ONE MASS A YEAR

But 500 miles of
grace each week
sioner in Northampton, a diocese in which Catholics have
increased 125 per cent. during the 14 years' episcopate of Bishop Parker.
With the coming of Home Mission Sunday, Fr. Hulme writes to
THE CA IHOLIC HERALD to say that although much of that increase is in the built-up areas and the spread-out towns such as Luton. Slough, and Ipswich, there are villages in the " wide open spaces' where he knows that there will be 20 people for the ammo, Mass.
In every one of 600 villages visited by the travelling missioner there is at least one Catholic. Not so many years ago, he writes, " large tracts of the countryside were without Catholics. so they were no headache for the country priest.
All different
"All he could do was to pray that God would not forget such wide-open spaces. Nowadays, all too frequently, the parish priest has a growing flock in the small town or towns which he cares for, which is more than enough for one man to cope with.
" A good priest must groan as he thinks, in addition. of the needs of the scattered Catholics in the country around the town."
Inks 100 such areas goes the travelling missioner. Each place is different hut Fr. Hulme has chosen several typical centres: Town A: Because it is a little town, is reasonably near the town where the parish church is, with one bus on Sunday morning to the late Mass. There are just over 100 Catholics and children of Catholics, besides a fair sprinkling of European workers.
Even with a hits. some of them are over Iwo miles from the bus route. There is the usual share of registry office marriages, and over a dozen children without a notion of their Faith.
Village B has just over 100 Catholics. There is a bus to the late Mass, there is a Catechism class in the village and the parish priest visits it.
The travelling missioner says Mass there to give a few extra people the chance of going to Holy Communion while a neighbour looks after the tinies. There are 12 Catholic families With 21 children. of whom 17 are certainly good Catholics. There are eight mixed marriages, the father being the Catholic in four
instances. There are 11 children of these marriages: four are good Catholics, five may turn out well, and two are doubtful quantities.
The saddest cases. saysFr. Hulme, are two further families where the Catholic partner has died and the eight children are not being brought up as Catholics.
A zealous convert in Village C eight miles from ,Mass. now hires a bus for 20 local Catholics.
Village D is 15 miles from Mass. Area E• has 50 Catholics scattered over 31) square miles. Tillage F has 15 Catholics and their children. two of these not even baptised. Of the rest, two are married outside the Church. half the others arc slack, but the occasional appearance of the travelling missioner makes them all turn Up.
Marriage outside the Church is the great enemy, emphasises Fr. Hulme. He says: " Even where the marriage is in the Catholic Church one aspect of a mixed marriage which is not often dwelt on is the hopelessness of the task of bringing up the children in their religion if the Catholic parent dies."
The work available for the travelling missioner is limitless. In the majority of villages there is no bus whatever on a Sunday morning.
While asking " people in their snug parishes to meditate on the blessings that are theirs" Fr. Hulme says: " One thing is quite certain, namely, that the grace of God is flowing in our countryside as never before. in a tide that will not be denied."