Page 209 - March On! God will Provide by Brother Aubert

188 Hrs LAST DAYS

running sores on Brother Francis' legs which had healed
prevented the discharge of the poisonous matter and
that the man's whole $ystem was poisoned.
On the following day, after the community Mass, the
chaplain visited the patient. Fully conscious, Brother
Francis co-operated in the anointing, anticipating each
move o[ the priest.
On the following morning, November twenty-sixth,
when the doctor looked in again, he whispered to the
infirmarian, "It will be this evening."
That afternoon, all who could gather at the bedside
assisted in the prayers for the dying. Toward five o'clock
Brother Francis' lips twitched as he formed the words of
the ejaculatory prayers that Brother Vincent whispered
in his ear. Suddenly his lips were still. Beads of sweat
stood out on his forehead. He was dead.
Silently the saddened community withrew.
The final obsequies were held on the morning of
November twenty-ninth. Most of the Founder's friends
had to be content with paying their respects at the wake.
Brother Francis was laid to rest in the Brothers' lot in
the Brugean cemetery he had visited so faithfully in life
to pray for his spirirual sons.