words and music of an inspired hymn to the Almighty. Well might Father
Stafford add: "I am in great peril, but doing my duty fearlessly.
Could man wish for more?"

As the priest kneels down by these dying Irish youths he receives many
last messages to send to the loved ones at home, a sacred trust which
he is most scrupulous faithfully to discharge. There are thousands of
mothers in Ireland grieving for darling sons lying mouldering in
Flanders, France, and Gallipoli. If anything can ease the gnawing pain
at the heart of these bereaved mothers, it surely must be the receipt
of one of those beautifully sympathetic and healing letters which they
receive from the Irish Catholic chaplains. I have had the privilege of
reading numbers of them, and happily in none have I come upon any
heroics about the nobility of the youth's self-sacrifice and the
grandeur of the cause for which he died. To the Irish Catholic mother
such phrases bring no consolation. His death tells her that her son
has done his duty; that is enough; and her sole concern is with his
eternal salvation. It is on this point that the chaplain is at pains
to reassure her.

"I saw him last at 7.30 p.m. on July 14th. He was very exhausted, and
I could see that he would not last long. He tried to give me his
mother's address, but failed. All he could say was: 'Not weep. With
God.' I told him I should tell his mother not to weep because he would
be with God, and he shook his head in consent. He then said:
'Good-bye, Father. God bless you.'" So does Father Felix Couturier,
O.P., describe the death in hospital at Alexandria of Lance-Corporal
Wilkerson, 7th Dublin Fusiliers, wounded at Gallipoli. Then there is
the consoling letter of Father O'Herlihy, chaplain in Egypt, to Mrs.
Kelleher, Cork, telling of the death of her son, Patrick, a private in
the 1st Battalion Royal Munster Fusiliers, also wounded in Gallipoli.
Here is an extract from it:--

"I've seen many in pain and suffering since the war began, but
few have I seen to bear it all so willingly and so patiently as
your son, Paddy; for God and His Blessed Mother were helping him
a lot. About, a week after the operation his sufferings
increased, and on Sunday morning last, when I said Holy Mass at
the hospital, he again asked me to bring him Holy Communion, as
he was confined to bed. You could see the happiness in his
features, when Our Blessed Lord came to him again to give him