The Sunday-school director's guide to success

Front matter

SUNDAY- SCHOOL DIRECTOR'S GUIDE

SLOAN

Class _hV.

CHAPTER I Necessity and Purpose of Religious Instruction

Its Necessity Has Always Been Recognized 1

The True Purpose of the Sunday-School 3

The Sunday-School Should Educate Each Child in its Religion 4

It Should Develop Each Child into a Practical Church Member 4

For Accomplishing this Work the Best and Most Effective Methods Should be Employed 6

Improved Methods are Especially to be Desired at the Present Time 6

Requirements Essentially Necessary for the Successful Accomplishment of the Sunday-School's Purpose 7

1. A Trained Superintendent Must

be Had 7

2. Trained Teachers are Needed. ... 8

3. Suitable Helps Should be Supplied 9

4. The Sunday-School Should be

Properly Graded and Conducted 10 ix

: Contents

CHAPTER V The System Most Approved 26

The First Grade.

The Second Grade.

The Third Grade.

The Fourth Grade.

The Fifth Grade.

The Sixth Grade.

Contents xi

The Seventh Grade.

The Eighth Grade.

A Unified System Should be Followed in

Organizing the Sunday-School 35

Teachers' Meetings Would Increase both

Unity and Efficiency 35

Chapter VI

The Sunday-School Director's Duties He Superintends the Sunday-School.... 37

He Must Bring the Pupils Together 37

He Must Organize the Sunday-School. . . 38 He Must Select and Appoint Teachers . . 38 He Must Direct the "Work of the Sunday- School Session 38

He Must Open and Close the Sunday- School 39

He Must Foster and Maintain therein a Religious Spirit 39

CHAPTER VII The Director's Necessary Qualifications

No Director is Absolutely Perfect 41

Certain Qualifications Are Required in a Director 41

1. He Should be Living a Consistent

Life.

2. He Should be a Person of Prac-

tical, Sincere Piety.

3. He Must Have a Familiar Knowl-

edge of Christian Doctrine.

4. He Should Possess Administrative

Ability.

5. He Must be Strong- Willed but not

Self-Willed.

xii Contents

CHAPTER VIII Punctuality is of Prime Importance 46

The Sunday-School Must be Brought to

Order 47

A Spirit of Reverence Must Prevail 48

Quiet Must be Maintained During the

Session 48

Profitless Interruptions Must be Avoided 50 Unruly Boys and Girls Require Special

Treatment 51

The Director Must Maintain Self-Govern-

ment 53

CHAPTER IX The Director Teaching He Is Responsible for the Teaching of All 54 He Must Teach by His Life 55

He is the Presiding Officer at the Teachers' Meetings 55

CHAPTER X The Director Supplying and Appointing

Teachers The Supplying of Teachers is an Important Duty 57

How May These Teachers be Supplied ? . . 57

1. By Exhortation Made from the

Pulpit.

2. By Personal Requests to Teach

Coming from the Director.

3. By Having a Corps of Substitute

Teachers.

Contents xiii

4. By Training the Older Pupils in

the Art of Teaching.

5. By Maintaining a Normal Class.

6. By Having an Installation of

Teachers.

The Director Should Choose His Teachers

Wisely 60

Each- Teacher Should be Adapted to His

Class 60

Day-School Teachers Are Most Desirable 61 The Teachers Should be Specialists 62

CHAPTER XI The Relation* and Duties of the Pastor

to the Sunday-School

He Is Its Chief Officer 63

He Should Promote in Every Way Possible the Work of the Sunday-School. . 64

1. He Should Keep the Parish Thor-

oughly Interested in This.

2. He Should Be the Friend and Ad-

viser of Every Teacher.

3. He Should Confer with the Di-

rector if He Has Placed One in Charge.

4. Even when not Director, He

Should Assist in the Sunday- School.

