Though Sir Christopher was strictly observant in matters liturgical, he never, not even at Easter, communicated. Naturally, John imitated Sir Christopher in this matter. As a child, John had, like the rest of the congregation in Providence, unthinkingly glided up to the altar-rail every Sunday; not to have done so would have called attention to himself, and this he would never have risked. Though the adolescent John Forde dreaded eternal damnation for receiving the Holy Sacrament in a state of mortal sin – and he had no doubt that he was so condemned, not by any specific action of his own but by his very nature – he feared, even more, to have his shameful secret revealed, and so, for years, did he choke down that, to him, far from insipid little wafer, at least once a week.
By the time he
