The Comrade in White

Excerpt

"THE WHITE COMRADE"

I

  When soldiers of the Cross waged Holy War,
  With courage high, and hearts that did not quail
  Before the foe, in olden times they saw
  The blessed vision of the Holy Grail.
  Tho' Christ was gone, His pledge was with them yet,
  For, borne on wings of angels, from the skies,
  They saw the chalice that once held the wine
  As emblem of the Saviour's sacrifice
  For men, and knew that still the Master met,
  With His own friends, in fellowship divine.

II

  Christ has His soldiers now.
  Though years have rolled
  Away, the warriors of the Cross are strong
  To fight His battles, as the saints of old,
  Against oppression, tyranny, and wrong.
  And still amid the conflict, they can trace
  The Saviour's influence. Not the Holy Grail
  Which once as His remembrance was adored,
  But Christ Himself is with them. For a veil
  Is lifted from their eyes, and, face to face
  They meet the presence of the risen Lord.

III

  O blessed vision! After all the years,
  Thou'rt with us yet. To-day, as heretofore,
  Men see Thee still and they cast off their fears,
  And take fresh courage to press on once more.
  The soldiers, bearing from the desperate fight
  A wounded brother, see Thee, in the way,
  And know Thee for the Saviour, Healer, Friend,
  For once again, Thy loved ones hear Thee say
  (O Christ! White Comrade, in their stand for right!)
  "Lo, I am with you alway, to the end."

Fidei Defensor.

I. IN THE TRENCHES

II. THE MESSENGER

III. MAIMED OR PERFECTED?

IV. THE PRAYER CIRCLE

I

IN THE TRENCHES

"And immediately He talked with them, and saith unto them, 'Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.'"

—THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MAKK, chap, vi: 50.

"And His raiment was white as snow."

—THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW, chap. xvii: 2.

"The Battle of Mons, which saved the British Army from annihilation, was, for the most of those who fought with the angels, a sepulchre. They saved the British Army, but they saved it at fearful cost. No 'great host' withdrew from that field of destruction; the great host strewed the ground with their bodies. Only a remnant of those who stood in the actual furnace of Mons escaped with their lives … Let those who mourn, take encouragement from these stories of visions on the battlefield, quietly and with a child's confidence, cultivate within themselves a waiting, receptive and desiring spirit. Let them empty themselves of prejudice and self…. Let them detach themselves more and more from the obsessions of worldly life. Serenity is the path by which the thoughts of God travel to us; and Faith is the invitation which brings them to the table of our souls."

I

IN THE TRENCHES

Strange tales reached us in the trenches. Rumours raced up and down that three-hundred-mile line from Switzerland to the sea. We knew neither the source of them nor the truth of them. They came quickly, and they went quickly. Yet somehow I remember the very hour when George Casey turned to me with a queer look in his blue eyes, and asked if I had seen the Friend of the Wounded....