I have celebrated Mass in some strange places and under extraordinary conditions but somehow I was more than usually impressed this morning. The men had gathered in what was once a small convent. For with all their faults, their devil-may-care recklessness, they love the Mass and regret when they cannot come. It was a poor miserable place, cold and wet, the only light being two small candles. Yet they knelt there and prayed as only our own Irish poor can pray, with a fervour and faith which would touch the heart of any unbeliever. They are as shy as children, and men of few words; but I know they are grateful when one tries to be kind to them and warmly appreciate all that is done for their soul’s interest.
What a beautiful account of the power and mystery of the Holy Mass, which brings out the child in everyone, even soldiers at war. We, all of us, are really children of God. God bless, Father Doyle, for his compassion and high degree of duty to offer the Mass for these poor men who faced death on a daily basis, a situation which as we read, brings men in all humility to their knees before their loving God. Father Doyle, please help us to possess that same awareness and awe of God, as did these men at war.