SUNDAY MASS CRUSADE AND "CATHOLIC HERALD" PEACE PLAN

Fifty-six thousand copies of a booklet outlining the aims of the
Sunday Mass Crusade have already been distributed ill England.
At the special request of Pope Pius XI the Miss, Dominicalis, the Sunday Mass Crusade was established in England last year under
the general direction of the Rev. John P. Waterkeyn.
Fr. Waterkeyn, writing in support of the CATHOLIC HERALD Plan for Peace, says that without prayer no movement can succeed, and of all prayers the sacrifice of the Mass is most efficacious. The launching of this plan is an appropriate moment to call to mind the aim of the Crusade.
It is to make new and deepen the realisation of the truth that the sacrifice of the Mass is the most efficacious of prayers and to combat the chief cause of laxity in faith and morals, which is the neglect of the obligation to hear Mass on Sundays that the Missa Dominicans has been founded.
FORMAL PLEDGE A formal pledge is taken by members never to miss Mass through their own fault, and actively to support and encourage the Crusade.
Since its inception in 1037 the movement has made most remarkable progress and a spiritual committee of ,e Missa Dominicans " has been established in • Rome, to which delegates of 34 Religious Orders have been appointed.
Moreover, the hierarchy in France has unanimously decided that this movement shall be started in every diocese of that country; similar action has also been taken by the hierarchies of Belgium and Holland.
BEGINNINGS AT LOURDES
The idea began in Lourdes during the Jubilee Year of the Redemption. For three days and nights, from April 25 to 28, 1035, Mass was celebrated at the Grotto of Lourdes. This unique event, the fervour of those who participated, the presence of the Papal Legate, the
personal presence of Pius XI by the broadcasting of his address at the close of the Triduum, all these factors contributed to make these three days a manifestation of the triumph of the Mass.
This climax over, it was expedient to assure a future worthy of such splendour. Pope Pius XI had clearly expressed this desire in his Apostolic letter to Mgr. Gerlier, then Bishop of Tarbes and Lourdes: " The permanent fruit of the Triduum ought to be an increase in devotion to the august sacrifice of the Mass."
The object, if not the programme, of such a Crusade was contained in this wish of the Pope; increase in devotion to the Mass, that is to say above all, the more exact and more fervent fulfilment of the duty of attendance at Sunday Mass.
Lourdes having been the place chosen for the Triduum of Masses it was fitting that the inauguration of the Crusade of the Sunday Mass should take place there.
This was done, In a letter from Lourdes, dated February, 1937, his Excellency Mgr. Gerlier explained to his Eminence Cardinal Pacelli the idea of Missa Dominicans. He asked him, who had been the Papal Legate at Lourdes, to be good enough to put this plan before Pius XI, who at once approved and blessed the Crusade.
Parish priests, or Catholic Action Councils interested in the movement, as they are bound to be interested In its object, should apply to the Rev. John P. Waterkeyn, 24, Golden Square, London, W.1.
Mgr. Scanlon, who was himself a lawyer, will be celebrant at the Mass of the Society of Our Lady of Good Counsel, with which the Society commemorate the feast on Sunday, April 30, at the Church of SS. Anselm and Cecilia, Kingsway. Mgr. David Mathew, who has promised to preach, has also many Interesting connections with the law and the Society of Our Lady of Good Counsel. He is a nephew of the present hon. treasurer, Mr Theobald Mathew, and served as • a midshipman in the Navy under the present vice-chairman, Commander Harrington Edwards.