The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1915-12-11

and the priest is away. For Gods
sake send one of your Fathers to
HIM"
And then came the answer in clear,
unmistakable tones: There is no
priest for him tonight"
The messenger repeated his en-
treaty; but the only response was
the same: There is no priest for
him tonight" Then silence and the
lowering of the window.
And the man died that night-a
terrible death-without priest.
This so enraged the messenger that
he determined that the priest who
had refused to come to the dying
man should be made to suffer; and
so he reported the affair to the
Bishop.
Now, it is very grave offense in
the eyes of the. ChurchSto refuse adj
ministration to dying soul who
Graves for it. The Bishop, therefore,
went at once to the monastery to
learn who might have been the culz
prit and to punish him severely for.
such failure of duty. What was
his surprise to discover that the
Prior and all his monks knew moth
ing of the occurrence. Each one de-
clared that he had not heard a single
sound during that night.
The Bishop thereupon demanded
that they all be assembled and the
messenger brought into their midst
that he might identify the guilty
monk.
1t was done. But the messenger
declared that he had seen no one
that night; that he had only heard
the voice. Then in the presence of
the Bishop, the Prior and the entire
community, he related the incident
of the lighted window, the raising
of it, and the twice repeated words
that had issued from it: There is
no priest for him tonight"
Determined to sift the mystery to
the bottom, the Bishop declared:
| "Come, you shall take me to that
window, and upon the monk occupy
ing that cell the blame must fall"
1t was solemn procession that
| wendell it's way out of the monas-
terry, around the building to the spot
which the messenger knew too we'll
to forget. And 10! when it had been
pointed out to the Bishop, and in
quiries made as to it's occupant,
whom do you think they discovered
it to be?
The mother paused moment for
an answer. But the children were
speeches. with excitement. And so
she went on:
"Why, the Lord Himself, my
dears! The window was that of the
chapel, and the dim light which the
man beheld only the little sanctuary
lamp.
you can imagine the effect upon
them all. 1t is plainly visitation
from God, my dear brethren" the
Bishop declared, "to warn us that
divine grace is not to be persistently
despised and then grasped at the last
moment when the wretched sinner
is only seeking it through the fear of
the fires of hell. Come, let us repair
to the chapel and thank our Divine
Lord for the marvellous lesson he has
mercifully granted to us here in the
monastery. And let us beg of Him
to bestow on us the grace of final
perseverance. And, dearest breth-
rem, l earnestly entreat your gra-
efous pardon for this days proceed
ings"
Nov, my dears," the mother con-
Guided, tell me, do you think, after
this true story, that it is nothing
much to miss Holy Mass? And are
you not willing to give up your ex-
cursion tomorrow that the poor peo-
pie in the next town may not be
deprived of the benefit of the Holy
Sacrifice because they must go to
their daily labor?'
The hush of awe was still upon
the group. But the mother under
stood the silence and did not push
the question.
The storm had passed over. The
great clouds were gone from the
faces of the brilliant stars Through
one of the windows the radiant moon
was quite visible. It's light flooded
in upon Jean where he sat. And,
glancing towards him, his mothers
heart was glad, for in the light she
saw that his storm had also passed;
the clouds of bitterness had lifted
from his heart.
-Ann0B Gf0in, in Young Catholic MessenOe,