“As I told you before, we have a glorious battle to fight. It is the battle of freedom against the most cruel tyranny the world has ever seen. It is the battle of truth against falsehood; it is the battle of the old Gospel of Christ against the new gospel of Bishop O’Regan. Let us be true to ourselves to the end, and our holy church, which that bishop dishonors, will bless us. Our Saviour, Jesus Christ, whose Gospel is despised by that adventurer, will be for us, and give us a glorious victory. Have you not read in your Bibles that Jesus wanted his disciples to be free, when He said: ‘If the son of man shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.’ Does that mean that the Son of God wants us to be the slaves of Bishop O’Regan? ‘No!’ cried out the whole people.
“May God bless you for your understanding of your Christian rights. Let all those who want to be free, with me, raise their hands.
“Oh! blessed be the Lord,” I said, “there are more than 3,000 hands raised towards heaven to say that you want to be free! Now, let those who do not want to defend their rights as Christians and as American citizens, raise their hands. Thanks be to God,” I again exclaimed, “there is not a traitor among us! You are all the true, brave and noble soldiers of liberty, truth and righteousness! May the Lord bless you all!”
It is impossible to describe the enthusiasm of the people. Before dismissing them, I said:
“We will, no doubt, very soon witness one of the most ludicrous comedies ever played on this continent. That comedy is generally called excommunication. Some drunkard priests, sent by the drunkard Bishop of Chicago, will come to excommunicate us. I expect their visit in a few days. That performance will be worth seeing, and I hope that you will see and hear the most amusing thing in your life.”
I was not mistaken. The very next day, we heard that the 3rd of September had been chosen by the bishop to excommunicate us.
I said to the people: “When you see the flag of the free and the brave floating from the top of our steeple, come and rally around that emblem of liberty.”
There were more than 3,000 people on our beautiful hill when the priests made their appearance. A few moments before, I had said to that immense gathering:
“I bless God that you are so many to witness the last tyrannical act of Bishop O’Regan. But I have a favor to ask of you, it is that no insult or opposition whatever will be made to the priests who come to play that comedy. Please do not say an angry word, do not move a finger against the performers. They are not responsible for what they do, for two reasons:
“1st. They will probably be drunk. “ The priests arrived at about 2 o’clock P. M., and never such shouting and clapping of hands had been heard in our colony as on their appearance. Never had I seen my dear people so cheerful and good-humored as when one of the priests, trembling from head to foot with terror and drunkenness, tried to read the following sham act of excommunication, which he nailed on the door of the chapel: