Practices of Their Missions

50. 1. They conduct all their missions in abandonment to Providence, accepting no endowment for any future mission, as do certain communities of missionaries endowed by the King or by private persons — and this for four principal reasons. The first, because this is the example that Jesus Christ, the Apostles, and the apostolic men gave us. The second, because God repays a hundredfold even in this world and often grants (as experience shows) the grace of conversion to those who give charity to the missionaries, to reward them for their alms: date et dabitur vobis. The third, because through this mutual charity there arises a wonderful gain and union of the hearts of the hearers with that of the preacher and the missionaries; charity begets charity. The fourth, because the grace of a mission conducted in this way — in dependence on Providence and in such great reliance on the public, which proud nature infinitely shrinks from — is incomparably more abundant and more powerful for converting souls than that of endowed missions, where the missionaries enjoy a kind of elevation and independence that flatters pride and, while procuring them honor, procures them no more love of neighbor or grace from God. One must have experienced both ways of conducting missions to appreciate this.
51. 2. When they find a person charitable enough to wish to defray the entire cost of the mission alone, they thank her for her charity without accepting it, and they ask her only to give them what she pleases during the time of the mission, when they are exposed to the mercy of the public. For it is not fitting that her complete charity should destroy the abandonment to Providence that the missionaries profess for the good of the public itself.
52. 3. They send one or two missionaries, when they can, two weeks before the mission begins, to announce it, so that by this announcement — which should be moving — they may: (1) put an end to sin; (2) prepare the way for Jesus Christ, as did the disciples whom Jesus Christ sent two by two to the places where he was to come; (3) stir up prayer to merit the grace of the mission, inspiring the people to recite the chaplet or the Rosary every day. By this means, when they arrive, they find everything well prepared.
53. 4. They proportion the number of people to whom they give the mission to the number of missionaries they are; for he who grasps too much holds poorly. Thus, they give the mission to only one parish if it is large, or to a certain number of small neighboring parishes; and they do not receive, except by a special permission of the Superior, any parishioners from other parishes not designated for the mission. I do not mean that they should turn them away from hearing the preaching, since the church and the word of God are for everyone; but they do not hear them in confession, so that by this means the parishioners of the parish in which they are being maintained may be more holily pressed to confess, without being able to justly complain that those from outside parishes are being heard before them where the mission is being held.
54. 5. They preach regularly, morning and evening, on working days, at the convenience of the people, which they try to accommodate. Their preaching should ordinarily last only three quarters of an hour and not exceed one hour. On feast days, besides these two times, they preach again at the High Mass; and at about one o'clock in the afternoon they hold a conference to instruct the people.
55. 6. This conference is a familiar instruction by question and answer on the truths of religion. They may take a particular subject for the conference, speak of it briefly, and then let another missionary propose practical questions, in few words and seriously, on the subject proposed. They may also allow the whole congregation to raise their difficulties, whether on this subject or another, provided the missionary conducting the conference is ready for anything. This last method is the boldest and the most useful to the people.
