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Devotional Literature

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 February 2009

C. R. Walker
Affiliation:
Brechin

Extract

In one of the “Ghost Stories of an Antiquary” by Montagu James, there is a pathetic tale of the sacristan of a certain cathedral near the Pyrenees, whose life was made miserable through the unwelcome presence of a ghostly figure which was liable to appear while the sacristan was engaged in his lawful duties, and to fill his mind with apprehension. Almost the only time the poor sacristan was free from the menace was when he was ringing the great cathedral bell, but especially in the evening, when he rang the Angelus. “He heaved a sigh of relief”, writes the author, “for it was time to ring the Angelus. A few pulls at the reluctant rope, and the great bell, Bertrande, high in the tower, began to speak and swung her voice up among the pines and down to the valleys loud with mountain streams, calling the dwellers on those lonely hills to remember and repeat the salutation of the angel to her whom he called Blessed among women. With that a profound quiet seemed to fall for the first time that day upon the little town, and the sacristan went out of the church.”

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Scottish Journal of Theology Ltd 1950

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References

Page 151 note 1 Frost, Bede: The Art of Mental Prayer, chap. I.Google Scholar

Page 155 note 1 The Devotions of St. Anselm (Methuen), p. 54.Google Scholar

Page 156 note 1 The Spiritual Combat (Methuen), p. 5.Google Scholar

Page 156 note 2 Grou: Manual for Interior Souls, chap. XXX.

Page 157 note 1 ibid., chap. XV.

Page 157 note 2 ibid., chap. XXIX.

Page 159 note 1 The Life of St. Teresa of Jesus, chap. XX.

Page 160 note 1 Quoted by Philip: The Devotional Literature of Scotland, p. 10.Google Scholar