The Catholic Parish of
Saint John Henry Newman

 Covering most of East Leeds

The Rules.

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Three young men enlisted in the army at the onset of war in 1939. Their regiment fought in France, until the Germans pushed the British army back to the coast and they finished up being evacuated from Dunkirk on 24th May 1940.

Sergeant John Galbraith and his two friends returned to France on June 6th 1944 as part of the D Day landings in Normandy. Their regiment fought its way up through France encountering fierce opposition and many casualties from a determined enemy.

In September 1944, they were in a rest area near a small French Village, when Sgt Galbraith was shot and killed by an enemy sniper. His two friends were devastated by their loss, but determined that their friend would have a proper Christian burial. Entering the village they made their way to a small church in the centre and asked the priest if their friend could be buried in the churchyard. When the priest asked if their friend was a Catholic and they replied “no” he said he couldn’t bury him there as it was against the rules to bury a non-Catholic in the churchyard. Seeing how upset this made his friends, he said that there was a small plot of land just outside the churchyard and he would bury their friend the following day in this plot.

Returning the next day, the priest held a small service at the graveside, and then the two soldiers noticed that the grave was inside the churchyard. Upon asking the priest why this was, he said that he had simply moved the fence surrounding the cemetery and now everyone was happy.

Have you noticed that we seem to live our lives surrounded by rules? but it sometimes feels good to break one or two, in a just cause.



Published Sat 11th Feb 2017 00:21:19
Last Modified on Sat 11th Feb 2017 00:21:19

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