56. 7. The aim of their mission is to renew the spirit of Christianity in Christians. Thus they have the people renew the promises of their Baptism — as they have been commissioned by the Pope to do — in the most solemn manner, and they give absolution and Communion to no penitent who has not first, along with the others, renewed the promises of his Baptism. One must have experienced the fruits of this practice to know its value.
57. 8. They establish with all their strength, throughout the entire mission — whether through morning readings, conferences, or sermons — the great devotion of the daily Rosary. They enroll in this Confraternity (as they have the authority to do) all those they can. They explain to them the prayers and mysteries of which it is composed, whether by their words or by paintings they have for this purpose; and they give them the example by reciting every day of the mission the entire Rosary aloud, in French, with the offerings of the mysteries, at three different times: namely, one chaplet in the morning during the celebration of Holy Mass, before the sermon; a second at noon before the catechism, while the children are assembling; and the third in the evening, before the last sermon. Here is one of the greatest secrets come from heaven to water hearts with the heavenly dew and make them bear the fruit of the word of God, as they experience every day.
58. 9. They have almost everyone make a general confession. Even if it is not necessary because of the invalidity of previous confessions, it is always useful on account of the humility practiced in it — unless it be for scrupulous souls, who are rare.
59. 10. They are neither too rigorous nor too lenient in penances and absolutions, taking the middle way of wisdom and truth as set out in detail in the Uniform Method that the Missionaries Must Follow in the Administration of the Sacrament of Penance for the Renewal of the Spirit of Christianity... and in a more extensive manuscript booklet they have in hand, entitled The Vade Mecum of the Good Missionary.
60. 11. The ministry of preaching the word of God being the most far-reaching, the most salutary, and the most difficult of all, the missionaries apply themselves unceasingly to study and prayer in order to obtain from God the gift of wisdom, so necessary to a true preacher for knowing, relishing, and making souls relish the truth. Nothing is so easy as to preach, and to preach in the fashionable manner. But what a difficult and exalted thing it is to preach in the apostolic manner — to speak as the wise man, ex sententia, or as Jesus Christ says, ex abundantia cordis — to have received from God, as the reward of one's labors and prayers, a tongue, a mouth, and a wisdom that the enemies of truth cannot resist: mercedem linguam... os et sapientiam cui non poterunt resistere omnes adversarii vestri. [Lk 21:15] Of a thousand preachers — I would say ten thousand without lying — there is scarcely one who has this great gift of the Holy Spirit. Most have only the tongue, the mouth, and the wisdom of man; and that is why few souls are enlightened, touched, and converted by their words, even though they have drawn them from Holy Scripture and the Fathers, even though the truths they preach are very well supported, very well proved, very well arranged, very well delivered, very well received, and applauded. Their sermons are well composed, their language is select and polished, their thoughts are ingenious, their citations from Scripture and the Fathers are at their fingertips, their gestures are well regulated, their eloquence is vivid — but alas! all of this, being merely human and natural, produces only what is human and natural. A secret self-satisfaction that rises from this so well-composed and studied piece serves as an arrow for Lucifer, that proud scholar, to blind the preacher. A popular admiration that serves as entertainment for worldlings during the sermon and as conversation after the sermon in company — this is the whole fruit of their pains and their labors. Since they beat only the air and strike only the ears, it is no wonder that no one attacks them, that the spirit of falsehood says nothing — in pace sunt ea quae possidet. Since the fashionable preacher does not strike at the heart, which is the citadel where that tyrant is entrenched, he is not greatly disturbed by the great noise being made outside.

