Бетти Смит - Maggie-Now

Annie came over and they tried to decide whom the baby looked like. Tessie thought she looked like Maggie-Now and Denny thought she looked like Tessie, and Annie thought she looked like Gus.

Annie fretted because the baby was ten days old and hadn't been christened. Tessie had decided to call her Mary Lorraine. Mary, after Denny's mother, and Lorraine, a name that Tessie would have liked for herself. The christening was delayed because Tessie wanted a godmoth, r for her child named Mary. There was no one in the family named Mary and none of the women had a friend named Mary. It was Maggie-Now who suggested they ask Father Flyrm to find a Mary.

"Good day, Father," said Maggie-Now. "We came because Tessie wants to ask you something."

"Come in the house, do," he said, "and sit down."

Tessie had never seen Father Flynn outside of the church. She was surprised at how old he looked.

"Yes, Theresa?" said the priest.

"It's this way, Father. I want to christen my baby iNlary.

I need a godmother named Mary but I don't knolls anyone named Mary."

[397] "So we thought, Father," said Maggie-Now, "that you might know someone in the parish. ."

"Ah, there are many Marys," he said. He riffled through his memory. "Mary O'Brien. . No, they moved out on the Island. The Bacianos have one. No. That's a Mario;

a male. Yes! Ah!" He put his pipe aside, leaned back in his chair and smiled. "I have your baby's godmother, Theresa." He waited, enjoying the suspense. "Mrs.

O'Crawlcy."

"Who, Father?" asked Tessie.

"Margaret knows Mrs. O'Cravvley, don't you, Margaret?"

"Her name is Mary?" asked Maggie-Novv, surprised.

"I have told you so, Margaret."

"I mean," said Maggie-Now, "it just seems funny that I

never knew her first name was the same as my mother's."

"I'm glad it's somebody you know, Maggie-Now," said Tessie. "Do you think she'll be godmother, Father?"

"How would it be, now, if I asked her?" said the priest.

"Oh, Father! " breathe d the two w omen simultaneously in gratitude.

"Settled! Baptism this Sunday coming at four. You have a godfather, Theresa?"

"My brother Albie."

"Good! "

They prepared to league. " l hank you, Father, for giving us your time," began Maggie-Now.

"A moment," said the priest. Ile raised his voice. "Father?"

A very young priest with a thin, serious face, and wearing eyeglasses, came into the room Maggie-Now and Tessie stood up and remained standing. They had heard that a new priest had come to the parish to help Father Flynn.

"This is Father Francis Xavier Clunny."

How young he is, thought Tessie. No older than Dennis and all that education behind him!

"Father, this is Margaret.T\fu`'re. I should SaN' Rassett," he corrected himself. "I christened her."

Father Francis stared at the tall, buxom, rmotherly-looking' woman and then stared at Father Flynn as though astonished that the frail little priest had managed to baptize her.

"And Theresa Moore,' continued Father Flvnn. "She married or 77 fly 1 Margaret's brother all-out a year ago." The young priest murmured the names as though memorizillg them.

"Margaret," continued Father Flynn, "goes by the name of Maggie-Now."

"Maggie whoa " asked E ether Francis.

"The name was put on her because she was wild as a girl." Maggie-Now blushed, ashamed, yet pleased at the attention she was getting. "Oh, you never heard the like of it," continued Father Flynn. "Always her mother calling through the house and up and down the street:

" 'Maggie' now come and study your catechism!'

"'Maggie, now stop being such a tomboy!' "Maggie, now this, and Maggie, now that. And one day her mother said: 'Maggie, now you have grown up into a good girl.' "It was then her dying mother put her new-borll baby in this good girl's arms," said Father Flynn.

Remembering, the always easy tears came to Maggie-Now's eyes. All was quiet in the room for a while.

Father Francis was arranging all the information he'd received.

The mother died, then he thought, and this girl. .

=~07nan reared the baby and the Libby must have grown up to marry the younger ~voma7z. . both s~lrnn~77es the same before the older woman married….

The sun was almost gone and night was coming on.

Back in the kitchen another in the series of Father Flynn's aged housel~eepers was banging pots around as her predecessors had done.

A feller passed on the street, whistling "Ma, He's Making Eyes at Me." Unknowingly, Father Flynn's foot tapped out a bit of the rhythm. Father Francis frowned fiercely unti] the whistling faded away.

"Father Francis has lately been ordained," said Father Flynn. "He was sent here to help me. My parish is growing all out of bounds and I am growing old." He sighed and looked about the worn and mellow room as though he loved it very much. "Father Francis will be your priest after I'm gone."

"You're not thinking of dying yet, Father, are you>"

asked,Nlaggie-Now politely.

"No. But I'm thinking of a vacation. If my Bishop will grant it. I'd like to gTO to Quebec. The snow. . You see, I was quite a

[~ 99 1

skier many years ago when I was a boy."

Father Francis made a sound of surprise and admiration as though the older priest had admitted that he'd scaled the Matterhorn. Maggie-Now remembered the skis she'd seen in the church basement long ago.

"Of course, that's all behind me now. It was fifty or more years ago. And now, for a little while, I'd like to be where it's cold and there are hills and where the snow is hard and dry and powdery "I like the snow, you know.

And I'd like to watch the young people ski. Well. ." he rose, signifying that the visit w as over.

"Father Francis will be saying his first Mass here, Sunday. Eleven o'clock. You will be there, both of you, and see to it that all members of the family attend." It was an order. "At four, Father Francis will perform his first baptism, your child, Theresa."

He walked to the door with them and gave each his blessing and a Sacred Heart scapula.

Outside, there was a wooden box nailed to the door. A

card above it read: Coal Fund. f or Parish House.

Maggie-Now groped around in her pocketbook for a dime.

"But Maggie-Now," said Tessie, "that's for last winter's coal."

"I suppose they'll need coal for next winter though." She dropped a dime in the box.

"l\lany years ago," said Father Francis, "when I had my vocation, I never thought it would lead me all the way to Brooklyn." Father Flynn smiled. "I'm glad I was sent to this parish. There's work needed here, much work."

Had what does he Thirsk 7': e heed doing here all these years, thought Father Flynn.

"I've never thought of it as 'work,'" said Father Flynn.

"My duty? Yes. My obligation? Yes. And sometimes my pleasure."

"I meant work outside the Church," explained Father Francis. "These are the facts: This is a slum area; the standard of living is low. Cultural values. "

"Sociology 2, they called that course when I was a freshman," said Father Flynn with a smile.

"Rut seriously, Father. ."

1 4 "Seriously, my son, I will not have my people patronized or labeled 'Underprivileged' or referred to as the 'Little People.' They are decent and hard-working, most of them, and their sins are venial for the most part."