Chapter XII

The Duties of Parents to the Sunday- School Parents Must Co-Operate with the Sunday-School 68 xiv Contents

They Must See that Their Children Attend Regularly and Punctually 68

They Must See that Their Children Learn Thoroughly the Lesson Assigned 69

They Should Promote Sunday-School Discipline 70

They Should Avoid Criticising the Sunday-School Adversely 70

CHAPTER XIII The Subordinate Officers of the Sunday- School

How Many Officers Are Required ? 72

Duties of the Assistant Director 72

Duties of the Secretary 73

Duties of the Treasurer 74

Duties of the Librarian 74

Who Should be Selected to Fill These

Offices 74

Except in Small Sunday-Schools, Subordinate Officers Are a Necessity 75

CHAPTER XIV The Sunday-School and Church Societies Church Societies Are a Great Aid to Sunday-School Work 76

CHAPTER XV The Sunday-School Educating Church

Workers The Children Should be Taught to Support the Church 79

Contents xv

CHAPTER XVI Sunday-School Entertainments

Occasional Entertainments Are Useful. . 81 Too Much Entertainment in the Sunday- School is Dangerous 81

Educational Entertainments Are Becoming Ever More Popular 82

CHAPTER XVII The Sunday-School and Temperance Work

Temperance Taught in Sunday-School. . 84 The Sunday-School Should Represent

Temperance as a Moral Duty 84

It Must Warn its Pupils Against the Evil

of Intemperance 85

It Must Safeguard Against this Evil 87

It Must be Overcome by Prevention 88

How Should the Sunday-School Teach

Temperance ? 89

The Pledge is a Power for Good 90

Right Views on Temperance Should be

Taught in the Sunday-School 91

CHAPTER XVIII The Best Time for Sunday- School

This Depends Largely on Circumstances 92 In Theory, the Morning is Preferable ... 92 Practically, the Afternoon is More Favorable 93

Different Classes at Different Hours 94 xvi Contents

CHAPTER XIX The Kindergarten Department The Kindergarten is Desirable and Necessary 96

How Many Classes Should There be in

the Kindergarten ? 97

Large Classes Are Preferable 97

1. Skilled Kindergarten Teachers Are

Rare.

2. The Little Ones Must be Kept

Moving.

3. Each Room Should be Fully

Equipped with Lesson Helps.

CHAPTER XX The Primary Department In This Department the Classes Should

be Small 99

Each Pupil Should be Rightly Classified 100 The Classes Should be Separated One

from Another 100

The Pupils Must be Induced to Attend

Regularly 100

They Must be Made to Learn Well the

Lesson Assigned 101

CHAPTER XXI How to Keep the Older Boys in Sunday- School Our Sunday-School is not Succeeding in

This 102

The Result of this Failure is Fatal and

Eternal 102

It is Difficult to Secure the Return of Boys Who Have Left the Sunday-School. ... 105

Contents xvii

Most of These Older Boys Can be Induced to Return 105

How Are the Older Boys to be Kept in the Sunday-School? 106

1. Thoroughly Competent Teachers

Must be Secured for Them.

2. Due Respect Must be Shown to

Them.

3. They Should be Made Useful.

4. They Should Receive Instruction

of Real Value.

5. Their Questions Should be Heard

and Answered.

6. The Instruction Given Them

Should be Practical.

7. They Must be Made to Realize that

the Sunday-School is not Solely for Little Children.

Parents Must be Made to See that These Older Boys Attend 112

Chapter XXII

Sunday-School Teachers ' Meetings Many Sunday-School Teachers Are Incompetent 113

For Supplying Teachers, Teachers ' Meetings are Almost a Necessity 115

1. They Bring the Teachers into So-

cial Unity.

2. They Foster and Increase Devo-

tion.

3. At them, Sunday-School Business

Can be Transacted.

