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Show THE AFOSTOLATE Of THE LAITY (t lay Workers a Gre3t Soda! Need in Every Parish Their Efforts Reap Untold fruits. j; . Give 11s lay Apostles! That was the cry raised by His Grace, Most . Rev. John Ireland, Archbishop of Sr. Paul. at. the V Catholic congress years t,go. In the United States the plea has been beard time and again. The latest call is from across the sea. The author of "The Two Standards," known a? a profound student of social and economic problems, prob-lems, has been discussing- the leakage from the ' Church in his native land. And not alone in England Eng-land has indifferentistfi worked havoc. The Church in America counts its victims by the hundred. Churchmen everywhere are seeking means for checking the number of backsliders. Here is a plan devised by the Rev. William Harry, I). D.: WANT OF LAY APOSTLES. "I venture to throw out the following' suggestions, sugges-tions, which may contribute toward the solution of a most difficult problem. I say, then, that we must begin at the beginning. And what is the beginning? begin-ning? It is to recognize frankly that in the Catholic Cath-olic church there is. and ought to be, a lay apos-tolate. apos-tolate. that laymen may exert, a most just and beneficial bene-ficial influence all round them as Catholic apostles. Again, in the sphere of controversy or opologeties, I need only mention Joseph do Maistre and Dr. William George Ward. "The principle, then, is beyond dispute; examples exam-ples are abundant; yet I will ask whether in our schools and colleges we make mention of those tilings, and bow far we do what in us lies to kindle an enthusiasm which, by and bye, shall find scope and utterance in societies adapted to its working? Ought we not to acknowledge that the social instinct in-stinct requires to be developed at an early ago j among Catholics more than is now done: t would have this work of teaching the social Christian creed begun at school. In. our higher colleges, with their evenings or leisure and endless opportunities oppor-tunities for a lay apostolate. If is not enough to say one's prayers, receive the sacraments and help to support one's pastor. These are alt necessary; but these- are not sufficient. When the Church has raised to her altars devout de-vout laymen, if is remarkable that the most illustrious illus-trious among them have held public offices, and did large social service in their day arid generation. The heroic leaders of the past were such as St. Edward, Ed-ward, St. Henry. St. Louis, Sir Thomas More, and others held in grateful remembrance, examples to us all, were such as O'CoinioII, Mo'ntakmbert. Oza-nam, Oza-nam, Erederiek Lucas. Windthorst names eminent in politics which were not partisan, but liberating and humanitarian, or in the crusade of pity and of rescue inspired by the deepest principles of our religion. Again. T might quote the living statesmen, journalists, jour-nalists, teachers of science and lights in literature, who keep the Catholic church to the front in theso days, and who. in more than one country, have done notable deeds against the tyranny of persecuting governments, or, as in Belgium. Holland. Switzerland. Switzer-land. Germany and Austria, have stretched out their hands to lift up the submerged and give them ; fresh chance in the struggle toward, civilization. For instances like these, which might be multiplied, it is clear nothing would be more feasible; and to spread among all their classes the characteristic works of our society would be a simple means of planting these ideas in youthful minds. But even in elementary schools there are signs that social so-cial teaching has admittedly a claim on our recognition. recog-nition. "And by social teaching T mean the concrete i Christian virtues, as applied to the society in which we live and of which we are members. When. then. I hear of temperance pledges given to children, of penny banks, and practical lessons in cleanliness, order and decency, I perceive that the lay teachers teach-ers in our schools are being led. under the direction direc-tion of "the clergy, to fulfill an Apostolate which is certainly theirs. An excellent beginner, wherever if. has been made, for the school that deals only in book learning does not live up to half its mission' mis-sion' The next step is by far the most difficult. How . shall these children be taken forward so as to join the ranks of social effort on leaving school? It is, as we all know, impossible for the clergy to keep y a direct hold upon most of them; and the whole machinery of public Christian law which might avail has been long swept away in modern countries. coun-tries. Nothing is left by voluntary effort. If a lad has strong convictions (and he may have that is my point) on the subject of temperance before he leaves school, it should be comparatively easy to draft him into the League of the Cross; or. at any rate, he would join some association where help to this and similar virtues might be held out to him. I cannot hide my conviction, however, that for the whole range of our elementary schools and classes with which they deal, temperance is literally the one vital question. "Tn our modern world, the practical Christianity Christian-ity of our people depends on this: Whether they let themselves down to be serfs and slaves of the public house, or whether they keep away from i:. The greatest hindrance to mass and the sacraments producing their divine effect is the habit of drunkennessthe drunk-ennessthe continual indulgence in unthrift, selfishness self-ishness and disorder which this habit carries with it. And every association that encourages sobriety is a branch of the lay Apostolate. Temperance is a compendious name for the blameless Christian life, as it bears on our combat against the social evil iu all its forms. "But here, evidently, it is laymen who can strike the boldest strokes. They should take over the youths that are leaving school, persuade them ; to enter the brotherhoods of social service, and follow fol-low them until they do enter them. It is a missionary mis-sionary calling, on which a thousand troubles attend; at-tend; but I see none more imperative or more fruitful. Laymen must bring laymen into it. and those who cannot undertake the duty in person ought to help by supporting the Catholic literature on these and kindred subjects. .. ..... - 1 j |