physical concepts. Bain applied the principles of
association to logic and ethics. Spencer inter-
preted them in an evolutionistic sense. Certain be-
liefs and moral principles are such that the associa-
tions of the individual are not sufficient to explain
them; they are the associations of successive genera-
tions handed down by heredity. The whole process
is governed by necessarj' laws. Mental states asso-
ciate passively, and mental life is but a process of
"mental chemistry". Later Associationists, like
Sully, have come to recognize that the mind exerts
activity in attention, discrimination, judgment, rea-
soning. With this admission there should logically
come also the admission of a soul-substance that
attends, discriminates, judges, and reasons; but as
they have not come to this conclusion, the soul is
for them a "train of thoughts", a "stream of con-
sciousness", or some other series veiled in meta-
phorical language. As-sociation of ideas can never
explain neces.sary judgments, conclusions drawn
from premises, moral ideas and laws; these have
their causes deeper in the nature of things.
M.
ER, Psychology (London. 1900): Mercier, Psychologic
(Louvain, 1899); Gctberlet, DU Psycholoqie (Munster, 1896);
Bain. The Senses and the InieUecl (4th ed., London, 1855,
1894); Associaium Controversies in Mind, 1886; J.mes
W.RD. Psychological Principles in Mind, 1883-87; Assimila-
tion and Association in Mind, 1893-94; Bradley, Logic
(London, 1883); Goblot, Theorie physiologique de Vassocia-
tion, in Revue philosophique, 1898. Spencer, Principles of
Psychology (New York. 1903); James. Principles of Psy-
chology (New York, 1890); Wundt, Lectures on Human and
Animal Psychology (tr. by Creighton and Titchexer. New
York); RiBOT, Im psychologic anglaise contemporaine (Paris,
1901).
EdMIXD J. WiRTH.
Association of Priestly Perseverance, a sac-
erdotal association founded in 1S6S at Vienna, and
at first confined to that archdiocese. In 1879,
chiefly through the influence of its periodical organ,
"La Correspondance", it spread into other dioceses
and countries, and in 1903 counted 14,919 living
members, belonging to 150 dioceses in Austria,
Germany, Switzerland, and other countries. This
organization is verj' similar to that of the Apostolic
Union of Secular Priests (q. v.).
Joseph H. McM.vhon.
Association of the Holy Family. See Holy
F.VMILY.
Associations, Pious. — Under this term are com-
prehended all those organizations, approved and
indulgenced by Church authority, which have been
instituted, especially in recent times, for the advance-
ment of various works of piety and charity. Other
terms used with the same meaning are: pious union,
pious work, league, society, etc. Pious associations
are distinguished, on the one hand, from ordinary
societies composed of Catholics by having an explic-
itly religious purpose, by enjo^^ng indulgences and
other spiritual benefits, and by possessing ecclesias-
tical approbation. They are distinguished, on the
other hand, from confraternities and sodalities. The
latter distinction is not determined by the name and
is not always apparent. In general, pious associa-
tions have simpler rules than confraternities; they do
not require canonical erection, and though they have
the approbation of authority, they are not subject to
a-s strict legislation as confraternities; they have no
fixed term of probation for new members, no elabo-
rate ritual, no .special costumes; they are not obliged
to meet for common religious practices, and, as
a rule, they make the help of others more promi-
nent than the improvement of self. Of all these
differences, only that of canonical erection .seems
essential. Some authorities, however, declare that
practices in common constitute the trait which
distinguishes a confraternity from a pious association.
Some well-known pious associations are: Society
of St. Vincent de Paul; Society of the Propagation
of the Faith; .postlesliip of Prayer, known also as
the League of the Sacred Heart of Jesus; Holy Child-
hood League; Priests' Eucharistic League; Cacilien-
verein, an association especially developed in Ger-
many for the advancement of religious music.
Bekikger. Les indulgences (Paris. 1906); Mocchegiam,
Collectio Indulgentiarum (Quaracchi, 1897).
F. P. Donnelly.
Assuerus, the name of two different persons in
the Bible:— 1. In I Esdr., iv, 6, and Esth., i, 17, it
corresponds to the Hebrew 'Achdshwerosh, and the
Sept. 'Aa-croi/T/pos (in Esth. ' Apra^^p^Tjs) , and denotes
Xerxes I, the Kng of Persia. It was to him that the
Samaritans addressed their complaints against the
inhabitants of Jerusalem soon after 48.5 b. c, i. e. in
the beginning of his reign. Intent upon his pleasures
and a war with Egj'pt, the king seems to have disre-
garded these charges. The report of Herodotus fV'II,
viii) that Xerxes convoked a council of his nobles,
in the third year of his reign, to deliberate about the
war against Greece agrees with Esth., i, 3. telling of
the great feast given by the king to his nobles in the
third year of his reign. In the seventh year of his
reign, after the return of Xerxes from his war against
Greece, Esther was declared queen. In the twelfth
year of the king's reign, Esther saed the Jews from
the national ruin contemplated by Aman. II. An-
other A.ssuerus occurs in the Greek text of Tob., xiv,
15 ('Ao-uTjpos), in conjunction with Nabuchodonosor;
the taking oil Ninive is ascribed to these two. In
point of fact, .ssjTia was conquered by Cj-axares I,
the King of Media, and Nabopolassar, the King of
Babylonia, and father of Xabuchodonosor. Hence
the Assuerus of Tob., xiv, 15, is Cj-axares I; his name
is coupled with Nabuchodonosor because the latter
must have led the troops of his father in the war
against AssjTia. The satue Cj-axares I is probably
the Assuerus (' Achd.shwerdsh) mentioned in Dan., ix,
1 , as the father of Darius the Mede. Most probably
Darius the Mede is Cyaxares II, the son of Astyages,
the King of Media. The inspired writer of Dan., ix,
1, represents him as a son of Cyaxares I, or Assuerus,
instead of .styages, on account of the glorious name
of the former. This could be done without difficulty,
since, in genealogies, the name of the grandson was
often introduced instead of that of the son.
Hagen, Lexicon Biblicum (Paris. 1905); LESETRt; in Via.,
Dicl. de la Bible (Paris, 1895).
A. J. Maas.
Assumption, Little Sisters of the, a congrega-
tion whose work is the nursing of the sick poor in their
own homes. This labour they perform gratuitously
and without distinction of creed. The congrega-
tion was founded in Paris in 1865, by the Rev.
Etienne Pernet, A.A. (b. 23 July, 1824; d. 3 April,
1899), and Marie Antoinette Tage, known in religion
as Mother Marie de Jesus (b. 7 Nov., 1824; d. 18 Sept.,
1883). Both had long been engaged in charitable
work, Father Pernet while a professor in the College
of the Assumption at Nimes, and Mile. Tage as a
meml:)er of the Association of Our Lady of Good
Counsel in Paris. They met in Paris and Father Per-
net placed her in charge of the work of nursing the
sick poor which he had inaugurated. Out of this
movement the sisterhood grew, Mother Marie de
J6sus being the first superior. The nursing of the
sick poor is not the only or even the chief purpose
of the Little Sisters. They endeavour to bring about
conversions, to regularize illicit unions, to have
children baptized, sent to school, and prepared for
First Communion and Confirmation. They form
societies among their clients and enlist the aid of
laj'men and lapvomen of education and means to
further the work of regeneration. The congregation
has established houses in Italy, Spain, Belgium, Eng-
land, Ireland, and the L'nited States of America.
The papal Brief approving the congregation was
Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 2.djvu/25
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.
ASSOCIATION
5
ASSUMPTION