But how many times, since, I have blessed my God for these wounds! Without them, I should never have known, that instead of being in the bosom of the Immaculate Church of Christ, I was the slave of that great Babylon, which poisons the nations with the wine of her abominations.
My love and respect for Bishop Vandeveld, were very strong chains, by which I was bound to the feet of the idols of Rome. I will earnestly bless God for having himself broken these chains, on that day of supreme desolation.
The remaining part of the day, as well as the hour of the next morning which the bishop spent in my house, I remained almost mute in his presence. He was not less embarrassed when he asked me my view about his project of leaving the diocese. I answered him, in a few words, that I could not disapprove the purpose; for I would, myself, prefer to live in a dark forest, in the midst of wild animals, than among drunken, atheist priests and bishops.
Some months later, I learned, without regret, that the Pope had accepted his resignation of the Bishopric of Chicago, and appointed him Bishop of Natchez, in Louisiana. His successor to the Bishopric of Chicago, was Rev. O’Regan.
One of the very first things which this new bishop did, was to bring Bishop Vandeveld before the criminal tribunals, as a thief, accusing him of having stolen $100,000 from the Bishopric of Chicago, and carrying them away with him. There is no need to say, that this action caused a terrible scandal. Not only in Illinois, but through all the United States, both priests and laymen had to blush, and cast down their eyes before the world. The two bishops, employing the best lawyers to fight each other, came very near proving to the world that both of them were equally swindlers and thieves; when the Pope forced them both to stop their contestation, and bring the affair before his tribunal, at Rome. There, it was decided that the $100,000, which had really been taken from Chicago to the Natchez diocese, should be equally divided between the two bishops.
How many times did I feel my soul brought to the dust, in the midst of those horrible scandals! How many sleepless nights have I spent, when a voice, which I could not silence, seemed crying to me, louder than thunder:
“What are you doing here, extending the power of a church, which is a den of thieves, drunkards, and impure atheists? A church, governed by men whom you know to be godless, swindlers, and vile comedians? Do you not see that you do not follow the Word of God, but the lying traditions of men, when you consent to bow your knees before such men? Is it not blasphemy to call such men the ambassadors, and the disciples of the humble, pure, holy, peaceful, and divine Jesus? Come out of that church! Break the fetters, by which you are bound, as a vile slave, to the feet of such men! Take the Gospel for thine only guide, and Christ for thine only Ruler!”
I was in desolation, at finding that my faith in my church was, in spite of myself, shaken by these scandals. With burning tears rolling down my cheeks, and with a broken, and humiliated heart, I fell, one night, on my knees, and asked my God to have mercy upon me, by strengthening my faith and preserving it from ruin. But it seemed that neither my tears nor my cries were of any avail, and I remained the whole night, as a ship struck by a hurricane, drifting on an unknown sea, without a compass or a rudder.
I was not aware of it then, but I learned it after, that the divine and sure Pilot was directing my course towards the port of salvation!
The next day, I had a happy diversion, in the arrival of fifty new emigrants, who knocked at my door, asking my advice about the best place to select for their future home.