4. They Afford an Opportunity for

Preparing Class Matter.

xviii Contents

Who Should Preside at These Meetings? 118 The Chief Purpose of These Meetings is

Method Study 119

How Can the Success of These Meetings

be Furthered 120

Chapter XXIII

The Duties of the Home to the Sunday- School The Home and the Sunday-School Must

Labor as One 123

Each Has its Own "Work to Perform 124

What Is to be Done by Each? 124

In Regard to Prayer 124

In Regard to Sunday-School Lessons .... 125

In Regard to the Practice of Religion . . . 125

In Regard to Christian Morality 126

In Regard to Companionship 126

In Regard to Habits 126

No Definite Line of Demarcation Can be Drawn between the Duties of the Parents and the Sunday-School 127

Chapter XXIV

The Sunday-School Library The Advantages Derived from a Sunday- School Library Are Many 129

1. It Acts as an Incentive and Re-

ward for Sunday-School Attendance.

2. It Keeps Alive in the Homes an

Active Interest in the Sunday- School.

3. It Carries the Influence of the

Sunday-School into the Home.

Contents xix

The Sunday-School Library is a Necessity 131

It Should be Catholic 132

The Library Books Should be Well

Selected 134

How Are These Books to be Secured ? . . . 134 Who Should be Appointed Librarian ? . . . 135 The Librarian Has Many Duties 136

1. He Should Value His Work.

2. He Should Make the Library as

Useful as Possible.

3. He Must Keep All in Order and

on Record.

A Reference Library for Teachers is Often Useful 137

CHAPTER XXV Sunday- School Supplies Many Supplies Are Needed 138

The Blackboard is an Indispensable Help 138 Sunday-School Papers Are a Necessity. . 139

Maps Are Very Useful 140

Religious Pictures Are Helpful 141

A Mimeograph or Printing Press May

Sometimes be Used 142

The Stereopticon Has Been Used with

Advantage 142

A Museum is Sometimes Had 143

CHAPTER XXVI Rewards of Merit Are Desirable 144

The Prevailing Method of Reward is Twofold 144

For What Should Rewards be Given?. . . 145 xx Contents

Regularity and Promptness of Attendance 145

Well-Learned Lessons 146

Bringing New Pupils into the Sunday- School 146

Which Gifts and Honors Are Most Suitable for Rewards ? 147

Chapter XXVII

Sunday-School Hall Architecture It Is of Various Styles and Generally Defective 150

The Sunday-School Classes Should be Together and yet Separated 151

The Sunday-School Rooms Should be Suitably Furnished 152

Chapter XXVIII

Branch Sunday-Schools Branch Sunday-Schools Are Desirable. . 153 Home Department Schools are Sometimes

Necessary 153

Branch Schools Sometimes Necessary .... 154 Children Living Far from the Church May Require Special Classes Instructed

at Special Times 156

Each Pastor Must Arrange These 157

Chapter XXIX

The Catholic Sunday-School and Non- Catholic Children Non-Catholic Children Ought to Attend

the Catholic Sunday-School 159

How Should We Regard Non-Catholics?. 160

Contents xxi

How Are We to Deal with Them? 161

Great Prudence Should Direct Our Efforts 162

The Children of All Denominations Should be Prudently Encouraged to Attend the Catholic Sunday-School . . . 163

CHAPTER XXX The Sunday-School Endeavoring to Educate Catholics

To be Catholic is to Live as Another Christ 167

The Children Must be Made Catholic. . . 167

They Must be Made to Believe the Church as Christ's Infallible Teacher 168

They Must be Taught to Obey the Church as Christ 's Duly Authorized Representative 169

They Can Not do This Without the Help of Grace 170

They Must be Actuated to Live Ever Prepared for Death 171

CHAPTER XXXI Prayer is Necessary for Salvation 173

The Children Must be Taught How to

Pray 173

They Should be Taught When to Pray. . 175 What Prayers Should the Children Say? 176 From Whom Should They Learn to Pray ? 178 What Must the Sunday-School Do in This

Work? 179 xxii Contents

CHAPTER XXXII Educating the Children to Assist Properly at Mass The Children Must Enow Clearly What

the Mass Is 180

Their Attendance at Mass on Sundays and Holydays of Obligation Must be Secured 181

