A story for every day...

Rev. Father James Walter was pastor of St. Boniface Parish in Washington. In 1860 an incident happened to him which, because of the extraordinary circumstances with which it was accompanied, made a lot of noise in the newspapers. In the middle of the night our parish priest was suddenly awakened by the ringing of the doorbell; he got up hastily and went to the vestibule from which he could see the door of the rectory. He looked out the window and saw two little boys of 7 or 8 years old waiting for him. The priest asked them what they wanted, and the children answered that an old man was dying and asked for a priest; at the same time they pointed out the street and the house number. The priest dressed quickly and went out. In the meantime the children had disappeared: fortunately the street was known to him, so that he was able to find without difficulty the house indicated, of which, strangely enough, the carriage door was half-open. The valiant priest went up to the third floor without meeting anyone. There he finally saw a door open, entered and soon found himself in the room where the dying man was waiting for him. The old man was absolutely alone, and as soon as he saw someone near him, he expressed a strong desire to see a Catholic priest. The priest immediately made himself known and asked him if he had sent two young boys to the rectory. The patient answered that there were no boys in the house, but that he himself had had two children who had died. The priest administered the last rites and then left. At first he did not attach any importance to this, but after the death of the patient, Father Walter became more and more convinced that wonderful circumstances had accompanied this incident.

It is likely that the good Lord allowed the deceased children to come to the aid of their dying father. Through the communion of saints our deceased parents are our intercessors and helpers before God, especially when they are in heaven.