The St. Elisabeth Chapel
By Marcel Wyseur, Registrar to the Military Court. La Panne, August
26, 1915
(To the patriotic devotion of M. Louis Gilmont)
Everyone knows of the admirable institution founded by Dr. Depage at La
Panne: "The Ocean Hospital." A few miles away from the firing line, he
has entirely created an establishment which is the most perfect thing
of its kind, an institution which, for the last year, has rendered
immense service daily. Ever since it was opened at the end of 1914,
this hospital has been continually enlarged. Various detached buildings
and several fresh departments have been added to the house as it first
stood. The latest improvements, as regards science and hygiene, have
been introduced and it does not seem possible that a more complete
organisation, answering so thoroughly to all needs, could be carried
out at the front. In rendering homage here to those who are responsible
for this work of public service, we are only anxious to bear testimony
to its utility and to acknowledge the merit of the founders of the
institution and of all their devoted collaborators. Doctors and nurses
alike deserve more than the gratitude of the Belgian army and people.
They deserve our admiration too.
The last Sunday in August, we were present at the Inauguration of one
of the fresh additions to this immense "everything" which constitutes
the Ocean Hospital. It was the Inauguration of the Chapel. At the limit
of the downs, this simple church, which has sprung out of the earth,
as though by magic, faces the sea and the country. It is a building
on primitive architectural lines, surmounted by a little sturdy
spire. Nothing more was necessary. It was certainly a most impressive
scene when the little procession of believers wended their way to
the service, called there by the bell of the Convent of the "Pauvres
Claires" of Nieuport. The three naves were soon full. In the choir,
Her Majesty the Queen, who had graciously deigned to be present at the
ceremony, had taken her place, and behind her were a crowd of wounded
soldiers. The altar reflected the light of all the burning tapers, the
incense was smoking in the silver vessels, and, over yonder, between
the nave and the choir, the organs were singing of joy and happiness.
The good saints and the little chubby angels could neither believe
their eyes nor their ears. The poor, who had expected to die in the
general earthquake when their churches were bombarded and the infernal
battle was raging around them, arrived here now from everywhere; from
Nieuport--the Dead; from Caeskerke--the Sorrowful; from Pervyse--the
Devastated; and from Ramscapelle--the Solitary. One evening, they had
all met in a room. A lamp was burning in front of a tabernacle, there
was a kneeling bench for communion, a confessional-box, a pulpit, and
some saints, too, as astonished as they were themselves. Were they
really not dreaming now? Was their nightmare over? This was a church,
a real church like _their own_! It was full of people, too, and the
psalms were being chanted by the choristers. All this seemed more
beautiful than the finest dream, and at this festival they forgot all
their past anguish and the nightmares they had lived through. And
in the midst of the general devotion, the Reverend Father Hénusse,
chaplain to the 84th Battery, pronounced the following eloquent words:
"Madame,
"We are to-day inaugurating a Chapel, which, in our gratitude, we have
spontaneously dedicated to St. Elisabeth. In the liturgical intention
of this dedication, St. Elisabeth was that admirable woman, Elisabeth
d'Anjou, a heroine of goodness, gentleness, and charity, whom the
Catholic Church has placed on its altars and about whose touching
glory everyone has heard. In our dedication, there is something else
though, and no one, at any rate no Belgian, will make any mistake
about this. In our eyes, the good saint of the twelfth century has
been reincarnated in the twentieth century. A few rays from her
halo have come to encircle another forehead. Her name is repeated
once more, but with an accent of veneration and of tenderness, more
keenly felt than would be the case for a foreign Queen who died
long centuries ago. In short, according to us, the Ocean Chapel has
two patron saints. The one is reigning in heaven above in glory,
and only lives on earth in the memory of Christian generations. The
other patron saint is She who reigns over the last sands of what was
Belgium, but who lives in the hearts of us all.
"When the long ordeal of this war shall have come to an end, this
humble chapel of wood, which we hope may become historical, will be
clothed afresh in a mantle of stone and adorned with the splendour of
souvenirs in its coloured glass windows, and in its frescoes. We shall
certainly see then the sweet face of the gentle Elisabeth d'Anjou,
and the miracle of the roses and the miracle of the leper will be
evoked for us. We shall see the leper whom St. Elisabeth tended with
her royal hands, to whom she gave her husband's bed, and who suddenly
rose, dazzlingly bright, uttering the one word: '_Elisabeth_,' for the
leper was Jesus Christ!
"But by the side of those windows, Belgian mothers will ask for others
and for other frescoes.
"They will want to see their Queen, who in time of peace, cared for
their little children, their poor little children, some of whom were
consumptive through poverty. They will want to see their Queen, who,
when war broke out, cared for their big children, their poor big
children, wounded and mutilated, their health shattered by battle.
Belgian mothers will want to see her there, near to the other Saint,
so that they may kneel to her and tell her, whilst on their knees, of
the ardent gratitude of their hearts. They will want to see her there,
because it is her place, beside Him--who pronounced those superhuman
words which created Charity: 'Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one
of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.' They
will want to see her there beside Christ, who spake the name of Saint
Elisabeth so tenderly, and who, to-day, will surely call another saint
by that sweet name, with that accent of infinite tenderness which we
all utter, Madame, in the respectful and fervent silence of our hearts.