61. But let a preacher full of the word and spirit of God merely open his mouth, and all hell sounds the alarm and moves heaven and earth to defend itself. Then there is a bloody battle between the truth that passes through the preacher's mouth and the falsehood that issues from hell; between those hearers who by their faith become friends of this truth and the others who by their unbelief become the minions of the father of lies. A preacher of this divine temper will stir up, by his simple words of truth alone — however simply spoken — an entire city and an entire province through the war he excites there. This is a continuation of the terrible combat waged in heaven between the truth of St. Michael and the falsehood of Lucifer, and an effect of the enmities that God himself placed between the predestined race of the Blessed Virgin and the accursed race of the serpent. One should not be surprised, then, at the false peace in which fashionable preachers are left, nor at the strange persecutions and calumnies launched against preachers who have received the gift of the Eternal Word — such as all the children of the Company of Mary must one day be: evangelizantibus virtute multa.

62. 12. The apostolic missionary therefore preaches with simplicity, without artifice; with truth, without fables, lies, or disguises; with fearlessness and authority, without fear or human respect; with charity, without offending anyone; and with holiness, having God alone in view, with no interest but his glory, and practicing first what he teaches to others: coepit Jesus facere et docere. [Acts 1:1]
63. 13. They avoid in the pulpit several pitfalls into which the devil often causes new preachers — and some others — to fall, under the pretext of zeal: (1) self-satisfaction in what one says or in the fruit one produces; (2) the praise of one's preaching that one solicits directly or indirectly after having preached; (3) the envy one feels at seeing others more popular, more moving, and so on; (4) detraction against another preacher, whether listened to or circulated; (5) the purely natural anger to which one easily gives way when a hearer gives some cause for it while the preacher is preaching; (6) the direct or indirect singling out of a hearer, whether by naming him indirectly, or pointing him out with eye or hand, or saying things that can apply to no one but him; (7) the continual, affected, or excessive condemnation of the rich and the great of the world, of magistrates or officers of justice; (8) the censure, criticism, or detailed enumeration of the sins of priests. All these excesses are blameworthy, capable of revolting minds and causing the missionary, however holy and well-intentioned he may be, to lose all the fruits of the word of God, or at least a very great part of them.
64. 14. A good preacher must regard himself in the pulpit as an innocent criminal on the witness stand, where he must suffer without avenging himself the false judgments of an entire congregation often ill-disposed toward him, the censures and misinterpretations that proud scholars make of his words, the mockery, ridicule, and contempt that the impious heap upon his person, and finally all the calumny of a whole people — making the strength of his zeal consist not merely in preaching with vigor, but in enduring all storms like a rock without bending and even without being stirred by them, leaving to the truth he proclaims — which naturally engenders hatred — the task of delivering him from falsehood: veritas liberabit me; and this truth never fails to do so sooner or later, provided one lets it act.
65. 15. Finally, let them remember that Jesus Christ sends them like the Apostles, sicut agnos inter lupos. [Lk 10:3] They must therefore imitate the meekness, humility, patience, and charity of the lamb, in order by this entirely divine means to change even the wolves into lambs.

Schedule of Their Time during Missions

66. 1. They rise at 4 o'clock at all times, like the missionaries of the Society of Jesus and of the Congregation of Monsieur Vincent, unless holy obedience orders otherwise on account of their illness.
67. 2. At 4:30, if the Director does not assign them some particular task — such as celebrating Holy Mass, singing hymns to the people, doing some readings, and so on — they make half an hour of mental prayer, recite the Little Hours, and make the ordinary preparation for Holy Mass.
68. 3. At 6 o'clock or thereabouts, depending on the time of the mission, they celebrate Holy Mass one after another, in the order the Director has assigned them.
69. 4. They go to the confessional as soon as they can, before or after the sermon, until 11 o'clock precisely.
70. 5. The sermon is given ordinarily in winter between 7 and 8 o'clock, and in summer between 6 and 7, according to the convenience of the people.
71. 6. At 11 o'clock, at the signal given by the Director, they rise promptly from their confessionals, even if the confession they are hearing is not finished, to make the examination of conscience together before the meal.
72. 7. They take their whole meal together and in silence, listening to the reading of Holy Scripture and of some good casuist that is done there. The Director may, however, on certain occasions of charity and propriety, have the reading cease toward the end of the meal so they may speak together about good things.
73. 8. Grace having been said, they take their recreation together, without going apart without express permission. During this time they decide some cases of conscience, according to the needs of the places where they are giving the mission, and without revealing the persons whose case they are deciding.
74. 9. At 1 o'clock precisely, recreation ends and they recite Vespers and Compline in common. After Vespers they go to the confessional, if the Superior does not assign other duties, until about 5 o'clock or thereabouts, depending on the time. Then they return to the house to recite Matins in common.
75. 10. After Matins, they take supper and then have recreation as in the morning.
76. 11. After an hour of recreation they say common prayers, listen to the reading of the subject for mental prayer, and then go to bed.
77. 12. At about 9 o'clock they should be in bed, in silence and modesty.
78. 13. Outside the time of missions, they follow nearly the same exercises, except that they do not rise until 5 o'clock and devote the time otherwise given to preaching and confessions to study, prayer, and retreat.

