Such action is an insult and offense against God, not only harmful to the spiritual welfare of the individual, but also endangering the safety of the community, while it strengthens the enemies of the Faith. Nothing so emboldens them or encourages their audacity as the timidity and neglectfulness of the so-called "Faithful.”

The objection that our Lord Jesus does not need human co-operation for the preservation and protection of His Church is not well taken.

Not because of weakness indeed, but because of His love for us, He requires such action on our part as may enable us to reap the fruit of Salvation which He has sown for us.

It is our first duty to stand boldly and firmly by His teachings, and so far as lies in each one's power, to spread them abroad in all their light-giving beauty.

The Pontiff speaks further of the ministry of the Church, calling upon all the people to proclaim its importance and arise in its defense and support: "The coöperation of laymen," he adds, "was considered so advantageous and fruitful by the Fathers of the Vatican Council, that they declared its practice an absolute duty."

For the love of the Master then, we beg and adjure all the faithful-nay! we command all them as such, but more especially those who are leaders and teachers of others, to work with unflagging zeal, so that errors may be prevented and expurged and the light of our divine Faith shine forth in undimmed purity.

Above all, we must not forget that each, by his own example, should confess the Catholic Creed, while always ready to profess it openly before all men. Of the manifold duties which connect us with Christ and His Church, this is the foremostto seek earnestly the propagation of truth and its defense from error.

Numberless opportunities for the spread of Catholic doctrine are offered us-in the family circleat social gatherings-through the press of the land -in familiar society and in distant travel!

A flood of profane literature inundates Christian countries; we can help to arrest its destructive course and counteract the dire effects, by the dissemination of books and pamphlets which teach the love of truth and the beauties of Catholicity.

Then there are the bitter contentions which menace the peace and safety of society in general, and threaten to undermine it. The question arises: "What are the causes of this visitation"?

First, there is the poison of unbelief, which has filtered through all classes; the inconsiderate selfishness and injustice apparent in everyday intercourse

are the bitter fruit of this unbelief.

Lack of charity among the wealthy and their disregard for their less fortunate brethren have wrought the masses to a ferment of discontent, and

fertilized the soil for the evil seed, sown freely by the enemies of Christ.

There has always been distinction of class, without which society is an impossibility; the poor we have always had and shall always have with us, but true charity makes the titled, the cultured, the wealthy see in the laborer, the beggar, the afflicted -yea! even in the sinner, souls created to the Image of God. And their inheritance in Heaven has been purchased at the selfsame price as that of earth's favored children.

True charity brings the privileged one to the rescue of the needy and impels the rescuer to display that respect and consideration, born of acknowledged brotherhood.

Thus has many a barrier been removed or overName, as He hath willed. borne and souls brought closer together in Christ's

Are we not all human beings, formed in the same likeness, of the same substance? And are not our souls stamped alike with the same high impress? WE smile at the "caste" system of India, while we ourselves remain almost equally divided—while around us sound sentiments of contempt, openly expressed by the privileged classes for their less fortu

nate brethren.

How many of those consider friendliness or courtesy a condescension, when extended to the "lower classes," as they term them, forgetting that the truest test of nobility of soul is to treat all humanity with respect.

Again, some think they have a right to restrict their intercourse to the "educated people!" What is education? Many a workingman-many a poor factory girl has more nobility of heart and more refinement of mind than the fine ladies and gentlemen who are so prone to treat the working classes with contempt, and who, satiated already, still think of nothing but the gratification of desire.

Religion alone educates and ennobles, and granting true what St. Teresa tells us, that intelligence is a great incentive to piety, it is Religion which directs knowledge aright with the man of science as with the hardy son of toil.

The reason of this is, as Humboldt has put it: "All truth comes from God and tends to God."

Religion refines as to habits and outward behavior it endows with self-command, an attribute only maintained by the great ones of earth through much effort and as a covering to be hastily dropped behind the scenes. Education consists in a great measure of systematized attempts to bring our evil and obstinate nature under control.

It does not mean alone, good manners and faultless behavior in society, nor does it consist in knowledge of fashion or conversancy with living languages -not even in so-called collegiate culture!

It is rather, the right direction of the soul toward God and the maintenance of an exterior deportment befitting the dignity of a true Christian.

