C
Caesar
Guest
In the 1870s a Jesuit priest, Fr. Arnold Damien, established a society of Altar Boys at the Holy Family Church in Chicago. It was here that hundreds of altar boys from all over the Diocese of Chicago would come for training to serve the Holy Mass. After many years of faithful service, Fr. Damien went into semi-retirement and only said Mass on special occasions and gave guidance to younger priests.
One particularly cold and rainy night the bell rang at Fr. Damien’s rectory. Upon opening the door the porter found two young boys standing on the steps. They quickly explained that they had been sent to fetch a priest to attend to their dying grandmother. Glancing out into the cold and rain the porter shook his head and said that a priest would have to be sent in the morning.
Unbeknownst to the porter, Fr. Damien had heard the bell and was standing nearby to the door. He waved aside the porter and brought the two boys into the rectory, “Come inside and warm yourselves while I go prepare in the chapel”.
The boys lead Fr. Damien through the darkened streets and up to an old, decaying house. Pointing to the top, the boys told him that he would find their grandmother in the attic. Fr. Damien mounted the steps to the door, but the boys did not follow. Climbing up to the attic he found an old woman lying in bed in a shabby apartment, close to death. Comforting the woman, the old priest heard her confession and gave her the Last Rites and Holy Communion.
The old woman looked up at the priest and asked how he came to know she was there. “Only a few of my neighbors knew I was ill, but none of them are Catholic”.
Confused, Fr. Damien replied, “Your two grandsons came to the rectory for me. They brought me to your house and showed me where you could be found”.
A peaceful smile crossed the old woman’s face.
“Father”, she said, “My two grandsons were both altar boys at the Holy Family Church, but they died in an accident many years ago…”
If you are ever in Chicago, pay a visit to the Holy Family Church at 1019 South May Street in the Near West Side. In the sanctuary, high above the entrance you will find the statues of two acolytes holding candles and facing each other. They were placed there by Fr. Arnold Damien in remembrance of a heavenly visit one cold, rainy night.
One particularly cold and rainy night the bell rang at Fr. Damien’s rectory. Upon opening the door the porter found two young boys standing on the steps. They quickly explained that they had been sent to fetch a priest to attend to their dying grandmother. Glancing out into the cold and rain the porter shook his head and said that a priest would have to be sent in the morning.
Unbeknownst to the porter, Fr. Damien had heard the bell and was standing nearby to the door. He waved aside the porter and brought the two boys into the rectory, “Come inside and warm yourselves while I go prepare in the chapel”.
The boys lead Fr. Damien through the darkened streets and up to an old, decaying house. Pointing to the top, the boys told him that he would find their grandmother in the attic. Fr. Damien mounted the steps to the door, but the boys did not follow. Climbing up to the attic he found an old woman lying in bed in a shabby apartment, close to death. Comforting the woman, the old priest heard her confession and gave her the Last Rites and Holy Communion.
The old woman looked up at the priest and asked how he came to know she was there. “Only a few of my neighbors knew I was ill, but none of them are Catholic”.
Confused, Fr. Damien replied, “Your two grandsons came to the rectory for me. They brought me to your house and showed me where you could be found”.
A peaceful smile crossed the old woman’s face.
“Father”, she said, “My two grandsons were both altar boys at the Holy Family Church, but they died in an accident many years ago…”
If you are ever in Chicago, pay a visit to the Holy Family Church at 1019 South May Street in the Near West Side. In the sanctuary, high above the entrance you will find the statues of two acolytes holding candles and facing each other. They were placed there by Fr. Arnold Damien in remembrance of a heavenly visit one cold, rainy night.
