The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1920-01-24
WAR LEGEND OF FRANCE
Written for The Catholic Bulletin by
Miss j. Leitch.)

90 GO&COulSSSlOu Ac udu SCOlucu luciAi
and then he had placed kind hands on
their heads. as all Cures do. And he
loved and was loved by his people.
When the red fame of war burst
across the little parish, the Cure visit
ed his people more faithfully than
ever, if that were possible. And al
ways the teaching of the good old
man touched upon the folly and the
uselessness of wealth. To those who
were prone to follow the will-o the
wisp of gold he talked gently. Were
they forgetting the inheritance of the
meek?
And as his men marched singing
away to guard the France they loved
to give their lives, perhaps, the
old Cure went about comforting the
women and the children and the old
men who were left behind. He wrote
letters for the ones who had never
gone to school, and he read the let
tiers that came from the soldiers to
their home folks. And always he was
with his people.
One day, in the sorrowful summer
of 1917, when the long line of the AL
lied armies was bending like weak
ening reed, two small children were
rowing on the sunny sea in an open
boat. And the waves washed within
the reach of their eager little fingers
wooden crucifix. Gleefully they
pulled it into the boat. 1t was a cross
made of rough wood, all stained with
the salt sea water.
And being but children, they carried
it to the good Cure and asked him
what it meant.
Devoutly, wondering, the Cure car
ried it to his little chapel, and hung
it above the altar.
Early next morning when he entered
the church, as was his habit, the lit
tie cross no longer hung above the
altar but lay. upon the linen cloth that
covered it.
Amazed, the Cure questioned his
people as he moved among them dur
ing the morning. Had any one, then,
taken the cross down off the wall?
Processing wonder, the villagers as
sured him that they had not.
: SO again, the. gentle Cure hung the
crucifix above the altar.
And a second time, when the early
morning sunlight fell across the white
ness of the altar, the cross lay upon
it.
From house to house the tale of the
mysterious crucifix flew like wildfire.
The people came from far and near
to see. And among the pilgrims came
those of richer families those who
had not needed the teachings of their
Cure when he had begged them to give
up their mad struggle for wealth and
gain.
And now they came. They pleaded
to be allowed to beautify the cross
which had been given up by the sea.
A little unwillingly, for he feared the
curse of accumulated gold, the Cure
consented. So the mystic cross was
sent to a goldsmith in Paris. 1t was
polished and trimmed with ivory, en-
crusted with gold and precious stones.
And once again, with reverent
hands, the good Father hung the lit
tie glorified cross above the altar in
his modest chapel. Candles burned
before it, and holy Masses were sung
in the chapel, that was sweet with in
cense.
When in the first dawn after the re-
turn of the crucifix, the Cure entered
his chapel, the glittering cross lay once
more upon the altar cloth.
Calling his people together, and tell
ing them of the miracle, the good
Father spoke to them in this manner:
MY children. In vain have talked
to you of the folly of gold Gold and
the lure of it is in the hearts of my
people today, throughout France as
we'll as in our midst. Wealth and the
love of idleness has thrust upon us a
war that is despoiling our vineyards,
q war that is far from ended, though
cur hearts are weary and the sound
CT the guns is never far away.
"Fro:a tie wind and the waves and
the sunlit air, rude little cross has
come to us :. the symbol of sacrifice.
And almost, we have missed it's mes
sage. Dissatisfied, because it was
made of wood, we have in the way of
the world, encrust it with gold and
precious, stones. z
Let us take this. wealth and buy
food and raiment for the poor who
even now, in our midst, kneel before
the Symbol Let us send grain to our
sister sufferer, Beige, for her people
starve in their desolated fields"
So, humbly kneeling, the people
rich and poor alike, took the precious
stones and the gold and the ivory set
tings of the Mystical Cross, and sold
them. They bought food for the pool
Belgians, and cared for the widows
and orphans of the soldiers who hal
died for France. And. though the lit
tie wooden cross was hung once more
above the altar, it never again left tht
wall
And there it hangs today, hallowet
by the light of the, I'm into a sem
blanee of gold that is more precious
l+than all the metals of the earth.
And the people come from far ant
I.near to kneel before the little woodel
.