On the occasion of the annual pilgrimage from Paris to Chartres 2018, the book, "Felix the Pilgrimage Cat in Paris, Chartres and Rome" can be downloaded for free from Amazon
Felix has lived in the seminary for quite a while. He contributes as much as possible to the point where there is little difference between himself and a seminarian. Just like everyone in the Wigratzbad Seminary, Felix does chores. His favorite is vacuuming by riding on top of the self-guided vacuum cleaner.
After Fr. Victor left to teach at Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary in Denton, Nebraska, Peter became the cat’s closest friend.
Before entering the seminary, Peter was a caretaker at a large zoo. He specialized in taking care of the lions. Felix noticed right away that Peter was treating him very well.
On Easter, Felix was always allowed to eat some of the special chocolate Easter bunny. No one could resist Felix’s begging. But when Peter came, he removed chocolate from Felix’s diet. Actually, this treat is not good for cats. Instead, Felix becomes multivitamin drops for cats. In the past, during Lent, Felix would have to abstain from chocolate. Now Felix receives the delicious vitamins frequently, including throughout Lent. This plays an important role in Felix’s love for Peter.
However, all day today, no one cares for Felix. Everyone is running here and there looking for socks, rolling sleeping bags together and inventing plans for the world. Felix is seemingly forgotten in all the turbulence. For a long time, he sits near the kitchen in the hope that someone will see him, remember him, and take care of him.
Today the cat waits in vain. It is already evening and no one has even noticed him. Just drinking water does not interest Felix.
He observes the seminarians leaving the kitchen with backpacks full of food. Felix is definitely hungry and the kitchen contains many edible things. Should he wait until he starves to death?
The seminarians come intermittently, and if Felix is quick he could be in and out before he was discovered. Felix hesitates a little while. Ultimately, he decides that definitely all of the seminarians have gotten their provisions out of the kitchen. Now it is his time to give it a try. He looks around holding his nose in the air to see if he can detect any odor of humans.
Then he sprints into the kitchen. The closer Felix gets to the table the better everything smells. With one big leap, he is on the table. There are neatly packed sandwiches-some with sausage, some with cheese.
Should Felix swipe a sausage sandwich? What if the sandwiches are counted and someone would notice his bad deed?
Oh no, suddenly Felix detects humans voices including Peter’s. In which direction should Felix flee? The only exit is through the doors.
Another possible exodus is through small windows, which are unfortunately closed. He seems to be caught between a rock and a hard place. Peter would not be pleased if he finds Felix here stealing sandwiches. There is one possibility right in front of Felix.
There remain some open backpacks on the table. “I’ll simply jump into one and hope Peter takes a different backpack.” Felix doesn’t think about it twice! The voices of the friends are coming closer, so Felix hides himself quickly in the next best backpack. He just barely accomplishes it and Peter is already in the room.
“Oh,” Peter said to the other seminarian. “Anyone can do the Pentecost pilgrimage from Notre-Dame de Paris to Notre-Dame de Chartres (France), covering within three days a distance of approximately 65 miles. In this way, we express the condition of Christian life which is to be a long pilgrimage and a long walk to paradise.
"I’m sure we will not break a leg walking to the Marian shrine. If one really cannot make it, there are driving services, but they are, I believe, only for old grandmas and not for us.
“If you really doubt that you can achieve that goal, then you can always go with the children’s pilgrimage group. Their track is not as long. They even have their own camps where they can spend the night. The children’s course is geared more towards youngsters, of course.
“The fraternity of St. Peter has been organizing the Chartres pilgrimage for almost 25 years. I already participated when I was an animal caretaker, although it was always difficult to get off work. When the weather was good many visitors came to the zoo to see my impressive lions.”
“Well, maybe you really should go with the children’s group,” taunted the voice of another seminarian who joined the group. “Children can be as wild as lions - what’s the difference when their parents are far away?”
Peter laughs and tosses a sandwich in the direction of the rucksack in which Felix is hiding. The cat is terrified, holds his breath and in the same moment Peter picks up the backpack, puts it on his shoulder and takes it cheerfully away with Felix inside.
While skipping up the stairs to the bus waiting outside, Peter murmurs, “Oh we’re almost too late; or else we got here just in time.”
Conveniently, at the very back of the bus, two seats are still left, one for the backpack and one which Peter sits down into with relief.
