The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1918-09-21

have gone farther away from you, dear
friend and benefactor, we feel we have
drawn nearer to your heart, for deep
in it's secret depths sits the little con-
vent, "St. Ursula by the Sea-" The
ice cannot block out our charity, the
great arctic stars look down upon the
cabin convent and shout your name
of the highest heaven.
We had many passing trials and
sorrows in Seattle. Twice did the
neighborhood sue us, endeavoring to
drive US from the blessed roof charity
had builded over our heads. Their
plea was that our daily Mass and bene-
| diction, our ''funereal garb," were an
! offense to their ideas, and that our
| presence lessened the value of their
property; but the Judge of the Su-
| perior Court of Seattle dismissed them
with a "non-suit, and in the court of
Olympia, to which they appealed, we
obtained judgment six to three of the
nine Supreme Judges of the State of
! Washington.
serve as a precedent of defense for
all the other religious of Seattle. And
| the saying, Every kick is boost"
proved true once more. Seeing US
more nearly, our neighbors loved us
better, and the balm of peace and
friendly relations came out of the
wound of the suit.
l am sure you will come to me now
with your aims, on this Wave-beaten
coast where together we must spend
the winter, building up the Alaskan
mission, binding up the bleeding
wounds these sorry days have in
ficted, and bidding them grow and
wax strong. You will have your share
of the reward, for even before the
war coal was worth $4,000 a ton, and
comfort is an unknown quantity, for
every pound of it must be freighted
from Seattle at forbidding cost.
Come, dear friend, share our super
Astounding joy. We must build up
together for greater usefulness. With
out you st. Michael would mean death
anu OOSSlASAOAAJ anu ASAS We
abide, ''for we have chosen it."
Break not our partnership, my
friend. Leave us not, for souls de-
pend upon you. The Almighty will
declare His royal dividends, and there
will be no assessments, save those of
love. The eyes of many poor ones
are upon you in hungry expectation,
and if there can be any comparison
in immortal souls, there must certainly
shine forth above the others, because
they proclaim the beauty, the hope of
Catholicity, the stupendous miracle of
redemption, in the God-made region
of wind and desolation.
The war is mystery indeed, but
God is His own interpreter, and He
will make it plain" Where it has
made all things hard, it has all but
killed the missions-yet still they hold
the blessed breath of life. Yet still
they look to you, old friend, with the
clear, lucid eye of hope. 1t is the
solemn hour of sacrifice that awaits
the birth of greater things-none
6AOoIOA lAAoA ShC pun AuA0oAOAAoJ Oh Ia
ing their roots in the stormward side.
Our hearts are full of joy and trust in
you Oh, if you could know how up
lifting it is, after long journey
fraught with danger and privation, to
see the little spire of the Catholic
Church, rising heavenward on the
lonely bluff of ST. Michael Bay
What" the traveller exclaims, is
the Most Blessed Sacrament here?
Even here! And the nuns, too? And a
school for the little ones!" Blessed
are the merciful, for they shall obtain
mercy"
No one, that has not lived in North
ern Alaska, knows the real value of a
dog, for the dog grows almost human
when you see it battling with wind
and wave to bring you a letter. And
letter in Alaska! Why, that is
civilization, it is friendship, it is joy,
it is the waving bough, the rose with
a blush in its heart, the sound of
distant music, the ripening fruit, the
voice, the face loved long since and
lost a while.
You cannot fancy how the patter
of those little feet on the cracking
snow makes your heart beat high
with expectation, for a letter in
Alaska. The thud. thud, thud of those
bleeding feet awakens the past and
brightens the future. And how we
watch the sled, gliding over the frozen