Children of clergy -- Fiction; Clergy -- England -- Fiction
The Father Superior of the Order sang the Mass, while the Bishop of
Alberta seated in his Glastonbury chair suffered with an expression of
childlike benignity the ritualistic ministrations of Brother Raymond,
the ceremonial doffing and donning of his mitre. It was very still in
the little Oratory, for it was the season when birds are hushed; and
even Sir Charles Horner who was all by himself in the ante-chapel did
not fidget or try to peep through the heavy brocaded curtains that shut
out the quire. Mark dared not look up when at the offertory Brother
Anselm stood before the Altar and answered the solemn interrogations of
the Father Superior, question after question about his faith and
endurance in the life he desired to enter. And to every question he
answered clearly _I will_. The Father Superior took the parchment on
which were written the vows and read aloud the document. Then it was
placed upon the Altar, and there upon that sacrificial stone Brother
Anselm signed his name to a contract with Almighty God. The holy calm
that shed itself upon the scene was like a spell on every heart that was
beating there in unison with the heart of him who was drawing nearer to
Heaven. Prostrating himself, the professed monk prayed first to God the
Father:
_O receive me according to thy word that I may live; and let me not
be disappointed of my hope._
The hearts that beat in unison with his took up the prayer, and the
voices of his brethren repeated it word for word. And now the professed
monk prayed to God the Son:
_O receive me according to thy word that I may live; and let me not
be disappointed of my hope._
Once more his brethren echoed the entreaty.
And lastly the professed monk prayed to God the Holy Ghost:
_O receive me according to thy word that I may live; and let me not
be disappointed of my hope._
For the third time his brethren echoed the entreaty, and then one and
all in that Oratory cried:
_Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it
was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end.
Amen._
There followed prayers that the peace of God might be granted to the
professed monk to enable him worthily to perform the vows which he had
made, and before the blessing and imposition of the scapular the Bishop
rose to speak in tones of deep emotion:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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