Their Attendance at Mass Should be

Regular 181

Their Attendance at Mass Should be

Punctual 185

They Must be Educated to Hear Mass Devoutly 186

CHAPTER XXXIII Educating the Children to Make Worthy Confessions

The Children Must Understand How they Offend God by Sin 193

They Should Realize the Evil and Punishment of Sin 194

They Must Know How God's Forgiveness of Sin Is to be Secured 195

They Must be Prepared for Confession. . 196

They Should be Educated to go to Confession Regularly 197

They Should be Educated to Make Each Confession Well 198

The Duty of the Sunday-School in Regard to Confession 198

Contents xxiii

CHAPTER XXXIV Educating the Children to Receive Holy Communion

They Must be Familiar with the Doctrines of the Holy Eucharist 200

They Must be Inflamed with Love for the Blessed Sacrament 201

They Should Value Rightly the Grace Received in Holy Communion 202

They Must Know what Preparation is Required for a Worthy Communion 203

They Must be Prepared for Receiving Holy Communion Well , 204

They Should be Educated to Communicate Frequently 205

This Should be the Sunday-School's Chief Endeavor 206

CHAPTER XXXV Educating the Children to Follow their Vocation

God Gives to Each Person a Special Vocation 210

Different States of Life are Designed for Different Persons 212

1. Virginity.

2. Matrimony,

3. The Religious State.

The Life of a Religious is One of Supreme Joy and Blessing 216 xxiv Contents

A Vocation to the Religious Life Should not be Neglected 219

Parents Should Foster the Religious Vocations of Their Children 220

Pastors Should Encourage Religious Vocations 221

4. The Priesthood.

CHAPTER XXXVI Fostering Vocations to the Priesthood The Work of Salvation is the Work of Christ 223

The Priesthood Was Instituted by Christ

Himself 223

To Enter the Priesthood a Special Vocation is Necessary 224

No One Should Enter the Priesthood

Without such a Vocation 225

A Vocation to the Priesthood May be Lost 227 The Reality of This Vocation Must be Determined 227

The Three Marks of a True Vocation. ... 228

1. The Necessary Ability.

2. A Sincere Desire.

3. A Pure Intention.

Vocations to the Priesthood Should be Discovered and Fostered 234

1. The Priest Should Decide Con-

cerning the Reality of the Vocation.

2. He Should Know the True Marks

of a Divine Vocation.

3. He Must Find Out and Assist

Those Called to the Priesthood.

Contents xxv

4. He Must Protect Them from the

Influence of Evil.

5. He Should Direct Their Educa-

tion.

6. The Parents Should Co-operate

with the Priest in This Work.

7. The Financial Means Needed

Should be Supplied.

8. The Priest Should Attract Others

to the Priesthood by His Life.

9. The Priest Should Pray for Voca-

tions.

The Fostering of Vocations Brings Countless Blessings 243

APPENDIX Encyclical of Pius X on the Teaching of Christian Doctrine 249

Chapter I Necessity And Pukpose Of Religious Instruction

Its Necessity Has Always Been Recognized, — Religious instruction has been considered from the very beginning as vitally essential to the well-being of God's people. God spoke to our First Parents in the Garden of Paradise, instructed them in His holy truth, and revealed unto them His divine will. Our First Parents repeated to their children what they had learned from their Creator. The patriarchs and the prophets taught and explained to the people the divinely revealed truth. The Doctors of the law did the same. Even in the days of Christ, religious instruction was given in the home, in the school, and in the synagogue. On the afternoon of the Sabbath, the Jewish synagogue became a "Beth-ha-midrash," a house of search, or study. In some ways this resembled our present Sunday-school.

Christ while still a boy of twelve years 1 was found by His blessed Mother and foster-father in the Temple, asking and answering questions about the revealed truth and the divinely given law. At the age of thirty, when He began His public mission of teaching and saving the world, He not only preached formal sermons to the multitude, but He also taught His truth catechetically; that is, He explained this in words, figures, and parables, so simple and yet so sublime that even the lowly shepherds, as they listened to His discourse, beheld new worlds of truth, beautifully pictured. The early Christian Church modeled its method of religious instruction largely on that of Christ, the Teacher of Man. This Saviour and God of all sent His apostles forth to " teach all nations' ' whatsoever He had commanded them. Therefore it has always been the bounden duty of the Church to teach through duly ordained bishops, priests, and ministers this truth to all people ; and, likewise, it has ever been the God-imposed obligation of the people to receive this truth as from on high, to learn its import, and to obey its commands. This mission the Church has never ceased to perform. The doctrines taught have always been essentially the same. The methods employed for teaching this doctrinal truth, however, have been varied from time to time, and in many ways have been improved during the ages.

