The Catholic bulletin., 1920-01-10
RELIGIOUS BEAUTIES OF ALPINE
REGIONS-THE GREAT ST, Der.
NARD WITH ITS FAMOUS HOS
PIcE AND sAGAcIoUs DOGS
CHARITY AND HEROISM OF THE.
MONKS - LAUSANNE, GENEVA
AND FRIBOURG.
written for The Catholic Bulletin by
~. .'.5n Marie Widmer.) ~"
-" (Continued).
Martigny and Great St. Bernard.

1
and at the same time an early pioneer
Of Christianity. st. Theodore founded
the abbey Agaunum (Saint Maurice)
which is still interesting at the pres.
ent date, and after becoming bishop in
| the year 349 he transferred his dom
icile to Octodurum, also known as
Forum Claudii," the present Mar
tigny.
Martigny is famous today as the
starting point of the Great St. Bernard
Road, leading to place of worship
which is in name, as we'll as in deed,
one of the noblest institutions of it's
kind-the Hospice of the Great St.
Bernard.
While it is an established fact that
the Pass itself was in use in the Rom
an era, the actual foundation of the
Hospice by Bernard the Mention, a
wise and sanity priest of Aosta, dates
back to the middle of the 10th cen
tury. The Hospice, intended to serve
as shelter to the thousands of way
farers and pilgrims who used this road,
grew rapidly under the special protec-
tion of powerful princes and prelates.
The Pope took it under his particular
and individual care, and even today
many of the privileges which have
been bestowed upon it in the past are
jealously preserved; amongst others is
the unique distinction that the Pro-
vost of the Order of monks who live
and work there is not subject to any
diocesan except the Pope himself and
the Holy See. In spite of this powerful
protection the Hospice had to endure
many trials. Fire and storm near
ly ruined it on several occasions and
the greater part of the present build
ing dates from the 18th century, when
a disastrous conflagration had about
reduced the old structure to ashes. A
large new wing was added as recently
as 1901, and the Hospice, as we now
behold it, is consequently partly 10th
century and partly a new structure.
The Hospice.
Napoleon Bonaparte already, who
traversed the pass with $4,000 men in
May, 1900, took a keen interest in the
work of the Hospice, and he decided
that the St. Augustine monks of the
Great st. Bernard should have the
monopoly of the hospitality in the
Alps. The abbeys of St. Maurice and
the Great st. Bernard were conse-
quently joined, and the administra-
ton of the Hospices on the Simplon
and Mont Gents was also entrusted to
their care.
An electric railway between Martig-
ny and Orsieres facilitates the ascent
to the Hospice, which can from the
latter point be reached by carriage.
The hard climate of the st. Bernard
region calls for constant self-denials
on the part of the inmates. The win
ter season lasts from eight to nine
months and is the most trying period
for them. 1t is the time when the ter
rife snowstorms prevailing in this re-
gion call them and their faithful, sa-
gacious dogs out on their heroic res
cue work of poor, overcome Travellers.
The st. Bernard dogs, a splendid
breed, famous all over the world, are
carefully trained by the brethren for
their noble duties, but like their mas
ters, they too have to sacrifice their
health in this raw climate and have
to be sent to Martigny from time to
time for recuperation. - ~.
The Hospice buildings are especially
designed to resist the inclemency of
weather; they are plain gray struc-
lures with small windows and massive
walls. The somber lake, which fills
the hollow on one side, suggested to
Dumas "a picture in miniature of the
Dead Sea, lying at the feet of Jerusa-
lem in ruins" On a platform near this
lake, the Romans once had a temple
to Jupiter, where travellers stopped to
express their gratitude to the god.
The most sumptuous part of the
Hospice, which also possesses very
ancient library, is the church with
some exquisitely carved stalls, fine
paintings and relics.
The inmates of the Great st. Ber-
nard Hospice are heroes who lead en-
tirely an existence of self-imposed sac
rifice; they are men whose heroic
deeds in the great solitude of this
mountain pass consecrate anew their
ancient abode and make 1T a shrine of
the ideal Christianity expressed by
good deeds.
Geneva.
At the extreme end of the lake of
| Geneva, where the River Rhone comes
into evidence once more, lies Geneva,
| famous today as the future capital of
| the League of Nations, a celebrity al
Iready centuries ago as the abode of
many of the worlds literary stars and
reformers. :
| Geneva was also known to the Rom.
ans, and an Apollo temple once graced
the heights now crowned by the city's
most important edifice, st. Peters
Cathedral. The Pagan place of wor.
ship was destroyed by fire in 179 B.
c., and a new building which was
again erected in its place was convert
ed into a Christian church in the 4th
century. The construction of the pres
ent Cathedral was started in the 10th
century and completed 300 years later
Begun at a time when the round arch
ed Romanesque architecture was al
it's height, the edifice was finished