INSTRUCTIONS.

THE LEAGUE OF THE SACRED HEART

S THE proper name of the Apostleship of Prayer as an Association. It is distinct in end, means, and organization, from the Confraternity and the Living Rosary.

Its Associates league together in certain easy but strong devotions to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, for obtaining His and their own intentions, thus practising an Apostleship of Prayer, with mutual share in merits.

It numbers 15,000,000 Associates in all parts of the world, including nearly all Religious Orders.

Its motto is Thy Kingdom Come.

Its exterior and distinctive sign is the Badge.

Its devotions are the Three Degrees:

1st. At the morning prayers to consecrate the day, its prayers, works, and sufferings, to the Sacred Heart. This Morning Offering is the one duty of all Associates. 2d. The daily Rosary decade (1 Our Father, 10 Hail Maries, 1 Glory). Those who practise this, form Rosary Bands.

3d. A monthly or weekly Communion of Reparation for sins against our Lord. The 2d and 3d Degrees suppose the 1st, but are not imposed on all. They are strongly recommended, and like the 1st, have heavy Indulgences.

Admission requires a priest as Director in charge of a Centre aggregated by Diploma. He appoints lay Promoters who regularly, under him, see to the admission of new Associates, and keep them in Bands; after six months, Promoters' names are sent to the Head Director, who confers a diploma and cross, entitling to 26 Plenary Indulgences yearly.

I. Each Associate's name must be registered at the local Centre.

II. Each Associate must receive a Certificate of Admission procured from the Head Director.

It has been approved by nine Pontifical Acts of Pius IX., and nine of Leo XIII., who also specially blesses the Intentions given out for prayers each month.

It is under a Cardinal Protector and a Director General confirmed by the Pope, and in each country a Head or Central Director, who publishes monthly the Messenger of the Sacred Heart, Rosary Tickets, Calendars, as well as the only authorized Handbooks, Certificates, and other papers. To him the requests for prayers (Intentions) and the list of good works (Treasury) are sent on the prepared blanks.

It should carefully be noticed that, in general, the Indulgences marked on the Tickets can be gained only by the Associates of the Holy League. The American Head Director is the

REV. R. S. DEWEY, S. J.,

Copyright, 1888, by Rev. R. S. Dewey, S. J.

Gesù, Philadelphia, Pa. 25

OUR BLUE COVER.

HE Directress of St. Anne's Association is rather blue over the blue cover," writes a good Sister, adding conscientiously: "but I suppose there is some reason for the change.”

Reason, indeed! The PILGRIM rather thinks there is a reason, and a number of very good ones, too. But the chief, the all-sufficient reason is that the PILGRIM is not the full Messenger, but only the Little Messenger of the Sacred Heart.

The Messengers appear regularly in some shade of red, in memory of Him Whose blood-stained garments were as if dyed in the winepress. Perhaps the only exception is the Mexican green, which we believe has some national meaning; and we have not yet seen the color of our twenty-second brother in Tamul-the language of Southern India. For twenty-two Messengers of the Sacred Heart there now are, spreading a pious network of holy aims and thoughts round the world each month, in their thirteen different languages!

Now, with these there are already five Little Messengers-French, Spanish (2), Hungarian, and our own PILGRIM-sharing, as we said the latter was to do, at the beginning in January, 1886, "the work of the Messenger of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, taking to itself the popular direction and explanation of all that is interesting or profitable for the greater number of the Associates." And all these Little Messengers are in blue. So we have simply swung

into line.

But why do the Little Messengers dress in blue? For distinction's sake?

Yes, partly; and in our own case this is a very solid reason. The PILGRIM, as a true Little Messenger, has been a great help to the work of the full Messenger of the Sacred Heart. But it was so like the latter in look that there was danger of one being mistaken for the other, and so either hindering its own spread or preventing many of its readers from making acquaintance with much that is of great importance in our work.

For it is the office of a Little Messenger to be cheap: and the PILGRIM has certainly been that. But its cheapness is designed to

help spread that fire which the Sacred Heart came on earth to kindle. Now the Australian Messenger, which is also cheap and began after our own, has at the close of the first year more than 11,000 subscribers among a very much smaller population than ours. And Father Ryan-the Head Director out there—writes that he has great expectations of the year to come. Our expectations are great enough, but we are ashamed to say how far the American reality falls behind the Australian. We hope, therefore, our new and blue cover will draw more attention to the fact that there is a very cheap and popular devotional magazine before the public.

