BELGIUM’S CALVARY

New Zealand Tablet, 1 February 1917, Page 47

BELGIUM’S CALVARY

Cardinal Mercier has issued a new pastoral letter addressed to all Belgians, those under the German heel, those in exile, and those who are fighting at the front. The letter admits at (he beginning: The war is lone*.’ but to (his the Cardinal immediately replies: ‘What does it matter V War itself, he says, is but a contingency, inevitable since it arises from human passions, and one should not wish to avoid it at the price of higher interests. ‘ To wish for peace for peace’s sake, peace at any price, would be to accept with equal indifference justice and injustice, truth and lies. It would be cowardice and impiety.’ Coming then to the details of Christian life, Cardinal Mercier recommends regular and frequent attendance at Mass. , The materia] misery in which the greater part of the population of Belgium is plunged should not create false shame. ‘ I have met lately young men and young women of the people who did not come any longer to church because they could only wear wooden shoes. My children, I understand your humiliation, and I sympathise with it. But, believe me, our Saviour is not like these “parvenus” whose looks you are fearing.' He has willingly made Himself poor the better to draw you unto Him : the more miserable you are, the more you become like Him, the more reasons has He to love you.’ Mercies Vouchsafed. ‘ We must thank God,’ he continues, ‘ for the mercies which He vouchsafes to us in our unhappiness. Let us bless Him for having preserved to our affection our King, the glory of the Belgian nation, our kind and strong Queen, and their children; let us bless Him for having given us enough patience to endure our long and painful trial. ... So long as we are not at the end of our Calvary let our attendance at Mass be a fervent prayer for our dear country, for those who are with us and those who are away, our brave soldiers, the interned and the prisoners, our dear refugees.’ The letter contains a stirring appreciation of the exiles which they will read with the deepest satisfaction. ‘ According to the report of those who follow their work closely, our exiles rival in patience and self-sacri-fice their compatriots who have not left Belgium. We will welcome them with open arms when they come back, and, do not let them doubt it, they will find here friends and brothers who will have remained staunchly faithful to them.’ But the thoughts of Belgium turn mostly to the army, to the Belgian Army, to the Allied Armies, who are one with it. ‘ Let us pray, first of all, for our dear soldiers who 'are so close to our hearts, whether they are bound to us by the same blood, the same patriotism, or devotion to the same ideal. Let us think also of their wives, of their mothers, these silent heroines of the European drama. Let us pray for our armies, which, in the West, in the East, and in the South, fight with such bravery and tenacity for the triumph of our common cause.’ ; r , . ‘ Pray for Poland.’ ‘Our sufferings,’ he adds, ‘ have made us less g«lfish. There was a time when we were not very

deeply moved by the massacres of Armenians. Mahommedan fanaticism has put to death thousands and thousands of these unfortunate people during the present war; their wives and daughters have been take, as slaves. Pity them; pray for them. 'Poland, noble Poland, always’ true to her faith and her promises, who has never waged a war of conquest, but only fought for the freedom of the people and for civilisation, suffers more to-day than we do. Her sons are scattered among the Russian, Austrian, and German battalions, her soil has been ravaged by the ebb and flow of the armies. America is not allowed to bring her food. Pray for her, my brothers, and ask God that one at least of the happy results of this horrible war may be the final acknowledgment of Polish independence. The letter ends with a new appeal to constancy in the trial : • And unto the last let us remain patient and persevering. Let us remain calm, steadfast without murmuring. Let us apply to our patriotic endurance the words which our Saviour uses speaking of our eternal salvation: “He who endureth unto the end shall be saved.” ’