Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1894-02-01
THE ANGELUS.
written for THE AMERICAN by Rev. Thorn
putl,r

~ 'saSh iouuu tiiut W uO 80. L tTusJ TN
reader may not find the reading tedious
have endeavored to make 1t interesting
and for that Purpose have given it just
dash of local colorng. For the same res
son have approached the main topic a
from afar, allowing the matter, as 1t were
to develop itself
How often we have heard the subdue,
tones of the angelus bell floating softly o,
| the sir, bearing from hill to hill IL
precious message. Some of US, doubtless
have not recognized the message. though
we may have felt some tiuge Of its influ
ence. And yet. 1t Is the same message fo
which the poet Of the sacred book, b,
prophetic anticipation. might well declar,
that all nature rejoiced-"the mountain.
skipped like rams, and the hills like lamb.
| OF the flock"
| We have all heard of the celebrated
painting. The Angelus," by Millet. w,
have seen copies OF 1t In some form, aud
Judging by what met our eye in those same
| copies, We have wondered why picture
so simple in its composition could ever be
famous. Then we have wondered-whai
in the world Is the angelusy
| The answer TO that question reveal.
why the picture Is more notable than
Others of its day. That is what the eve
| does not see, save TO the mind already In.
| formed. lis the poetry of the painting.
its story, It's soul. 80 TO speak The pic.
ture tells not its story. save to those who
already know IL; the bell bears 20 mes
sage save TO those who already have re-
ceiyed It, and who love 70 hear and TO re-
| celye II again.
You, dear reader are curious to know
the story OF the snyelus Should 1t be -.
impair; it with pleasure. The knowledge
Will be of advantage to you should you
propose y travel in foreign lands; with
out II, one charm, at lcist, would be lost
TO you.
That you may better understand and ap-
preclate whst | mean. we will lmAgae yuu
yourself As one who has - travelled
Twas but few years ago you made the
journey. The green woods that fringe our
beautiful Ellsworth were not then swept
BY the gentle waves Of sound that sing the
tale OF the angelns. No; the only cries
from our steeples OF tina, date were those
that called 10 worship. or slowly told an
hours death, or sul-mny bAde farewell 10
a soul just gone 70 God Bat the angela-
which embraced all these. was, as vel.
unheard.
You travelled extensively, visited the
most renowned and beautiful scenes tn,
wonders from the hands of men, the gran
deur> that speak only Of the Creator, were
seen by you; and kind memory often
brings them back % you. With all these.
and especially vita the latter, the ange,us
Is associated. You have heard 1t on LAX.
Como and at Killarney. fou have heard
1t on the Rhine, the Danube au1 the Seine
II greeted you a You approached the
hospice OF s.. Bernard on the Aip- II
was the first and the last sound that lin
gered In the memory OF a visit to the Holy
Sepnlchre. II was multiplied ia Rome.
heard al intervals In the various large
cities, but was especially noticeable In the
great galleries Of nature There. where
not only the heaveus show forth the
glory Of God; /" but a.s1 ';he earth and the
fullness thereof speak OF one too great
70 be called sn artist; there you stood n
ba -
tton.
Silence ami beauty equally profound.
seemed y ueel s)ul; for they lived.
BGt hark ali, Kind memory brings back
70 you the voice that ,poke. At tm,rn. At
noon and at night, you heard It's music
1t came from a distant convent spire. I.
stole through the thicket, 1t oa,hel aud
fingered on the LAKE, it climbed the noun
tain. Il seemed the spirit, the voice, ht-
ting the sceue-'twas the angelus.
You were impressed and You knew n },
why You lacked The meaning, the KEY T.
all this. To satisfy yourself. then, YOU
determined to resd. You might have lu-
quired indeed you did make one attempt
but the result was NJ, satisfying.
That bell said the boy 10 whom you
put the question as to what it meant
"why that is the angelus."
And he passed on. evidently supposiny
that the question WAS settled So YOU
would read for yourself, but your selections
were not the hsppiest in the world. The
encyclopedia WAS tried. but that furnished
little inform alton on the matter
The magazines had various articles refer
ring to the subj=c. incidentally; bat re-
ferred as to a thing we'll understood by
the reader. The poets hal wealth of
but the real question remained unan-
swered.
At length you returned to Ellsworth. II
was night when yol arrived and your
lodging was, let Us suppose. on Turner
Hill. From your sleeping-room one WIN
dow was directed towards the south,
where the river expands, while another
looked eastward. You slept the sleep Of
VIC "cai Y, tHC SalisucI ttaNcIicl bul yOu
dreamed, as the weary often do. In dream
land you found yourself at Geneva-and
the silent hours went by. At length you
| swoke with start; you imagined you
heard fire bell; you listened keenly for a
moment-"Ah, It's the angelus-time
to arise"
Quickly you arose. and glancing over the
broad basin of the river you saw in it
Lake Geneva, and the hills of Mt Deser,
| were to you Mt. Blanc with its compa1-
ions. Then you looked to the left.
What's this? The steam mill, The
foundry. The fish market, Surely this"
| the Illusion was gone.
| "I-I thought | was 10 Geneva; and
| here am at home. WE'LL I'm glad. Dear
Ellsworth! You are not, indeed, Geneva
but to me you are & thousand times better.
| You are home-ever sweet home. Still
am sure heard the angelus Now | will,
at length, be satisfied on that point.
shall meet some of my old friends of the
Catholic congregation, and shall learn
at once"