Page:Christianity in China, Tartary, and Thibet Volume I.djvu/272

 260 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. words or not, but he soon pronounced them in a loud voice. Sadoc and the other fathers, greatly astonished, wished to see the book, but the letters of gold vanished as soon as they took it into their hands. The prior then turning towards the monks said to them, " These divinely traced letters are a warning from heaven, my beloved brethren, and it is not in vain that they have been revealed to the eyes of this young and innocent novice. The author of life and death has thus given us notice to prepare ourselves for that life which shall know no end. Let no one of us therefore neglect to do so by the reception of the sweet and holy viaticum. The Tartars will take from us indeed our lives — but only the mortal life, so transitory and full of pain ; whilst a life eternal and full of felicity will be granted to us in exchange by Jesus Christ the king of martyrs." On the very next day the Tartars arrived before Sandomir, and took the town by assault. Sadoc assembled all the brethren in the church, and they began to sing the anthem " Salve Regina," but while they were employed thus in celebrating the praise of God for having judged them worthy of the immortal palm — the barbarians broke in and massacred them all. About the same time the glorious death of an illus- trious and zealous missionary, also afforded consolation to the Church in the midst of her sufferings. This was a Hungarian prince, who having reached an advanced age, and being weary of human dignities, had exchanged the insignia of sovereignty for the modest habit of St. Dominic, and had gone to evangelise the barbarous in- habitants of remote countries. The prior of the convent which sheltered this valiant apostle during this Tartar