The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1914-12-05

III tne SUBURBAN parish of Kremlin.
Bicetre. was killed on September z by
an obus, at the battle of the Marne.
He wrote thus to his parents: "My
men are admirable; they followed me
under violent firing; they trust me
and would follow me anywhere" A
few days later this devoted young
pastor died soldiers death.
These mild, APPARENTLY timid, ecclesi-
astics develop with extraordinary
promptitude the military feeling that
Is at the heart of every Frenchman.
Il shall never abuse cures again."
said a rabid anti-clerical fresh from
the front; they fight magnificently:
they do not know what fear means"
The early conservation of their
lives to an ideal of self-immolation
seems. in their case, to pave the way
to final sacrifice; there is no deny
ing that the novitiates and seminarists
OF France, with their system of aus
tere self-repression, have proved fit
trafning-schools for our soldier.priests,
A true story, for whose authenticity
we can vouch, comes from the front
and presents them under an aspect
that seems more in harmony with
their ecclesiastical vocation. Captain
X was lying dangerously wounded
on the field of battle; young French
private also wounded, crawled up to
MN. Mon Capitaine," he whispered.
let me protect you," and stretching
both arms over the officers head and
breast he shielded him from the shells
that were falling thickly. The officer
demonstrated, but the young VOICE
answered: Mon Capitaine, your life
must be preserved for the country.
at Whatever cost. l cannot carry you
away, for ! cannot walk, but 1 will
protect you from further harm"
once the captain, feeling stream
OF blood flow over his neck, cried:
Ihey have struck me again!" "No,"
said the other, "the blood comes from
wound in my shoulder. 1t is moth.
Ing, so do not mind, mon Capitaine,"
When night came on, the two men
were rescued by the French bran
cardiers,' and the grateful captain
asked the soldiers name: "Oh, l am
only a seminarist from -" an.
swered the boy
over and over again it has hap
pened that rabid or ignorant anti-clerf-
Gals have recognized, after few
weeks soldering in company of the
soldier-priests, that their prejudice.
were unfounded and they have Weld
ed to the influence of the cures"
The military chiefs are the first to
acknowledge the latters widespread.
ing influence upon the men. II is all
the greater because the priest is a
comrade who shares their dangers
and lardships. We know of a Young
Paris "vicaire," an excellent type of
the soldier-priest, who, in the post
that he occupies, has gradually be.
come the friend, helper, resource of
every one, and this not by any at
tempt to preach, but by his cheerful
readiness to do more than his dutv.
Ih1s particular priest has heard con.
iessions by the dozen, while shoulder.
ing gun and guarding a bridge or a
railway; he says his Mass at day.
break, when and where he can; Off.
GERS and men, on their way to the
front, drop in and receive Holy Com
munion, many for the last time.
Another soldier-priest taught his
rough and ignorant recruits to offer
their lives to God as willing sacri.
hce. So eagerly did they grasp the
idea suggested to them that they
asked for the text of the prayer and
pinned 1t within their tunics as a
perpetual reminder.
Another, who belongs to the Domin.
lean Order, and whose scholarly re-
port was noticed at the Lourdes Con.
gress, was publicly praised by his
colonel for the excellent spirit of the
men under his command.
ohce more God has drawn good out
OF evil In permitting that a law.
framed out of enmity to the Catholic
Church and with the object of check.
Ing the vocations of her seminarists.
has become. on the contrary, means
OF extending her power. The soldier.
priests of France, at the cost of hard.
ships and possibly of the sacrifice of
their lives, are apostles in the best
sense of the word, and the number of
souls whom they have reconciled and
saved will only be known on the other
side of the grave. But we, who live
within touch of the great war, can
testify to the extent and value of their
happy influence. ......