CATHOLIC LITERATURE.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XVII, Issue 48, 21 March 1890, Page 7

CATHOLIC LITERATURE.

(From the Australian.) IN a recent issue of the Liverpool Catholic Times, the most popular ••CathoTml 11 - De 7 Pa r" ia Great Brit *'B. there is aa .rK on Latnolio Literature, commencing as follows :-" Have Catholioa fe« much zeal as non-Catholics ? Tdat is the question which suSs ? to us on persuing in the Pall Mall Gazette., a table of fi^S of the crculaUon of weekly papered monthly m^a z n ° s taken f mm and " montbh-s with their reputed circulation. We eiveafew C A m rt tn9 : Chrittian Herald, 284,000 a week • Christian \vnllJ J20.0U0 a week ; Detroit Free Press, 100,000 week F^Tu Herat' 250W0 a week ; Young Ladi?s' JouS, ISO 000 S numbers given fairly represent the circulation. The ChrUtian Herald for instance h^s the enormous circulation of 240,000 copiel Tod tne Chrut^i World, reaches 120,000; whilst amongst thTma eaz ines Home Words, wnich may be described as a religions periodTcaf has a HE??? ° f HOOH 00 ' 00 ?" ft* Paperß aDd ma^«eare?no doJbt weU edited and conducted They are produced with care and though and the readers for whom they are intended find in their pa<?es Sine which deeply interests them. But it may be safely assemd that Sf largeness of their circulation must be attributed not merely to the quality of the contents and the enterprise of the managed but also in a very argemeaaure to the zeal of their supporters These beiteve in the truth of what they read, and believing in k they are ea/Jr In diffuse it. They feel, ia fact, that in making tbei IZ^ri^lver StSf H°r '3*. gaiDiDg reader 9 for ifc th< * * re helping to spreadfhe light and thus doing a most meritorious duty. And in this w °^ they certainly labour with a will. Money is spent f reel v b» t thpTdn not confine themeelves to the spending of money They give whatts even more important-devoted personal exertion. Th^oM time and take no end of trouble in distnbuting and recommend nJ the papers which expound and defend tbeir religious views^nd in th,« way those paper, are made powerful and capable of product an impression on a vast multitude. How do we Catholics stand S m parison? The Catholic Time* has a circulation o 50 000 andTe Catholic Fireside of 40,000. These, it may be said, are SneStaKe and creditable figures. So they are. But could they no ? w Sh a httle more zeal on the part of a Catholic body as a whole hi dm.hW if not trebled? The Catholic ladies and gentlemen who take an active part in helping to extend the circulation of Catholic news" papers and periodical literature are, we fear, few aad ' t^ Too many are under the glamour of the great non-Catholic daUies and reviews, or fear to be acccsed of zel.gious comba iveness To discuss the articles in the leading organs of opinion, even though the? be of an essentially non-C,tbol,c flavour or opposed to oVthoHc truth is supposed to ba < respectable ' and to argue a good standard of literary taste And it ,s also thought respectable in some circles to ignore 7f not to sneer at religious journalism. Such a system of conduct we need hardly say, betrays little sturdy love of the faith and UuZ devotion to its interests, and is not calculate! to win converta if or the Church. No ; if this country is to be converted we must have a fear? less propaganda, furthered by all the fa.thful, and neat to the uower ?he Pre C sergJßs ergJ ßv n if taiDi 7 tbia T* ?"** " °° "^ 80 the Press. By it prejudices and misconceptions are removed and tbe minds otnon-Catholics are opened for the reception o f The tuth Over and over again, we ourselves have had proofs of the success of Catholic journalism in solving the difficulties of those itnmereed in I sea of doubt and bringing them into the Ark of sUIvSK Every" Hir«m ICf h" ° aa benefit «"> Church by aiding Catholic journalist* SZ f ' an B ° me am ° E S" the P riests and l«ty have nobly done so. Men and women in the humbler ranks as well as those in the h.trher grades of society can render useful service." B rmA atUral - ly aD V easonably the Tim** applies these remarks i. its own favour, and urges greyer zeal in promot.ng iis own c.rculatien and that of the Catholic Fireside, issued from the same office. But every word the writer says is applicable to „11 Catholic papers and magazines in nearly every country in the world Inere is a standing complaint that Catholics do not support their own publications as they ought, and do patronise a literature dangerous to themselves and their families, a- d in many ca.es utte.ly opposed to tbe interests of the Catholic Church. Not much is h.ard JrVauenfirT"^ l^^^ hte ' th ° U ' h lfc U3ed be I^Jed won th, y< ?* he , lrißh National journals (Catholic in tone) h.ve won their way to the front and do not fear outside competition The complaint is still made in Great Britain, in Canada, X the United States, and in Australasia. Elsewhere, where there is a Catholic riTV^G^^ la^e Catholic minority, th/compia^tf not ha! ' bJhJt ?? n n e H k nl,KmpiP^n I , KmpiP^ for exam P le . the population is about 1^ " t maiDly rmr a n U f h ° Uc two thiQ g 8 ™ S <" enofmous y pIS fi 1 £T aDd Gatholic llt «^ture. Weak and t,mid Catholics go with the current. Often enough, through mixed mari mges secret so ciet.es, or bad education, they are lost to the Church t!Z i?V, th 7, d ° notinak e total shipwreck of their faith they They L« nnf« Uke 7 rm aQd u onl y^lf.or nominal, Catholics! They are not a source of strength to the Church. They are an ' encumbrance, an impediment ; and, only for their own Bake, it would I

be better they were gone altogether. Besides, they are a scandal, a stumbling block, to many outside who might otherwise enter the true Church. How can earnest eouls regard them as the successor* in the faith of so many millions of men, women and children who willingly and joyfully laid down their very lives tor that san* faith ? Men, women, and ohiMron of their own race and nation, toi. Bat is it necessary to read Catholic books and newspapers and get a Catholic education ? Yes, indeed ; sad experience prove-, this to demonstration. '• He that contemns email things shall fall by litt c and little." The action of slight causes is not duly estimated. The constant drop will wear a hole in a stone. Cities and regions havp been buried by the never-ceasing accumulation of sand and dust, Very little now, very little a,aip, but always a little, which after a lapse of years, in the end becomes gr^at. A little fals-hnd and cal utnny against the Catholic (Christian) faith to-day. Perhaps it does not matter much for you do not believe it. A little t >-m3rrow, and next day, and so for very many days, for thousands of days, and it may be, if you are careless ani worldly and eager for success in this world, you begin to think that, after all, there may be " something " in this constant iteration. These are the " little things." And you are ignorant. You do not read. You w ill not hear the other side. All your reading is exparte, and it is the othsr side. Well after all, you are a Catholic ; your parents were ; you were baptised and educated in the Catholic faith ; that faith has become a second nature ; you will, notwithstanding so many rude shocks, live and die a Catholic. Very good ; but, all the same, yon are not by any means a robust Catholic. On the contrary, you are weak and wounded, and you certainly cannot reckon yourself a " s>ldier " of Cnrist, which you promised to be when you received the Sacrament of Confirmation. A soldier I Oh, no ; certainly not a soldier ; the very last thing you contemplate is nghting. To be plain, you are a coward, and, perhaps, you will ba a deserter. And then your children. You have had splendid advantage? ; you know it. What use did you make of them 1 The result is nothing to boast of. Your children, not having these advantages, are in much worse plight. Even with your advantages, your achievements are not great. Without those advantages, how can you expect them to succeed better than yourself ? We commend thise considerations to those Catholics who do not seem to think it matters much what education Catholic children receive in school or what literature is supplied to themselves and their families.