Message
to Catholic Teachers
On the eve of her death,
Dr. Maria Montessori
sent this message to Catholic teachers
gathered at a meeting
in London, England.
Never,
as in this moment, has the Christian faith needed the sincere effort of those who profess it. I would like to ask all
of you, who are gathered in this meeting, to consider the great help that children can bring to the defense of our faith.
Children
come to us as a rain of souls, as a richness and a promise which can always be fulfilled but which needs the help of our efforts
for its fulfillment.
Do not consider the child a weakling: the child is the builder of the human
personality. That this personality be Christian or not depends on the environment around him and on those who guide
his religious formation.
Do not think that because the child cannot understand in the same way that
we adults understand that it is useless to allow him to participate in our religious practices.
The
staunchest and deepest faith is generally found among the unsophisticated people whose women take their children to church
while they are still breastfed: the child's unconscious absorbs divine powers while the conscious reasoning of adults
is only human.
You who enjoy the great gift of belonging to the Catholic faith must intensely
feel the great responsibility you have for future generations because, among you, there are those who have renounced
the world to bring the world to God.
Take then, as help in your task, with faith and humility, "the all-powerful
children" (Benedict XV). Take as your special task to watch that their limpid light be not dimmed. Protect
in their development those natural energies implanted in the souls of children by the guiding hand of God. May God be
with you at this meeting, and may He guide you in your conclusions and decisions.
Maria
Montessori
