Father Finn 283 



and picture that scene. The priest could hardly be heard for 

 the noise of the guns as he gave the Holy Communion. Two 

 priests, one each side of the door, in the open, hearing con- 

 fessions from muddy war-stained men with grim, absorbed 

 faces. Then, when blessed, pardoned, and absolved, all sang 

 from their souls, " Faith of our fathers, Holy Faith," and went 

 forth to battle, each man knowing well the chances were all 

 against his being alive at that hour on the morrow. 



None but those who have been at the front can form any idea 

 of the present efficiency of our artillery ; it is positively weird, 

 its accuracy, quantity, and quality, beggars description. 



The Rev. A. Gribbin, a Catholic priest, had an experience on 

 board a hospital ship of being shelled. His description of it both 

 interested and amused me. His religious gratitude for escaping 

 death, combined with a businesslike eye to future needs, 

 impressed me. The story is best told in his own words. 



" About 5 p.m. as I was sitting reading in my cabin, I heard a 

 couple of shots fired, and went on deck to investigate. I was 

 too interested to be alarmed, when I saw another four shells drop 

 into the sea not very far away from us and a German submarine 

 about four miles away wasting her shot on us. The last shell, a 

 shrapnel, seemed to be aimed at our wireless apparatus, but 

 passed harmlessly over the ship. Here we wisely stopped, and 

 the chief officer rowed towards the enemy in a lifeboat to learn 

 our fate. When the commander of the submarine saw we were 

 unarmed and innocent, he sailed towards us and examined our 

 papers with the list of the personnel on board. Being satisfied 

 as to our credentials, he wished the chief good-night and a 

 pleasant voyage and allowed us to proceed. 



" Such in brief is an account of our experience, though many 

 little incidents were packed into those two hours. At first when 

 I thought matters looked serious and I was afraid we were 

 going to be shelled, I went round and gave my little flock absolu- 

 tion and then made secure my chalice and holy oils. The boats 

 were lowered ready to get into at a moment's rotice, but they 

 were never actually dropped into the water. It gets very tiring 

 standing at boat-stations for over an hour with our fate in the 

 balance, but there was absolutely no panic or alarm from the 

 very first, and with not being sunk immediately we hardly 

 seemed to realise our danger. When we found time was being 