The True Purpose of the Sunday-School is Teaching and not Preaching. — In the pulpit the truths of Christianity are proclaimed in a formal and oratorical manner. This is termed preaching. In the Sunday-school hall, they are set forth rather in a conversational way. They are so explained and illustrated by question and answer, figure, parable, and story, that the merest child can grasp the essential meaning, and by a process of mental assimilation make it a part of life's existence. This is teaching. It is developing in the mind of the child a picture, clear and comprehensive, of truth, natural and revealed, in its proper coloring and perspective, and then inducing the child to model into conformity with this his life and existence.

The preacher proclaims a doctrine in a general and comprehensive manner; while the teacher first ascertains with which part of the truth the child is already familiar, and then tactfully leads him on to the knowledge of the remainder which is as yet unknown. The preacher speaks to the congregation; the teacher to the individual. The preacher strives to influence, guide, and ennoble public sentiment, opinion, and activity; the teacher to mold and Christianize personal character. As a sculptor, he goes from soul to soul, remedying defects, chiseling away deformities, and beautifying all.

The Sunday-School Should Educate Each Child in His Religion. — Its first duty, however, is to care for those children whose parents are regular Church members. This is only just. Those families which attend, assist, and support a church, have the first right to share in its blessing and service. In fact, generally speaking, they are the ones which will derive the greatest and most lasting benefit therefrom. No matter how careless some parents of a parish may be, however, their children should not be abandoned or neglected. All possible should be done for each. The individual child must be developed into a practical Church member with a permanently formed Christian character.

The Sunday-School Should Develop Each Child into a Practical Church Member. — The children of to-day will form the congregations of the near future. As the children are now, the parishioners will be then. Those who are now permitted to leave the Sunday-school deficient in Christian knowledge and religious training will prove of little assistance or credit to the future Church. Their influence will tend to demoralize and contaminate all with whom they come in contact ; and, as to their own salvation, it will be exposed to the greatest peril. On the other hand, children who are thoroughly educated in Christian doctrine and rightly trained in Catholic practice will appreciate their holy religion and learn to love their Church more and more as their days of life pass by. They will generously respond to its every demand of needed sacrifice, be loyal to its interest, zealous in laboring to extend its influence, and assiduous in striving by all just means to increase its honor and glory. Their influence will be uplifting and Christianizing, and their salvation will be practically assured. For a time they may be induced to wander from the path of virtue, but experience generally shows that sooner or later the grace of God and a rightly-formed conscience will impel them to return. The work of educating each child into a practical Church member is therefore one of vital importance.

For Accomplishing This Work the Best and Most Effective Methods Should be Employed. — Since no work is more sacred, none more vitally important and lasting in its results than that of saving human souls from unending misery and bringing them safely into the realms of joy and glory eternal, it evidently follows, that the means and methods employed for the accomplishment of this work should be such as will effect the salvation of the greatest number. This has ever been the unwavering conviction of Christ's holy Church.

Improved Methods Are Especially to be Desired at the Present Time. — Modern methods of secular education are vastly different from those employed fifty or even twenty-five years ago. They are in many ways supremely superior. The great majority of our Sunday-school children are attending the day-schools, public or parochial, and are more or less familiar with this fact. In many Sunday-schools, however, scholarly and systematic methods are to a great extent lacking. The young people who attend these, naturally begin at once to perceive a manifest deficiency and a deplorable ineffectiveness, and to realize that they are not acquiring in the Sunday-school the knowledge of their religion and the spiritual advantages which they should. As a result, they soon lose interest in the recitation, become dissatisfied, and withdraw. This evil can be remedied, at least to a great extent, by maintaining in our Sunday-schools both the scholarly method and the thorough efficiency which are found in the day-schools.

