“Then what happened?”
There was silence as if the Father could not bear to speak about it. Eventually he replied,
“She contracted a fever for which there was no cure in those days.”
“Are you saying,” she whispered, “that she died?”
“She died in my arms, telling me with her very last breath that she loved me.”
The way he spoke made tears come to Attila’s eyes.
“I am sorry, so very sorry, Father.”
“Now you understand,” he continued with a tremor in his voice, “why I then entered the Church and dedicated my life to helping others not only spiritually, but, when I was able, physically.”
“I wondered how you knew so much about illness. So many, many people must be grateful to you.”
“Every time I heal someone, I think it could have happened to the one I loved so much. If only I had known not only about medicine, but the power of prayer.”
“You have done so much good for the world, but it is very very sad that you lost the girl you loved. What was her name?”
“She had the same name as the beloved Mother of Christ, but I called her – Marie.”
“Wherever Marie is now she must be very proud of how saintly you are and the many people you have healed.”
Father Jozsef rose to his feet and walked away.
Attila knew he wanted to be alone to think of Marie who he had loved.
There could never be another woman in his life.
He was a Priest and entirely on his own and there was no one to share his work or his thoughts with him.
‘It is so very sad,’ thought Attila. ‘But if it had not happened many others would have suffered. Without Father Jozsef to heal them they would have died or perhaps never known love.’
At the same time her heart bled for Father Jozsef.
She wanted desperately for him to be happy.
When she went to bed, he still had not returned from his walk and Attila worried in case he was doing too much.
When she heard him return and enter the carriage, she was relieved.
She was tired and fell asleep immediately.
*
She only awakened when she heard Father Jozsef moving about and the horses being put between the shafts.
When they set off again, it was another lovely day.
Now Attila felt more relaxed.
Yesterday, although she told herself it was totally unnecessary, she had kept glancing over her shoulder just in case there were soldiers following them.
She knew that her stepmother would be so angry when she found them gone that she was quite capable, without discussing it with her father, of sending the Palace guards in search of her.
They were now leaving the grassland behind them, but the air was still filled with birds and butterflies.
At noon on the third day of their journey Attila saw a tall mountain ahead where the Shrine of St. Janos was situated.
As they drew nearer there were one or two pilgrims just like themselves. They were either walking slowly, as if they had travelled a long distance or riding a horse or donkey.
Most of the pilgrims seemed to be young and she thought that perhaps like herself they were going to the Shrine to ask for love.
Reaching the mountain, they could only go a little way up on horseback before the rough track came to an end.
There was a place at the side of the mountain where the carriage and horses could stand.
It was then, looking at the steep path ahead of them, that Attila approached Father Jozsef,
“You are really certain, Father, that it will not be too much for you?”
He smiled at her.
“I will be alright if I take it slowly, my child. After all we have come a long way to pray at the Shrine and I do not wish my prayers to be in vain.”
Attila shook her head.
“I am certain they never can be, Father, wherever you make them.”
“That is true, but I am anxious for you to see the Shrine, which I think is very beautiful. You will find it has a wonderful feeling all of its own which there is no need for me to describe to you.”
Attila was becoming excited now that they had reached their journey’s end.
She tidied herself in the mirror in the carriage and put on a fresh gown. It was very different to the smart attractive dresses she wore at home, but she felt it was appropriate
She was only a humble pilgrim at the feet of a Saint who had proved himself a thousand times.
She insisted on Father Jozsef having a glass of his wine before they began to climb the steep path ahead.
When she had drunk it for the second time last night, she suspected it was not an ordinary wine like those which were served at her father’s table.
“What have you added to it, Father?” she asked.
“That is clever of you, my child,” he answered her. “How do you know I have added anything?”
“I can taste it and I can feel that it has an uplifting feeling when I drink it which sweeps away tiredness.”
“That is just what you are meant to feel. Actually it contains many herbs that are stimulating when added to the grapes when it is brewed.”
“So you have it specially made for you, Father?”
“I have given my recipe to a friend who I believe has made a fortune from it, but I drink very little myself, although he sends me a case every time I require one.”
“Then I am so delighted we have tasted it on this journey and if you feel stimulated by it, Father, so do I. To tell you the truth I was feeling very tired last night.”
“I thought you were and that is why I insisted on you having a glass at supper time.”
Attila reached out to touch his hand.
“You are so kind to me, Father, and I am sure Papa is envying me coming here with you. Perhaps when he is better he will want to go on a pilgrimage himself?”
They put down their glasses and leaving the horses and the carriage in the charge of the two men, they started to walk very slowly up the path.
They could not see very much before they reached the top and when they did so Attila thought it was certainly worth the effort.
