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Legion HANDBOOK D10944_1 26/02/2014 15:53 Page 260

260 THE PATRICIANS CHAPTER 38
unfits the mind for action and deprives us of the power to judge truly.
So—I say it again—fear must be put far from us—fear of every kind save
one alone: that kind I would wish to teach you: it is the fear of God.
Possessing it, you will not fear men nor the spirits of this world.
And as for prudence, it must be such as Holy Scripture defines it
and does not tire in recalling: the prudence of the sons of God, the
prudence of the spirit. It must not be — it is not — the prudence of
the flesh — weak, lazy, stupid, selfish, miserable.” (Discourse of Pope
Pius XI: 17th May, 1931)

38

THE PATRICIANS

The Society of the Patricians was established in 1955. Its
purpose is to build up the religious knowledge of the people,
to teach them how to explain themselves and to encourage
them to apostleship. Its method was intended to be
experimental but it has remained un changed. Though minds
were busy at first in proposing alterations, it is realised that all
of these were but reversions to other estab lished methods,
such as the catechism class, the lecture system, the question
and answer session. These have their own essential place, but
they do not cope with what is probably the root problem of
the Church: adult religious ignorance and the paralysed
tongues of the laity. The Patricians has been showing itself
effective in that field and therefore must be jealously
safeguarded. Its system is a delicately balanced one. A small
interference with it can change it into something radically
different, just as a slight alteration of tuning brings in a
different radio station.
Those other systems provide for one or a few well-versed
persons doing the work of instructing a number of others:
whereas the method of the Patricians is that of the Legion
itself — a united approach to the task in hand. All work
together in an active quest for knowledge.
Analysis shows the Patricians to be a true child of the
Legion, for it contains the various characteristic elements
which combine to form the Legion itself; it is a projection of
the Legion system into the sphere of religious education.