And what we say of these divisions of space, may also be said of those of time.  As the glorious memories of the divine history of the Church belong to each individual Catholic, so also should the possibilities of her future destinies in our country and throughout the world, preoccupy his thoughts and affections in the present.

This is one of the most comprehensive and most pregnant aspects of the Church.  It throws open the whole world to the zeal of every individual Catholic.  Wherever the tents of Israel are, there he finds his home, be it in the wilds of Africa, or on the islands of Oceanica, under the scorching sun of the tropics or in the snows of the lonely North.  But as we are more closely united with those among whom Divine Providence has cast our lot in this world, our home-missions have the first claim on our zeal and generosity.  For, according to St. Thomas Acquinas, the more or less close relationship with our neighbor is the measure of the intensity of our love and devotedness.

We now understand what the Church Extensions’ claim means for the missions of Canada.  The intention of the Society, as we may readily see, is not to limit our zeal to any national issue, but rather, to develop more easily the missionary spirit and direct its first effort to the welfare of our own countrymen by the consideration of our own wants.

2. Historic Principle.—­The lesson of facts is very often more striking than that of doctrine.  They are here the concrete expression, in the various nations, and through the course of centuries, of those fundamental principles we have just considered.  It is indeed a law of Catholic History, that the more Catholic a nation is, the more apostolic, the more missionary it will prove itself to be.  The missionary spirit is the test of Catholicity, the abiding proof of its solidarity.

The history of Catholic nations justifies this statement; their zeal for the propagation of the faith will explain their rise and downfall in the eyes of the Church.  Ireland is a classical illustration of this point.  Poor, persecuted, downtrodden, the land of the Gael still remains the seminary of the world’s apostles.  The foreign missions always appealed to the Irish people and “the limits of the earth have heard the voice” of its zealous missionaries.  Does not France, notwithstanding the persecution of the Church by its government, still remain the great missionary country of the world?  She sends more missionaries and gives more monetary aid to the “Propagation of the Faith” than any other Catholic nation.  England’s return to Catholicism is most promising, for her converts of yesterday are already in the field afar.  The awakening of that same apostolic spirit in the Church of the United States is the most convincing sign of the great strides Catholicity is making in that land of Liberty.

This unwritten law which prevails throughout the history of Catholic nations and expresses so forcibly and so persistently the doctrinal principle of which we spoke, justifies the claims of the Catholic Extension and gives strength to its appeal.