after the war - more

During World War I, in Saint Quentin the institution St. John suffered significant damage. From 1915 to 1919 the Association of the Alumni of St. John published the "Trait d'Union - Bulletin de Guerre" including many documents on the history of St. John during this period, letters, necrologies etc. The first meeting of the association after the war in Saint Quentin was held on November 23, 1919. Fr. Dehon took part in it. Here we read from the report in the bulletin:

"That day, the Rue de Wé resounded with an unaccustomed noise. It wasn’t the usual rhythm step of the patrols, nor the heavy Germanic boots hammering the paving stone with their insulant noise, nor the whistle of the shells crushing into the ruins. In fact joyful groups passed, guided by their hearts, and they went, automatically like so often before, towards the gate which always opened in order to receive them...

A bell resounds in the court; one awaits the travellers of the train from Paris who are delayed. We arrive. Groups are formed in the middle of the court, and immediately, one distinguishes the high silhouette of the Patriarch, The Very Rev. Fr. Dehon, obviously touched to be among the representatives of his great family...

The mass, celebrated by the canon Mr. Rouchaussé, proceeds in general meditation... After the Gospel, Fr. Dehon, speaking and obviously touched, addresses his children, big and little ones, with his most paternal voice. He remembers in a short and touching draft the history of the Institution, its beginnings, its rapid rise exceeding all hopes, requiring expansion... he passes on to the fire which, at the evening of a feast in honour of our patron saint, devoured the two floors of the new building, saving only the statue of the Sacred Heart; the glorious period of St. John ... followed by the crisis which concerned all education institutions... then the great rebirth stopped by the terrible war... that left only the ruins, in the middle of which we are now.

But these ruins today are illuminated by a ray of hope! The presence of the alumni, was numerous despite the mourning the war inflicted upon them. And all these young people, today side by side with the old ones... This hope will not be disappointed. The Sacred Heart will bless the workers of the last hour as he blessed those of the first hour... St-Jean will live again!"

(Traid d’Union - Bulletin de Guerre 1915-1919, p. 361s.)