CAMPION HOUSE, OSTERLEY

OVER 700 VOCATIONS SAVED \ In 1919 Father Edmund Lester, S.J., made Campion \ House into a house of studies for late vocations, as one \ way of meeting the shortage of priests occasioned by the first world war. Since that date, vocations to the priesthood have increased, but not in proportion to the growth of the Catholic population. The Newman Demographic Survey of priestly vocations, 1870-1957, makes it clear \ that more vocations are urgently needed. On way of
In i elnogt.his need is by fostering and encouraging late VOCCaLins
Campion House, Osterley, exists to help to the priesthood 1 young men between eighteen and forty who do not know Latin, or who, through lack of opportunity or family 1 circumstances, have not yet reached a standard in \ education sufficient to enable them to enter a Major \ Seminary or a religious order. It prepares for all dioceses and all religious orders young men who otherwise would • find great difficulty in reaching the priesthood. It can now take a total of 135 and is always full. This year they
are made up of English, Welsh, Scots,'Irish, Poles, one ' American and one Hungarian. Although the road to the
\ priesthood is long and arduous, at least half of those who start reach the final goal. Up to the present 710 have
• been ordained, but of these nineteen have died. t SELF HELP ENCOURAGED
t While they are at Osterley, they help to support them\ selves, and any technical skill they possess is put to good \ 1 use. They produce their own fruit and vegetables from \ \ a large garden of some thirteen acres. This year they k \ designed, built, fitted and painted a large ablution hall t t containing twenty-five shower-baths.
\t They are also responsible for teaching catechism to the \
children of two parishes in the Paddington district. \ All these duties help candidates for the priesthood to \ \ become energetic, self-reliant and resourceful, ready to k
\ stand up to difficulties, and take life as it comes, instead ,Nt • of always wanting life to be just what they would like it t I.to be. 1 AN ARMY OF BENEFACTORS \ The cost of maintaining 135 young men with unbelievable appetites, of course, is rising. If they can pay their own way, or can get some one to pay it for them, this is always welcome. If they cannot, they are accepted all the same.
Ever since Father Lester's first appeal in 1919, no suitable candidate has been refused at Osterley through inability to pay for himself. This is due to a great army of benefactors who are constantly sending gifts or remembering Osterley in their wills. If you would like to join that army or fill up some of the gaps made in it by death, write to the Reverend Clement Tigar, S.J., Campion House, Osterley, Isleworth, Middlesex.