On the other hand, many of our PILGRIM readers did not, perhaps, appreciate the work of the large Messenger. The latter gives fuller instruction, the official explanations, and also a very varied and leisurely entertainment, as its late highly illustrated articles show. In fact it is a full magazine of the literature of devotion, always pursuing its own special end; and this end cannot be reached by the Little Messenger, with all its bright little examples and edifying histories and precepts-line upon line. And, until we get to Paradise, the large Messenger cannot go for a few cents a year as does its little PILGRIM. Yet many of the latter's friends would gladly receive the former-means and leisure both allowing, since after all not much of either is needed. The color will now remind them of this.

But there is yet another reason, to be seen with half an eye. As we said far back in the beginning (January, 1886), the PILGRIM, "according to his quaint French name, is the Little Messenger of Mary's Heart." And, we add now that we have been able to make the change, blue is the color consecrated to the Virgin Mother. It is the color of heaven reflected in her pure eyes, and of her Son's mantle and her own according to the use of their country. And in her sweet name it will well set off the words of love and life which the PILGRIM tries faithfully to bring to all who will receive him.

FROM THE CROW CAMP.

(A Montana Missionary's Letter.)

EAR REV. FATHER: As the interest in our Indian missions

DE

is growing more and more throughout our land, I have thought it would give you great pleasure to receive an account of my own labors among the members of the Crow Tribe.

1.-IRON BULL, MUSIC AND MEDICINE.

On the 4th of August, 1883, Father Barcelo and I arrived at the mission to which we had been appointed among the Crow Indians, or, as they call themselves, the Absàruki. To our great surprise we found over four hundred lodges at the Agency, which, being divided into several camps, formed according to the Indian fashion their different villages. We were at first regarded with great suspicion and looked upon as complete strangers. And, in truth, it was the first time I had ever visited them, but my companion had paid two visits to another of their camps in previous years. During these visits he had studied their language and baptized over one hundred children.

This fact led us to the camp of the Great Chief, Iron Bull, or Tatrepumete. Iron Bull is a man of remarkable affability and received us with much kindness. He knew a little Piegan and could speak a few words in English, so that I was enabled from the first day to converse with him. He remarked that white men were very rich and had plenty of money, and that we must have come well supplied with this desirable luxury, so as to be able to procure some wives from the camp.

I took occasion from this to explain to Iron Bull that we were Catholic priests and that our motive in coming to his Reservation was, not to seek for wives, but to teach his people about the Great Spirit who made us and who gave us laws to keep, which lead to the beautiful land of heaven.

This so pleased the chief that we were invited to open a mission there immediately, which was, of course, the object of our visit.

The first task was to learn the language, which is a work involving much labor and time. We found an interpreter at the Agency who consented to give fifteen lessons at a high price.

With his help we translated the morning prayers, a short catechism, and an instruction for catechumens. We soon discovered that our interpreter spoke the language in a very imperfect manner, so that we were obliged to have recourse to some of the Indians themselves. It is difficult to conceive how tedious this process is, and the difficulty is increased tenfold by the flightiness of the Indians' minds. It is almost impossible to keep their attention for any length of time unless you introduce some vivid illustration, and the more vivid the examples are the more successful will you be in speaking with these poor people.

After fifteen days of earnest labor I had learned a sufficient number of words to compose a hymn containing those truths which the Crows could then grasp. The hymn was adapted to the air of Iste Confessor, and soon became very popular in two of the camps. The wife of the chief set the fashion by learning it and singing it on every possible occasion. Immediately everyone was seized with a desire to do the same, and I was repeatedly stopped by Indians who insisted on my then and there chanting their favorite hymn. It was useless to plead fatigue-they would have at least one stanza; and I assure you that my lungs were very seriously tested by these repeated encores. The Crow Indians are passionately fond of music, and if only some trained musicians, like the devoted Father Bandini, would come to them, they would soon gain their affections and win them over to the practices of an upright Christian life.

In the beginning we had found a decided opposition to our work, owing to the fact that they feared we would take away their wives; and it was only after prolonged explanations that they realized the exalted and safe position of a celibate clergy. They also regarded baptism as a sort of witchcraft invented by white men; and the mothers would hide their little ones for fear they might be seized by us.

But God helped us wonderfully. The chief's brother fell dangerously ill, and Father Barcelo baptized him and gave him Extreme Unction. To our great joy, and to the surprise of the Indians, the dying man recovered so rapidly that the following day he was able to visit the neighboring lodges, where he indulged in extravagant praise of Father Barcelo and of the powerful medicine given by the Great Spirit of the Black Gowns. This fact