e bidding of our
King and country you are going to face the enemy. Before you go, turn
to God and ask of Him pardon for your sins. Repeat the act of
contrition after me." Then the square resounded with the fervent
ejaculations of the men. "In the name of the Father, the Son, and the
Holy Ghost. Oh, my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee.
I detest my sins most sincerely, because they are displeasing to Thee,
my God, who art most worthy of all my love; and I promise never to
offend Thee again." "I shall now," says the priest, "give you
Absolution in God's name. 'Dominus noster Jesus Christus vos absolvat
et ego auctoritate Ipsius vos absolvo a peccatis vestris, in nomine
Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.' May God Almighty, Father,
Son, and Holy Ghost, bless you and lead you to victory. Amen." As the
priest blessed them, the men again made the sign of the Cross. No
wonder that men of such deep faith and so heartened by the services of
their chaplains should fight valiantly.

The tireless care and solicitude of the Catholic chaplain for his men
is seen in the fine record, during a long and arduous campaign, of
Father Francis Gleeson, of the 2nd Munster Fusiliers, who has been in
Flanders and France since the outbreak of the war. If you meet a man
of the 2nd Munsters, just mention the name of Father Gleeson, and see
how his face lights up. "Father Gleeson, is it!" exclaimed one whom I
encountered among the wounded at a London hospital. "He's a warrior
and no mistake. There's no man at the Front more brave or cooler.
Why, it is in the hottest place up in the firing line he do be to give
comfort to the boys that are dying." "And, do you know," he added with
a laugh, as he recalled the chaplain's playful and sportive ways,
"Father Gleeson brought us mouth-organs, and showed that he could play
'Tipperary' with the best of us." Another man described a meeting with
Father Gleeson in a village close to the first line of trenches, where
the chaplain was waiting to attend to the wounded. "It got so hot with
stray bullets that he gave me absolution as I stood in the street of
the ruined village. It was very dramatic, I covered with mud and
standing bareheaded, and he blessing me. I'll never forget it." I
gathered, too, that Father Gleeson is the counsellor of the battalion
as well as its chaplain. The men go to him with their temporal
troubles of all kinds, and never fail in getting sympathy, guidance,
and help.