Westbrook High School - Blue and White Yearbook (Westbrook, ME)

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its illllli L!9llflll'l'lI appenrlieitis. Many little things like this hegan to happen in Blaytown. Une rainy evening -lane anal .Xliee Roe, her girl tirientl. hail planned to go to a missionary serviee. Hn the way to church an autoinohile slicl from the roacl to the sivlewalk where they were walking. .Xlice was seriously injurecl, Init ,lane escaperl with only a few hrnises, lane onee went into a flepart- ment store antl passecl the counter where holy articles were solrl. 'lille sales girl pickerl tip a erueilix to show the prospeetive customer. lint was immecliately stoppecl from tloing so hy an eleetrie shock that paralyzetl her arm. Such incitlents as these had heen happening so frequently that the village folk avoicletl .lane Ilere as much as pos- sihle, for fear that they may he the victim of these unusual eoincirlenees. lloetors' examinations proveil only that her hotly was physically perfect. Realizing that the only thing to turn to now was faith ancl prayer, the priest flecitlerl to sencl her to an acquaintance oi his. a flevout priest in tianarla. who harl often succorerl ilistresserl mintls antl souls, I'erhaps that man coultl solve the prohlem. Xliss XYinner, a nurse from St. xloseph's llos- pital. eonsentefl to accompany 'lane on tl1e trip to Xlontreal. Iiather Iiorhes' I-Ylttlltl, liather Alnmonx, hafl willingly eonsentefl to aeeept the girl, She eonlcl stay with the nuns in their convent. Wlane's state oi snspenflecl consciousness hail envelopecl her more completely as time passerl. She hail heen experiencing a proeess of mental agony, Une voiee shouteil and excited her until she reachetl a piteh in which nothing' conlfl satisfy her unless it was far away from holiness. and there still whimperetl another weak. little voice. coaxing her not to listen to the tirst. .Xt times this former heeame lourler anrl loucler. 'lane lis- tenerl to it. This was what was happening now, the weaker voiee was speaking. She was listening, The nurse was saying something to her. Nurse? Ilamnahle person? Why shoulil a nurse he with her? lleafl thrown hack, arms repelling the nurse, she starterl to the enfl of the seat. IfliotI sereamefl hlane, as the rlriver stopped the car. XYhat is the matter with you? l.eave me a'one. 'liake Y4l1I1'llIllltIS4ill me I ller face rentainetl passive ancl she staretl at the ilriyer. XYhat clicl you stop for? NYere you afraiil you would erash? Ilo you think I'm a witeh 7' The young woman was now at a hysterical pitch as the rlriver reinainerl speechless. Yes. you flol ICVL'l'yIltifIy cloesl kkvell. get out -tlo you hear?-tiI'.I til I, Uh. tiofl he tI2llI1llt'tIiu 'I'he nurse motionetl the :Iriver to clrive on anil mmle an attempt to soothe the now tlistraeteil -lane. They reaeherl the resitlence of liather ,lnmoux at twilight, Shadows of evening were quietly fall- ing as the nurse and her patient steppecl out of the antomolwile. 'llhere was no hesitanee from .lane now: she went up the steps ancl to the cloar with- out hesitating ancl also without ohserving where she was. Nurse Winner aeeompaniecl anil rang the hell. 'I'he hlaek-rohetl Ifather greeterl them at the cloor. It was then that liather anrl the nurse notieetl the contlition of vlane. She eviilently was in a trance, I'ather. that means trouhlef' Miss Winner warnecl. Shoultln't I take her hack. Ifather, she's honncl to luring very had luck The priest ignoretl her pleacling. lint, Ifather, anything connectetl with tlotl or the Lihureh enrages her. The tlevil himself will tight against yon, Ifather. I.et me take her away. please, heiore she works Satan's will. Ifather .Innioux smilefl his answer assuringly: Yes, nurse. perhaps I am lighting the evil one. hut Iiotl will help nie. I fear not, tioil will he with me, .Iane's lvlank eyes tliekererl. She turnefl to the priest as he niarle the sign of the cross. llartlly hail he linishetl when his faee was twisterl hy a pain that shot from his heart flown into his left leg, .Xlarmt-rl, the nurse went to hnn. .Xre you all right, I ather? Yes--yes, I'in all right now. hut what a peenl- iar pain that was. I have never heen lyotheretl with my heart hefore, nurse. XYhat tliwl I tell yon. liather? Siu sumti he is alter you--

