One day, rambling through some art shops in quaint old Brussels, I stumbled on a very beautiful picture strongly appealing to the senses. It was entitled a Sick Call. The scene was laid in Belgium, and the river scenery was exquisitely portrayed. In a boat on the river, rowed by two stout oarsman, sat an aged priest robed in surplice and stole, his hands crossed on his breast and his head bent in prayer. He was bringing the Holy Sacraments to a dying person. Around him sat some little acolyte boys bearing torches. Each of the boy’s faces was a study in itself. In the bow of the boat sat another little fellow with a bell in his hand, as he tried to peer into the distance. As the boat passed along the river banks the peasants in the fields suspended their work and knelt in reverence, and afar off as they approached the hamlet you could see the friends of the dying person signalling the boatmen to lean on their oars and hasten to the advent of the priest. There was not a ripple save that of the oars stirring the placid waters; there was a peaceful look mantling the whole scene, as if sensible of the presence of Nature’s God.
What do You think about Classic Christmas Stories (2012)?
