The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1915-09-11

THE HORRORS OF WAR HAVE
REkINDLED THE FAITH IN THE
SOUL OF CATHOLIC FRANCE.
The war, already known as the
Great War, and which will fully de-
serve the title in history, we're it only
for the terrific number of soldiers
and it's slain, burst like a thunder
bolt over sleeping France, writes
Charles Baussan in "The Catholic
World" for September. :.
The force of the blow, the presence
of peril sudden, pressing, unavoid-
able, permitting neither hesitation nor
delay, facing an issue upon which
hung the life or death of nation, pro-
duced a reaction as instantaneous as
it's cause, a reaction that shook to
it's depths the soul of the French.
All the forces of the race woke and
lived again, among them that Cath
olic Faith which for centuries upon
centuries had impregnated the soul
of the people, from which, in spite of
appearances, it had never been
eradicated.
If the great moral upheaval of such
a war has been the determining cause
of an incontestable evolution in the
religious spirit of France, how did the
change come about and what is it's
significance? Upon what sort of
material did the powerful blow of
misfortune strike, and what has it
made of it?
Religious Situation Before the War.
To be brief, the religious situation
in France before the war might be
summed up thus:
First, there we're the devout Cath
olics, a real power, far stronger than
is thought; numerous and ire
proachable clergy, hundreds of relig-
ious congregations, laity not only
Catholic in name, but practical and
pious. This body prayed and worked.
Patiently, day by day, it sowed; the
seed awaited the sun.
Second, besides the devout Catholics
there was a considerable number of
lHkewarm Catholics .practiassg their
religion occasionally, occupied chiefly
with business and pleasure.
Third, over and above these the
great mass of indifferents who gave
no thought to religion, except at birth,
at marriage, at death.
Fourth! a small hostile minority,
anti-clericals who waged war upon
Catholicism.
Religious hostility was the excep-
tion, the great mass of indifferents
kept the traditions of the Faith in
their thoughts and feelings, in their
mental and moral habits: on certain
feasts-Easter, Christmas, All Saints,
the Assumption, ETC., they went to
church, on the whole they neglected
religion more or less completely, see
ing no need for it; they were easily
influenced by prejudices against
priests and their influence, but most
of all were they given over to mater
ial preoccupations, the joys of life.
To this love of worldly pleasures may
be attributed also the lukewarmness
of the great majority of Catholics.
The SoIdier-Priest.
To comprehend fully the scope and
the force of this living sermon, one
must realize that there are twenty
five thousand priests with the armies,
not only in the hospitals and ambu
lances, but at the front; not only as
chaplains, hospital attendants, stretch
er-bearers, but as combatants, officers
non-commissioned officers, privates in
all the troops. The priest has nc
need to preach; his presence speaks
louder than words. And who placed
him in this position; who forced him
into military service? His enemies
When they strapped the knapsack or
the priests back, the antfclericals
killed anti-clericalism.
Here is the priest doing military
service! Here along the railways he
may be seen on guard, wearing hi:
soutane, his gun over his shoulder
The military. trains pass; the guards
of the wagons, the soldiers going tt
the front throw up their kepis ant
shout, Bravo, lie cure!" Religious
poured into the barracks; exiles came
from afar to defend the land tina
drove them forth. They remembered
only that she was the land of thei
birth. Jesuits, Assumptionists, Cal
thusians and Dominicans, BenediC
tines, Capuchins, monks of ever
order and from every place, wer
greeted with applause. Yesterda
anti-clericalism called them "foreigr
ers to the nation" but anti-clerica
ism lied. These men are comrade:
brothers at arms, brothers com
home to their fathers house, to liv
and die with their own!
An Enemy's Confession.
This religious awakening in th
army is so general, so public,
causes great anxiety to the organs {
anti-clericalism, as, for instance, L
Lanterne and L'Humanite. The
wish steps taken to prevent the relii
ious propaganda in the hospitals an
among the troops; they demand eth
laicization of the front" Is this M
a positive acknowledgment of tt
strength of the Catholic movement?
A militant Socialist of the eig
teenth division recognizes this fa
in letter published by L'Humanitl
Il was able to make a number
psychological studies. Convention