Religion: Fascists v. Monks

A party of Great St. Bernard monks traveled slowly last week toward the Swiss-Italian mountain border. Their large, patient dogs trotted ahead. In their comfortable hospice at St. Bernard pass, they had heard of a woman lost in a snowstorm on Barraston Peak, 9,725 ft. high. That she was an anti-Fascist refugee they may not have known, would not have cared. Important to them, dedicated to saving human life, was the fact that she was alone, a stranger to the bewildering ways of the great white Alps. At once they had packed themselves with supplies, set out to find her.

At the Swiss-Italian border, Fascist soldiers saw the monks approaching, knew at once for whom they were searching. Important to the soldiers, dedicated to Benito Mussolini, was the fact that the lost woman was an antiFascist. They also knew that a short time before the St. Bernard monks had guided a whole party of anti-Fascist refugees to safety.

The soldiers waited until the rescue party was within range. Then they raised their guns, fired. They saw the monks start, hide behind rocks. After a few minutes the monks reappeared, started to go their way. The soldiers fired again. No monk was hurt but after the second fusillade a St. Bernard dog lay gasping on the snow.

Making a long detour, the monks of St. Bernard reached their hospice safely. They were puzzled, vexed by their experience. The two hospices of St. Bernard have offered hospitality and aid for almost a thousand years to all wayfarers, regardless of race, creed or party.

The Great St. Bernard pass leading from Martigny, Switzerland to Aosta, Italy has been known and used since prehistoric times. Dangerous always, snow usually covers it to a depth of seven or eight feet, sometimes 40 ft. In 962 Bernard (923-1008), a priest, seeing that many pilgrims used the pass on their way to Rome, founded a hospice on the highest point, 8000 ft., decreed that it should stand as a haven for all travelers. Several years later he founded another hospice, in the Little St. Bernard pass which runs from Bourg St. Maurice to Aosta. During a visit to Rome, he petitioned the Pope to assign the charge to the Augustinian monks. Today there are about 40 St. Bernard brothers, some at the Great Pass, some at the Little Pass, some in neighboring parishes.