Merv at 22:14, 3 August 2017

2017-08-03T22:14:17Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 10:14, 4 August 2017
Line 94:		Line 94:

	;[42]: Father Villerd is asked to pass on this letter to Father Nicoud, parish priest of Saint Clair near Condrieux.		;[42]: Father Villerd is asked to pass on this letter to Father Nicoud, parish priest of Saint Clair near Condrieux.




			{\|border=1; style="width:100%"
			\|+
			\|-bgcolor=lightblue
			\|align=center \|[[Girard0660\|'''Previous Letter''']]\|\| align=center \| [[Contents#1847\|'''List of 1847 Letters''']] \|\| align=center \| [[Girard0662\|'''Next letter''']]
			\|}

Merv at 09:04, 20 October 2010

2010-10-20T09:04:10Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 21:04, 20 October 2010
Line 1:		Line 1:
	==18 September 1847 — Fr Jérôme Grange to Fr Villerd, Parish Priest at Saint Jodard near Roanne and to Fr Nicoud, Parish Priest at Saint Clair, Condrieux==		==18 September 1847 — Fr Jérôme Grange to Fr Villerd, Parish Priest at Saint Jodard near Roanne and to Fr Nicoud, Parish Priest at Saint Clair near Condrieux==

	''Translated by Peter McConnell, October 2010''		''Translated by Peter McConnell, October 2010''
Line 53:		Line 53:
	;[23]: On 19 July at daybreak the dinghies of the ''Seine'' were set on fire. The natives spared only one and that of Bishop Collomb which they dragged away some distance from the house. Thinking that that day would very likely be our last, we all made our confessions. Bishop Collomb consumed the consecrated hosts and wine. The Scotsman George Taylor, whom I had been instructing for some time to prepare him for baptism asked me to baptize him. I did that conditionally. He also went to confession. At two o’clock we were surrounded on all sides by the savages. They were smeared with black dye and uttered fierce screams. Hidden behind large rocks not far from the house and sheltered by the wall of the terrace which sustains the house, they hurled large stones which demolished the walls of the house. It was impossible for us to reach them. Yet they did not dare invade the courtyard. Brother Bertrand was injured in the hand and put out of action. Brother Blaise was dying. There were no more than four of us to defend ourselves against three hundred strong savages as determined against us as a lion against its prey. Yet we were courageous. In particular we were frightened of the fire. After two hours of determined fighting they began to get tired. It was then that I heard a chief from the other side of the river say: Burn the house, burn the house! Almost immediately afterwards we noticed that the piles of the house were alight. We couldn’t extinguish them. Already we could feel the heat under us. We were extremely anxious; if we stayed we would perish in the flames, if we went down the stairs we would surely be clubbed by the savages.		;[23]: On 19 July at daybreak the dinghies of the ''Seine'' were set on fire. The natives spared only one and that of Bishop Collomb which they dragged away some distance from the house. Thinking that that day would very likely be our last, we all made our confessions. Bishop Collomb consumed the consecrated hosts and wine. The Scotsman George Taylor, whom I had been instructing for some time to prepare him for baptism asked me to baptize him. I did that conditionally. He also went to confession. At two o’clock we were surrounded on all sides by the savages. They were smeared with black dye and uttered fierce screams. Hidden behind large rocks not far from the house and sheltered by the wall of the terrace which sustains the house, they hurled large stones which demolished the walls of the house. It was impossible for us to reach them. Yet they did not dare invade the courtyard. Brother Bertrand was injured in the hand and put out of action. Brother Blaise was dying. There were no more than four of us to defend ourselves against three hundred strong savages as determined against us as a lion against its prey. Yet we were courageous. In particular we were frightened of the fire. After two hours of determined fighting they began to get tired. It was then that I heard a chief from the other side of the river say: Burn the house, burn the house! Almost immediately afterwards we noticed that the piles of the house were alight. We couldn’t extinguish them. Already we could feel the heat under us. We were extremely anxious; if we stayed we would perish in the flames, if we went down the stairs we would surely be clubbed by the savages.

	;[24]: We all assembled in the little indoor chapel. Brother Blaise himself leave his bed and dragged himself as best he could to come and join us there. His composure was calm; there was serenity on his face and a smile on his lips. I am coming, he said as he entered the rooms, I am coming to wait for the final blow right here. Some moments before he had said to the bishop who seemed moved when giving him his blessing. Oh, why, milord bishop, do we worry so much. All we are doing is changing his life for a better one. I should praise this excellent brother whom I loved and esteemed saying that his death has inspired me even more than it has distressed me. While I was hearing his confession for the last time and while I was exhorting him to follow the example of our Divine Master in willingly pardoning his butchers, he said: How I would like my death to be the good fortune of his poor race! I forgive them whole-heartedly. The sweet serenity of that worthy brother affected the new catholic George so		;[24]: We all assembled in the little indoor chapel. Brother Blaise himself leave his bed and dragged himself as best he could to come and join us there. His composure was calm; there was serenity on his face and a smile on his lips. I am coming, he said as he entered the rooms, I am coming to wait for the final blow right here. Some moments before he had said to the bishop who seemed moved when giving him his blessing. Oh, why, milord bishop, do we worry so much. All we are doing is changing his life for a better one. I should praise this excellent brother whom I loved and esteemed saying that his death has inspired me even more than it has distressed me. While I was hearing his confession for the last time and while I was exhorting him to follow the example of our Divine Master in willingly pardoning his butchers, he said: How I would like my death to be the good fortune of his poor race! I forgive them whole-heartedly. The sweet serenity of that worthy brother affected the new catholic George so much that he couldn’t help saying: This is the true religion. Yet time was passing. Bishop Collomb knelt down before me to receive a final blessing and a plenary indulgence ''in articulo mortis'' = in danger of death. After I gave him this blessing we all knelt down begging him to accord us the same favour, then we embraced one another and said our goodbyes until we would meet in heaven where we hoped to be together in a short time.
	much that he couldn’t help saying: This is the true religion. Yet time was passing. Bishop Collomb knelt down before me to receive a final blessing and a plenary indulgence ''in articulo mortis'' = in danger of death. After I gave him this blessing we all knelt down begging him to accord us the same favour, then we embraced one another and said our goodbyes until we would meet in heaven where we hoped to be together in a short time.

