The Sun.
London, England, 1865-11-25 00:00:00

cular Mission. They with their Bishop are charged
before God with the account of every soul in their
flock. They are bound ex justitia, to all the offices of
their cure, and to residence by a strict obligation.
All other Priests labouring in the diocese are assist-
ants of those to whom the cure of souls is entrusted,
and from whom the account will be required; but on
them as yet this personal responsibility has not been
laid. They serve, ex caritate, kr the love of souls,
and in obedience to the Bishop who sends them to
their work. It is a consolation to us to be surrounded
by such a body of Priests, in whom we know that the
love of souls, and the account they will have to give,
is always active. And it is a consolation to them to
be assisted by a still greater number of younger
Clergy working under their direction, and by the
help of so many devoted Religious, of manyvenerable
Orders, and Congregations. That the life of a Pas-
tor is not a life of peace or ease, you already know.
But what is its toil, anxiety, and fear, you cannot
know. None but they who are called to it can un-
derstand what presses upon them day and night.
There is, in the mercy of our Divine Master, a grace
which attaches to every state, and a help which fol-
lows his Disciples in every reed. And this is mea-
sured to our trials, and is est when the burden
is heaviest. It is not, therefore, from fear or anxiety
that we have thus spoken : but, as has been already,
said, to rouse as powerfully as we can your con-
sciences and your hearts. St. Paul says, " Obey
your Prelates, and be subject to them ; for they
watch, as being to render an account of your souls."
(Heb. xiii. 17.) In pursuance of. this great commis-
sion, and with the intense realisation of its office
which characterise the only and true Church of
Jesus Christ, the Council of Latern imposes upon
all the faithful every year to receive the Sacrament
of Penance. It is a precept of the Church that every
one shall communicate at Easter. Every several
soul is therefore bound before God to present itself
to its Pastor once in every year. In Catholic coun-
tries where the parochial order is unbroken, the
Paschal Communion must be made in the parish
church. In our country, where the fewness of churches
and of parishes or missions renders this difficult, the
precept of the Church is satisfied if the faithful
make their Paschal Communion in any public
church. Still, the law of the Church, which imposes
upon the pastor a personal responsibility for every
individual soul of his flock, is equally sustained. The
Catholic Church does not contentitself with preach-
ing to the masses ; it deals with each one in the
mass as if none other existed in the world. It casts

its net for a draught, but it draws it to the shore to
separate the fish from each other one by one.
Preachers cast the nets, but confessors separate the
good from the bad. Nothing less than this is the
Mission of the Church in London. It is sent to ga-
ther out first the two hundred thousand Catholics
who are dispersed in nearly three million of souls,
and to take account of them one by one. But we are
sent also to this whole people, to this " City of three
' days' journey." (S. John, x. 3, 14.) They are our
brethren, separated indeed from the unity of the
Blood, but redeemed in the Blood of Jesus. It is of
such that he emphatically says, " Other sheep I have,
that are not of this fold ; them also I must bring,
and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one
Fold and one Shepherd." (Jonas iii. 3.)
Upon the statistics of the Missions the Bishop
must depend for the details and particulars required
of him every fouryears by the Holy See. By express

and reiterated command of the Pontifical law it is
laid upon his conscience to make a full and distinct
return under the title of Relatio Status Dioecesis—
including all its institutions and the state of souls,
not as of ma.ssessbutof individuals, not only in thou-
sands, but so far as possible one by one—to the Pastor
of Pastors. It is one of the dangers of our over-
crowded state, that we content ourselves with gene-
ral and superficial efforts, in the place of numerical and
particular care of our flocks. The Church requires
its Pastors to know their sheep, as the Good Shep-
herd says, "lie calleth his own sheep by name;' that
is, one by one, in all the particularity of their state,
and with a personal relation to each. " I know mine,
and mine know Me." (S. John, x. 16.) These words
of our Divine Master seem impossible, and yet they
must be obeyed. But you may well ask, how shall this be
done in such a population as this? Perhaps in this and