“What a day this has been,” thinks the young seminarian. “This morning I took the exam in Bible Exegesis.” He understands the purpose well. Not everyone can interpret the Bible. Certain rules have to be explained and applied individually so that they have a personal meaning.
Peter aces the exam and is now still a bit tired. Yet he has a strenuous excellent pilgrimage ahead. Half dreaming Peter listens to the voice of the seminary director greeting the pilgrims.
At the same time, the hidden back seat passenger, Felix, is getting very tired in his place.
Where will the bus take him? Felix has had the smell of the sandwich in his nose.
How delicious. Nevertheless, it is impossible to try them because the packaging would be disturbed and the whole backpack would shake. Nobody would understand why the backpack is jiggling unless the bus were bouncing - but that’s not the case.
The cat has no other choice but to resist the temptation and rather bite his tongue instead of giving in to his gut feeling.
What would happen if he is discovered? In his feline mind, there is no doubt that they would call the authorities and the bus would drive back and dump him at the front door of Wigratzbad.
It would not make sense for a cat to be home-alone when the seminarians are gone. If that happens he would be back to the starting point. Who would feed him? He was almost starving when the seminarians were there and now he would be all by himself.
Rodents are not on his menu and he doesn’t want to make any exceptions. He cannot even smell a rat without fainting. Finally, Felix bends over backward and falls asleep. He is so exhausted. The jiggling of the bus helps him.
After a short time of restless sleep voices suddenly wake him up. “What Daniel, you forgot to feed the cat as you promised?”
“Oh, I’m so sorry. I totally forgot about it,” replies Daniel. “I had such a hectic day. It was just one meal and it totally slipped my mind. I am not accustomed to taking care of animals. I never did it. This was the responsibility of my younger brothers.”
“Well, we will make the best of the situation and will not cry over spilled milk.” Peter continues, “My cell phone is in the backpack and I will call the priests who remain at the seminary so that Felix won’t be hungry in the days to come.”
Daniel doesn’t have time to reply because Peter reaches immediately into his rucksack and quickly withdraws his hand suppressing a shriek. Daniel sees Peter blanch in the dark bus and is afraid that he is going to faint.
“Holy cow! How should I react?” thinks Felix, sitting on pins and needles. He knows that Peter is worried about him and doesn’t want to push him over the edge.
Felix immediately sticks his head out of his uncomfortable hiding place.
“Felix!?” Daniel and Peter holler together. “Meow!” comes Felix’s insecure little voice.
The seminarians are relieved and they begin to laugh when they see Felix.
The cat jumps out of the backpack and lands on Peters lap. He puts on his most innocent face and purrs, “Meow, meow!”
David laughs, “The ball is in your court, my friend. Who could be angry at that?”
Peter pets the cat’s head and asks him tenderly whether he is starving and if the trip has not been too uncomfortable so far.
Daniel feels extremely guilty. Immediately he decides to give Felix the cheese from his sandwich. Peter notices that he is also very hungry and after a short blessing, Felix receives the Camembert cheese portion of the sandwiches from both seminarians.
Carefully, Felix takes the slices. He bites off more than he can chew. Actually, he doesn’t chew at all, rather inhales the cheese because he is so famished.
After his meal, Felix thankfully licks Daniel’s thumb and index finger off. Daniel begins to laugh, “You have such a rough tongue.”
“Of course,” says Peter. “Cats have sharp spikes on their tongues, also known as taste buds. In theory, they can eat scorpions without being harmed. You see, cats are very useful animals.”
Peter realizes that he has no choice other than to bring Felix along with him in his backpack. For the time being Felix is allowed on Peter’s lap.
He falls asleep with the soothing sensation of Peter’s hand petting him. Tomorrow they would arrive in Paris. A city Felix has never seen in his life.
Continue reading:
The first Valume, "Felix the Shrine Cat" is as ebook and hardcopy with available.
The German edition, "Felix der Wallfahrtskater " was published 2008 at Fe-Medienverlag
Felix der Wallfahrtskater in Paris, Chartres and Rome can be ordered at Amazon.
Free Downlad from: May 18-May 19, 2018
The German edition, "Felix der Wallfahrtskater " was published 2008 at Fe-Medienverlag
Felix der Wallfahrtskater in Paris, Chartres and Rome can be ordered at Amazon.
Free Downlad from: May 18-May 19, 2018
No comments:
Post a Comment