perpetual. almost breathless, interest. To Mr. Delallicy, after his second period of teaching at St. Michael's, we offer our regTets that his health has compelled his retirement to less strenuous activities. We can only hope that a period of comparative rest will renew his vigour, and that he may come back yet again for a third ano latsing period at Hitchin. After five years, Mr. Devine is leaving the Preparat'Ory School, to concen trate on his academic studies at Lonoon U n;­ versity. We shall miss him, :lIld can only wish that he may follow' closely in Fr. Roger's footsteps. 3 R.I.P. POPE PlUS XII. IN April, 1957, I was among the privileged party from th e School which visited Rome. On Thur day 17th, we had the honour to be present at a public a udience in St. Peter's with the late Pope himself. His entrance into the Basil ica was greeted by a great ovation, and numerous cries of "Viva il Papa" echoed throughout the immense building un til the Pope had reached the High Altar, where he was lowered from his elevated position. Once seated on the throne he began his address. I was amazed by the ease with which the Holy Father spcke in numerous languages and by his obvious si ncerity. He then gave the Pa pal Blessing, was li fted upon a chair and carried albng the immens(" nave to the curtained room near th e en trance to the Basil ica. I shaH always remember the Holy Father as small and frail , hut immaculate in his white robes. His very appearance was one of extreme piety and holiness; he radiated this atmcsphere around him. By hi s death we have lost a Great Man, a Great Friend and, above all, a Great Pope. A. BUCKEL (V I). R.I.P. FR. BONAVENTURE BLANC, A.A. FR. Bonaventure died at the French Convalescent H ome, Brighton, on 13th November, lC)58. Even though we knew that his health had been stead ilv declining since he suffered a bad fall at the end of 1957, the news of 'his dea th' came as a shock to most of us. Born near Grenoble in France in 1886, he entered the Assumptionist Novitiate at Louvil.in, in Belgium, in J904. After completing his ecclesiastical studies in J erusalem he was ordained priest there in 1914. During the ·"Var he was attached to the French Army M,edical Corps, serving in Macedonia. He came to England in 19 19, a nd before the late \ '\Tar he became a naturalised British Subject. From 1919 to 1924 he taught at the alumniate at Bethnal Green. In 1925 he joined St. Michael's when the College was taken over by the Assumptionists. Here until 1947 he taug'ht French, Latin and Greek. During most of his term of office he was sub-prior. 4 Even after he had retired from t.eaching he remained active until last September as confessor to several communities of nuns. Thirty-three years as a member of the same co.mmunity is, a wonderful record, a nd those who know St. Michael's will miss the sound of hi s gTuff but kindly voice. Many generations of boys will remem ber his efforts to imbue them with his love of hard work. B. M . SMITH (VI). SPEECH DAY. ON the 28th October boys and their parents gathered at the Town H all for lhe dislribution of prizes and incidental entertainment, The evening started with so ngs from the choir, which set an informal almosphere throughout the evening. There fo.llowed speeches by p, Spro.ll, p. Bodle, M. Humphris, 1. O 'Connor, D. Coyle and R. Robinson on "The Rights of Schoolboys," advocated with persuasion and passion. As usual, these were foll owed by an orchestral recilal. After the interval the Chairman of the Governors m ade an introductory speech to the H eadmaster's report and the distribu­ tion of prizes. A new Pope had been elected. Cardinal Godfrey was to have distributed the prizes, but had been prevented b y fog. But he had promised tQ1 visit the SchoQ1l before Chrstmas to see the boys at work. All Catholics, on the 106s of lhe late Pope, had been comforted by the public tributes which had been paid to the late Ho.ly Father from all over lhe world. This, he said , showed lhe influence that the Church had over the affairs of the world. Although we Catholics were not a powerful sectio.n of the public in this part of the world, as was seen from the great distances that som'e of the boys had to. travel to St. Mi chacl's, we woul,d still have <Ill clteet on the slandards of the co mmunity in which we lived. Therefore it was important that Catholic boys, in particular, should have a hi/2;h standard of behaviour, so that they wo.uld be well spo.ken. of in the com­ munity. Thanking the School for his invitation to this pleasant event, he introduced the Headmaster. HEADMASTER'S REPORT. The H eadmasler stated that there had been continued pro­ gress in the School and that the number of hoys had n ow been increased to 31 0 with a double stream throughout the Schoo.l. Allhough there had been no building this year, the increase in the number of classrooms needed had been accomplished by changes within the ori ginal building alld a general change of exisli ng' classraomft.