Chapter XC
Telegraph Hill
The following Sunday I said Mass on Telegraph Hill. It was a very high elevation and on all sides we could see, far below, the great green valley. I counted as many as six light railway trains steaming their way from different points towards the front. I think we were then about seven or eight miles from the Canal du Nord, where the next big battle was to take place. Some of the men came early and I stood talking to them till all the soldiers, excepting the Thirteenth Battalion, had come up. Thinking that there must be some mistake in orders and that they had failed to receive notice of church service, I began to say Mass. I had a large crowd of lads and they were formed up very near the altar; some stood almost touching the altar in order to keep the wind from extinguishing my candles. Nearly all my men had received the Sacraments while in rest, so I gave a general absolution today, then all went to Holy Communion.
Just as I had given the last men Holy Communion the Thirteenth came up, their pipe band playing merrily. There was nothing left for me to do but say another Mass for them. It was very gratifying to notice, as I turned to make an announcement before beginning the second Mass, that many of the men who had received Holy Communion at the first Mass still remained kneeling on the ground as they made their thanksgiving.
During the second Mass a number of German airplanes tried to fly near us, but from down in the valley our anti-aircraft guns barked and shells shrieked upwards, bursting near the ’planes. All the men of the Thirteenth, after a general absolution, went to Holy Communion.
I came down from Telegraph Hill that morning feeling that my men were now ready, spiritually, for battle.