Double-Dating Chaplain

Husky, merry-eyed Major Stephen T. Mayer, chaplain of the U.S. Military Air Transport Service, was probably the only Roman Catholic priest in the world to say two Masses at midnight on Christmas Eve. They took place at the same hour on the same day 1,800 miles apart--on opposite sides of the international date line.

Such chronological high jinks is old stuff to Chaplain Mayer; in a MATS transport plane he hops the date line between two of his stations--Kwajalein Atoll and Johnston Island--often enough to squeeze five to eight Sundays into each month. On Christmas, he was almost as busy as Santa Claus. At Kwajalein, he said Masses at midnight, 9 a.m. and noon on Dec. 25, left at 2:20 p.m. to arrive at Johnston Island at 11:30 the night before, in time to start the cycle over again.

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