"The first year of my cure there were only five persons who did not communicate at Easter.
"The second year there were eleven.
"The third year there were thirty.
"And the number has gone on increasing, so that at present there are eighty non-communicants." After Mass, a mischievous peasant approached the speaker, and said, in a low voice:—"Monsieur le Curé, take my advice, and don't make so much stir about this matter. According to your own testimony, we were in a satisfactory condition when you took charge of us, so that we must have deteriorated under your reign."
Neither should such commonplace and infelicitous remarks as the following be made:—"Faith is departing from among men. … Hell is let loose on earth; … everybody is abandoning religion;" … for observations like these only tend to induce others to abandon it; and the people will hardly feel disposed to practise a religion which the rest of the world is alleged to be giving up. They would rather prefer being lost with the multitude.
On the contrary, you should say something to this effect,—"Go to! faith is not extinct, for there are many godly men to be found in all ranks of society. You would be convinced of this if you only knew what takes place in our large towns, where numbers of the young, the rich, and the learned belonging to the higher classes, and others occupying distinguished positions, may be seen devoutly frequenting the services of the church, partaking of the holy communion, visiting the poor, and practising confession with the docility of little children. Moreover, what exemplary women there are amongst us!" … You might then add:—"Brethren, we should strive to imitate such men, and should not allow ourselves to be outdone by them." Representations like these will induce the people to think more highly of religion, and will make it more attractive to them.
We have already discussed the most appropriate method of warning the people against the bad example and pernicious talk of those who affect infidelity; but a few additional remarks may not be out of place here. In general, we should not evince any fear of such antagonism, nor attach much importance to it. We should rather cause the impression to be produced that God having bestowed mind and talent upon mankind, is a proof that He can be in no dread of those endowments.
Above all, we should lay great stress on such reflections as these:—that those who call themselves unbelievers are, in fact, nothing of the kind, and are better than their words would imply; although, perchance, they might not be greatly disappointed if they could attain to infidelity; that they have as good reason for fearing hell as others have of being in dread of the police; and that by dint of repeating that they are unbelievers, they have been led to imagine that they are so in reality.