Requirements Essentially Necessary for Making the Sunday-School a Success. — For bringing the Sunday-school up to the high standard of efficiency desired, certain requirements are indispensable. A trained superintendent must be had, competent teachers secured, suitable helps supplied, and a proper system of grading maintained.

1. A trained superintendent must be had. This is generally to be found in the person of the pastor or his assistant. Whenever it is at all possible, the parish priest ought always to be the superintendent of his own Sunday-school. Even the priest, however, can not successfully organize and efficiently conduct a Sunday-school without much preparatory study and labor. A practical preparation for this work should begin, in fact, during the seminary course, and should be continued day after day from the time of ordination until that of death. This is the priest's first duty in regard to the Sunday-school, but not his only one. For so great and so varied is the work of the ordinary Sunday-school, that it requires the united labor of several persons to effect its successful accomplishment.

2. Trained teachers are needed. The teachers assisting in the Sunday-school should compare favorably with those of the day-school. Too often these teachers are found to be almost entirely untrained and to possess little or no skill for their work. Their ideas of Christian doctrine are not clear-cut, practical, and comprehensive, but crude and indefinite. As to the blessings which Christianity offers and the obligations which it imposes, they are to a great extent ignorant. They even neglect to study and master the lesson to be taught, and hence are incapable of impressing this on the minds of their pupils. They know almost nothing of the principles and methods on which successful teaching is based.

They lack natural ability and aptitude for the work. In a word, they are in many cases entrusted with the charge of a class solely because competent and desirable teachers can not be secured. To remedy this evil, a special effort must be made to train and qualify a suitable teaching force for the Sunday-school. The vital importance of this can scarcely be exaggerated. It is becoming ever more manifest, and as the years pass by more stress is being laid on it by zealous and devoted pastors. In many parishes, teachers' classes have been formed, teachers' meetings maintained, and teachers' institutes held for the purpose of supplying the required number of competent teachers. It would be well and of great advantage if the weekly Sunday-school lessons could be so graded that all the children could be taught the same topic on the same Sunday. Then the pastor could hold a weekly meeting of his teachers, and together they could discuss the lesson assigned and the most successful methods of presenting this to the pupils, and of impressing it on their minds and hearts.

3. Suitable helps should be supplied. It is practically impossible to conduct a successful Sunday-school without convenient rooms, standard text-books, blackboards, maps, and so forth. These, in as far as it is possible, should be supplied promptly and adequately.

4. The Sunday-school should be properly graded. The success of our day-schools is greatly increased by their system of grading and there is no doubt that a similar system would immeasurably increase our Sunday-school's efficiency for good. A complete system of grading may not be feasible in those small country parishes where there are at most only twenty-five or thirty children; but in the larger towns and cities it is possible and most desirable. For a crying fault, due at least in part to the present system, is that our boys and girls depart from the Sunday-school hall just at the age when they become able to realize the significance and appreciate the value of religious instruction. In fact, they leave the Sunday-school even at the very beginning of life's most critical period, at the very time when they most need its sustaining and Christianizing influence to keep them from being allured into sin and vice. Our Sunday-school should do all in its power to retain among its members and under its instruction not only the little children, but also the youth, in fact, the young men and the young women of the parish. To effect this, the Sunday-school itself must be unusually attractive, the course of study must be so arranged that a broader and deeper view of Christianity is presented to the pupils during their every successive year, and the recitations must be so conducted as to make the members of the Sunday-school realize and appreciate the fact, that by their continued attendance they are acquiring a better and more helpful knowledge of their religion. Of late, we are glad to say, much time and thought has been devoted to the arrangement of a welldefined course of Sunday-school study, such as will impart to those who pursue it a practical and thorough knowledge of Christian doctrine. Even greater effort in this must be had in order to bring the methods employed in our Sunday-schools up to the high standard which modern education requires. A more thorough system of grading than that now found in many of our Sunday-schools is not only a thing to be desired, but a necessity, and there is no adequate reason why it should not be had.

