Merv: /* Notes */

2014-02-16T04:47:42Z

Notes

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:47, 16 February 2014
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	===Notes===		===Notes===
	<references/>		<references/>




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			\|align=center \|[[Girard0037\|'''Previous Letter''']]\|\| align=center \| [[Contents#1839\|'''List of 1839 Letters''']] \|\| align=center \| [[Girard0039\|'''Next letter''']]
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Merv at 23:44, 5 February 2014

2014-02-05T23:44:50Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 11:44, 6 February 2014
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	;[3]: I told you at the end of my first letter that, when our new confrères arrived in Ouvea (Wallis), I had been, for a month, separated from the small number of catechumens that the good God had given me<ref>The catechumens of the islet called Nuku-atea, under the young chief Tu’ugahala (cf [[Girard0028\|Doc 28]] [19] f/n 40)</ref> and that during this time I had made only a few secret and quick visits to them. The King who in separating us had gone as far as issuing a decree to expel us, hadn’t had the courage to put it into effect, either the cause of fear or affection because of while hating the religion we were preaching, he was very much attached to us personally. He had to put off the matter until the arrival of the ship which was to visit us. So when the new confrères arrived, he had to decide whether to send us away or to keep us still with him, but what a difficult situation! From one side he was being advised to expel us, to stop the progress of Christianity at its origins; on the other, he had a liking for us; then he saw so much goodness in the new confrères who covered him with kindnesses, then, as well he had heard so much talk of the great missionary who was to come from New Zealand that he was afraid that such an act of authority on his part would end up in a bad result for the whole of his island. With all his heart he would have preferred us to stay with him but without preaching religion, or rather, he would have wanted us to ask him if we could leave; but as I knew the background, far from going to ask him if we could leave, I demanded that he take a step by which he would show publicly that he did not agree to our leaving, because having been invited to dine aboard the little schooner,<ref>The ''Reine de Paix'' (cf Doc 32 [1] f/n 2)</ref> whether because of fear of his gods or human respect, he did not want to yield to the invitation of our confrères. Then I threatened to not come back to his house, and to go far away from his island if he did not come on board with me, and straight away he got up and went with us and without making any more difficulties. He spent 24 hours on board, during which time we are omitted nothing that could have more and more gained his affection and trust in us. As it was a Sunday, we sang a high Mass in his presence and during it played the fine organ which had just arrived, but he kept himself apart, forcing himself in some way not to see or admire, and at the end he seemed astonished that his gods had not brought about his death for having dared to come so near to the God of the Christians. It was while he was on board that he came and asked me for a favour, in words that were most submissive and supplicatory. It was to go with our confrères’ schooner to Horn Island – or Futuna, where Father Chanel was, to bring back about fifteen Ouvean natives, who had fled there on one of the local canoes. It would delay, by eight to ten days, the return of the schooner to New Zealand, it is true, but, as well, it would greatly oblige the King whose affection and trust we needed to win more and more for the good of the mission. So having deliberated over the matter with my confrères, it was decided that I would go with them to the island of Futuna, and on that very day, so as to save time, everything was got ready so as to be able to leave the next day. It was the 6th May, after only four days’ stay, that the schooner set sail for Futuna. Of course I left Brother Joseph to look after our little house, and I farewelled him for only six to ten days; the leader of our catechumens with some natives belonging to his retinue was with us. We took roughly 30 hours to cover the 40 leagues [200 km] between Uvea and Futuna. You can imagine the joy we all experienced when we saw good Father Chanel again; he could not find words to express his pleasant surprise, and neither of us could dare to bless the good God for, after we had been abandoned for so long, He had arranged the occasion for us to be brought together again, and as well, to find ourselves amongst a group of collaborators coming directly from France and vying with each other to tell us the edifying news they brought from there. We could not rejoice enough in the Lord over the progress religion seemed to be making in our country, and the growing expansion of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith and the wonders of zeal and charity that the good faithful of the diocese of Lyons had shown for their brothers in the Antipodes.		