Fayet - more
It's probably while looking at this photograph or the ruins of Fayet themselves, when Fr. Ducamp wrote:
"In Fayet there wasn't a stone left standing… only a part of the portal wall… and some pieces of pavement made it possible to guess that there had been constructions in this place previously." (Ducamp, Le P. Dehon et son œuvre, p. 492)
In his writings about World War I in and around Saint Quentin, Fr. Dehon notes:
"Fayet. - During this time what happened to Fayet? Fr. Matthias went through several sufferings. His house was constantly invaded. His provisions disappeared; they burned... his boards, his fences. He could only preserve his chapel. One day however it was going to become a corn crib. The mayor had offered the chapel to the occupants, but we quickly made some petitions to the military authority via Fr. Raymond and thus the chapel was saved…
Fr. Comte was there, serving as a parish minister. Because of the circumstances he was very successful.. Almost the whole parish returned to religious practice. The teacher sang at the mass, the assistant to the mayor assisted frequently. The mayor himself appeared on the occasions of the important feasts.
A neighbor of St. Clement however continued obstinately to work in his garden throughout the whole Sunday. now he should come to have a look at his neat garden.
Fr. Matthias lost his brother, the parish priest of Uvillers. He received, despite several difficulties, permission to go to the funeral...
I went to Fayet every two weeks. They gave me a pass. I went by foot, there were no more cars left in Saint Quentin… The last months, I didn't have a pass.
Our students from Fayet had passes to get to school in St. Quentin. These famous passports were lent from one to another; the soldiers didn't see anything and so communication remained rather frequent.
At the end, all Fayet was evacuated. The poor people could take nothing with them but a small bag, they were led to Vermand and Beaurevoir to take the train. Fr. Matthias and the Sisters were seen, when they passed by the railway station... It was only several months later that I knew they had evacuated them to Noyon. And as the Germans withdrew from Noyon, the good Fr. Matthias, surprised to find himself in a free country, went to the Carmel of Lisieux seeking pious consolations." (AD Inv-Nr. 0067600, not yet published)