Page 194 - a-portrait-of-the-artist-as-a-young-man

silence of the parlour when he became aware that the priest
was addressing him in a different voice.
—I sent for you today, Stephen, because I wished to speak
to you on a very important subject.
—Yes, sir.
—Have you ever felt that you had a vocation?
Stephen parted his lips to answer yes and then withheld
the word suddenly. The priest waited for the answer and
added:
—I mean, have you ever felt within yourself, in your soul,
a desire to join the order? Think.
—I have sometimes thought of it, said Stephen.
The priest let the blindcord fall to one side and, uniting
his hands, leaned his chin gravely upon them, communing
with himself.
—In a college like this, he said at length, there is one boy
or perhaps two or three boys whom God calls to the reli-
gious life. Such a boy is marked off from his companions
by his piety, by the good example he shows to others. He is
looked up to by them; he is chosen perhaps as prefect by his
fellow sodalists. And you, Stephen, have been such a boy in
this college, prefect of Our Blessed Lady’s sodality. Perhaps
you are the boy in this college whom God designs to call to
Himself.
A strong note of pride reinforcing the gravity of the
priest’s voice made Stephen’s heart quicken in response.
To receive that call, Stephen, said the priest, is the great-
est honour that the Almighty God can bestow upon a man.
No king or emperor on this earth has the power of the priest

194 A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man