	;[25]: The bishop and I vowed to celebrate 109 Masses each if the Almighty saw fit to save us from the extreme danger we were in. Yet the thought came to us that by abandoning the housed to pillaging we would perhaps have some chance of saving ourselves. I opened the window and spoke to the mob; I proposed giving them the key to the storehouse on condition that they put out the fire and that they would spare our lives. Two chiefs, Ondo and Gomène, agreed to that suggestion. Ondo signalled to me to come down. During the parleying I was struck with a spear which injured me only slightly. Doctor Baudry threw them the key of the storehouse. The savages who had already put the fire out rushed into the storehouse passing through the kitchen. It was at that moment that we had the best of opportunities. We opened the trapdoor and took advantage of the situation to go down. I went first and spoke to chief Ondo. I gave him my rifle which he imperiously demanded and recommended Brother Blaise to him. While I was speaking to Ondo, the bishop and Brother Bertrand escaped and left the courtyard. The doctor went next with Marie and George. Two savages closed in on the bishop to spear him. The doctor who noticed what was happening brandished his rifle in a threatening manner. They recoiled. Marie and George, also witnessed the danger which his Lordship was in. They fired two shots and this set the two savages to flight. Yet I remained, as I told you, to speak with Ondo. I approached him cautiously without appearing to be frightened when walked past the ruins of the church which had been burnt down the previous evening. I met there a host of 60 to 80 savages who were collecting debris from the fire. A tall savage, taller and blacker than the devil raced at me to strike me down with stones. So I ran as fast as I could. Twice he hurled a big stone enough to kill me but twice by a special providence I fell and my fall coincided exactly with the stone which was destined to strike me down. The second time the savage must have believed that he had succeeded. He left me to return to the pillaging. I got to my feet again as I could; I rejoined our besieged party which was waiting for me. So we had a head counts. Brother Blaise was missing. The bishop asked what we should do for the best. Everybody agreed that it was impossible for that brother to follow us and that trying to carry him away would certainly cause us to lose our lives. Moreover we had some hope that having nothing to fear from him and quite happy with the booty, which we left them, the savages would stop. Also I recommended him twice to the two chiefs who had promised to spare him.		;[25]: The bishop and I vowed to celebrate 109 Masses each if the Almighty saw fit to save us from the extreme danger we were in. Yet the thought came to us that by abandoning the housed to pillaging we would perhaps have some chance of saving ourselves. I opened the window and spoke to the mob; I proposed giving them the key to the storehouse on condition that they put out the fire and that they would spare our lives. Two chiefs, Ondo and Gomène, agreed to that suggestion. Ondo signalled to me to come down. During the parleying I was struck with a spear which injured me only slightly. Doctor Baudry threw them the key of the storehouse. The savages who had already put the fire out rushed into the storehouse passing through the kitchen. It was at that moment that we had the best of opportunities. We opened the trapdoor and took advantage of the situation to go down. I went first and spoke to chief Ondo. I gave him my rifle which he imperiously demanded and recommended Brother Blaise to him. While I was speaking to Ondo, the bishop and Brother Bertrand escaped and left the courtyard. The doctor went next with Marie and George. Two savages closed in on the bishop to spear him. The doctor who noticed what was happening brandished his rifle in a threatening manner. They recoiled. Marie and George, also witnessed the danger which his Lordship was in. They fired two shots and this set the two savages to flight. Yet I remained, as I told you, to speak with Ondo. I approached him cautiously without appearing to be frightened when walked past the ruins of the church which had been burnt down the previous evening. I met there a host of 60 to 80 savages who were collecting debris from the fire. A tall savage, taller and blacker than the devil raced at me to strike me down with stones. So I ran as fast as I could. Twice he hurled a big stone enough to kill me but twice by a special providence I fell and my fall coincided exactly with the stone which was destined to strike me down. The second time the savage must have believed that he had succeeded. He left me to return to the pillaging. I got to my feet again as I could; I rejoined our besieged party which was waiting for me. So we had a head counts. Brother Blaise was missing. The bishop asked what we should do for the best. Everybody agreed that it was impossible for that brother to follow us and that trying to carry him away would certainly cause us to lose our lives. Moreover we had some hope that having nothing to fear from him and quite happy with the booty, which we left them, the savages would stop. Also I recommended him twice to the two chiefs who had promised to spare him.

Merv: New page: ==18 September 1847 — Fr Jérôme Grange to Fr Villerd, Parish Priest at Saint Jodard near Roanne and to Fr Nicoud, Parish Priest at Saint Clair, Condrieux== ''Translated by Peter McCo...

2010-10-20T09:02:44Z

New page: ==18 September 1847 — Fr Jérôme Grange to Fr Villerd, Parish Priest at Saint Jodard near Roanne and to Fr Nicoud, Parish Priest at Saint Clair, Condrieux== ''Translated by Peter McCo...

Show changes

Girard0661 - Revision history

Merv at 22:14, 3 August 2017

Merv at 09:04, 20 October 2010

Merv: New page: ==18 September 1847 — Fr Jérôme Grange to Fr Villerd, Parish Priest at Saint Jodard near Roanne and to Fr Nicoud, Parish Priest at Saint Clair, Condrieux== ''Translated by Peter McCo...