Oak in St. Joseph’s Field

The Oak in St. Joseph’s Field is both a surviving feature of the landscape and the dark centerpiece of the open-air Mass. Monsignor Delgard insists that it not be cut down; the altar platform is built around it, and during the service Alice Pagett approaches the tree, looks into its branches, and begins to rise. The narrative makes the oak a potent focus of the ceremony without establishing that it causes Alice’s levitation.

Preservation and Construction

When a building contractor asks Monsignor Delgard whether the tree should stay or be cut down, Delgard orders that nothing in the field be destroyed and directs the contractor to build the platform around the oak. Its preservation is therefore deliberate: the construction plan accommodates the existing tree rather than clearing it from the site.

That decision shapes the field’s arrangement for the Sunday service, which is held outdoors instead of inside St. Joseph’s Church. By the time the crowd gathers, the platform and altar form a scaffolded centerpiece, with benches arranged nearby. The oak is not simply left at the edge of the event; it remains part of the setting around which the sacred space is constructed.

The Tree at the Open-Air Mass

Two hours before Mass, the field is already filling. People press through the entrance gate, and the benches nearest the centerpiece become increasingly occupied. Some attendees hope to see the “Miracle Girl”; others want to be close enough for her holiness to reach them. The oak’s position within this crowded ceremonial space gives it prominence, though the crowd’s stated attention is directed chiefly toward Alice and the altar.

As Alice climbs the altar steps and passes Monsignor Delgard, he sways and reaches for the lectern, feeling drained of vitality. Behind the altar, the oak is described as a black, twisted giant, seeming to beckon Alice. She stands before it with her eyes half-closed, tilts her face toward the upper branches, smiles, and raises her hands away from her sides. The air shimmers; after the clouds darken, sunlight breaks through and illuminates the field, altar, and tree. Alice then turns toward the audience, trembling, before gasping and beginning to rise into the air.

Narrative Significance

The oak’s place in the scene rests on a contrast: it is a physical tree retained through a practical construction decision, yet the narration presents it in imagery that makes it seem almost animate. Its apparent beckoning gives Alice’s approach a sense of encounter, while the light, the crowd’s attention, and her ascent transform the altar setting into the focal point of a public spectacle. The scene does not confirm that the oak acts upon Alice; instead, it binds the tree to the ceremony through placement and imagery, leaving its role suspended between landscape and supernatural suggestion.