Above all, is education the training of our hearts after the pattern of our Lord's Divine Heart, who was sent to us as our model in all things. And, behold! He chose for protector a poor carpenter. His earthly bed was a manger and the shepherds, summoned by angels, His earliest visitors! He began His public life as an unknown teacher and chose from among the very poor, His companions--heirs of His Kingdom in Heaven-pillars of His Church on earth. The humble, the despised and the penitent are His chosen, and He heeds it not if others take umbrage thereat! He passes by and all are blessed!

And yet, O, JESUS, humanity stands sick unto death at the parting of the ways-bitterness and envy on the one side-pride and scorn on the other. Teach us that our duty to Thee is to seek the healing of those wounds-the leveling of those dividing barriers, so giving testimony to Thee by following Thy example!

Is it not an alarming symptom, when 1900 years after the coming of the world's Savior only 15 per cent of the human family belong to the Church of Christ; an equal number, while calling themselves Christians, flee the House of God; 5 per cent still adhere to Judaism; 11 per cent follow the sign of the crescent, and 57 per cent yet live in the darkness of heathenism!

"You shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and even to the uttermost parts of the earth."

These were the Savior's last words, when before His Ascension He outlined the mission of His Church to teach and convert the whole world.

The obligation still remains incumbent upon all who wish to belong to Christ and share in the fruit of His bitter sufferings and death.

If now, after eighteen centuries, the path of millions still leads through shadow and darkness, part

of the fault must lie with Christendom itself!

True, there have been in every generation some of extraordinary heroism who went forth fearlessly into faraway lands with the certainty of martyrdom before them to announce the "Word made flesh."

But a more extended zeal should have produced a greater number of such heroes and given them, above all, more effective support.

In our days, we find our grand pioneers no longer isolated; there are numerous and well organized associations for the special purpose of educating and sending forth apostolic messengers of the faith, and their records wake in many hearts new interest in this sacred duty.

Alas! for the majority, however, who remain cold and indifferent to the efforts of the interested few. They have not the true Catholic spirit; with them the spiritual pulse beats but feebly and irregularly.

At the 1900th anniversary of the Savior's birth and still 57 per cent of His creatures in ignorance even of His existence!

Surely as one man the entire Catholic world should arise to lead the benighted brethren to the Light Eternal!

Behold! the ends of the earth-the darkest stretches of our globe-regions hitherto inaccessible, are entering into international intercourse. Europe stretches towards them her welcoming arms, but unfortunately it is the Europe separated from the true Church-the anti-Christian Europe, standing foremost in this competition of nations.

Numerous missionaries from many separated sects, richly endowed with the wealth which buys. opportunities, are at work everywhere.

Bereft of the delegated power of the Master, they can found a Christendom in name only-a stepping place to modern heathenism, which means the eventual casting away of the cornerstone, viz.: CHRIST.

This modern heathenism represents the crimes. of treason and Judas-like denial; it means the ossification of heart, which is the death of divine grace. And it stands today at the thresholds of the lands, wherein dwell benighted millions of the human family—nay, it has crept inside, and its initial steps have made the soil hard and sterile, as is proved by the experience of Japan.

A country this, saturated too with the blood of its early martyrs, all our own!

There are now in Yokohama, the great harbor and commercial metropolis of the insular kingdom, fifteen Protestant churches and but one Catholic!

Japan has deserted her old gods and listened to the words of the stranger. And with what result? Her catechisms are collections of sentences and quotations from Goethe and Schiller; a thin veil hides from view the modern abyss of atheism, and this most unfortunate of all conditions is spreading daily over the land. Then we hear inquiries about her powerful neighbor-China, the celestial kingdom, which the European powers are hungrily contemplating, forecasting its ultimate division.

"European culture," writes a missionary of China in 1898, "is entering this gigantic body through thousands of pores-woe if it is not accompanied by Christianity"!

Are there no Catholic missionaries in China? we hear the readers ask. O, yes, they are there, working under unspeakable difficulties and braving dangers and deprivations, of which we at home can form no just idea. But there also are six times their number in missionaries from Protestant sects who delight to spread the most horrible calumnies of the Catholic religion. Possessing means in abundance, they found schools and institutions of many grades, so attracting the people, natural lovers as they are of education.

China, then this immense country with its overflowing population of 434,000,000, is threatened by the same terrible misfortune as has overtaken Japan,

and wonderful exertion is needed if the herculean work of her rescue is to be attempted.