The Shrine had been altered several times over the years to make it more and more impressive.
It was in a small clearing standing on the stones of the mountain and had been built very much higher than it had been originally.
Now it was covered with a roof of gold and silver and there were candles in holders made of gold inset with jewels burning on each side.
These had been a present from an Indian Maharajah who had claimed that the Saint had given him five million blessings, and he had received an answer to his prayers that no temple in his own country had been able to do.
There were many offerings surrounding the Shrine that had been brought by pilgrims from all over the world and some were very valuable.
On the other side of the Shrine, down below, there was another building where the guards slept.
Father Jozsef had told Attila that there were quite a number of Priests and students always in attendance.
It was, however, completely impossible to think of ordinary problems when one came near to the Shrine.
Attila was instinctively aware of the extraordinary and unusual atmosphere around it.
When she knelt down beside Father Jozsef, she felt as if the Shrine itself was reaching out to her and calling her to give her very heart and soul in her prayers.
The Shrine also assured her that her prayers would be answered.
She could not explain this, even to herself, and yet the feeling was strong and overwhelming.
She felt as if she had stepped into Heaven and was no longer on earth.
Attila closed her eyes and started to pray.
She prayed for her father, not only for his health but also for his happiness.
Then without even thinking of what she was doing she found herself praying that he would be
saved from her stepmother and that she would not be able to harm him or make him unhappy.
She could not quite understand why these thoughts were so prevalent at this moment and yet she was sure they were a vital part of her prayers.
She could not ignore them and it was almost, she thought, as if someone was telling her that her father was in danger.
Not just from his health but from his wife.
Attila must have prayed for quite a long time.
Then, as she thought she would rise, she turned first to look at Father Jozsef.
He was beside her and she wondered if his prayers too were finished and he was ready to leave.
He was kneeling with his back very straight and his head high.
At first glance she could see that his eyes were not closed.
He was looking at the Shrine and the Cross which stood on top of it.
She bent towards him to ask in a whisper if he was ready to rise.
Suddenly he threw out his arms and in a voice that vibrated with a wild excitement, he exclaimed,
“Marie! Marie! Marie!”
He called out her name three times.
Then he fell forward.
As he did so and just before he touched the ground, Attila knew that he had joined Marie who he had loved all through the years.
As three guards hurried forward, she knew in her heart that he was dead.
CHAPTER FOUR
The guards carried Father Jozsef’s body out of the Shrine and down to the Monastery where they lived.
Following them Attila was not surprised that there was a small Chapel attached to the Monastery and Father Jozsef was taken inside and laid in front of the altar.
Then one of the guards asked her who he was.
“He is Father Jozsef from Valdina.”
The guards looked at her in some surprise and she realised that they had heard of the Father, but they had not expected him to come to the Shrine as a pilgrim.
They took Attila into another room and asked her to wait while they went to fetch the Father Superior.
He was a distinguished looking elderly man and the guards bowed him into the room where Attila was waiting.
“I hear,” he now began, “that Father Jozsef, whom we have all loved and admired, has passed on to God.”
“I think,” said Attila quietly with tears in her eyes, “it is just what he wanted, because as he died he saw Marie, the woman he always loved.”
“Yes, my men told me. I suppose you are with him as a pupil?”
“He brought me on this pilgrimage,” Attila replied. “I am most concerned about my father’s health and I also have a private wish of my own, which Father Jozsef felt St. Janos would answer for me.”
“I am quite sure he was right, my child, but how are you to return to Valdina?”
“There is no trouble about that, because I came here on horseback and Father Jozsef rode too. His two servants brought his carriage for us to sleep in.”
“Then that does solve one problem,” said the Father Superior with a smile. “Otherwise I would send a guard to accompany you on your return to Valdina.”
“That is so kind of you, Father, but it will be quite unnecessary. Lamos has been with Father Jozsef for many years and will, I know, look after me as if he was still with us.”
“Which I am sure he will be.”
The Father Superior asked Attila to wait while they attended to Father Jozsef and then he asked,
“Do you wish to take Father Jozsef back with you to his own country? Or shall we bury him here?”
Attila looked surprised and he explained,
“Several people have asked if they could be buried close to the Shrine and others, just like Father Jozsef, have succumbed owing to the long journey.”
Attila thought for a moment.
“I think that as Father Jozsef had such a respect and devotion to the Shrine, he would rather be buried here than at home.”
“Then we shall be very honoured to have him. His healing powers and the help he has given to so many has aroused a great admiration amongst those who worship at the Shrine and we would be happy for his body to remain with us.”
“Then I am sure that is what he would want too,” added Attila.
The Father Superior left her to give his instructions and Attila sat down to wait for his return.
