It is useless, we believe, to state that a crusade of prayers would be the sustaining force of this movement.  We all know that the salvation of souls is above all a supernatural process.  We may sow, another may water the seed,—­but it is for God to give the growth,—­Deus autem incrementum dat.

The development and fostering of “missionary vocations" would be the natural sequel to this movement at large, in the Church of Canada.  How many young men and women could not the field-secretary find here and there, and direct to the mission fields where the harvest is plentiful and the harvesters few.

III.—­Who?

The function of a field-secretary or organizer is a delicate one, we fully understand.  But we are firmly convinced that priests can be found, who, with tact, intelligence and enthusiasm for the great Cause of Missions, and backed with the authority and sympathy of the Ordinary, are bound to make this work a success.  There is a wave of the missionary spirit passing over the Church of God.  The clergy and the people are eager to help missions at Home and Abroad.  But they desire a concrete, workable plan to pin their activities to; they are waiting for something definite to act upon, and a responsible representative of the cause to work with.

Until the development of the organization would call for a diocesan organizer, one priest could act for a Province or Region of the Country.  The ordinary objection which our proposal here would meet with, would be the lack of personnel.  There is, we know, a shortage of priests everywhere.  But would not the Church, as a whole, in Canada and throughout the world, receive more benefit from the life of a priest entirely dedicated to this work of Missions, than if it were given to a specific parish or diocese.  Even were a parish or small country mission to be deprived for the time being of a resident pastor, should not that sacrifice be made, generously and cheerfully, for the sake of a greater cause.  It is assuredly a short-sighted policy to sacrifice hundreds of thousands of souls for the care of a few, to prefer the welfare of a parish to that of the Church at large.  This reasoning and its disastrous consequences are surely not Catholic.

We emphasise the necessity for the organizer to consecrate his life solely to this proposed work.  At this price alone will he make it a success.  Without doubt, it is the work of a man, the work of a life.

God grant that we may see the day when all the latent Missionary forces of the Church of Canada will be awakened and united in one great gigantic effort of apostolate!  These forces form an invisible army of reserves on which the Church is to draw, to fill, as it were, the depleted ranks of Her Missionary units throughout the world.  The lack of organization is the weakness of our strength.  Let the leaders come forward, and we ourselves shall be astonished at the latent powers of Faith in the Church of Canada.