Here is the testimony of a few demonstrations which took...

Victor Blondis

Here is the testimony of a few demonstrations which took place while I was at the front. When war broke out, I started on the second day of the mobilization to join up with the sixty-ninth light infantry regiment. I was full of trust, knowing that in the kingdom of God there was no war and that no evil could touch me. One day I was told off to patrol duty with three of my comrades. We were to reconnoiter a farm, and were going under cover of a corn field, when suddenly the enemy hidden in a ravine fired on us. We were a few meters from them, and my companions thought they were done for, but I remained calm, having the ninety-first psalm always present in my thought. We lay flat in the corn, and while the balls spattered all around us I declared the truth, and we came safely through this terrible experience.

During the retreat we were sent into the department of the Oise to stop the German advance on Paris. When at L—we were ordered to hold on as long as possible; and we defended the position all day long under terrible artillery fire. When we had to retire, it was too late, for we were surrounded on all sides. We were much afraid that the whole regiment would be captured, but God was watching over us, and by what seemed a miracle we succeeded in getting out of the circle surrounding us. Then I heard several of my comrades say, "It is incredible; there must be some one or something protecting our regiment."

My best demonstration took place during the famous battle of the Marne. We were at a place on the road to M—and were ordered to go toward another place, which was then occupied by the enemy. But we had to go a distance of four kilometers in open country, exposed to the fire of the enemy's great howitzers. We had to crawl all the way, on our stomachs. All of a sudden a shell fell and burst just where my squad was. Terrible cries were heard, and several of my comrades were wounded, while others were killed, and I was thrown to the other side of the road without a scratch, not knowing how it ever happened.

The next day we had to resist the enemy for twelve consecutive hours under the fire of artillery, for the order was that we should be killed rather than retreat; no shelter was available, and what a massacre it was! With this passage of the ninety-first psalm always before my thought: "There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling," I worked without ceasing. A piece of shell struck me near the heart, but when it struck it had lost all its force and had no power to hurt me.

Before closing, I will add a more recent experience which occurred at the time of the battle of the Somme. One of my comrades and I went to visit the cemetery of the little village where we were staying, to see if among the unfortunate soldiers lying there, there was not one whom we knew. After a few moments I said to my friend: "This is not very cheerful; let us go away. I do not care to stay here any longer." We left the place, and we had not been gone five minutes, when a shell fell into the cemetery just where we had been standing, demolishing all the graves and making an enormous hole. Again I recognized God's protection.

Victor Blondis, Boulogne sur Seine, France.

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