The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1920-01-17
SWISS PLACES OF WORSHIP

castle, n the handsome rocco
church of the Holy Ghost, erected
from 1869.
From Berne, which is celebrated for
the unique outlook it enjoys on the
| glittering chain of the Bernese Alps,
| we proceed to the bewitchingly lovely
shores of the lake Of Thun, reposing
like a precious turquoise between
Thun and Interlaken.
Bernese OberIand With ~Beatenbera.
Thun, with it's proud old zahringen
castle and it's dignified parish church,
standing side by side on the top Of a
hill, presents n of the most charm
ing pictures Of a medieval town. In
terlaken, between 1130-152S the seat
of an important monastery, is today
the Mecca of all tourists DESTROYS of
exploring the Alpine wonderland in
the realm of the Jungfrau and adjoin-
ing peaks. ~
The shores of the lake of Thun
were among the sections in SWitzer-
land where the Gospel was first pro-
claimed. 1t is related that two Brit
ons, Beatus and Justus, once upon a
time, probably in the 9Th or 9Th en-
fury, came over the Brunig Pass to
introduce Christianity among the
shepherds of Sundlauenen.
When reaching a little hamlet about
II hour west from the present In
terlaken, they asked the natives about
a quiet place from which they could
start their work of conversion. The
two men were directed to a cave
above the Wendell lake, as the lake
of Thun was called in the very early
days, but with a warning that a pow
erful dragon was now the occupant OF
the same. Unafraid, the two men set
out to meet the monster. Beatus sub
dued it with the sign of the cross, and
the beast jumped into the lake, which
began to boil up in great hot
Beatus then spent his life gather
| ing converts from the wild tribes who
inhabited the district, and he won
their hearts by deeds and miracles.
At Einigen, near Thun, he founded
the first church of the Bernese Ober-
land and made his companion, Justus,
parish priest. AS the wind, in normal
weather, blows with great regularity
down the lake during the night and
| early morning. and up, for the rest
of the day, Beatus was able to spread
his cloak and sail, and so, they say,
! taught the people the art of sailing.
The Dry Cave.
Beatus' dwelling was held in affec-
tionate remembrance after his death,
and later on the monks of 1nterlaken
converted the ave into a chapel with
a silver shrine, containing the relics
Of the saint. This grotto Of St. Bea-
tus Or the Dry Cave, as it was called,
has been artistically reconstructed in
to a hermitage with life-sized figure
of the saint, and is a much frequented
pilgrimage resort. The adjoining So
called wet grotto, from which the
Beatus brook bursts forth in spring,
has in recent years been opened to a
depth OF. $3.50 feet, and is easily and
safely accessible by means of electri-
cally Illuminated paths, stairs and
bridges.
In the solitude of this romantic re-
treat, sanctified by the noble deeds of
a man and the most miraculous forces
Of nature, we pause in reverent adj
miration for the indomitable perse-
verance, the lofty ideals and fervent
Christian convictions which have
guided the many wonderful shrines of
spiritual uplift and devotion, with
which we have had the privilege of
becoming acquainted, through the nu-
merous reverses and trials which have
visited them in the ever-changing
course Of the ages. Almost uncon-
~sciously we feel that all these places
of worship, simple or sumptuous, in a
land where Nature herself has set up
her noblest temples, have indeed been
called into existence through an inner
most desire of the respective founders
to thereby glorify the overwhelming
omnipresence of the Creator, who in
turn has never failed to bestoW His
divine h1ecsinoS on them