"Madame:
"My dear friends:
"The great royal heart which thought of establishing a military
hospital on the coast, on the very edge of the battle-field, and the
generous hearts which helped in the realisation of the project, wished
to make this establishment as perfect as possible.
"They have succeeded, and our Ocean Ambulance excites universal
admiration.
"By opening this St. Elisabeth Chapel, perfection in this humanitarian
work has been attained. The chapel is an essential part of any
hospital. A chapel is necessary everywhere where man suffers, as it
is a place for prayer. Suffering possesses the mysterious privilege
of striking a man hard, of making him think about life. It throws him
back on himself, as it were, makes him weep, remember, and dream, and
when a man gives himself up to this great inner work, he is not far
from finding God. He is ready to pray.
"Suffering, too, possesses the precious gift of humiliating a man, of
making him feel the nothing that he is, and of making him realise of
what little value he is, and when man is humiliated, he is not far
from feeling God bending down towards him. He is ready then to pray.
"Finally, the effect of suffering is often to plunge a man into deep
distress, which makes him so unhappy that he utters the supreme cry:
'Help, oh, help me!'
"And when a man cries for help from the bottom of his heart, he is not
far from hearing within himself, as though in answer to his appeal,
the echo of that infinitely sweet voice which has soothed the miseries
of the world for twenty centuries:
"'Come unto me, all ye that are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give
you rest.'
"This is why the instinct of a man who is suffering is to enter the
temple.
"Go to the darkest nave of a church, at a moment when the crowd is not
bidden to the traditional exercises of worship, and what do you see?
Women, men, and young people praying, and, on their faces, in their
eyes, in their very gestures, one sees that they have experienced
sorrow, anxiety, and sadness.
"Ask your mothers who are waiting for you, over yonder, in the deepest
anguish, where they go in their sorrow and suffering? They will answer
you, 'To Church.'
"At the present moment, ask where the suffering country takes refuge,
now that it is mourning for its lost liberty. The answer will be:
'In the Churches, where the presence of God still permits the people
to have the comfort of seeing their tri-coloured flag, of hearing
the national hymn, and of responding to it with the cry of love and
hopefulness: "Long live the King! Long live Liberty!"' I tell you that
everywhere where there is suffering, there should be a chapel, in
which to shelter one's suffering, under the protecting wing of God!
"But if there be one place of suffering in the world that needs this
holy refuge specially, it is the war hospital. The reason of this
is on account of the nature of the suffering that men endure there.
What is the reason of all this suffering? Why are you here sick and
wounded, with your arm or your leg amputated, scarred for ever in the
beauty and prime of your early manhood? Why? For the sake of your
brothers. The enemy arrived at the frontier, threatening that sacred
property, the native land. In order to defend that land, occupied by
seven millions of freemen, two hundred thousand of them rose and,
seizing their guns, marched forward to meet the invaders. These two
hundred thousand went forth to fight, struggle, fall, and die if
necessary for the sake of all the others, for the sake of the women,
the children, the aged--and even for the sake of the cowardly shirkers
who have not even yet grasped what is their duty. The suffering
then of these men, our soldiers, is a suffering of immolation, of
sacrifice, of devotion, a loving sacrifice.
"You see, then, why you need a chapel, where you can come to find Him
who revealed to the world the beauty, the value, the fecondity of
this suffering, a chapel to which you can come and contemplate the
Crucified One, the Man of Nazareth, who left us, saying as He went:
'Love one another, give your lives for each other; the great proof
of love is that we should be ready to give our lives for those we
love.' He went about repeating this until that day when, still quite
young, only thirty-three years of age, in the prime of His manhood,
adding example to precept, freely and courageously, and, in the sight
of His broken-hearted mother, He took up the cross and dragged it
along through the city and across the country to Calvary. He was then
stretched upon it and for three long, mortal hours, under the rays of
the sun, He hung upon that cross, dying for those He had loved.
"You need a chapel for those evil hours when, suddenly, you fail to
understand the meaning of your suffering and begin to pity yourself,
wondering why the lot should have fallen on you, why you should have
lost that arm, that hand, that fine workman's tool which was your
glory, and with which you earned your living? 'Why should my life be
cut in two by this mutilation?' you ask. 'Why should my youth come
to an end half way? Why should I be doomed to drag out a miserable
existence? Why is all this? And of what use is all that blood poured
out obscurely in the trenches?'
"When these gloomy thoughts come to you and your soul is filled with
bitter agony, you need a chapel, to which you can come and hear the
divine reply to your human complaint, the reply given by that very
mouth which revealed to the world the benefits of suffering, the value
and the virtue of blood that is shed for the sake of love. It is here,
in this chapel, that He will repeat to you and explain to you the
mysterious words He addressed to His disciples, three days before He
went up to Calvary.
"'Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth
alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
"'And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.'
