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Father Athol
Murray and the Hounds of Notre Dame
 Introduction
by Jerry W. Bird
A few years ago, while in
Banff, Alberta, Canada, one of my favorite vacation
retreats, I met a personal friend and author Jack
Gorman, at that time a reporter for the Calgary
Herald. Jack was attending an alumni session of the
College of Notre Dame and invited me to join some
of his fellow hounds for dinner. To make a long
story short, I soon became involved in a major
fundraising program for an athletic research
facility for the college. During that period of
worthy effort, I learned the fascinating story of
Notre Dame, and Father Murray, its founder, a great
Canadian and humanitarian.
One of my proudest moments
was a visit to the campus at Wilcox , Sask, south
of Regina. Fortunately I brought my youngest son,
Ron, and we spent an unforgettable a day with
Father Athol Murray. I will provide more
comments on what I experienced plus an outline of
Jack Gorman's book, "The Hounds of Notre Dame." The
same topic was also released as a movie. The
following message from the current president of
Notre Dame is from the college's
website..
Letter from the President
By: Terry O'Malley
"Canada could easily become
such a splendid national entity if it could only
work out its destiny in harmony and
goodwill."
Athol Murray loved Canada. A
grand nephew of Sir John A. Macdonald, he admired
more the vision and ability of Sir Wilfrid Laurier
in interpreting and penetrating with friendliness
the 'multiplicity' that is Canada. Murray was born
in Toronto, educated in Quebec but created his life
work in Saskatchewan. He was fluently bilingual, as
was his own father. He felt that the glue that held
Canada together was the political philosophy that
guaranteed "free government, family rights,
individual liberty, property rights, freedom of
education ... the way so comprehensive, that it can
do justice to all the diversities." In Athol
Murray's day, the conflicts of the world of the
30's and 40's demonstrated this was true. It is
still true today. He felt the intellectual roots of
our civilization are to be found in classical Greek
literature and philosophy. He stressed those roots
at his College. He stressed also a "vision of
greatness" and provided physical representation
that would emphatically assert the idealism of
Canada. For example, go to Couchiching Park at
Orillia, Ontario and see the outstanding bronze
monument to Champlain, the Jesuit martyrs and the
Hurons. Come to Regina and view the statues of John
A. Macdonald or Archbishop Olivier Mathieu. Murray
was behind these projects. Come to his Notre Dame
College and see the Nicholas de Grandmaison and
stained glass portraits of "Great Canadians": Tommy
Douglas, Max Bell, Fred Hill, Jean Beliveau, Mother
Edith, Henry Carr, John Diefenbaker and others who
were to strike vividly the imagination of younger
Canada. You cannot leave Notre Dame without
recognizing "individuals make the
difference."
Murray felt that younger
Canada must continue to work out our national
destiny that unfulfilled greatness "under the
guidance of Almighty God, in good fellowship, in
friendly disputation and debate." His hope for his
students, as continues today, is that they "only
see it, take hold of it," the untapped potential of
Canada.
This is my 25th year
associated with Notre Dame including an interlude
at the University of British Columbia where I
coached and completed a thesis on Athol Murray and
his educational enterprise. You can imagine that I
have experienced the highs and lows, the
achievements and disappointments of 'Hounds' down
the years. It has been wonderful as in the Saint
Irenaeus observation, "the glory of God is a human
being (a student) who is fully human, fully alive";
it has been difficult as in the Greek playwright
Aeschylus' insight, "he who learns must suffer."
Yet wherever I go, I find earnest interest by
alumni and friends who support Notre Dame's unique
educational experience. The College has a daily and
seasonal rhythm with challenges well beyond the
weather in Wilcox, with a dedicated teaching,
coaching, and support staff. At the end of the day,
your son or daughter is to become a better person,
a better student, a better athlete, and a better
friend. Be sure that the Notre Dame "family" and I
are dedicated to the above hopes for your
"Hound".
When you arrive at Notre Dame
College, you become steeped in legacy. What does
all this mean? It relates to the great
conversations which began centuries ago and
continues today with your son and/or daughter,
nephew and/or nieces, and grandson and/or
granddaughter. Here is how it started! Legacy
matters! Athol Murray of Notre Dame felt that need
deeply for himself and for his little College. In
his waning years, he spoke simply about
it:
"I'd like to be remembered in
some small measure much as we remember Augustine,
as a guy who could have easily gone very wrong,
but, by the grace of God, managed to hold together
and do a little work for Him. That's about
all!"
What did he do? In a dramatic
and personal way at a little Liberal Arts College,
Athol Murray set out to be the kind of teacher
Henry Adams wrote of - one who "affects eternity".
Murray announced that God exists and he would serve
Him. In the foyer of Varsity Hall, he set the tone
of his College in bronze: "That Notre Dame, under
the guidance of Almighty God, may serve in the
generations to come, the highest interests of
mankind". He designed the College to grow around
its Tower of God and the statue of
Christ.
However, his vision was not
static. Within the "inescapable tradition of
western Christian civilization," great ideas and
great leaders articulated how we should live.
Humanity's conversation began with Abraham and
marched down through the years with Plato,
Aristotle, Mohammed, Maimonides, Augustine,
Aquinas, and modern age scholars and leaders such
as Voltaire, Gilson, Maritain, Lincoln, Churchill,
Eisenhower, and Hutchins. This dialogue leapt
dramatically with the invention of Gutenburg's
printing press and Athol Murray's rare book
collection marks this transitional
period.
Thinkers find a place in the
windows, the Tower of God, and other buildings of
this campus. Impressive tributes to greatness must
be ever present or Athol Murray warned: "Unless
these things are done, younger Canada will have no
background mutually of the things that must keep us
in our tradition." This is called Christian
magnificance - doing the great things necessary
that God's presence and western ideals may be
magnified in the world. These sites are available
for you to visit in Jack Gorman's latest work on
the Legacy of Notre Dame by contacting the school.
This legacy centers the values and ideals that
direct our community. The guardians of this legacy
are the Notre Dame Board of Directors, alumni, and
staff. We continue this conversation, begun with
Abraham in the valley of the Ur, with each other
and with our students in every way. It is the
centering role at Notre Dame.
http://www.notredame.sk.ca/main
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