Word: simonizing
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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...royal blue swimming trunks, the Rev. Robert Simon climbed the 115-ft. diving tower. This time, as he looked down at the shimmering river and the upturned faces of the crowd, he was not frightened. He prayed to St. Teresa of Lisieux with a calm heart. This, he hoped, would be his most lucrative dive...
...appointed vicar of Saône (pop. 700), near the Swiss border. The church was tumbledown, the few parishioners indifferent. Father Simon decided that the trouble with the parish was that the villagers were unhappy. "The more happiness there is in the souls of men, the more love there is for God in their hearts," said Father Simon. He made friends with the Communist mayor and the Communist schoolteacher. He organized games and singing lessons for the children. He arranged with manufacturers in nearby Besançon for piecework to keep his housewives occupied and increase their income...
...though many more wanted to come to church, its dilapidated state kept many away. In the winter the water froze in the font and the wine in the chalice. Parents would not let their children go to catechism class because of the cold and damp. Father Simon realized that he would have to build a small chapel that could be heated in winter and have the church restored for summer services. But where would the money come from...
...Black Eyes. One day, the sight of an old trophy he had won for diving gave Father Simon an idea. He would organize a water-sports festival. As the main attraction he would perform a really spectacular high dive...
...Father Simon sneaked out of his parish without telling anyone what he was going to do. Billed as "L'homme planeur" (the gliding man), and scared stiff, he climbed the rickety wooden ladder up to the diving board and thought to himself, "What a funny idea you had to come up to this high perch!" Then, with a prayer to St. Teresa, who was to be patroness of the new chapel, he took off in a wild, unsteady swoop, kicking as he fell, to keep from landing on his back. He hit the water with a smash, and bobbed...