The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1915-10-16
TALES OF FAITH, RELIGIOUS
HERolsM AND CONVERSIONS.
TOLD IN LETTERS FROM ARMY
cHAPLAlNs AND OTHERS AT
THE FRONT.

The war has brought a religious
awakening to Germany, says writer
in the Christian Year." It has made
the Germans not cruel, but pious,
The pulse of the nation bounds with
a new life. War has checked the
growth of atheism, impiety and inf
deity. 1t has opened the eyes of the
people. Every letter and message
from the front, breathes the new
spirit. The war has become school
for religious instruction. Misery,
suffering, famine and pest are all ter
rible, but as one soldier said, ''it takes
all the power of faith to withstand the
horror of grinning DEATH The let
tiers of army chaplains, missionaries
and priests at the front, overflow with
tales of touching faith, religious hero
ism and numberless conversions.
Men no longer scott at religion, but
ask prayer even ask to be taught a
prayer. The wounded, we are told,
call first for a priest, then for doc
tor
The priest, as the good Samaritan,
goes from one to the other. He an
swers the mute appeal in the dying
eyes, as each soldier thinks of eter-
nifty. Is it fear? Is it weakness? 1t
is UNIVERSAL Il is with the strongest.
'sAs saw my comrades cold and stark
before me-" said one, Il made an act
of perfect contrition, such as the best
mission had failed to call forth" And
still another: Let man face the
roar and storm of cannon, for three
hours, or take glance into the hos
pitfalls, and infidel words of irreligion
will die on his lips"
A few concrete cases might help
one to realize better the intense faith
of the German soldiery at the front.
The open letter of DR.. Raymond
Dreilling, o. F. NJ, contains many
such edifying instances which came
under his personal observation. He
tells of one private who tasted until 2
o'clock in the afternoon, in order to
be able to receive Holy Communion.
Another, young Bavarian, tasted I'M
til 100 every day of a week, and this
in arduous times Of physical stress.
Six officers, confined to their cots, re-
ceived Holy Communion daily for
three weeks.
Once during severe cannonade
near Perrone, part of company
rushed to the priests quarters, and
asked for Holy Communion. They
were to leave for the front within an
hour. AS they departed silently, one
fingered and spoke to the priest: "Say
prayer for my wife and children. |
know shall never return home again.
Nor did he. AS he stood there in the
dusk, the silent chapel seemed to the
priest like the Catacombs of old Rome,
where the Sacred Host was given as
viaticum to those about to GO forth
to their martyrdom.
Father DreilIing further recalls the
case of a severely wounded Bavarian,
who, when informed that the Iron
Cross was to be conferred on him for
bravery, pulled a Rosary from under
meath the quilt, and held up the tiny
cruclIlX, saying: HIS - TIE AlOSI
beautiful Iron Cross"
A Rhenish peasant boy was asked:
Where do you get the strength to
stand such terrible pains without COM
plaint?" And the wounded man re-
piled: "He Who hung on the cross,
suffered more than this for me. !
must do something for Him." Such
words in the mouth of staunch twen-
tieth century soldier, recall the hero
ism of the early Christian martyrs!
Hundreds of soldiers have been say
ing the Rosary every day since the
war broke out. They say it during