The Marian Martyrs of Rosica

124 The Marian Martyrs of Rosica “The wolves are howling,” said Fr. Czeczott. The Shepherds Mass was next morning, the first one in many years. The large church was filled with people. Children and youngsters crowd- ed around the manger. Maybe they were seeing it for the first time. The Holy Mass began. A weak sounding harmonium played an old Christmas carol that had been sung secretly for a long time, just as it had been a secret that the people had shared Christmas wafers smuggled from Leningrad. THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM “In the Quiet of the Night” was sung by voices full of emotion, sometimes breaking into loud sobs as everyone joined in singing the praise of the Holy Child, the Prince of Peace, who came to bring consolation. The lyrics of the carols were pouring hope into these tormented hearts exhausted from their misery. For a short, a very short period the people could feel more fully human. The yoke of slavery was loosened. But those peo- ple were unaware of the terrible fate that the future had in store for them. Singing their carols, they were flocking to the Little Jesus, God incarnate, warming Him in their warm hearts in the cold December night. They wanted to forget about the tumult of war which rumbled far away to the East. They wanted to for- get the uncertainty of tomorrow and enjoy the day when Christ was born for them. They were embracing the Little One with their singing, “Lullaby, Infant Jesus, my Little Pearl.” And they ended the Mass with the splendid “God Is Born” and “Raise Your Arms, O Child of God, Bless Our Beloved Land.” This invocation was very moving. It touched the heart. It brought tears to one’s eyes. I was looking at the full church from the altar, but I could see everything as if through a mist. Poor folks, poor good folks! What a terrible fate was to be theirs. For such a long time, they had wandered aimlessly like sheep on barren pastures without their shepherds, without direction, and still they had not forgot- ten the songs and the prayers. Many of them took out prayer-