WITH THE MONKS OF ST. BERNARD.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XVI, Issue 36, 28 December 1888, Page 19

WITH THE MONKS OF ST. BERNARD.

We are indebted, says the Pall Mall Gazette, to Miss C. P. Gordon Gumming for the following account of the consecration of the new Provost of the Grand Saint Bernard :

"The strangely abnormal weather of the summer of 1888 has lent a singularly characterestic touch to the solemn ceremonial of the coDsecration if ftl. 'ibejphile Bourgeois Bovernier, elected by the brethren of the Grand Saint Bernard as successor to their late Provost. September 2 was the day fixed for this great event — a date which hffurded a fair prospect ot favourable weather. It was, however, decreed that the many guests who assembled on this occasion should realise some of the hardships of existence on the mountain, which on the previous day was enfolded in dense clouds, and soon a bitter wind was accompanied by such close, fine snow that the many groupsof prelates, prieats, pilgrims, councillors of ritate, representing the Government of the Valais, and other people who journeyed through the beautiful valley of Entremont to take part in the service, hesitated whether to proceed or to spend the night at the base of the mountain. Happily the telephone from the Hospice brought encouraging words, and the assurance that men would come down to meet and help the visitors on their toilsome ascent ; and this, combined with the resolution of two octogenarian prelates to proceed at once, encouraged the fainthearted, so all determined to face the storm, notwithstanding the bitter cold, and such bewildering swirls of tailing snow as could scarcely have been exceeded at Christmas.

" Ihe two brave old bishops who thus led the van were Mgr. da Sion and Mgr. de Bethk'-em. For these augu6t prelates a carriage had been provided, but so frightful was its jolting that it was doubtful whether the occupants did not suffer more from bruises than did the rest of the company from exposure to the tempest. A litter had been provided to replace the carriage at the point beyond which it was deemed impossible to drag it. Here, however, the visitors wero met by a party from the Hospice, accompanied by a number of courageous servants of Saint Bernard, descendants of those very men. who dragged the cannon of Napoleon to the same heights. These meu had vowed to transport the carriage containing the bishops to the Hospice, and, notwithstanding all difficulties of precipitous roada and narrow bridges, they fulfilled their vow.

" O i reaching the Hospice they were met by the Bishop of Aosta, who, with a dozen of his clergy, arrived almost simultaneously from the Italian side of the mountain. They had suffered even more than their Swiss friends, having had to face the wind all the way. They said that never in the depths of winter had they endured more intense cold. Soon, however, all the sufferings of the ascent were forgotten as they gathered around cheery fires, while the good brethren made much of their honoured guests. A comfortable supper and sound sleep effectually restored them, and all met in the chapel long before the hour fixed for the beginning of the service, which laated from 9 till 12.30. First came the reading of the Papal Ball conferring authority on the new Provost, who subsequently lay prostrate on the ground during the recital of the Penitential Psalms, thus typifying

to all men that he who would rule his fellows must excel all in humility.

" Alter a Inneheon, of which all the bishops, the clergy, the councillor* of State, and other dignitaries were toasted in the most convivial fashon, the company returned to the sancturary, at the threshold of which all the brethern awaited their Abbot. The prior inquired of him whether he could swear solemnly to observe the constitution of the Order, and on his reply in the affirmative, committed to him the care of the altar, the choir, and the whole church, whereupon all the members of the Order proceeded to do him homage — an boonage which in this case seemed to be singularly heartfelt. For life amid the snows of the Saint Bernard does not foster many distracting affections, but rather tends to intensify the love of the brethren for those whom they deem worthy of reverenence, as is eminently the case with the Provost of their choice. In the very prime oE life (only thirty two-years of age) he has won the hearts of all the brotherhood by his gentleness and modesty combined with rare strength of character and powers of physical endurance ; great learning, not only in theology, but in all natural sciences, and also extraordinary linguistic talents. So the brotherhood are to be congratulated on the singular unanimity displayed in the election of their new Father, and all felt that the brilliant sunlight which succeeded tho snowstorm, and glorified the mountains, waa a happy tj\.e of the prospects of these excellent men."