The present question, with our few missionaries, is where shall their energies be first directed?

Not China alone is jeopardized, for the seed there planted is, through the endless stream of emigration, carried throughout the world.

The Indies, almost thrice as large as Europe, with a people gentle and piously inclined, offer an attractive field for missionary work; statistics show that 26,000 heathens die daily in India!

Of course, caste is a sad hindrance, but must not be considered as an insurmountable obstacle, unless we are willing to admit our zeal less than that of the Protestant sects, who, as we are told by the Apostolate of Assam, weary not in the direction of schools, and the formation of settlements.

In Syria, Chaldea, Persia, and also in Egypt, there are numerous schismatic sects, some of whom have become reunited to the Catholic Church, more fortunate than their Russian brethren whom the iron rule of a despotic government prevents from rejcining Rome.

In the first mentioned countries the Catholic Bishops enjoy comparative freedom under the Mohammedan government, and their churches were spared during the terrible massacre of a short time since. But our missionaries there live in the greatest poverty-priests, prelates and dioceses.

Some years ago the Holy Father issued an ardent encyclical entreating all to assist in reuniting the Greek Church with Rome, and every sensitive Catholic heart must have appreciated the appeal of those Bishops in whose behalf the movement was contemplated.

They bewailed their inability to move in the matter because poverty tied their hands while Protestant communities flouished and spread, food, clothing and shelter being freely provided for them, especially since the secret massacre in Armenia.

Africa is no longer the "dark continent"; the civilization of Europe illuminates it on all sides. and promises to penetrate to its innermost depths. Why should not this vast land and its people, clamoring for deliverance, receive the boon of Faith at the hands of Christ's true church? Why should Africa be allowed to fall into the pit of Satanmodern heathenism?

The epoch demands of us particular devotion, sacrifice and labor. But for those great things expected, still greater things will be rendered us in

return.

As Christ's co-workers, we must save His Church from irreparable loss-we must help gather the harvest which is rightfully hers by the premier right of God's holy will. Think what the loss of this harvest would mean! What a discouragement for wavering souls; while, on the other hand, through success, should the faith of weak and strong be alike strengthened.

What a powerful atmosphere of hope and love should penetrate then the entire world, thawing the solid ice of heresy and infidelity and releasing their unfortunate victims.

Welcome! to the missions of Mother Church in this critical and decisive hour; Faith and Charity make every sacrifice easy and sweet, and it is a proven fact that the greatest sacrifices are most gladly made.

With willing hearts, youths and boys, innocent and enthusiastic as they are, mentally gifted, gather round the doors of the mission houses pleading for selection.

They understand the privations and sacrifices of the life they would embrace-their parents, too, appreciate it, yet they offer their sons cheerfully to the holy apostolate.

Let us take a glance nearer home-at Brazil, for instance-nominally a Catholic country, but in reality honey-combed by freemasonry with its attendant evils.

It is not our money that is here needed, but our zealous priests-our tireless religious orders-and these must be forthcoming if the people are to be again of our fold.

Other states of South America, and also some of the Northern States, are equally in want of missionaries imbued with apostolic zeal and willing to immolate self on the altar of sacrifice.

At the dawn of the century, Divine Providence seems to have entrusted us with the fate of Australia and the numerous islands of the South Sea, for regions never before entered are now become accessible.

But here, too, Anglican Protestantism has overreached us, and her agents are numerous.

"The hour of grace for those people has come; do not let the opportunity pass," said Leo XIII to the late Missionary Bishop Vejus just a little while before death claimed the energetic prelate, worn out too soon by his labors.

Some hold the opinion that the work of the Propagation of the Faith is too great-that the Church cannot compass it. And those timid souls, bereft of personal courage, refuse at the same time any assistance to the courageous soldiers of the Cross, who know not fear.

The work to be done is indeed immense, but at the same time far from impossible, since Christ commands it, and He has the right to count on our coöperation.

Among his last words, which echo through the space of centuries, one is meant especially for us who stand on the threshold of the new!

"You shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the uttermost ends of the earth"!

