ready learned their prayers and all those things which it was necessary they should practice. They applied with ardor to become acquainted with the nature and obligations of the sacrament of regeneration and the dispositions required for its worthy reception.
The great festival of Christmas, the day on which the little band'9 was to be added to the number ~,of the true children of God, will never be effaced from the `memory of our good Indians. The manner in which we celebrated mid night mass may give you an idea of our festival. The signal for rising, which was to be given a few minutes before midnight, was the firing of a pistol, announcing to the Indians that the house of prayer would soon be 'open. This was followed by a general discharge of guns in honor of the birth of the Infant Savior, and 300 voices rose spontaneously from the midst of the forest, and entoned in the language of the Pend d'Oreilles the beautiful canticle "Du Dieu puissant tout annonce la gloire."-"The Almighty's glory all things proclaim." In a moment a multitude of adorers were seen wending their way to the humble temple of the Lord-resembling indeed the manger in which the Messiah was born. On that night, which all at once became bright as day, they experienced I know not what, that which made them exclaim aloud, " O God! I give thee my heart." Oh l I trust that the happy impression which this unwonted spectacle made upon their hearts will never be effaced.
Of what was our little church of the wilderness constructed ? I have already told you-of posts fresh cut in the woods, covered over with mats and bark; these were its only materials. On the eve, the church was embellished with garlands and wreaths of green boughs; forming, as it were, a frame for the images which represent the affecting mvsteries of Christmas night. The interior was ornamented with pine branches. The altar was neatly decorated, be
is Fr. 124 adults.