“ “ Nova Scotia/Nunavut Command of The Royal Canadian Legion www.ns.legion.ca 17 Diary Account: Captain Rev. Ronald MacDonald Father Ronald’s white hair indicated clearly enough that he might have let priests twenty-five years younger take his place in the Canadian Chaplain Service, but he would not have it so. He wished to serve as the younger men. He came overseas in October 1916 and did camp work in England and hospital work in France. From a spiritual point of view, the work of a chaplain in camp or in hospital is just as valuable as that of a chaplain in the field, though lacking the military eclat of the latter. This however, is more than compensated for by the greater opportunities of getting the men to the sacraments. While his age prevented Father Ronald from getting to the trenches, he had a taste of war when German planes raided the hospital area at Etaples. Father MacDonald saw his little chapel shattered, but he himself continued his ministrations to the sick and dying as if nothing had happened. His last unit was the Ontario Hospital at Orpington. His efforts to get a C.A.H. Hut for this unit were blocked by the bigotry of the O.C. Chaplains. Father Ronald rounded off his military career by being chaplain to a transport ship that brought Canadian soldiers to Vancouver via the Panama Canal. Diary’s Concluding Remarks: In conclusion, may I be permitted to add that I saw all these five priests frequently and in the most trying circumstances. I saw them face difficulties and dangers which would balk or break anyone who had a weak link in his armor. I saw them overcome these obstacles with a Christian fortitude and patience which was often hidden by a smile or joke. It made one prouder of being a Catholic for having met these five Antigonish priests. They were all Scholarly priests with a repertoire of languages from Italian to Micmac (four of the five could preach in Gaelic), they upheld the traditions of Antigonish University. They were true to their Highland motto, “Dileas gu cath,” a motto upon which a great Gael of thirteen hundred years ago, St. Columban, has written a commentary which may serve as a summary of their war work: “Our perils are many, the war awaiting us is severe, and the enemy terrible, but the recompense is glorious and the freedom of our will is manifest. Without an adversary there is no fight; without a fight there is no crown. Where there is a fight, there is courage, vigilance, ardor, endurance, fidelity, wisdom, firmness and prudence.”
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