;[3]: I told you at the end of my first letter that, when our new confrères arrived in Ouvea (Wallis), I had been, for a month, separated from the small number of catechumens that the good God had given me<ref>The catechumens of the islet called Nuku-atea, under the young chief Tu’ugahala (cf [[Girard0028\|Doc 28]] [19] f/n 40)</ref> and that during this time I had made only a few secret and quick visits to them. The King who in separating us had gone as far as issuing a decree to expel us, hadn’t had the courage to put it into effect, either the cause of fear or affection because of while hating the religion we were preaching, he was very much attached to us personally. He had to put off the matter until the arrival of the ship which was to visit us. So when the new confrères arrived, he had to decide whether to send us away or to keep us still with him, but what a difficult situation! From one side he was being advised to expel us, to stop the progress of Christianity at its origins; on the other, he had a liking for us; then he saw so much goodness in the new confrères who covered him with kindnesses, then, as well he had heard so much talk of the great missionary who was to come from New Zealand that he was afraid that such an act of authority on his part would end up in a bad result for the whole of his island. With all his heart he would have preferred us to stay with him but without preaching religion, or rather, he would have wanted us to ask him if we could leave; but as I knew the background, far from going to ask him if we could leave, I demanded that he take a step by which he would show publicly that he did not agree to our leaving, because having been invited to dine aboard the little schooner,<ref>The ''Reine de Paix'' (cf Doc 32 [1] f/n 2)</ref> whether because of fear of his gods or human respect, he did not want to yield to the invitation of our confrères. Then I threatened to not come back to his house, and to go far away from his island if he did not come on board with me, and straight away he got up and went with us and without making any more difficulties. He spent 24 hours on board, during which time we are omitted nothing that could have more and more gained his affection and trust in us. As it was a Sunday, we sang a high Mass in his presence and during it played the fine organ which had just arrived, but he kept himself apart, forcing himself in some way not to see or admire, and at the end he seemed astonished that his gods had not brought about his death for having dared to come so near to the God of the Christians. It was while he was on board that he came and asked me for a favour, in words that were most submissive and supplicatory. It was to go with our confrères’ schooner to Horn Island – or Futuna, where Father Chanel was, to bring back about fifteen Ouvean natives, who had fled there on one of the local canoes. It would delay, by eight to ten days, the return of the schooner to New Zealand, it is true, but, as well, it would greatly oblige the King whose affection and trust we needed to win more and more for the good of the mission. So having deliberated over the matter with my confrères, it was decided that I would go with them to the island of Futuna, and on that very day, so as to save time, everything was got ready so as to be able to leave the next day. It was the 6th May, after only four days’ stay, that the schooner set sail for Futuna. Of course I left Brother Joseph to look after our little house, and I farewelled him for only six to ten days; the leader of our catechumens with some natives belonging to his retinue was with us. We took roughly 30 hours to cover the 40 leagues [200 km] between Uvea and Futuna. You can imagine the joy we all experienced when we saw good Father Chanel again; he could not find words to express his pleasant surprise, and neither of us could dare to bless the good God for, after we had been abandoned for so long, He had arranged the occasion for us to be brought together again, and as well, to find ourselves amongst a group of collaborators coming directly from France and vying with each other to tell us the edifying news they brought from there. We could not rejoice enough in the Lord over the progress religion seemed to be making in our country, and the growing expansion of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith and the wonders of zeal and charity that the good faithful of the diocese of Lyons had shown for their brothers in the Antipodes.
