A few hours after [our arrival in South Bend], we came to Notre Dame, where I write you these lines. Everything was frozen, yet it all appeared so beautiful. The lake particularly, with its mantle of snow, resplendently white, was to us a symbol of the stainless purity of Our Lady. . . . Our accommodations here appear as indeed, they are -- but little different from those at St. Peter's. We hurried about looking at the various sites. . . . Like little children, in spite of the cold, we ran from one end to the other perfectly enchanted by the beauty of our new home. . . . We found the place too small to accommodate us for the night. And as the weather was becoming colder, we hurried back to the village, where we stayed that night. -- Sorin to Moreau, December 5, 1842, first letter written by Sorin from Notre Dame. Circular Letters of Fr. Sorin, pp. 259 ff. The beautiful Lake, being only a mile from LaSalle's portage and in the midst of a rich hunting ground, was the central meeting place for the entire region. Here the Indians came to meet the traders, and here the missionaries came, bringing with them the light of God. -- Notre Dame Scholastic, 50:426 (14 April 1917).

© 2001 by Robert F. Ringel.
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