Fabiola : or, The church of the catacombs - Digital Repository Services

The priest then began to administer Extreme Unction, followed
by tl)
re, which, despite its profound
A Doriu.i: SACRIFICE.
inno of confi-
long-hardened he-art, until ;xt last he found solaces in n torrent
of tears. At the moment the priest uttered the words :
" A
he-art, O G id, Thou never wilt despise," it seemed that a ray
from heaven scattered n cloud that had long been before the
old man's eyes. The priest continued to pray ; but the re-
pentant sinner heard no more, aud seemed to be no longer
conscious of what was going on around him. Ho hud buried
liis face in his hands, and big burning tears trickled his fingers.
through
Long, very long, he remained given up to this solemn
meditation, plunged in a profound contemplation, motionless
and distracted. The priest had already left, carrying with him
the Holy of Holies, and followed by his acolyte, when the old
man, radiant, aud, as it were, transfigured, suddenly raised hia
head, and fixed a wandering, dazed look on the bed of sufl'er-
ing. Then he stood up, took a few steps forward, and fell into
the arms of his son, whom, in his joy, he covered with tears
and kisses.
" O Victor, dear Victor, it's all over," he sobbed.
"
It's all
over; you have conquered.
beloved Victor."
I believe, my God; I believe as my
Another cry a cry of victory and happiness responded
like a triumphant echo to this joyful exclamation, and Victor's
mother, intoxicated with joy and surprise, mingled her tears
of gratitude with the tears of her dying son and her converted
spouse.
But Victor soon disengaged himself from his parent's arms.
A truly heavenly joy irradiated his countenance. He gazed
for a moment affectionately on the loved faces of that father
whose blindness and errors he had KO long deplored, aud that
noble mother who had so courageously shared his sacrifice ;
then raised his joyful eyes to heaven.
" And now, Lord," he "
cried, Thou wilt let Thy servant die
in . peace, for his eyes have seen Thy salvation according to
Thy holy word. I return Thee thanks, O God of Goodness,
for Thy constant protection, Thy infinite mercy. O God, Thou
hast heard my prayer, and accepted my sacrifice. For I can
now reveal the mysteries of Thy goodness I can henceforth
;
And thanks to you, my good Joseph," he continued, turning
towards his cousin, " it was your generous devotion, your
courageous resolution that inspired me with the thought of
sacrificing myself to obtain the salvation, the happiness of my
father !"
The unhappy Morren had no sooner heard these words,
which revealed to him the secret of Victor's heroic resolution,
tban for the second time he felt suffocated by his tears, astounded
and prostrated by the sublimity of that filial devotion
which, in his culpable incredulity and blindness, he had not
even suspected.
" O Victor, Victor, what love !" he cried through his tears.
" Oh !
woe
to me me, impious wretch, who dared, in my ig-
norance, to accuse you of ingratitude, to compare you to a serpent
whom I had cherished in my breast, while at that very moment
you were about to consummate this supreme sacrifice for me I
Oh ! dear child, noble child," he continued, falling on his
knees by the bedside; "can I ever console myself for having so
far doubted your love ! Forgive, forgive me, my child, my
dear Victor ! Oh! can you still love your wretched father?"
"
Enough, enough, dear father, your words rend my heart,"
interrupted Victor, d"ly moved. "I assure yon
I have
nothing to reproach you with, nothing to forgive! you. WHS
not your whole i
spired by the sincere love you Mt
i
beart-rettding sorrow, ( xhales a perf
drncr no invert, to the Christian soul.
The pe),,r father, in his obscure corner, listened; and it seemed
that each of those divine words fell lik In-Hvenly dew upon his
1st so I tenderly i
foryour child? And now that, he is sincerely reconciled to
God you a.sk me if I can love that fal.h'T whom I have always
of his error* ? O father,
sacrifice to God is Bn afflicted spirit; a contrite and humble
mother, come to my arms to my heart, where the God nf
mercy and {.'ruci-, in His infinite love-, has descended and let
a loving kins unite) us tlirev in pe>ae:e; with Him !"
Tin ii, gently clasped iu each other's arms, they f
for :i fe-\v moments tho profound anguish of the approaching
ii ion.
Suddenly, confused clamors arose outside, before the door
of the house.
" Here's the Tiambino of Ara Coeli," cried several voi<
In fact, ut that moment, a large brown carriag", carefully
closed, and with the doors veiled with long red hangings, might
bo seen advancing at the end of the street. It contained two
religious of the Order of Friars Minor, one wearing a stole,
while the other held iu his haud a lighted taper.
This carriage was that of tho Jiimitiiitn eif Ara Cooli, or
mirae-iilems image of the Infant Jesus, greatly venerated by tho
KonniiiH, particularly at the approach
of death. When tho
pious young man felt his strength decreasing and his end approaching,
he had requested the priest who had come to administer
the sacraments to him to procure him this fave>r. The
carriage having stopped before Stefauo'a door, the two priests
alighted and bore, the holy image into the sick man's room.
Then the young martyr's eyes were seen to beam joyfully at
the approach of the good fathers and the image of the Saviour.
He humbly bowed his head to receive tho benediction so ar-
dently desired, while a prayer of thanksgiving, as pure as it
was fervent, arose from the bottom of his soul to the throne of
the Eternal.
Another favor, too, was reserved for him the Pontifical
blessing sent by the Holy Father to his expiring son.
" O mother," murmured Victor in a broken voice, " mother,
now I can die. ... I am very, very happy. . . . But,
my good mother, we must not
Aud here, as if destiny was hastening to bear witness to
the truth of his words, a kind of convulsive hiccough, ami dull,
suffocating rattling suddenly smothered his voice. These fatal
symptoms were soon accompanied with a painful oppression ;
loudly proclaim that before leaving my home and country I
had offered Thee my life to obtain from Thee the most prcciouv
of Thy graces the conversion of my beloved father. O
mother, mother," he continued, turning towards the happy
spouse, "did I not tell you that evening under the tunnel
that the voice that called me was truly the voice of
God ? Oh ! happy are we to have every
faithfully obeyed that voice !
instant the rattling seemed to rise and increase in intensity
and power. Suddenly, a dreadful fit of coughing tore at
the invalid's chest, and that very instant, according to the
doctor's fatal forecasting, a stream of blood issued from his
mouth.
At this eight the unhappy father uttered a terrible cry, and
rushed forward as if he wou d have protected and defended
against the approaches of death that tenderly-loved sou whom
his calmer and more courageous wife heroically sustained in
her arms, gently pressing his drooping head to her breast.
Night had come, and Nunziata rose aud lit the lamp, while
the profoundest silence reigned throughout that chamber of
mourning.
The hemorrhage seemed to havo brought momentary relief
to the poor young invalid, who lay upon his bed, pale and
weak, but calm ; his cheeks sunken, his features drawn, iiis
lips livid, big drops of cold perspiration trickling every instant
over his brow, while the counterpane moved every time his
chest rose with his broken breath.
It was about miduight ; Joseph and Martin, Nunziata and
Stefano, began to pr.iy, next the table at the end of the room.
The weeping parents had not quitted their place at tin
side. A priest who had come to attend the invalid in his last
moments was silently turning over the pages of his Breviary.
The unhappy father, overwhelmed with grief, felt all his cour-
age vanishing at the approach
of the terrible and inevitable
separation but the ; mother, courageous like a true Christian
mother, seemed, iu t. e moment of trial, to have recovered all
her calmness and firmness. She knew that the Lord willed
that she should give up her sou to Him, and in her admirable