	;[4]: The island of Futuna which is one of the smallest inhabited islands in Oceania has hardly six or seven hundred inhabitants. They are Polynesians like the people of Uvea, and their language, though a little different, is nevertheless based on the same principles, but they are much more simple, much more innocent in some way than the people of Uvea. Far from thinking themselves superior to the whites with whom they are only beginning to have dealings, they still almost see them as gods, and are very far from seeing themselves as equal to them: an attitude or respect which is more advantageous for a missionary. As well, I think that Father Chanel would have baptised all his people but for the annoying circumstance of the war going on among them almost since his arrival.<ref>The war at that time between the two kingdoms in Futuna, that is, between Tua (Alo) and Sigave, is described in Frimizacci p 141-50; Chanel gives a long description of it in his letter to Bataillon on 7th September 1839 (Rozier ''Ecrits Chanel'' Doc 51 [3-14] p 240-51)</ref> Because apart from the fact that the war attracted their main concern, it made their dealings with him a lot more infrequent, and as a result his study of the language was considerably affected. So, when we were on Futuna, Father Chanel did not yet have enough understanding of the language to proclaim solemnly the word of God. The King<ref>Niuliki, King of Tua (cf [[Girard0022\|Doc 22]] [5] f/n 9)</ref> and his subjects were all disposed to listen, but he could not yet make himself understood enough. That, for him, was his great source of suffering and regret. So, on the very evening of the day we arrived, he got me to preach at length in the assembly of the natives who had gathered to see us and to celebrate us, and on the following day, which was the feast of the Ascension, after having solemnly sung the high Mass in the King’s palace, I again proclaimed the holy word to the crowd which had come to admire the beauty of the religious ceremonies; finally, during the eight days following, we gathered together every evening, with the help of an accordion and a little organ which had just arrived, all the natives from the villages nearby, and after having entertained them for a few moments with the sound of the music, Father Chanel got me to instruct them, and I did that with more pleasure as I saw in these poor people a greater desire to hear the divine word. But the time when we had to return to Uvea had already passed and also we foresaw more delays, arising both from the natives whom we had to take back, and from the winds which were always contrary for Uvea but excellent for New Zealand; so we all together decided to let the new confrères go directly to the Bishop who was waiting for them, no doubt impatiently, and I held back, so as to return to my island, a boat belonging to some European seamen living in these islands and which, at this time, fortunately, was at Futuna. After our confrères left for New Zealand, I spent a further six weeks with Father Chanel. The winds did not allow me to depart sooner, no matter how strong was my desire to return to the midst of my beloved children. However good Father Chanel had different desires and wanted circumstances to hold me back with him even longer because he claimed he needed me to teach him the language, and to speed up, in that way, the work of the mission. So he did not allow me to waste my time with him. Apart from our building a pretty little house for him in place of the first, which the wind had destroyed, we used whole days and parts of the night in studying the language, then in instructing the good people of Futuna in public and, in particular, every time circumstances allowed it. We also translated into Futunan everything I had in the Uvean language, whether concerning doctrine, or prayers and hymns, and he allowed me no peace until I had tried to rewrite [Author’s note: You will no doubt be pleased to see them as perhaps being the first tribute of praise given to our good mother in this part of Oceania, and to give you at the same time a slight idea of the relationship of the Futunan language to that of Uvea. It is a free paraphrase of the ''Ave Maria'', with the main ideas of the ''Salve Regina'', to the tune of ''O filii et filiae'' (each vowel is a syllable, and the ‘u’ is pronounced like ‘oo’<ref>See the supplementary note at the end of the present document</ref> some verses in honour of Mary, although I had not yet done anything similar in the Wallisian language.		;[4]: The island of Futuna which is one of the smallest inhabited islands in Oceania has hardly six or seven hundred inhabitants. They are Polynesians like the people of Uvea, and their language, though a little different, is nevertheless based on the same principles, but they are much more simple, much more innocent in some way than the people of Uvea. Far from thinking themselves superior to the whites with whom they are only beginning to have dealings, they still almost see them as gods, and are very far from seeing themselves as equal to them: an attitude or respect which is more advantageous for a missionary. As well, I think that Father Chanel would have baptised all his people but for the annoying circumstance of the war going on among them almost since his arrival.