The full text on this page is automatically extracted from the file linked above and may contain errors and inconsistencies.
Father Edmund 11. McLaugliln, Arm y chaplain, conducting re hearsal of Japanese girl choir which sang the Mass on Christinas Eve for Catholic soldiers of the '14th Infantry Division on Shikoku, Japan. The young girls learned the Mass in Latin in 10 days after a Spanish Dominican nun transposed the Latin into Japanese phonetic symbols. F or the first time since the occupation, began, Americans and Japanese on Shikoku Island attended church secvices . together. GIs, Japanese Nuns Kneel With Children At Communion At Midnight Mass, Skikoku B y Sergeant J. Cecil Murray Sergeant M urray of B altim ore was a m em ber of the P ublic R jlall0ns OBice H eadquarter, of the Twenty-fourth Division, M atsuyam a, Skikoku. Sergeant M urray at the tim e he wrote the follow ing story was w aiting daily jqi his release from the service. He should be home any day now. Modesto Shikoku, Japan, Dec. 26. 1945— Spanish-born F a t h e r The real meaning of universal Perez, 27 years a priest in Japan, Catholicity was brought home to was proud of his girls and ad mitted that he was deeply touched Catholic soldiers of the 24th In fantry stationed in Matsuyama, by the "most beautiful sight I have Shikoku, on Christmas Eve, when seen for many years." they knelt side by side with Japa-' nese Catholics at Midnight Mass and heard the High Mass sung by a children’s choir. 'T hrough the efforts of Father Edmund B. McLaughlin, O. S. B., division chaplain from St. Bene dict's, Oregon, who conceived the idea, students of Matsuyama’s Catholic girls’ school mastered the entire Mass In Latin in ten days. '*The Mother Superior of the school, a native of Spain and a Dominican nun, worked tirelessly to transpose the Latin pronuncia tion into Japanese phonetic sym bols. The chaplain had copies mimeographed for the 30 young girls who made up the choir. Though only averaging about 12 years of age, the little Japanese girls proved to be apt pupils. Their renditions on Christmas Eve night will long be remembered by the Catholic men who spent this Christmas in the Orient. ’/ The inherent American spirit ot tolerance and forgiveness was prominent as uniformed occupa tion soldiers knelt at the Commu nion rail alongside white-habited Japanese nuns; women dressed in the traditional Oriental kimonas and obis; aged men, their heads bowed humbly; and tiny black haired children, their wooden clogs ducking against the concrete floor of the auditorium which was used for a chapel. Before Mass, the children sang Christmas carols in Japanese.
@FedFRASER