If you don't, who will

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Part of The Little Apostle of the Mountain Province

Title: If you don't, who will
Language: English
Year: 1924
Rights
Fulltext: on his horse or walks on foot to the spot where, healing the hocly, he may sa\·e a soul. At home he has a poor bed, a poor kitchen, poor food, 110 comfort or what might be called by that name in this century of eomfort, but he has God and, while hi:o pngan neighbors honor perhaps the cleYil, he knef'ls down bt>fore the little tabernacle to implnre 8trength for himself a11rl light for tho:"e who :'it in the darkness of hell. He wirn' some souls. \\'hat a joy! There is no joy on earth like the happiness of bringing some souls into the outstretched arms of the crucified God-man. But there are more to be won for heaven. Farther and farth2r he spreads his activities. Often he is tired. His travels are exhausting in the mountains. Dangers surround him: precipices, sickness without help, unknown roads, perhaps enemies who hate him as does Satan their master. But there is a guardian angel to guide him and a Providence to take care of him as long as it shall please God. He builds a more decent chapel, a modest school, he writes letters upon letters to expose his necessities to his parents and friends. How 3 often does he write in vain! How excrueiating to see the good to be llone thru schools and catechists and not to have the means to do it! Bnt on he goes. And when suceess has crowned his superhuman efforts, some day a letter arrive;: from his superior saying "go" and he is sent to another di:"tant u11known place to find it in thf' same eondition as his first misSJ on. Dis('onragr<l '? -- No. He will begin all his work over again and later he will begin it a third time and more, till finally an unwritten letter arrin's from his Great Superior not ~a.ring: "go" but "come". And ewn there the work of the :\lissionary shall not stop. Yes, even there he \\·ill remain a missionary praying for the missions, praying for his benefactors. Must not these prayers be powerful before the Lord'? Yes, the missionary will remember you in his daily mass; the converts you make by your help, owing to you their salvation, will be grateful and above all, Christ Your Redeemer, 'Vhom you help by redeeming others, will reward you here and hereafter. If You Don't, Who Will 1 The object of this monthly Review is shown by the title: "THE LITTLE APOSTLE OF THE :MOUNTAIN PROVINCE." My dear readers: You are all acqainted with the Mountain Province of Northern Luzon. It is inhabited by 300,000 non christian people, Filipinos as well as are the Tagalogs, the Ilocanos, the Visayans. In the year 1907 the Belgian Mission4aries of the Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of M:ar,v were called by the then Bishop of Vigan, now Cardinal of Philadelphia, Monsenor O'Dougherty and the then Apostolic Delegate, )lonsenor Agius, and were ordered by the Sacred Congregation of the Propagation of Faith and the Ho· ly Father to undertake the C'onversion of these 300,000 Filipino inhabitants of the )lountain ProvinC'e. Eight Missionaries arrived during the month of November of the same year and went immediately to that un· cultivated vineyard of the Lord. Since that time about 16,000 Igorotes have been converted at the price of great sacrifices, both in money and personal hard work. 16,000 out of 300,000 seems very few after 16 years. Little by little, however, this Review will show why no more than 16,000have joined the Cathoiic Church, exposing the enormous difficulties in the conversion of that vast province, the Alps of the Philippines. But let it be said now that the strongest reason why only 16,000 have been baptized is: the lack of resources for real missionary work, especially schoolwork. The Missionaries have sacrificed their personal fortune and income. Belgium, already supporting missions in China, Congo and other pagan countries, has backed its Missionaries as far as it could, especially before the war. The United States have contributed largely to the evangelization of the Igorotes. But ... yes, there is a but ... but the Philippines could have done more. Certainly some good Catholics have sent in their alms to the organization of the "Union that nothing be lost." Lately too, many children from Manila have offered their mites for the building of a few chapels in God's desert of the Mountain Province. But more could and should have been done by the brethrt'Tl of the trilJes of the ~foun tain Prm·irwe. And why is it that eomparatiYely so little has been sacrificed by the Filipino catholics':' Because they have not been informed enough of the actual eonditions of the faith among the Igorotes. Ber-ause they have not enough understoud the necessities of the '.