She had made a significant decision when she was walking behind the guards carrying Father Jozsef.
It would be a grave mistake for her to say who she was as someone in charge would insist on arranging for her to be escorted back to the Palace because she was a Royal.
‘I will just return quietly by myself with Lamos and Kilkos,’ she decided. ‘I want to think and have no wish to take strangers with me or, for that matter, an armed guard.’
When the Father Superior returned, he took her into the little Chapel where Father Jozsef had already been put into a simple coffin.
There were two large candles burning on each side of it with flowers on the floor.
Attila was able to look at Father Jozsef, which she had not been able to do previously, and there was a radiance in his face that she had never seen before.
She realised it was because his soul had been united with the woman he had always loved.
She knelt down beside his coffin and prayed that he should bless her as he had done when he was alive.
She begged him to bring her eventually to the same happiness he had found.
The young Priest who was attending on her told her that Father Jozsef’s funeral would take place at dawn the next morning.
“We will take it in turns to pray here tonight,” he said, “but the Father Superior thought you would wish to return to those who are with you before darkness sets in.”
“That is very gracious of His Reverence and I hope he will permit me to bring Father Jozsef’s two servants, not only to the Chapel to see him but to attend the funeral.”
“The Father Superior has thought of that and two of our men will care for your horses while they are away.”
Attila thought that no one could be kinder or more considerate.
She spent a long time praying beside Father Jozsef in the Chapel.
Then she went back to the carriage to break the sad news to Lamos and Kilkos.
There were tears in both their eyes and Lamos said,
“It was the way Father Jozsef would have liked to have gone. He was afraid of being decrepit like some of the people he treated. Several times he said to me ‘I want to die while I am still active and my brain functions as it should do’.”
“He was granted his wish,” added Attila wistfully.
She did not inform them of his dying words, as she felt that his love for Marie was a very personal matter and they would not have known her in the first place.
She was only glad that Father Jozsef had trusted her enough to tell her all about his lost love.
It merely confirmed what she had always believed, that there is no such thing as death and that Heaven exists.
If she had needed confirmation nothing could have been more miraculous than the joy in his voice and the radiance on his face as he died.
Now the two lovers, separated from each other for so long, were together again.
‘That is the love I want. Please God give it to me,’ Attila prayed when she went back to the Chapel.
The Monks had brought in more flowers and there were candles on the altar and round the coffin.
Attila knelt down quietly at the altar as the young men who served at the Shrine were coming in to kneel and say a prayer.
She had a strong feeling that each of them left believing they had been blessed by Father Jozsef.
The sun was sinking lower in the sky.
So she now returned to the place where Lamos and Kilkos were waiting for her.
Attila did not feel like talking, so she ate the dinner which Lamos had prepared for her alone by the fireside.
Then, as darkness
began to fall, she went to bed in the carriage.
It was then, for the first time, that she wept copious tears because she had lost Father Jozsef.
She knew that no one could ever replace him in her life as he was not only her spiritual teacher but her friend too.
‘There is no one else I can talk to as freely,’ she told herself, ‘or who would understand what I feel before I can even put it into words.’
Then almost as if someone was providing her with the answer, she knew that when she found love she would no longer be alone.
*
She slept a little and woke when it was daybreak.
The Father Superior had said that the funeral was to take place at eight o’clock before any pilgrims were likely to climb up to the Shrine.
Attila, accompanied by Lamos and Kelkos, climbed up the steep path that had so exhausted Father Jozsef only yesterday and reached the Shrine.
They stopped for a moment to pray and then Attila led them down to the Monastery.
Even as they arrived a procession was coming out of the small Chapel. There were six stalwart young Priests carrying the coffin followed by a number of mourners, who were singing and bearing flowers.
Attila walked behind the Father Superior.
They processed for a little way along the side of the mountain until they came to another clearing, which had been made by removing the very stones themselves.
It was a small perfectly kept graveyard with about ten graves, each one with a marble cross bearing the name of the occupant.
The grave for Father Jozsef had been prepared and he was lowered gently into it by the six Priests who had carried his coffin.
Then the Father Superior began the Service for the Dead.
His voice was deep and the sincere way he spoke was, Attila thought, very moving.
Holy Water was now sprinkled on the coffin before it was covered and the assembled company sang a psalm.
As they sang two small serving boys wearing lace edged surplices joined them swinging incense holders in their hands.
As the psalm came to an end, Attila walked forward and placed a bouquet of lilies on top of the coffin.
There were a few more prayers and then the monks covered the coffin with earth and the flowers were placed on top of the grave.
Attila felt he would have been pleased to be in such a peaceful place, and glad that he lay with her lilies at his breast.
A Princess Prays Page 6