exile - more

On August 28, 1914 the German army occupies the city of Saint-Quentin. During the years which follow, the plightof the population, and also that of the armies worsens more and more: lack of food, lack of materials...

November 1916
"The month of October ends in the plundering of metals in our house. It is a quite small sacrifice." (NQT XL/1914, 80)

January 1917
"End of January; we suffer the plundering of the mattresses, while waiting for the rest." (NQT XL/1917, 97)

February 15, 1917
"February 15-20: days of great sacrifices. The house of St Clement is evacuated almost entirely . They evacuate the villages and then they plunder, they burn down, they destroy - Does Our Lord require from me the complete sacrifice of our works in France? Will St Clement rise up again? If the house of St-Jean is not destroyed, the college will no longer have a raison d'être, since the hundred villages of the region which gave us pupils will become a desert. FIAT! FIAT! Our vocation is a vocation of victims." (NQT XL/1917, 103)

February 23, 1917
"Fayet has been evacuated and plundered. Fr. Matthias together with the others, has been led to Beaurevoir to take the train. The Sisters and the orphans, too, leave. All these people charged with packages must form a sinister convoy on the muddy path of Beaurevoir. After the departure, there will be plundering and destruction! Good-bye, gracious chapels and houses full of memories. It is a collapse! St Clement held a great place in my life. It was our school of recruitment. I went there so many times!... All our works are extinguished by destruction and death. They will rise up again in another form. FIAT!" (NQT XL/1917, 104s.)

March 1917
"On March 12, it is the exile, after several days of painful preparation. We have to abandon our houses and to sacrifice considerable furniture.... Throughout the day a voyage in a van. In the evening we arrive exhausted and suffering. I believed that I would die of palpitations while leaving the station. The Jesuits receive us fraternally...." (NQT XL/1917, 106)

Thus in 1917 Fr. Dehon arrives in Enghien/Belgium, in exile.