Religion: 13 Million to One

At the weekly drawing of the French National Lottery one day last month, the winning ticket was No. 301,207. To the holder of that stub went 13,000,000 tax-free francs ($37,143). The lucky man was a Roman Catholic priest, Sylvan Grandmougin, 52, Abbé of Attignéville.

No one could have been less surprised. Not a gambling man ordinarily, the abbe had bought his ticket with worthy motives and under good omens. Between routine parish rounds, he had driven up to Nancy in his rundown Dodge to take in a military festival. An intelligence major in World War II, Old Soldier Grandmougin felt patriotic, recalled that the proceeds of the lottery go to aid disabled French veterans. He also felt lucky; in a dream a few nights before, his car had started to go over a cliff, then righted itself in the nick of time. Having heard the "voice of faith and confidence," the abbe plunked down 2,000 francs ($5.70) and struck it rich.

That kind of good news travels fast. Soon a swarm of handout seekers buzzed around him, ten visitors a day from outlying districts, "a thousand letters a day from people all over France, Italy, Switzerland and Belgium." The abbé lit out for Paris, partly to escape, partly to pick up his fat check and two second-hand Citroens for 1,500,000 francs.

Back home again, the abbé has since spent nearly a third of the money, some 4,000,000 francs, repairing and replastering the three churches of his parishes, decking out the one at Attignéville with new stained-glass windows. Further plans: a youth center for his parishioners and a dressmaking workshop.

The abbé even has a project for parlaying his winnings. Having received countless letters asking him the secret of his luck, he intends, he says, to tell all in a brochure which he will gladly mail, postpaid, to anyone—"on receipt of 200 francs, French money."