\lissionaries among the pagan tribes of this countl'y. Beeau~e the generosity of the Filipino eatholies has not enough bPen stirrPd up. Appeals to their catholic faith and duty. to their high patriotism. to their ncble charity. have been very few. NeYPrtheless whPT1ever thesp appeals have been made, thPy have been answered immPdiately. alas! airain tu be more or less neglected later. Therefore it is the purpose of this little Review to visit the catholic homes and especiall~- the eatholie schools of the Archipelago. to show the needs of the missions in the '.\fountain Province, thP work of its missionaries. the com·ersion of the pagans. the results and success of both thP Missionaries in the field and the mi~ sionaries at home, who are you, my dear readers, who by yt•ur generous help are really missionaries as 'veil as those who saerifice thPmselves personally: yes, without the missionaries at home, little or nothing can thP missionaries in the field do. In you. Ca· tholics, is their hope. In you is the hope of the 300,000 pagans of the Mountain Province: by your help shall the word of Christ reach them. If then you have any interest in the work of Christ, in the christianization and civilization of your brethren in Christ and your compatriots, read this little Review, make a subscription to it. After you have read it give it to a neighbor: be a missionary of the "Little Apostle of the Mountain Province" and you will be a real apostle to receive some day the reward of the Apost,ies in heaHll. Xow is the time. The :\fountain Province must be converted. It shall be converted, and that within a short tiine. if you. dear re~d<:>rs, do your part. Let more help c··ime in and the mL.;sionaries in the )[ountain Province shall be n1ultiplied, their work too shall ue mt:ltiplied thru more and !Jetter or;'j ganization. It all depends on YO'C, on YOUR apostle~hip. Sure you will answer my appeal for a subscription to this little Review and for spreading it among your frieds : for all this, rest assured, the :Missionaries in the )fountain Province will not only thank you but they will pray for you. A Letter from father Claerhoudt, Missionary in Bokod :\OTE: Bokod is a small lirorote town in the north<'rn part of Beniruet. In former years it was visited now and then by the Missionary of itugon (near Bag-uio). But the people of Rokod and sm·roundings seemed to be so well dis1KJsed towards Christianity. that a year ago i l was dt>cided to send a missionary there. And the means to supPQrt him? I. the un<l<>rsign<'<I. promised to collect a fund sufficient to pro>i<lt> the Father at Bokod with one hnntfrt><l pe,os u month. In the meantime he should lh~<' on camotes. rice and what else l'rovidPn<'e would send. ~o Father Claf'rhoudt. old soldier of the world war. was sPnt to that promising place. If he- tnf"ntions a wondPr in his following lettPr. he iorgrts to sa1· that h<> himself he has Lef'll a continous wonder in his work. Poor in hralth. lw ha,; worked day and night and that without tlw necessary food he should ha'" had. He can easily figure out how often lw ta st rd mPat at his mission. - Why? -Well. the fund wa:-; not rPad:r and is not read,\~ as ~n-:r) tPll thf' truth. P 10.000 more are rPqui1ed. But now that THE LITTLE APOSTLE OF THE ;\IUCXTAIX PROYINCE will make a little noise about the fund. I hope to complele it within a short time. Ma1· I be a true prophrt ! · Any alms sent for this purPQse will IJe announced in this re,iew.-0. Yan&iralle. Here follows the letter of Father Claerhoudt. Bokod, Feh. 11, 1924. Dear Father Yandewalle. I thank you a thousand times for the 50 yards of cloth you sent to cover the nakedness of the dear little lgorote angels of my mission. How they like to have a dress, but they do not always have it : they are so poor! Thanks be to Gt)d, there is progress at Bokod. It is true the old pagans of Bokod refuse still to be baptized, but. those who are already baptized become more fervent. Several of then1 receive Holy Communion every day. You understand what a sacrifice it is for them to <'Orne to the <'hapel every morning. Yery early they have to go to their fields and they return late in the e\·ening to pound rice and do other heaYy work, before they can take their well earned rest of the night. )I ow these fen·ent converts pray for their townmates. I am sure that, within a short time, Our dear Lord shall be loved and served here by all His children from Bokod an<l that with a pure heart. Blessed Little Theresa of the Infant Jesus has cured here a young girl, a pagan as yet who, I hope, will later ask for baptism. It is not for nothing that the Bles~ Little Theresa is the patroness of my mission. Yesterday I found a young boy, the