the next generation it may never be accomplished. But
that does not relax by a single hair's breadth the
obligation which is upon us to be always aiming,
always tending to this only true and complete dis-
charge of the cure of souls, in which not one shall
be knowingly or willingly passed over. Impossibility
is the excuse of unwillingness. Whatsoever is right
is possible ; not all at once, but in itself ; and at
last it will be done. But it will be never done unless
we begin ; it will never be begun unless we recog-
nise the full breadth and length of the work that is
upon us. In order to do this we need only to take
the laws of the Church as our guide. The Pastoral
office is regulated and surrounded by a whole system
of directions, from the office of the Bishop to that of
the Parish Priest and of his assistants. It is by
conforming ourselves as closely as we can to the
mind of the Church, expressed in the -order of its
discipline, that we shall do the most extensive and
permanent good. "Wisdom is justified by her
children" (S. Matt., xi. 19) ; and the provisions by

which the Church has regulated the office of its

Pastors, if at first sight it appear in anything to be
minute or needless, in the end will be found to be
the dictate of an experience which reaches beyond
that of any individual, and the consul of a super-
natural prudence. It may indeed be true that in a
Missionary country such as this, it is not easy to
apply literally certain details which are of easy ap-
plication in Catholic countries. Nevertheless, the
sooner we begin to act upon the same general princi-
ples, the sooner we shall attain a more normal state.
The removal of our lamented Cardinal closed a
period. It may truly be called the period of our
foundation. Like a skilful architect he marked out
the foundations of the Hierarchy, and completed its
great outlines and its chief constructive parts. He
found London a Vicariate, he left it a Diocese.

Before, it consisted of individuals without organisa-
tion, with isolated centres and little mutual rela-
tion. It is now complete in outline and in the chief
members of the Diocesan order.
But we have now entered upon another period ;

that of filling up the outline, or organising what
has been gathered together in abundance, and carry-
ing out to its full result the work which he began.
The normal state of a Parish or Mission is that the
Curate should be assisted by a number of Priests

proportioned to the number of the Flock. The

Council of Trent (Council. Trid. Sess. xxi. De Re-
form. cap. 4) lays upon the conscience of the Bishop
to judge of this sufficient proportion. Such a. Mis-
sion ought also to have Schools proportioned in
number and in quality to the number of children in
every class.

But, in fact, it is to be feared that many of the
most populous Missions of the Diocese possess
neither
the number of Priests nor of Schools which
are required ; and, earnestly as the Priests of those
Missions have laboured and are labouring to fill up
these urgent needs, theyarehindered by the burden
of poverty from accomplishing-
To complete the organisation
allga ni!at it.
To the Diocese in
all its members,ietaa.
srM issions or Parishes,
will be the work of many yßut it is our first
duty. On you, Reverend and dear brethren, who
bear with us the cure of souls, the burden presses
first. Let us not be afraid : for lie who laid it upon
us will sustain us. If we fully appreciate
what is to
be done, and with an intelligent and persevering
zeal give ourselves to the work, we shall see it ac-
complished, or at least we shall have prepared for its
accomplishment. It is the practice of the Holy See
to approve of the erection of a Parish wheresoever
the flock amounts to a thousand souls. Well were

it if every thousand souls in London had its Pastor,
Church, and Schools, But this is not yet possible.
Fora long time we shall have to contend with two
great difficulties : the unwieldy masses of our people,
and povertywhich limits the number of our Churches
and of our Clergy. Nevertheless, much may be done
by so organising each Mission as to give it an in-
ternal subdivision, while it still remains under one
head. We may hope gradually to increase the num-
ber of Priests in each Mission until they shall be
able to count their sheep by number, and know
them all by name. And we confidently trust in
the love and grace of the Good Shepherd that Ile
will move the hearts of our people to assist us in
all ways in their power to this end. Hitherto