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l!lQlllL6llHl'I'll 17 OUR WORLD A blue ribbon lies on a llanket of green .-Xnd ripples as breezes blow by: A powerful light sends a dazzling sheen From another blue ocean on high. To us tiny mortals, the scene is our world .Xnd for thousands of years has been new, llut ideas would be changed anzl illusions untwirled If we looked down from Go:l's point of view. P. D., '37, JANE HERE -lane! -lane! the nurse tried to arouse the wax-like figure. .Xre you sleeping, lane? Come, wake up. See, we are passing l.ake View liarm. lt's very beautiful. lane. The girl remained motionless. .Xre you ill, .lanei There still was no response. For hours the girl had sat like the sculpture of a nun carved on an ancient cathedral. .Ks the nurse placed her arm about .lane's shoulders, a black Veil, concealing the girl's face, was abruptly pushed back as her rigid body re- acted to what was evidently a mental disturbance. .N white face peered forth: eyes blankfstaring. livery feature was absolutely passive: a suffering, submissive face. Yes, it revealed signs of suffer- ing, mental suffering, perhaps. because her body was a healthy looking one. Indeed, the young woman had the strength of any ordinary girl- sometimes more! That face had been beautiful once, beautiful with stainless innocence that so often finds its place in the expression of baby faces. -lane had been a sweet little girl and innocent, too, ller greatest joy was visiting the church at Maytown, Often her restless feet would tread the beautiful llaytown woods. where, with her rosary, she would slip off into some quiet forest nook to pray. Perhaps that change had been brought about by the unfortunate actions of her drunkard father. .Xt least most people thought so. They knew -lane always disappeared into the forest when her wicked father came home displaying the bad effects of liquor. When such was the case, village folk would Silyl .lane has slipped off to the forest to pray. ller father must be drinking again. There came a day when Joe Here, in an unusual state of intoxication, bellowed: Damn you! XVhy do you pray on those beads ller humble answer only enraged the bully more. Hlteeause the Sisters taught you to he snorted. They filled that good-for-nothing head of yours with a lot of bunk about God, l suppose. lle staggered toward her violently continuing, Go ahead-pray! I suppose you think there's a devil, too? Well, by the grace of your God, I hope you are possessed by the devilfl Sneering, he caught the frightened girl by the shoulders. ller beads slipped from her hands as he shook her. I wish the devil would get into that soft Hip- pant heart of yours and stay there. l!wish-I hope- XYith a tlmmp he fell to the floor-death a curse on his lips. lfrom that very moment ,lane llere was, indeed, possessed by the devil: she was crazed: she was controlled completely by an inner voice that con- tinually spoke to her. It had possession of her mind-her soul-her body. .lane's friends brought her to Father Forbes, the alaytown priest. They had to carry her there. At sight of the priest she became quite enraged and acquired a strength almost unbelievable. llreaking away from the two lrish policemen who held her. she ran to the priest. snatched his rosary out of his hands, and cast it through the window with such force that the glass was broken! The police hurried away: the father prayed: and the girl raged. Nevertheless, liather lforbes continued praying, while the girl struggled with two mocking voices running through her mind! l'ray with the priest, pray with the priest. suggested one voice. l le's making a fool of you, he's making a fool of you, insisted the other. ln spite of this conflict. the girl had promised to attend Mass the following morning. That evening at twelve o'clock liather liorbes was carried to the hospital with a severe case of

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10 ln the meantime, Jane stood watching the two. As Nurse Winner finished speaking, the girl made one wild dash for the automobile. The driver. who had been watching the scene, grabbed her. She struggled liercely but to no avail. -lane was brought to a lovely little convent and was allowed to stay with the nuns. They were very kind to her' and never forced her into any kind ol religious proceedings. -lane became almost a normal human being until one night. as she lay in her bed above the Sisters' chapel. she heard that voice within her. Listen, the nuns are praying downstairs. .-Xre they praying that you may be with them? Are they praying that you will become a Christian again? Crazy people, she uttered aloud. while jump- ing from the bed. l3on't they know that there isn't a God? Don't they know I despise them? lf they don't, they are going to lind out now Y Cautiously, jane made her way downstairs into the chapel. She opened the chapel door and paused in the way. It was a beautiful picture that ap- peared before her. Along the walls were carvings of the Stations of the Cross-fourteen pictures, each one repre- senting a scene that occurred in the passion of our l.ord, the altar within the chancel twinkled with bright little candles. Lifelike statues of Saint Theresa, Saint Joseph and the Child -lesus seemed to smile down through flickering shadows upon the solemn nuns. Lead by the Mother Superior, they chanted the l.itany ot' the Sacred lleart. Their black-veiled heads were bowed: long brown robes fell in sweeping folds to the floor. Their white bibs and head bands bravely symbolized purity. 'lane remained in the doorway only a minute, then ran down the center aisle to where the red vigil light, in its accustomed place at the right of the tabernacle, gleamed its friendly welcome. When she reached the light, she smashed it with the candle lighter that stood near by, then turned to the pious women. You empty-headed simpletons! You women of l'hrist's fold, she scorned. Christ's fold? Ha, who is Christ? You make me laugh, you and your Christ. l'm getting out of this place, do you understand? OCT! .lane was yelling now, 0l'T! UUTf OUT! Three quiet nuns seized her. She fought des- perately to get away and did, but the Sister in the last pew had bolted the chapel door while the others continued to pray earnestly. :Xt that time an unbelievable thing happened. The body of jane llere llew from the hold of the nuns to the wall and clung there! Several nuns quickly left their places and tried to pull her from the wall. The body had landed between the iirst and second stations. ller hands gripped the frames of the stations of either side. Mother Superior took possession of the situa- tion immediately in a commanding and steady voice: Sister Mary. get the step-ladder. Yes, Mother. Sister .Xnglar, you call Father lumouxf' Yes, Mother, Sister .-Xnne and Sister l'aul, go to the vestry and End another vigil candle. Yes, Mother. You, Sister james, Sister .loan and Sister St. Peter, indicating three rugged-looking nuns. remain at the foot of the body until Sister Rlary returns with the ladder. Then we shall remove her from the wall. The rest of the Sisters will' please continue the prayers with me. Yes, Mother. jane was certainly possessed by the devil: her condition was worse now than ever. lfather -Iumoux and the Sisters began to think that their prayers and work were all in vain. Mother Superior and liather slumoux, discussing the situa- tion a few days after the occurrence in the chapel, came to the decision that. as a last appeal, she should be taken to St. Anne de lieaupre. Sisters Anne, Mary and -loseph were appointed to accom- pany her along with Father Dlumoux. The trip to St. 1Xnne's was very unpleasant: jane stormed. threatened, and cursed from the time they started until they reached the place. They had two flat tires, engine trouble, and were bumped by a truck. None of these occurrences were serious, but Father jumoux has often re- marked since then that il the Sisters had not so l A