The Irish standard., 1910-11-05

river from Fort Smelling, being the
only place where supplies could be
obtained, he selected it for his place
of residence.
A wilderness all about him; not an
acre under tillage; a few scattered
families in huts on either side OF the
river-this was his mission.
Did he finch from duty? No:
though, like ii brave soldier ;Idvanc-
ing to battle, he fully realized his
position. Trials, sulferings and pri-
vations were to be his portion, but
armed with infinite patience, he went
among them, baptizing young and Ole,
calling back to their religious prac-
ticcs the careless and the hardened,
and spending himself i'll long jour
neys through the wide territory over
which the few settlers were scat
tered
The following year the little log
chapel WAS built, so poor that, as
, Father Galtier says, at would remind
one of the stable a; Bethlehem" But
under it's humble roof the Holy Sac
rifce was offered up; the beautiful
story was told again and again; hymns
, that stirred the heart with half for
! gotten memories OF childhood, and
i, that brought to their ears echoes OF
= voices long silent, were sung: and
: through the mist of unaccustomed
y tears the inspired face OF their pas
tor shone with more than an earthly
light.
The fall of the same year brought
Father Ravoux, who died some years
ago.
For years he stood alone-vig
liant, tireless, uncompromisiug. Rigid
in self-discipline, his life harmoniZeG
with the gospel OF self-denial which
he preached and his example reached
more efrectually than scores of ser
mons the reckless, careless, pleasure
loving, but generous frontiersmen
His name and deeds are a sacred ira
dition among the Sioux, whose Ian
guage he mastered, and whose in
stinctive reverence he recognized ant
led to the true God whom they hat
long, earnestly, but blindly sought
He has been spared to witness tn,
glorious fruits Of his early labors, and
despite his crown of years, we pra,
the day may be far distant that shall
+; al, in, Io H.,
dral sanctuary.
God must have had a special love
for the little mission in the wider
ness. He must have designed it fo
a great religious center whose ligh
and spirit would ilnmine and inform
the coming generations, for on tn,
Feast of the Visitation, 1851, h.
crowned it with his choicest BLESSING
in the person of the sanity Bisho
Cretin.
At the time he left France he wa
parish priest of Ferney, the home c
Voltaire, where by his piety, zeal an
personal sanctity he had done muc
to counterfeit the evil influence c
that arch-infidel. Mission work ha
he always been in his mind, with Chin
as the field Of his labors; but whe
re his old friend, Bishop Loras p1eade
d, for help, he decided in favor of IN
he western world
De- Who shall describe him? Who pair
IN the humility that made him the Sc
us want of all, the tenderness that mad
of him the father OF all, the love tn;
S. radiated like the suns rays from til
hit fire of divine charity within his sou
&C. the gentleness and sweetness that il
ar- vited confidence and insured imm,
ed nifty from rebuke? In that graciou
presence the CLEAN of last ideals aros
he and whispers of beautiful possibilte
al stirred the heart.
vs. What wonder, then, that at the mel
,rt ton of his name, a reverent loo
at comes into the eyes of those VIII
he knew him, a sudden seriousness int