The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1915-05-08
Continued from page.1.) @
WITH CHRIST IN THE TRENCHES.

Il : n
Child Jesus was exposed and gently
laid candle by the crib. candle!
If you knew, Father, what a precious
thing candle is during this war!
1t is sometimes so difficult to get
them, and they cost four sous apiece
| a cents). This is big sum for a
poor soldier, and yet, when one has
no candle the long winter evenings in
/ the trenches are so forlorn. l am
sure that the Holy Child appreciated
the soldiers humble present far more
than the Wise Mems gold!
/ At o'clock the church was full.
The officers were in the first row
before the altar All the candles were
/ lighted and the little church filed with
soldiers. We all sang hymn and
/ High Mass began, sung by a young
%soldier-priest," so moved by the sight
that his voice trembled. A sergeant
/ from Versailles and myself were the
tsePvers. The "Kyrie" and the GLORIA"
were sung, the dull thud of the cannon
being the only accompaniment. 1t
was very. impressive. All joined in
the singing. At Communion time the
captain, at the head of his men, ap-
preached the altar railing to receive
Holy Communion. Again we sang
Noel! NOEL" At the end of Mass
there was distribution of rosaries
and medals and slowly all left the
church. The soldiers were delighted
and came to ask me for prayer books
to sing at Vespers at 2 O'Clock this
afternoon. After Mass the corporals
came to get the Christmas trees, each
one for his squad of men. Everyone
| was happy, the weather was fine and
there was frost on all the trees and
a big, red sun-real Christmas
weather!
At half-past five in the. evening,
darkness had fallen, and. we left
silently for the trenches. From time
to time the cannon Numbered, and
one behind the other, in single file,
we advanced noiselessly towards our
sad watch.
January 1, 2 p. MI was in my hut
in the trenches, alone and rather sad,
for was thinking of other New Year
days, of their happiness and of all
that makes the separation from those
love SO hard to bear! The captain
sent for me and my heart beat faster
wondering what he could want of me.
1t was the Chaplain of the regiment
who wished to speak to me. | threw
myself into his arms, for was he not
to us the representative of God come
to the firing line to encourage us all?
He is so good, and real soldier, too,
who has been through all the cam
paign. Another seminarian and I ac-
companied him all along the lines. He
spoke to all the soldiers-they We're
delighted. He even heard the confess
sions of some of them right there in
the trenches. Then he blessed our
graves and prayed for our dead. He
is to say Mass tomorrow morning at
the post, but only four men of each
squad will be allowed to go, so as
not to leave the firing line too bare.
AS some of us, about ten would like.
to go to Communion, our Chaplain
will bring the Blessed Sacrament to
the captains quarters, and there we
will be able to receive Our Lord in
the Holy Eucharist on the firing line!
What a joy to us!
January 2-Holy Mass at the post!
| have had the happiness of serving
| it. Several soldiers would have liked
to receive Holy Communion, but they
had had their breakfast. The Chap
lain quickly settled the difficulty, but
you could never guess how, dear
Father! His plan was bold one, but
it was SO beautiful and it did so much
good that the dear Lord must have
been pleased with it. He will leave
until tomorrow morning few conse-
| Grated Hosts in the trench, and he
granted to a seminarian the permits
sion to give Holy Communion. The
Blessed Sacrament is to be kept in
my hut! The man who shares this
shelter with me, a sergeant. from Yer
sailles, helped me to dig a little niche
in one of the sides of our hut. We
lined it with linen cloths, hung little
veil over the opening to which we
pinned our flags and scapular of the
Sacred Heart, and above it we hung
a crucifix and some bits of ivy. The
trunk of tree which is usually our
table we covered with a white cloth
and put a taper on it, some candles,
some rosaries and a few prayer books.
Then our little chapel was ready. The
Chaplain placed the Sacred Hosts in
the little tabernacle, we recited few
prayers, and as there is but the one
room, we sat down to our meal right
there in the presence of God!
ALI day long the Blessed Sacrament
had visitors; our little hut was never
empty. The soldiers came three or
four at time (for the chapel is
smalD to say their prayers. The
Chaplain heard confessions, and with
some pious soldiers we recited the
''Te Deum" in thanksgiving for sew
eral conversions obtained.
The captain, the lieutenant, the sol
diers, came to pray. All night long
some one was there. We recited the
Rosary, we read chapters of the Imita-
ton. Towards 4 o'clock the wood
to the right of us, to the left of us,
behind us, was bombarded; but where
1--we were all was quiet and calm
Through the whole night, for God was