we have been turning the earth with the plough.
We must henceforth cultivate it by the hand.
The heavy ploughshare tills the field, but it is the
spade and the hand that makes the garden.
It is with this view, as well as to record with grate-
ful and affectionate memory the name of our great
Cardinal in the traditions of Catholic England, that
we have entered with all our heart into the work of
erecting a Cathedral. It is absolutely necessary that
there should be a church proportioned to the offices
of the Metropolitan See, and to the the magnitude,
both material and moral, of the city in which we are.
The diocese of Westminster will lack its adequate
manifestation until it has a cathedral in which the
solemnities of the Church and the Synods of the
diocese can be duly celebrated. The voice of the
Catholic Church will never be adequately heard by
the population around us, so long as it is audible
only in our narrow and humble churches, which are
not sufficient to maintain half of the Catholics of
London. It is therefore as the material head of the
diocese, and as the centre of its spiritual and intel-
lectual action upon both those who are within and
those who are without the unity of the fold in this
vast city, that we regard the erection of a Cathedral
church as a work of primary obligation. And 7-11
we are permitted to say is the judgment of the So-
vereign Pontiff, who has in express and ample words
I blessed the work, commending it to the alms of the
faithful in all the world, and recording this supreme
approbation by the gift of a Monstrance set with
stones of singular beauty and richness for the service
of the altar.

Nor is this all. In order that the spiritual build-
ing of the diocese may at the same time be ascend-
ing in its symmetry and perfection, the Sovereign
Pontiff has granted a Plenary Indulgence and the
Apostolical Benediction, to be given on the first
visit we make to the Missions, Convents, and other
ecclesiastical or charitable institutions of the diocese.
Of this due notice shall be given.
And lastly, the Holy Father has been pleased to
extend to us his most powerful and efficient help in
bearing the burden of souls which His will has laid
upon us.

In order to awaken the compassion of the Faithful
towards the thousands of children who are exposed
to every kind of danger, and we fear perishing every
day in the streets of this great city, and to kindle
more and more the love of souls and your zeal for
their salvation, the Supreme Pastor has been pleased
to grant to all who will unite themselves with us in
this intention and work a plenary indulgence, to be
gained on the usual conditions, on the day in which
they associate themselves by giving in their name ;
and a plenary indulgence three times a year, to be
gained in the Octave of the Epiphany, in honour of
the Divine Infant to whom these poor little ones
belong ; on the second Sunday after Easter, or
" Pastor Bonus" Sunday, in honour of the Good
Shepherd who bids you to seek out for Him His
lambs that are lost, and on the Feast of the Mater-
nity of our Immaculate Mother, under whose inter-
cession we have placed all our labours for the salva-
tion of souls ; and lastly, an indulgence of an hun-
dred days as often as those who associate with us in
this work shall co-operate in it by any means in
their power. The Sovereign Pontiff, in granting
these spiritual gifts, wrote with his own hand the
words, " Suffer little children to come unto Me" (S.
Matt. xis. 14). " For their angels do always behold
the face .of My Father who is in Heaven" (S. Matt.
xviii. 10).
Under this highest authority of the Chief Pastor
of the flock on earth we make our appeal to you, dear
children in Jesus Christ; and we urge you, rich and
poor, of all ages and states in life, to unite your-
selves with us in this association, which we dedicate
to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. There is none so poor
or so busy in the works and service of life who can-
not help us by prayer, by seeking out these poor
children, by kindly and persevering influence with
their parents, by visiting the homes of the poor, by
visiting the schools, by encouraging the teachers,
whose work is often heavy and disheartening ; by
giving of your abundance alms proportioned both to
your powers and to this vital work of charity, or of
your poverty the two mites which make a farthing.
S. Cyprian defines the Church to be " Grex Pastori
unitus." " The Flock united to the Shepherd." It is
the great and supernatural gift and power of united
hearts and wills that we above all desire. With
this we may move mountains. With this we shall
soon see the living organisation of the diocesegrow-
ing up to all perfection and realising the order and
discipline of the Church. With this the care of souls
would rest lightly upon us, and every day would bring
back to the fold sheep which were lost.
The two most urgent duties of our pastoral minis-
I try are without doubt the administration of the last