Not long ago a father, when asked to consider that his boy might meet with a violent and bloody death as a missionary, answered: "I should only

be too happy to be the father of a martyr," and the priest who had put the question to him, replied, after thinking awhile: "You are quite right." If, then, such sacrifices, involving separation, privation, and thousands of dangers, are made thus cheerfully, why should it seem difficult to make the much lighter effort of rendering material assistance only?

What peace of heart can be obtained by those who are willing to deprive themselves of luxuries, and what still greater happiness for those who, living in modest circumstances, offer of what they possess to aid in the work of the missionaries of the Holy Church, either by the good deed of persuading others to help the cause, by disseminating the knowledge of good books, and other writings, or in any way whatsoever, you will receive more than you give; joy of heart, great graces, manifold blessings will be yours here below, and when you reach your true home, Heaven, in accordance with our Saviour's promise, the apostle's crown will be yours.

A consolation indeed would it be for the missionaries of our faith, if they knew for certain that Catholic Christendom, as a whole, took warm interest in their difficult mission; what a consolation to feel assured that they might safely undertake the great work which lies before them; what a consolation to feel empowered to receive the children who crowd around their doors, who are left deserted at their portals, or who are about to be sold to cruel masters. Q, the happiness of being able to receive these and bring them to the Sacred Heart of the Saviour, to rescue the forsaken and aged-save them from starvation and open to them at the same time the Kingdom of Heaven.

On one of the Silesian mountains there lives a poor old maid, a weaver. She has grown old at her trying occupation, and working beside on her father's little farm. Her hands are rough from labor, and her face burnt by exposure to the sun; she dresses but poorly, according to the manner of the inhabitants of those regions; her ways are simple and far removed from the rules of polite society; her speech uncultured! How the polished ladies and gentlemen in society would look down upon and depreciate this uninteresting spinster! But her plain, insignificant little body harbors a sublime human soul. She has learned the great secret of making her life useful, and through her hard labor she has, in a spiritual way, become the mother of many mission children, for away into the heathen countries she sends her gifts, and always all she can possibly spare. At all times praying and working for the Kingdom of God, unceasingly and cheerfully she spends her days. Sad and slow such a life appears, but only to those who know not its hidden beauties. "I am always so pleased and happy when I can spare anything for the spreading of God's Kingdom," wrote this poor weaver recently

in sending new gifts. And another time she replied to a special word of thanks: "You make too much of all this. I do nothing more than I am able to do, and that is my duty." What noble words, expressed with such meekness and simplicity, as if such effort was the easiest thing in the world, and of everyday

Occurrence.

We can learn a great deal from this humble disciple. She shows us how we should employ all our talents which have been given by God for His greater honor and glory, and the propagation of His name. Many are of the opinion that they are not obliged to do anything for Christ, or for the extension of his Kingdom, but they are mistaken. The parable of the man who was condemned, not because he had done evil, but because he had not done any good deeds, and had buried the talents with which he was endowed, was weli understood by the lowly weaver, whose words and example prove that she possesses the gift of wisdom. Not all can go into the heathen countries at great sacrifices to spread the faith; not everyone who stays at home has the courage to spend their savings for the faith as the peasant spinster. Many have duties toward those dependent upon them, and even the exigencies of position, the rightful desires of those who can enjoy certain comforts of life, make demands upon our Christian prudence and charity. But everyone can do something above and beyond this, and it will not be so little, because charity will find the way to accomplishment. If they can do nothing else they can pray that God's blessing may descend in abundance upon this great work of the spreading of the faith; that alone would be helping very much indeed. There are few people of a certain comfortable piety, who pray, but who are unwilling to do anything Such prayers are of little value, and come from a proud, cold heart. They forget that all they possess, all their talents and capabilities are from God, in Whose honor they must make the most of the gifts given them. They forget that they will have to render an account to Christ, that they and their talents have held a place in the plans of Divine Providence, which it was their bounden duty to fulfill. Our poor weaver had the wisdom to recognize this. "She had done only what she could, and that was her duty."

more.

This same duty is a twofold one for us, for we are children of an important epoch, an epoch which will decide the fate of humanity.

Now or never! Such is the cry from all the missions of China, of India, in New Guinea, Africa and, in short, of the whole world. Either we rescue now the heathen world-the whole human family. for God's Kingdom, or it will be lost to Him forever! Lost forever through our own fault. "At the name of Jesus they shall all bow down, those who are in heaven, on earth, and beneath the earth."