"At the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, whether in heaven, or on earth, or in hell."
[Footnote: The Procession of the most Holy Sacrament made by the Indians of Cape Breton and the Bras d'Or has not been mentioned in these pages, as it took place since this narrative was written.]
* * * * *
The foregoing very imperfect translation of Father Vincent de Paul's quaint narrative, is published at the request of the leading clergy of Antigonish County, that section of Eastern Nova Scotia in which the holy Trappist so long lived and labored.
The original from which the translation was made, was printed in France in the year 1824, and, as far as is known, is the only copy in Canada. It was for many years lyingperduin the old convent of the Trappistine Sisters, in Tracadie, Nova Scotia, where it was discovered in the autumn of 1883. It is interspersed with corrections and footnotes in the pious monk's own handwriting and was printed at a private press, in the Trappist Monastery at Bellefontaine, France.
Father Vincent's labors were, generally speaking, confined to the district over which he presided, but occasionally in cases of urgent need, he would be sent for to administer the Sacraments to the dying in Prince Edward Island. Old Catholic residents along the northern and eastern shores of King's County, will tell how, with Father Vincent seated in the prow, the smallest boat would ride safely over an angry sea.
His apostolic zeal it was that kept the Faith alive in Eastern Nova Scotia, in the days when, with the exception of a few French missions, it lived only in the hearts of the poor Micmac Indians. Before his death, however, he had the happiness of seeing the Catholic religion firmly rooted in the land he so loved, by the arrival and establishment there of the loyal Highlanders, who by their energy and perseverance have changed the desert through which Father Vincent made his perilous journeys into a beautiful and fertile country.
To the Right Rev. Dr. Cameron for his kindness in writing thepreface, to the Rev. Clergy for their liberal patronage, and to theTrappistine Sisters for the loan of the original copy of FatherVincent's book, are due the most grateful thanks of
Charlottetown, P.E. Island, 18th June, 1886.
[Transcriber's Note: The words "mattrass," "preceeded," "shreded," "tractible," and "transparancy" appear thus in our print copy; also, "Pomquet" is variously spelled as "Pomquet," "Pomquett," and "Pomquete"; we have retained these spellings as they appeared in the published work.]