Studs Lonigan by James T. Farrell

Author:James T. Farrell
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9781101503164
Publisher: Penguin Group USA, Inc.
Published: 2011-01-10T10:00:00+00:00

II

St. Patrick’s church was packed, and hushed. Father Shannon, a plump, bald-headed priest, emerged from the sacristy door on the right, pushed the back of his right hand to his mouth as he emitted a half-cough, genuflected, facing the altar, and proceeded to climb into the marble pulpit. He laid his beret beside him and faced the audience of young people, his soft, mushy, almost womanly face, half-distinct. He stretched his arms, and smoothed down his cassock. His bald head shone as it was caught in candle flickers. He emitted another cracked cough. In a quiet and confident voice, he said, while blessing himself:

“In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, Amen!”

He paused pregnantly, and dramatically. In a calm modulated voice, he exclaimed:

“My text for tonight’s sermon is: ‘Stand, therefore, having your loins girt in truth, and having on the breast-plate of justice, and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.’ Epistle of Paul to the Ephesians, sixth chapter, sixteenth verse.

“In the words, then, of the stern and austere Saint, Paul himself, I come and say unto you boys and girls tonight: ‘Stand, therefore, having your loins girt in truth, and having on the breast-plate of justice, and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace’.”

His voice lowered almost imperceptibly:

“This evening, I shall have serious things to say, words of more serious import than those which have been, or will be contained in any other sermon or talk of this mission.”

He smiled.

“Hence, I am constrained to ask that those of you who have the habit of sleeping through sermons, will kindly refrain from snoring. You know, there is a commandment of Jesus Christ, our Lord, which dictates that we must all love our neighbor as ourselves. Snoring, when your neighbor may be trying to hear what I say, or, God bless the mark, when he himself may be trying to sleep, is not what I call loving your neighbor.”

He leaned on his arms, chest forwards, and smiled, while there were ripples of laughter.

“I stated that I have serious things to tell you. But don’t, in the name of God, think that because I have said that, that I am coming here like a black-faced (he frowned dourly and hunched his shoulders) old man of gloom with crepe hanging from my shoulders. Because I am not (he smiled). I was young once myself, even though many of you may doubt that because of this billiard ball I have.”

He touched his bald head; he waited until the self-conscientious, restrained laughter subsided.

“I know what it means to be young. I know that Satan rides about through the night, like a witch in Sleepy Hollow, planning traps and temptations with which to beset the young. I know that when you are eighteen, nineteen, twenty-one, even twenty-five, you cannot be expected to live the kind of a life that a crabby, old maid aunt would desire you to live. I know that you want good times.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.