Should he, after Aletrium, go down
again to the Latin Way, or should he push a few miles further to the
valley of the Liris, and to his own villa?
To-day, being the first day of the week, there was a gathering to
hear mass. Marcian, though he had that in his mind which little
accorded with religious worship, felt himself drawn to the little
church, and knelt among the toil-worn folk. Here, as always when he
heard the liturgy, his heart melted, his soul was overcome with awe.
From earliest childhood he had cherished a peculiar love and
reverence for the Eucharistic prayer, which was associated with his
noblest feelings, his purest aspirations. As he heard it now, here
amid the solitude of the hills, it brought him help such as he
needed.
'Vere dignum et justum est, aequum et salutare, nos tibi semper et
ubique gratias agere, Domine sancte, Pater omnipotens, aeterne
Deus.'
When at the end he rose, these words were still resonant within him.
He turned to go forth, and there behind, also just risen from her
knees, stood a veiled woman, at the sight of whom he thrilled with
astonishment.
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