But it was M. l’Aumônier who voiced my thought at mass on Christmas Day. He had made a children’s service of this, centred about the crèche. After the cantiques, led by the soldier-boy, after the triumphal Adeste, Fideles, the children knelt in a circle about the cradle of the Christ.
“My children,” began the chaplain, “this year, you yourselves live in huts, in barns, and in stables; so in a stable lives the little Jesus, as you see. You know what it is to be cold, beneath the snow upon the roof; so does the little Jesus. You have been hungry; so is he.
“My children, it behooves you, therefore, to make for the little Jesus a cradle in your hearts; cleanse them, each of you, and ask the little Jesus in.
“What next should you do, my children? Should you not pray first of all for yourselves, that you may be kept from sin? Next, forget not to pray for the soldiers of la Patrie, who only a few miles away, guard you from your enemies. Next, think on your fathers, your older brothers and sisters, who are with the Germans in captivity. Beseech mercy for them, my children, that the good God may return them to your homes. Next, be especially thoughtful of your mothers and obedient to them, who stand to you in the place of both your parents. And last, but also of importance, my children, remember in your prayers your benefactresses, these ladies who have given you this year the Christmas crèche.”
—Et si i gèle cette nuit? ...
—Ben mon vieux on pourra s’asseoir.
[And if it freezes to-night?
Why, old chap, we can sit down.]