[published in the Catholic Youth Organization’s The Torch, October, 1944]
1807 Oak Bay Avenue, Victoria, B.C.
October 4, 1944
The Editor, C.Y.O. Torch:
The following extract from a letter my husband was so interesting to me that I thought you might like it for your paper. He is on a destroyer doing patrol duty over seas, and here is part of his letter, dated September 3, 1944:
"Today is Sunday and it was positively the busiest Sunday I've ever heard about, let alone experienced. Let’s see now. Hughie and I got off to a flying start on a lot of work that has been hanging fire for the last few weeks. Then we came in and had a hearty breakfast. Along about 11 a.m. there was a pipe "R.C.’s" to muster on X gun deck. Why does the Navy always organize their religion after breakfast? Of course there are dispensations, but it spoils it for me.
In case you’re interested, here’ how it goes. We were swinging at a buoy with a couple of Polish ships, so there were about 50 or 80 present and all went to Holy Communion. There’s a lot of space on that deck, but no shelter. The padre set up the altar in the doorway of the Pom-pom shelter and the congregation stood outside in the rain. We started off with the Confiteor, with about sixty seconds to pause to reflect on our sins, then carried right on with our Penance, (three Hail Mary’s—no time for the usual five or ten) while the Padre recited the Absolution. Then he skipped through Mass in about 3 minutes and gave us Holy Communion in another 3 minutes. The whole thing didn’t take more than ten minutes and don’t forget we started out with a hearty breakfast!
Apparently, from his letter, they don't very often get a chance to hear Mass. He says the padres are very busy—they have a certain number of men to fix up and a limited time to do it in.
Wishing you the best of luck.
Yours sincerely,
Wanda (Mrs. F. Leslie) Gill.
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