POTTER United Families

When the times were evil and dangerous, Roeland would still hold a
mass on the Begijnhof in the evening, with Neeltje Jacobs Duyst. It
was already dark. I would be on the lookout to see if there was no
danger.
He would start the sermon when the Bailiff's officer came to ask if
missionaries had a meeting somewhere in the Begijnhof. I said,
"Young man, you are wrong. Where is that meeting supposed to be?"
The officers of the Bailiff then came back with four large dogs, and
believed they could then catch Roeland. But the birds were our
friends and the priests themselves were on good terms with the
sheriff.
That is how he passed through difficult times. Although his mother
lived at the Begijnhof, he did not dare to stay with her. He went to
help Grietgen Huijbrechts. He assisted her in illness and made her
comply with ecclesiastical obligations. There was a wanderer in the
yard who heard Father Roeland address her warmly and with
comforting words, as you do to a sick person.
In those evil times, Roeland once held mass at Arien Flooren in
Voorburg at night behind the village. There was a great meeting. But
the dogs barked so loudly that Father feared that the barking would
be heard in the village. Father called me to him and asked: "Let the
householder put those dogs somewhere they would not attract the
Bailiff’s police”.
During Easter, he held a mass in Voorburg with Job Jacobs. And the
agents of the chief came to look for Easter eggs. And they feared that
they actually came to do an invasion. Roeland did not know where to
hide, there was so much commotion around the house. But the agents
disappeared when they had the Easter eggs. They were hungry too!
Roeland held a meeting at night in Voorburg, at Jan Leeuwen’s
church. There was such a big storm with heavy rain and wind that
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