ing the latter's confidence. Paul did not make any further mention
of the annoying event which happened on his journey. He had now learnt
that a monk must submit to an injury, without complaint. Other sorrows
however tortured him much more than the question whether he or this
Brother Antonio had been in the right. As he finally concluded to
frankly confess to this worthy Father Aloysius how it stood with him,
to lament to him the feeling of emptiness and solitude which weighed
him down, to acknowledge the utter absence of joy and hope which had
come over him, his confessor made him no reproachful reprimand, but
said gently and kindly to him: "Be of good cheer, my son. Many, many a
young man has been tormented by the grievous thoughts, whether
unendless sorrow and heaviness awaited him, who however stood on the
brink of a richly endowed life; thou knowest however, that the morning
star rises above all these dismal fogs and lowering clouds." These
kindly words distilled themselves like balm over the mind of Paul, and
he had never before experienced so vividly the advantage of auricular
confession. Father Aloysius became a shining model of one fulfilling
the most severe duties. He would become like to this aged delicate man,
who devoted every moment of his life to others, in the care of his
penitents, his poor, his sick. Unreservedly did he describe in his next
report these inward sensations concerning his mode of life. The effect
of this confession was a removal to Heidelberg. The Superior found that
the young Brother Paul was wasting his life in fruitless inward
contemplation; the young wine must fill some new bottle, lest it be
spoiled, moreover the peace-loving method of which Father Aloysius was
the model, was not to be recommended to the young man in these moments
of warfare. So Paul was commanded to accept a call to Heidelberg, which
had just been offered to him. "You will have there a worldly-wise
superior," said Father Aloysius when wishing him farewell, "the Doctor
Pigavetta as he is known in the world, and I fear muchly he has made
the world a part of his individual self, still he is more active than I
am, and perhaps his unrest will be of more use to thee, than the
monotonous intercourse with an old man like myself, who has perchance
already wearied thee. Shouldst thou however be in need of inward peace,
thou wilt ever be welcomed by Brother Aloysius."
A straight level road brought Paul from Speyer to Heidelber
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