The men were silent. Father Honore was pointing to the mother and her
child; the father was holding out his arms to the little one who, with
loving impatience, was reaching away from his mother over the table to
his father. They comprehended the priest's thought in the lesson of the
limestone:--the love and trust of the human. No words were needed. An
emotional silence made itself felt.
The picture shifted. There was thrown upon the screen the marble
Cathedral of Milan. A murmur of delight ran through the house.
"Here we have the limestone in the form of marble. Its beauty is the
price of unremitting toil. This, too, belongs in the brotherhoods of
labor, kin, and equality.--Do you find the crystal?"
His pointer swept the hierarchy of statues on the roof, upwards to the
cross on the pinnacle, where it rested.
"This crystal is the symbol of what inspires and glorifies humanity. The
crystal is yours, men, if with believing hearts you are willing to say
'Our Father' in the face of His works."
He paused a moment. It was an understood thing in the semi-monthly
talks, that the men were free to ask questions and to express an
opinion, even, at times, to argue a point. The men's eyes were fixed
with keen appreciation on the marble beauty before them, when a voice
broke the silence.
"That sounds all right enough, your Reverence, what you've said about
'Our Father' and the brotherhoods, but there's many a man says it that
won't own me for a brother. There's a weak joint somewhere--and no
offence meant."
Some of the men applauded.
Father Honore turned from the screen and faced the men; his eyes
flashed. The audience loved to see him in this mood, for they knew by
experience that he was generally able to meet his adversary, and no odds
given or taken.
"That's you, is it, Szchenetzy?"
"Yes, it's me."
"Do you remember in last month's talk that I showed you the
Dolomites--the curious mountains of the Tyrol?--and in connection with
those the Brenner Pass?"
"Yes."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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