"His disciples did not understand this at first, but gradually their
eyes were opened to this new light, and very soon the world knew the
law of life, which was to be one of the most beautiful truths of
Christianity: 'When a just man dies, out of his suffering and death
shall spring wonderful fruits of light, of truth, and of justice,
and life shall become better thereby.' The martyrs gave their blood
courageously, and on their tombs their brothers repeat joyfully the
great Christian words:
"'Sanguis martyrum semen Christianorum!' (From the blood of martyrs
have sprung Christians!)
"You will come here, dear friends, to learn to understand the sublime
utility of your wounds and of your suffering, to learn that the trench
is not a trench, but a furrow, and that the blood you have shed there
is as a seed which will soon give its beautiful fruit of happiness
and liberty to those you love. Thanks to your blood, your country
will live! Come often to this little chapel, where Christ is always
awaiting you. He awaits you here as His brothers, as those whom He
loves best, who resemble Him the most. Come here and pray and remember
that your prayer is the most efficacious one of all those that are
uttered on earth, because it is your blood crying to God. Come and
pray for all those for whom your heart is filled with love, for your
aged mother, for your little children and for those who are awaiting
you in your saddened home. Pray that they may have hope and courage
given them. Come and pray for your brothers-in-arms, those who are
continuing the great struggle in which you fell whilst doing your
part as brave men. Pray that God may keep them courageous and strong.
Come and pray, too, for the men and women who are devoting themselves
so admirably to you here, for those who are helping to relieve your
suffering and to heal you. Pray that they may have strength given
them to carry out their work of pure abnegation and charity. Come
and pray for the great cause of the Allies, the cause of right and
justice, which is the cause of God. Pray too, that He may soon make
it triumph gloriously. Come and pray for our beloved country, the
noble martyr to honour. Pray that our country may know, as Christ
knew, the great reparation, the supreme rehabilitation, and that after
having descended to death, to the death of the Cross, our country may
be raised by God, that she may obtain a name above all names, that
every head may bow before her in the whole universe, and that every
tongue shall confess that this little nation is truly great among all
nations. Come and pray, come and pray often for Him and for Her who
represent, so magnificently, our country and in whom it is incarnated
for us. Come and pray for the King and for the Queen."
The End.
Belgium
and
The Great Powers
By
Emile Waxweiler
_12°. $1.00 net. By mail, $1.10_
The eminent scholar, Emile Waxweiler, Director of the Solvay Institute
of Sociology at Brussels, presents a thesis which it will be difficult
for his opponents to disprove.
With calm, dispassionate judgment, he upholds Belgium's right to oppose
the violation of her territory by Germany, citing with telling force
the Treaty of 1839, and subsequent events of international importance,
such as Lord Palmerston's action at the time of threatened French
aggression in 1848.
G. P. Putnam's Sons
New York London
Belgium:
Neutral and Loyal
The War of 1914
By
Emile Waxweiler
Director of the Solvay Institute of Sociology at Brussels, Member of
the Académie Royale of Belgium
_12°. $1.25 net. By mail, $1.35_
In order to clarify opinion and to correct wrong judgment, the
author has not deemed it superfluous to weigh in the balance all the
imputations that have been made against Belgium, even to the inclusion
of those that do violence to common sense. There are five chapters,
with the following titles: "Up to 7 P.M. of August 2d," "To Be or Not
To Be," "Belgian Neutrality," "Imputations against the Loyalty of
Belgium," "German Rules of Waging War and their Application to Belgium."
G. P. Putnam's Sons
New York London
"The War and Humanity"
By
James M. Beck
A Notable Sequel to "The Evidence in the Case"
"Mr. Beck's volume was a classic the moment it appeared. We know of no
more logical and lucid discussion of the essential facts and problems
of the great war, nor any more truly, consistently, and even vigorously
American in its spirit. We should be well content to let it stand,
if there were no other, as the authentic expression of the highest
aspirations, the broadest and most penetrating vision, and the most
profound convictions of the American nation on matters which have never
been surpassed and have only twice been rivalled in vital interests in
all our history."--_New York Tribune._
_THEODORE ROOSEVELT'S OPINION_
"It is the kind of a book, which every self-respecting American, who
loves his country, should read."
_Revised and Enlarged Edition_
_Nearly 400 pages. $1.50 net. By mail, $1.60_
_At All Booksellers_
G. P. Putnam's Sons
New York London
The Evidence in the Case
A Discussion of the Moral Responsibility for the War of 1914, as
Disclosed by the Diplomatic Records of England, Germany, Russia,
France, Austria, and Belgium
_By_
JAMES M. BECK, LL.D.
Late Assistant Attorney-General of the U.S.
_With an Introduction by_
The Hon. JOSEPH H. CHOATE
Late U.S. Ambassador to Great Britain
_14th Printing--Revised Edition with much Additional Material_
_12°. Over 280 pages. $1.25 net. By mail, $1.35_
"Mr. Beck's book is so extremely interesting from beginning to end
that it is difficult when once begun to lay it down and break off the
reading, and we are not surprised to hear not only that it has had an
immense sale in England and America, but that its translation into the
languages of the other nations of Europe has been demanded."--_Hon.
Joseph H. Choate in The New York Times._
New York G. P. Putnam's Sons London