The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1919-01-04

.tIcuCHtS, LlG 1dSC " uiAS ~ 49, -
that haunted the shell-torn nights
and that cleaned through the
ghostly. mists of the zero hour,
and moved in mystic radiance
among the shadows Of No Man S
Land.
1t is the vision that made
lighter the weary pack upon the
soldiers back, that steadied his
stumbling feet in the deadly dark,
that soohed him when death came
to put cpld dews upon his brow
and film his eyes with the sum-
mons to take the long journey
West.
To Him alone have they chung
who covered in the ruins OF their
broken homes in all the ravlshed
lands of war. It was His name
that was on their lips In the
tragedies of their griefs.
When hope seemed fled and
despair sat gibbering with hideous
face upon their roof trees broken
rafters, they called on Him. There
was 10 other refuge save the
shadow Of His wing. There was
no other hand to cover their de-
fenseless heads.
And now, as the trumpets ring
upon the morning hills, it is His
name they speak again-11is name
and only His.
Amid the wild sobs Of joy, in
the salvos Of the camps, and amio
the ashes Of ruined hearts, it is His
feet they battle with the torrents
of their tears-the tender feet
the tireless feet that were nailed
upon the tree.
Fleeing like hunted dogs ,tC
what secret Ravens they may FIND
are the princes who Haunted the
proud plunles of their power but
yesterday. Into the oblivion OF
eternity has been flung that an
cient god that failed in the houl
of need. The crack of doom has
sounded in all their brazen ears
But the Prince Of Peace is moi
fled. Still stands the throne He
builded in the souls Of men. They
press His crown Of thorns against
their hearts.
This is the gladdest hour the
world has ever known since thai
hour when the star guided Mag
trekked the desert trails with gifts
Of frankincense and myrrh. Out
Of the womb Of that hour is this
hour come.
To feel gladness to the full it is
necessary first to have known
pain. And God knows that the
world has known now such pair
as it has never known before.
Like the waters of. the sea is the
blood that has been shed; like the
sands Of the shore are the lives
that have been sacrificed. Things
that men wrought out of the
dreams Of their very hearts and in
the visions OF their souls have been
broken into dust. an @o'.ts 'a&"s's :"
Yet, there is sclace there is still
COMPENSATION Those who died
that the world might be free are
now folded in the Everlasting
Arms. The Gates of God swung
wide in welcome for them. The
humblest name among them all
will never perish from the endless
memories Of earth.
Rheims that was shattered, and
Louvain that was stricken in its
wondrous beauty-we need not
mourn the loss of them. After
all, they were but wood and stone
and plaster.
That which was of them that
was immortal could not be de-
stroyed, and this was that they
were sacred TO the memory Of the
Prince Of Peace. His footprints
are yet where stood their stately
arches and their shadowy naves
There never was the crudest hand
full of earth or the simplest stone
moulded in His name that can
ever perish.
It is the great new dawn; it is
the hour for which earth has en-
dured through all the countless
centuries.
Upon the banners of the free
peoples, with which is entwined
the starry flag of Gods own
America, Christ folds the glory OF
His nail-pierced hands.