Ou,· Catl,olic Heritage in Texas
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closely connected with the work of the Society. In 1921, he succeeded Ledvina as the third General Secretary of the Society, when the latter became Bishop of Corpus Christi, and served in that capacity until 1924, at which time he succeeded Bishop Kelley as president of the Society, an office to which he has been re-appointed for each of the five-year terms ever since. With characteristic enthusiasm and youthful optimism, Father O'Brien threw himself body and soul into the work of the Society with the highest expectations of immediate success. He was surprised but not discouraged to find that the people of the Archdiocese of Chicago were relatively indifferent to the needs of the home mission fields and did not share his enthusiasm. Undaunted, Father O'Brien continued to work with undiminished ardor as the Chicago director. One day he was struck with the idea of building for the future by working with the young. It was a long range plan that he envisioned, one that would probably yield little immediate returns, but one that he hoped would ultimately prove most fruitful. He decided to found the Child Apostles. "Father O'Brien knew that it would cost the Society more in actual money to run a department for children than it would justify, but he felt that, later on, the bread thus cast upon the waters would return to us," declared Bishop Kelley in later years. If the young were made aware of the needs of the Church, O'Brien was con- vinced that they would assume the great responsibility of helping effec- tively later to spread the Faith. The enthusiasm of Father O'Brien spread among the children. Before long, thousands joined the Child Apostles. Members paid twenty-five cents as the initial fee and contributed a penny a week. From 1909 to 1917, during the eight years of its existence, the Child Apostles con- tributed 500,000 pennies. Modest contributions were made from this fund to churches in New Mexico, Louisiana, Washington, Alaska, North Da- kota, Oregon, Montana, Utah, Colorado, and Texas. More than that, for four years the Child Apostles gave 25,000 pennies a year to help support mission schools in Texas and the Philippines. The Ckild Apostle was their publication, but at the beginning of World War I, it was discon- tinued because of the high cost of publication.az Determining the scope of the Society. Since the primary motive of the founder had been to help build mission churches and chapels, it is UKelley, op. cit., 140-142. Bishop O'Brien "Annotations" in the author's pos• session.
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