THE PROVIDENTIAL INTERPOSITION OF A DEPARTED SOUL http://www.seatofwisdom.com/Mothers.html
This is the story very simply told in the book titled..."Our Home in Heaven" by Max Caron, a story he took from the New York Herald many years ago. "I am a secular priest in London, and my parish is very large and very thickly inhabited. I have two curates, and the presbytery where we all live together adjoins the chapel. We know most of our parishioners personally, but the population is always changing, and it is impossible to know them all. "On Saturday, November 3, 1888, I had a heavier day than usual, and it was not till ten o'clock at night that I was able to resume the recital of my breviary, in order to finish it before I went to bed. "Suddenly I heard the bell ring violently. I went downstairs to answer the door myself, and found our servant in front of an old lady, who begged in imploring tones that a priest would go round to a certain house, giving the number and name of the street, to help a young man at the point of death. I asked if the visit could be deferred till the following day, but she entreated me, laying a marked stress on the words, not to delay for an instant. I then wrote down on a slate which hung in the hall of the presbytery the sick person's name and address, exactly as it has just been given to me, and I got ready everything necessary for the administration of the last Sacraments to take with me. "I was, I must own, tired and harassed after a long and fatiguing day, and I gently reproached my visitor for not coming sooner. I said this without any unkindness, but I saw that it seemed to give her great pain, and changing my tone, I said as warmly as possible: 'You may depend on me, I will be with you in less than twenty minutes.' "She answered in a low voice, but with deep emotion: 'May God reward you for your charity, and may He be with you at the hour of your death.' "Just as she was leaving, I asked her, in order to make quite sure, to tell me again the sick person's name and address, and casting my eye on the slate, I saw that I had written them down correctly. I then renewed my promise to rejoin her as soon as possible, and bidding her goodbye, I looked at her fixedly to see if I had already noticed her in church. Her face and voice were quite unknown to me, and I had heard for the first time the name which she told me was that of the sick person. In less than ten minutes I was ready and on my way. "It was a typical November night; the fog was thick and the streets deserted. I passed through several, and at last I found myself in a square leading out of which was the street I was bound for. With some difficulty I found the number of the house and rang the bell." An old woman opened the door. "'There is somebody very ill here?' I said to her. "'No, sir,' she answered, 'not here. "And she told me the same number as that which was written on the slate. "'Exactly,' I said. 'I was sent here by a lady who came to fetch me to-night, I am the Catholic priest of the chapel, and I have come to see a sick person in danger of death.' "'We have no sick person here, sir. They certainly made a mistake when they gave you this address.' "I was about to depart, feeling decidedly puzzled, when a young man, who had overheard the dialogue, came out of one of the rooms, and with much cordiality expressed his regret at my having been forced to come out so late, and in such bad weather. "'If you like to come in here, Father,' he added, 'you will find a good fire.' "I followed him, and repeated to him what I had already told the servant, adding how vexed I was that I had been given the wrong address. "Then, remembering that he had addressed me as Father (in England only Catholics say Father when speaking to a priest): "'Are there then no Catholics here?' I asked him. "'No, not that I know of,' he said; 'and yet,' he added after a moment, 'I ought to be a Catholic, for I was baptized one.' "We then began to talk, and our conversation was long and serious. The young man was evidently honest and sincere; but he had given up the practice of his religion for the last ten years, although he still kept his faith at the bottom of his heart. "God blessed my words, for before I left him I heard his confession and made an appointment for the next day. "On the following day, which was Sunday in the octave of All Saints, I expected to see my penitent appear; but to my great surprise he failed to do so, either at the presbytery or at the church. "The day afterwards, Monday, his old servant, bathed in tears, came to tell me of her young master's sudden death. He had been found lifeless in his bed on the Sunday, struck by apoplexy of the heart. From what the doctor said, death must have ensued soon after my departure, for on Sunday morning the body was already stiff and cold. "I have only one thing to add to this true and simple story. I betook myself to the house to pray beside the coffin which had been placed in one of the principal rooms. I was absorbed in prayer, when suddenly, raising my eyes, I saw hanging over the chimney-piece the portrait of the old lady who had come to fetch me for a young man at the point of death. My servant, who accompanied me also, on seeing the portrait, recognized the person to whom she had spoken. But what were my feelings when I was told that this was the protrait of the young man's mother, who had been dead for some years! <*}}}>< <http://www.halfthekingdom.org/on+allposters+today.html>on AllPosters today <*}}}><<*}}}>< <http://astore.amazon.com/halthekin-20>Catholic on Amazon <*}}}>< + <*}}}>< <http://www.holypostage.com/>Holy Postage <*}}}>< <*}}}><<http://www.halfthekingdom.org/>Half the <http://www.halfthekingdom.org/>Kingdom!<*}}}>< + "The fruit of abortion is nuclear war" - Bl. Mother Teresa + <*}}}>< <http://www.halfthekingdom.org/on+allposters+today.html>on AllPosters today <*}}}><<*}}}>< <http://astore.amazon.com/halthekin-20>Catholic on Amazon <*}}}>< + <*}}}>< <http://www.holypostage.com/>Holy Postage <*}}}>< <*}}}><<http://www.halfthekingdom.org/>Half the <http://www.halfthekingdom.org/>Kingdom!<*}}}>< + "The fruit of abortion is nuclear war" - Bl. Mother Teresa + --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Please note that I do not send or open attachments sent to this list. You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Catholics on Fire" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Catholics-on-Fire May the blessing of Jesus and our Blessed Mother be with you -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
