Fina11ci,1t Support for tlie Clmrcle in Texas
expressed particular pleasure in the method and means by which the Catholic Church Extension Society had undertaken to care for the needs of the rural communities in preserving the Faith of Catholic immigrants and in promoting conversions. "What is marvelous is your readiness and liberality with which your wishes are seconded by the goodwill and contributions of the faithful. To such an extent and in so short a time has your undertaking su~ceeded by divine favor, that it could not have enjoyed greater favor and success." In extending his congratulations on the success of the organization, he declared it was a pleasure to grant the Archbishop's request in order that the work so happily begun might be prosecuted with greater alacrity, and that many of the.faithful might be induced to cooperate further. He readily ratified the constitution of the Society and its work and granted the following favors: that a) St. Philip Neri be the patron of the Society; b) a plenary indulgence to each member on the day of admission, on the Feast days of St. Philip Neri, St. Francis de Sales, St. Rose of Lima, the Holy Apostles, and at the hour of death; c) an indulgence of 300 days to all the members as often as they piously recite the invocation "St. Philip, Pray for Us." These indulgences were declared applicable to the souls in Purgatory. Priest moderators or directors of the Society were granted a privileged altar three times a week, and founders and life members, six times a week. On all was bestowed Apostolic Benediction. The continued growth of the Society necessitated several changes in the Constitution and Bylaws, which made an Apostolic Brief desirable. A petition to that effect was dispatched to Rome early in 1910 and shortly afterwards Monsignor Francis C. Kelley was commissioned to go in person to secure the desired document. Much to his consternation, he was informed by Cardinal Secretary Merry del Val that he had knowledge of no such American request, but that he had on file a petition of that nature from the Canadian Extension Society addressed to the Holy Father at the time Monsignor Kelley said the American letter had been sent. A hurried search disclosed the missing document in the files of the Sacred Consistory of the Congregation of Cardinals, to which it had been mistakenly sent. Insignificant as this error might seem, it could have meant months, perhaps years, of delay in bringing the matter before the Holy Father. The distressed representative of Archbishop Quigley was advised to make a direct appeal to Pope Pius X through the Apostolic Delegate to the Philippine Islands, Archbishop Aigus, who smilingly said to him:
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