THE CHURCH IN SWITZERLAND

New Zealand Tablet, 15 February 1917, Page 43

THE CHURCH IN SWITZERLAND

v . ■ • pa The strides which the faith is making in Switzerland || are again emphasised by the restoration of the beautiful -V: fete of the soldier-martyrs at the Abbey of St. Maurice in the Canton Valais. These soldier-martyrs, of whom St. Maurice was -the leader, composed the Theban Legion, massacred by. order of Maximian Herculius in the third century. The Legion, composed entirely of ; S Christians, had been called from Africa to suppress a ti; revolt of the Bagandae in Gaul. The soldiers were ordered to sacrifice to .the gods in thanksgiving, but re- y fused. Every tenth man was then killed. Another 4$ order to sacrifice and another refusal caused a second decimation, and then a general massacre. ; The pious Bishop ,of Bethleim, Mgr. Marientan, Abbot of St. 7r. Maurice, has been at pains to restore the fete both in / j the religious and civil sense. A petition signed by ( 1 5000 persons has been received sympathetically tby,; the V 1 civil authorities, and this year the civil holiday will -bb|v? restored. Moreover, during the past six years liturgical reforms have referred the fete to the Sunday, but this also the Bishop hopes to, alter. - . - Touching Celebration. ’ - ; ; This year the fete was particularly touching. These shrines of soldier-martyrs, exposed on a red velvet : platform and lighted by many candles, glowing in the n gloom of the old church, recalled to so many mourners ? the lonely graves of soldiers of . to-day. From early 7-i; dawn the bells of the valley awoke the echoes of the mountains. Prior Bourbon discovered not so long ago |S the crypt of the fourth century where the bodies of the martyrs were first laid, and where they had been - buried away from the sight of men since the fifteenth century. This sanctuary is identical with that of the?!; catacombs, and is the only one of its kind this side of the Alps. In this crypt of St. Sigismund, Prior Bourbon, its discoverer, celebrated Mass on a" new- altar erected to the memory of the martyrs. At the High Mass, the preacher, Canon Beaupin, dwelt on the Abbey as a fortress of the faith in the canton, resisting, 1 all attacks of heretics, and protecting the happy valley from temporal as well as spiritual dangers. |"J Beautiful Procession. ."r'H Then followed a beautiful and impressive , procession. Under a blue sky among the mountains, their |s summits already crowned with snows, the beautiful ■ cortege advanced. There were military music,, girls and • women in national dress with their banners, the White Fathers from Africa, Capuchins, Canons, the shrines • borne by two deacons each, then the prelates, and, lastly, the municipal authorities. All shops were || closed, visitors and inhabitants knelt in the street as -5 the shrines passed, and the soldiers presented arms. In A the afternoon a Picpus Father pleaded the cause of the Sacred Heart. The Bishop hopes next year to celebrate the feast—which is kept on September . 22with still £ greater eclat, and perhaps also a thanksgiving for Europe at peace, at the tomb of St. Maurice and the : soldier-martyrs. f. • B MMMM ®