Sacraments to the dying, and the training up of
children in their baptismal grace. The former is
exclusively in the hands of your Pastor ; the latter
is to a great extent in yours. how is it that Chris-
tians who believe in the supernatural grace of Bap-
tism can neglect the Christian education of their

children, and can even endure to see helpless, un

conscious souls robbed of their faith, and cast down
from the grace of children of God ? And yet such
is the spiritual havoc perpetuated every day upon our
poor Catholic children who are perverted in work-
houses and schools, or corrupted in the streets of
London. If any one appreciates for a moment the
worth of one soul, its value in the sight of God, its
beauty in infancy and in grace, its deformity and its
misery when stained or stripped of its-dignity as a
child of God ; if any one really lays to heart the
words heaven and hell, eternal life, or eternal death,
it would be impossible that we should look so calmly

as we do upon the thousands of children in our
streets who hardly know their right hand from their
left. In the name of God, then, and for the love of

Jesus and of His Blessed Mother, we call upon you
to give us the help of all your strength, and prayers,
that we may never slacken until the name of every
Catholic child is inscribed in the books of our schools,
and not one shall grow up, so far as we are answer-
able, without a Christian and Catholic education. We

call upon the devotion and zeal of the families of S.
Dominic, S. Ignatius, of B. Paul of the Cross, on the
Order of Charity, on the Congregation of the B.
Mother of God, under their many titles, and of S.
Philip and of S. Charles, all of whom have already la-

boured well in this great work ; and lastly, upon the
more than 30 Sisterhoods who are labouring day and
night for the salvation of these little ones, to take
courage, and to unite with us in this Association
on which the Vicar of our Lord has bestowed his
especial Benediction.
Hereafter we shall hope to publish a definite form
and order for this work. All those who at this time

are labouring for the education of children in poor
schools or Ophanages, Reformatory or Industrial
Schools, all who contribute to their support, and all
who in any way promote them, as especially the

Brothers of S. Vincent of Paul and the members of
the Immaculate Conception Charity, are qualified

to become partakers of the spiritual benefits of this

Association, which embraces all existing works for
the children of the diocese, and is intended to pro-
mote them all, and to bestow additional indulgences

upon the works in which you are already engaged.
For the present all we ask is that you give to the
Rector or Priest of the Mission where you reside, or
to any Religious who may be your ordinary Con-
fessor, to be transmitted to us, your Christian and
Surname in writing before Christmas day, which
day we hereby appoint for the first Plenary Indul-
gence on admission.
In the Pontifical Benediction the Pallium is called
the " Symbolum unitatis," " Caritatis vinculum ;" the
symbol of unity, the bond of charity. It is the con-
sciousness of the cure of souls which naturally binds
the shepherd to the flock and the flock to the
thisshep-
ilrist
spbroenat(liswtliiiircolui
gbiel
ogui ntsthf reominh
otlheewV,
oircladr,
hoef. rJde.susACll 1(
binding fast all the Pastors upon earth to His Sacred
Person, and then through them the sheep and the
lambs wheresoever they be scattered abroad. It is
this, against which the gates of hell cannot prevail ;
the supernatural unity of intelligence, heart, and
will by the illumination of faith, and by the union
of obedience and charity.
Such was England when the jurisdiction of Peter
rested with its ensign upon the shoulders of its chief
Pastors. In those days S. Ansehu walked barefoot
to the Altar that he might receive it ; and S. Thomas
laid down his life for the jurisdiction it conveyed.
A slight thing may represent a vital law, and on