The Sermons of Father Adam de la Bassée, Novembre 1630

[Adam de la Bassée]

To the Faithful come missive now from the desk of Father Bassee

Greetings

This past month has been most worrisome for those of the cloth, and those protected by the Lord's grace.

For it has come to pass that one who has acted in such a way that Satan himself must be orchestrating his actions.  As a faithful man of God I cannot allow this situation to go unnoticed, and so my sermon in the first week will be in denunciation of those members of the Church who have allowed their base feeling to drive their actions.  We must all protect ourselves from this evil, known as Father Lachapelle; I implore all God fearing people to attend to know the true depths of his depravity.

And yet in the shadow of this depravity there is also light of righteousness.  For in the THIRD week I will be extolling those who work in God's grace to create such works of art that would bring the greatest to awe.  We are lucky to have on such here in Paris, for Pierre Flump is not only a Godly man but his God given gifts are an expression of his pure spirit.

While I have your attention; forgive me but if you have yet to engage a Personal Confessor your immortal soul is in dire peril.  Without the cleansing of confession, those sins we accumulate daily will grow until it will be impossible to pass the Gates to Heaven and they will drag you down to Hell!

I fear for my flock, and urge any Godly person to seek me out so we may pray for your forgiveness.



Et fides in Domino

Father Bassee

[gaston]

Father Bassée,

It is a great comfort to know that you were as shocked and disappointed as I was to learn of Curate Lachapelle's inaccurate and inexplicable attack upon the good characters of Abbé Robin and myself.  

My friend Canon Porthos De la Croix is of the view that such despicable behaviour on the part of a Man of God cannot go unopposed in case inaction is mistakenly seen as encouragement for further abominations.  He is petitioning The Right Reverend Abbé Curia Dominic de Torquemada, Inquisitor of France, to summon Curate Lachapelle before an Ecclesiastical Tribune to answer for his vindictive slanders and I hope that this results in damages of a sufficient level to publicly clear our names being awarded .  

Could I possibly prevail upon you to write to the Inquisitor to add your personal support to the Canon's petition?

Your Respectfully in Christ,

Helen Bacque

[It would be sufficient just to put a line to this effect in your next premonthly orders ]

[Adam de la Bassée]

M'lady Bacque

I find myself torn on this matter, as I firmly believe that the Curate has acted beyond that which the Church should find reasonable.

Yet we must be forgiving, as our Lord spoke on many occasions, but does that forgiveness extend to one who has abused the trust of his position to engage in base slander and pornographic writing masked as enlightened literature.

And while I put no stock in the rumourmill of the backstreets of Paris, I have been disturbed by some of the more ... animalistic desires being assigned to the Curate. It is most .... problematic.

I will pray to the Lord for guidance, and will follow His advice.

Et fides in Domina

[gaston]

Father Bassée,

I'm glad to learn that we agree that Curate Lachapelle's actions should be deemed beyond reasonable by Holy Mother Church. This is exactly the reason why Canon de la Croix wishes to see them officially judged as such by an Ecclesiastical Tribunal.

I bear no malice personally against Curate Lachapelle whatsoever. Had he agreed to publicly apologise to Abbé Robin and myself regarding his outrageous and slanderous accusations, and withdraw this deeply offensive material from circulation, I would have been more than happy to let the matter drop and put this unfortunate situation firmly behind us.

As you must know, however, Curate Lachapelle has pointedly refused to consider this, leaving me no alternative but to do my utmost to redeem my falsely slurred reputation by whatever means I may. As you must realise, where a poor widow with no connections is concerned, her blameless reputation is all she has. To have this falsely snatched away is to be set upon a squalid road to sin and degredation and, despite the heinous actions of Curate Lachapelle, this is not a road on which I wish to travel. I am asking your aid to ensure that this doesn't happen. Thanks to the Curate's refusal to furnish an apology, the only way in which I can now retrieve my good name is to be publicly exonerated by means of Curate Lapachelle being found guilty of slander. But first he must be summoned before the Ecclesiastical Tribunal, which is what I am requesting your aid in bringing about...

Which philosopher was it who said "All it takes for Evil to triumph is for a few good men to do nothing"? Whoever it was, he was talking about good men like yourself, Father Bassée. Are not those who fail to take action against despicable actions such as those recently perpetrated by the Curate tacitly condoning them in effect?

I pray that God will guide you the truth of this matter and urge you to my support.

Yours Respectfully in Christ,

Helen Bacque

P.S. I agree with Canon de la Croix that the distasteful rumours currently in circulation regarding Curate Lachapelle probably emanated from over-zealous supporters of Abbé Robin.  Like him, I question their veracity.  In any event they have no bearing on the slanders perpetrated by the Curate and my efforts to clear my name in the wake of them.

[Adam de la Bassée]

Due to my friend the Abbe Robin's scheduling chaos I am moving my second sermon of the month to week 3.