12 Religious Instruction Necessary

For the fundamental idea of proper grading is not so complex as at first thought it may seem. It is in fact remarkably simple, and can be carried out to some extent in the smaller Sunday-schools as well as in the larger ones. In all things, however, this system of grading should be so arranged and modified as to be adapted to the individual Sunday-school, class, and pupil. In the Sunday-school, nothing should be tolerated which is detrimental or useless, or which from its very nature does not most efficiently concur to the accomplishment of one grand result, the development of practical Church members, possessed of strong Catholic characters.

Chapter II The Relation Of The Sunday-school To The Church

The Sunday-School is a Department of the Church. — The Sunday-school should always be recognized as a most important and vitally essential part of the Church. It is the school wherein the pastor, assisted by a corps of competent teachers, labors week after week with the children of his parish, striving by all available means to train and develop them into practical Catholics. In as far as he succeeds in this, he increases the membership of the Church, militant and triumphant. This is truly the work of Christ carried on by His disciples. It can not be accomplished, however, without expense.

The Sunday-School Should be Supported by the Church. — The financial support required for the maintenance of the Sunday-school should be supplied judiciously, yet freely, by the Church. Moreover, as soon as the pastor is convinced that class-rooms, 13

14 The Relation of the

blackboards, maps, papers, and other helps are needed for bringing his Sunday-school up to the high standard of efficiency desired, he should, in as far as the means at hand will permit, supply these without hesitation. This will necessitate an expenditure of money. Suppose it does? The people are willing and glad to furnish money which they see well expended in the defraying of needed Church expense; and no person of common sense can visit one of those Sunday-schools wherein he beholds the children crowded together into one confused, restless, noisy mass of youthful humanity without realizing the utter impossibility of priest or teacher imparting amid such surroundings the necessary religious instruction or training. To conduct a successful recitation amid such environment is in fact a moral impossibility. The religious instruction of such children is being neglected ; and often this is permitted simply because those in charge are so accustomed to this slovenly way of conducting Sunday-school that they have grown indifferent or at least blind to its flagrant defects, or else because, for pecuniary reasons, they are unwilling to incur what

Sunday -School to the Church 15

is wrongly deemed an unnecessary expense. "These Sunday-schools were good enough for the children of fifty years ago, and they are good enough for the children of to-day," is sometimes said. Such a course of reasoning is not only illogical, but false and criminal. An efficient Sunday-school can not be maintained without suitable rooms and apparatus, and it is most unwise for any parish to be wilfully delinquent in supplying these. For in as far as the Sunday-school fails in the accomplishment of its sacred mission, the children stroll away from the Church into paths of sin and vice, and even the parents become similarly negligent in their religious devotion and practice. Into the attractive and successful Sunday-school, however, children of all classes and of all denominations gather. Assisted and influenced by its teaching and training, they daily come to understand more thoroughly the doctrines of Christianity, and, as a result, to make more cheerfully the sacrifices which their Church requires and to fulfill more gladly the obligations which it imposes. From their souls, as from living mirrors, the truth, the power, and the

16 Sunday-School and Church

beauty of Christ is reflected in the lives of all about them, tending to enlighten, to beautify, and to transform all into practical members of the Catholic Church.

Chapter III The Religious Life Of The Sunday-school

The Spiritual in the Sunday-School Must Animate the Material. — That the Sunday-school should be properly organized and equipped no one will deny. More than this, however, is required. For although its organization were perfect and its equipment adequate to every need, so long as it would remain devoid of spiritual life it would be like unto a beautifully formed human body from which the soul was absent. This should be well borne in mind, for it seems but natural in Sunday-school, as in other kinds of Church work, to place the material success above the spiritual. It is more easily achieved. To systematize a Sunday-school and to maintain intact its mechanical organization, is far easier than to spiritualize it and to hold it continually up to a high religious standard. Material success wins greater applause from the world. It is more manifest, more attrac- 17