<ref>The war at that time between the two kingdoms in Futuna, that is, between Tua (Alo) and Sigave, is described in Frimizacci p 141-50; Chanel gives a long description of it in his letter to Bataillon on 7th September 1839 (Rozier ''Ecrits Chanel'' Doc 51 [3-14] p 240-51)</ref> Because apart from the fact that the war attracted their main concern, it made their dealings with him a lot more infrequent, and as a result his study of the language was considerably affected. So, when we were on Futuna, Father Chanel did not yet have enough understanding of the language to proclaim solemnly the word of God. The King<ref>Niuliki, King of Tua (cf [[Girard0022\|Doc 22]] [5] f/n 9)</ref> and his subjects were all disposed to listen, but he could not yet make himself understood enough. That, for him, was his great source of suffering and regret. So, on the very evening of the day we arrived, he got me to preach at length in the assembly of the natives who had gathered to see us and to celebrate us, and on the following day, which was the feast of the Ascension, after having solemnly sung the high Mass in the King’s palace, I again proclaimed the holy word to the crowd which had come to admire the beauty of the religious ceremonies; finally, during the eight days following, we gathered together every evening, with the help of an accordion and a little organ which had just arrived, all the natives from the villages nearby, and after having entertained them for a few moments with the sound of the music, Father Chanel got me to instruct them, and I did that with more pleasure as I saw in these poor people a greater desire to hear the divine word. But the time when we had to return to Uvea had already passed and also we foresaw more delays, arising both from the natives whom we had to take back, and from the winds which were always contrary for Uvea but excellent for New Zealand; so we all together decided to let the new confrères go directly to the Bishop who was waiting for them, no doubt impatiently, and I held back, so as to return to my island, a boat belonging to some European seamen living in these islands and which, at this time, fortunately, was at Futuna. After our confrères left for New Zealand, I spent a further six weeks with Father Chanel. The winds did not allow me to depart sooner, no matter how strong was my desire to return to the midst of my beloved children. However good Father Chanel had different desires and wanted circumstances to hold me back with him even longer because he claimed he needed me to teach him the language, and to speed up, in that way, the work of the mission. So he did not allow me to waste my time with him. Apart from our building a pretty little house for him in place of the first, which the wind had destroyed, we used whole days and parts of the night in studying the language, then in instructing the good people of Futuna in public and, in particular, every time circumstances allowed it. We also translated into Futunan everything I had in the Uvean language, whether concerning doctrine, or prayers and hymns, and he allowed me no peace until I had tried to rewrite [Author’s note: You will no doubt be pleased to see them as perhaps being the first tribute of praise given to our good mother in this part of Oceania, and to give you at the same time a slight idea of the relationship of the Futunan language to that of Uvea. It is a free paraphrase of the ''Ave Maria'', with the main ideas of the ''Salve Regina'', to the tune of ''O filii et filiae'' (each vowel is a syllable, and the ‘u’ is pronounced like ‘oo’<ref>See the supplementary note at the end of the present document</ref> some verses in honour of Mary, although I had not yet done anything similar in the Wallisian language.
	'''Hymn about the Blessed Virgin in the Futunan language'''		::::::'''Hymn about the Blessed Virgin in the Futunan language'''
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	:Ci e Manuia foki		:Ci e Manuia foki
	:re fua o lou aro		:re fua o lou aro
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	:::::Miss(ion)ary ap(ostolic)		:::::Miss(ion)ary ap(ostolic)
	:::::In Western Oceania.		:::::In Western Oceania.
	;[31] PS I believe I have already promised you an attempt at a grammar with the Wallisian dictionary. It was finished several months ago, but having caught sight of many faults and mistakes in it which I presently have not enough time to correct during the little time Father Chevron has been here, I will postpone the carrying out of my promise until the Bishop arrives.		;[31]: PS I believe I have already promised you an attempt at a grammar with the Wallisian dictionary. It was finished several months ago, but having caught sight of many faults and mistakes in it which I presently have not enough time to correct during the little time Father Chevron has been here, I will postpone the carrying out of my promise until the Bishop arrives.

	===Notes===		===Notes===
	<references/>		<references/>

Merv: Created page with "==September 1839 & 12 May 1840 — Father Pierre Bataillon to Father Jean-Claude Colin, Wallis== ''Translated by Fr Brian Quin SM, May-July 2013'' :Letter to Reverend Father Co..."

2014-02-05T23:43:12Z

Created page with "==September 1839 & 12 May 1840 — Father Pierre Bataillon to Father Jean-Claude Colin, Wallis== ''Translated by Fr Brian Quin SM, May-July 2013'' :Letter to Reverend Father Co..."

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Merv: /* Notes */

Merv at 23:44, 5 February 2014

Merv: Created page with "==September 1839 & 12 May 1840 — Father Pierre Bataillon to Father Jean-Claude Colin, Wallis== ''Translated by Fr Brian Quin SM, May-July 2013'' :Letter to Reverend Father Co..."