Page 80 - March On! God will Provide by Brother Aubert

LIF'E AT HET WALLETJE 59

that the three meals would suffice for only one meal.
As a rule, the members left the table without having
satisfied their appetites.
"No murmurs or complaints were ever heard. AII
were happy and content."
In his "Notes," Brother Ignatius Melis recalls the
porerty of the early days, and one day in particular
when the pangs of hunger overwhelmed him: "One of
the Brothers gave way to temptation and stole some
bread. IIe was either found out or came himself to
confess. Since he was very penitent, he was readily
pardoned. This great ,poverty was not limited to food
alone but also to clothing, bed covers, and hard beds.
Most of the members were lodged in the garret under
the roof. Some at times had only one blanket."
"Het Walletje" was located in Sr. Giles' parish, and
on December 9, 1841, four months after the Brothers had
moved into their new home, the apostolic Father Fred-
erick Van Coillie, became pastor. In order to ,be of
service, Mr. Ryken placed at his disposal a large room.
Here on the first Sunday of May, 1842, assembled a
dozen boys from that year's Firsi Communion Class.
Father Van Coillie did not want to lose contact with
these younpters. Several of the Brothers were on hand.
to supervise the boys before the meeting and also to
escort them home in groups afterwards.
The program was simple: a period for games and then
a meeting with a religious exhortation. One or other of
the curates attended the meetings, and if at all possible
Father Van Coillie visited the boys every Sunday.
The idea was a success, and the number of btiys kept
increasing. The Brothers were delighted, and they made
this "sodality-work," as they called it, a field for their
special activity.
In addition ro this engagemenr with the sodalists, the