Joining the Crusade

Excerpts From the Handbook
of the Eucharistic Crusade

Canadian edition, 1954
By Fathers A. Poulin, s.j. & Jean Laramée, s.j.

Joining the Crusade:

Joining the Crusade means the determination to live a more generous life. The Crusade takes youth as it is in order to make it better.

-In the Crusade, before a member takes upon himself supererogatory obligations, before he multiplies little practices, he tries to perfect what is necessary and essential; namely, the duty of his state of life. If, thanks to the means it proposes, the Crusade makes its members more obedient, more studious, maintains a good spirit in them, develops their characters, then there is no possible illusion: the Crusade produces results.

-As the Crusade stresses especially prayer, communion, sacrifice and the apostolate, Crusaders will readily understand that they must pray often and, above all go to Holy Communion often in order to have the courage to accept the sacrifices that they meet with in their school life and to awaken within themselves the sense of responsibility, that is to say, love of their neighbour.

-It goes without saying that in the Crusade no one is bound under pain of sin. One joins it freely, without constraint, and without being obliged to sign a formula. However, the voluntary practice of making one's resolutions more definite by writing them down is strongly encouraged.

--The spirit of the Crusade is to give oneself joyfully and generously to God, serving God at one's expense. The Crusader does not only try to avoid sin. He does not drive a bargain for Heaven (does not try to get Heaven cheap). He does more than he needs to in order to save more souls. He imitates the Master of the Crusade Who loved to the extreme limit of loving. Who gave His whole life, and then gave Himself whole and entire in the Host.

To be continued…

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