Rules for the Catechism

79. 1. The office of catechist being the greatest of the mission, the one charged with it by obedience applies all his care to acquitting himself well of it; for it is harder to find an accomplished catechist than a perfect preacher.
80. 2. He endeavors to make himself both loved and feared at once, in such a way, however, that the oil of love surpasses the vinegar of fear. This is why, if he intimidates the children with the threats and humiliating penances of a good master, he encourages them like a good father through the praise he gives them, the rewards he promises and distributes, and the affection he shows them. But he never strikes them with the hand or the rod. If, however, a child is incorrigible, he sends him to receive from his parents ten or twelve strokes of the whip or rod.
81. 3. He uses great firmness to ensure that the children neither chatter nor fool around during catechism. If he pardons them the first time, he threatens them the second, he gives them a penance the third, and the fourth time he sends them to fetch the appropriate rod.
82. 4. Since children are by nature much inclined to laughter, he endeavors to maintain always a great seriousness and to say nothing that would make them laugh out loud. He may, however, and indeed should enliven the catechism, which is dry of itself, whether by engaging manners, or by small flashes of wit, or by short and pleasant stories, in order to please the children and renew their attention.
83. 5. His great maxim is to question the children much and to speak very little while questioning them, reserving the time to give or have another missionary give a moving exhortation of a good quarter of an hour on some great truth at the end of the catechism — so that after having enlightened their minds by the questions of the catechism, their hearts may be softened and touched by this exhortation. Of all methods, this one is the most effective for teaching children the catechism in a short time and for converting them to God, as experience has shown.
84. 6. As for the time and circumstances of the catechism, here are the rules he follows. He dines at 11 o'clock precisely. After the noon Angelus has rung, he goes to the church. He recites the chaplet aloud with the children in the church while they are assembling. He then sings two or three verses of a hymn.
85. 7. At the first or second catechism session of the mission, he seats the children elbow to elbow, by age and in order, like the nine choirs of angels in heaven; and the children must keep this order throughout the entire mission, always taking the same place and sitting beside the same companions. He names each bench after one of the nine choirs of angels: Cherubim, Seraphim, Thrones, and so on. This device is marvelous: (1) for keeping the children in order and the God of order among the children; (2) for making the children attentive and assiduous at catechism, the companion of each child being obliged to inform the catechist of his companion's absence; (3) for shortening the time of catechism, since the catechist is not obliged to write down or even call the names of the children — which is wasted time — and can see at a glance who is missing and who is new.
86. 8. After the chaplet has been recited and the children arranged, he begins the catechism by making and having the children make aloud acts of faith in the presence of God, acts of hope, of charity, of contrition, of offering the catechism to Jesus Christ, of invocation of the Holy Spirit, and of recourse to the Blessed Virgin and the Guardian Angel.
87. 9. Next, he has one child alone repeat what was learned in the last catechism session, proposes a question, and has several children repeat it one after another in the order they are seated — often without saying a word, simply pointing with his hand or his rod. By this method, which is not very tiring, he can and should question four or five hundred children in an hour and a half.
88. 10. The catechism should ordinarily last only an hour and a half. When the exhortation has been given, he dismisses the children bench by bench — if the catechism is large — in a modest and peaceful manner, without allowing the cries and rushing about that are so common at the end of catechism sessions.
89. 11. After the catechism is done, he leads the poor who attended the catechism two by two to the Providence to have them given dinner in silence and modesty. While they eat their soup, he has them listen to a reading or questions them again on the catechism, being more indebted to the poor than to the rich.
90. 12. It is the catechist who is responsible for the knowledge of the children chosen to make their first Communion, and for this he must follow the rules prescribed to him, namely:

(1) to instruct them well;

(2) to speak with their parents;

(3) to examine them thoroughly on their knowledge;

(4) to make sure the confessors have given them absolution, by a certain little word that the said confessors are to say to those to whom they give absolution and that they do not say to the others — so that by these precautions and several others, they prevent the children from receiving Communion unworthily, to which they are naturally inclined by the example of others and by the prompting of the evil one.

91. 13. He will ordinarily use only the Abridged Catechism of the Missionaries, in which the children can learn in seven short lessons everything necessary for salvation. I say ordinarily; for if the pastor of the parish where the mission is being conducted has well instructed his children and taught them a catechism expressed in other terms, the missionary should also use it, so as not to confuse the children, who learn more by memory than by understanding.