Badin, Father Stephen Theodore, St. Martinville, Louisiana, to The Trustees of St. Martinville, St. Martinville, Louisiana, 1844 April 19

It is a real pleasure for Badin to compliment them and thank them for having opposed the public sacrilege of transporting the Holy of Holies from the sanctuary and placing it by profane hands in a new unblessed place. It would have been a scandal of which there were many examples in revolutionary France but which has never happened in the United States. Their pastor could only follow the rules of canon law by publishing last Sunday that they would leave the Blessed Sacrament in the sanctuary during his absence so they could offer their homage. One may recall here the punishments of which Holy Scripture gives an example in the punishment of Ozee, the Bethsamites, the Philistines and the king who dared to put a hand on the censer. Badin's age, experience, place in the American Church, and his services to Attakapas in general and this parish in particular make him hope that this letter, of which he is sending a letter to their Bishop, will not have been written in vain. L.S. French :: V-5-a A.L.S., L.S. French English 4pp. 4to.