America, Nigeria, Australia, Ireland, England and Wales were represented among our number and we walked behind Dutch, French and German groups. On land that within living memory had seen such terrible fighting and many lives lost, the pilgrims, led by a bishop, recited the rosary, sang hymns and were led in meditations by our priest. What we do or fail to do. Whether from Australia, Nigeria, Wales or Belgium, that which united this pilgrimage was a common language and a love of the old rite. But war is not an act of God.
War grows directly out of things which individuals, statesmen and nations do or fail to do.
It is, in short, the consequences of national policies or lack of policies. And once the nation's destiny is submitted to the terrible decisions of war, victory or defeat likewise ensues from what we do or fail to do. Let us pray, through the intercession of Notre Dame de Foy, that the former army officer who is now Rector of St. John's Seminary, Wonersh, will take heed of these wise words of the General and set out to restore the Faith in its teaching and its liturgy, taking as his inspiration the recent and successful stories of St. Mary's Shrine in Elm Street in the heart of the Midwest, the Abbaye de St. Madeleine in the heart of Provence, and the leadership shown by the Bishop of Namur. Regina Cleri, Ora Pro Nobis .