St Stan Illustrated Story

124 T he news of Fr. Stanislaus’s death spread rapidly through New Jerusalem and the surrounding countryside. The clergy, reli- gious and the faithful made their way in great numbers to the Cenacle to pay their last respects to one who had been so good to them, who had helped them so much in so many ways, and who had sacrificed himself unstintingly for their welfare. They gathered around his body with tears in their eyes as they bade farewell to the Father whom they had always looked upon as a saint. With deep sorrow they lamented the loss of “a man so holy, the father of the poor and of orphans, the comforter of grief-stricken hearts, the one to whom they had always turned for advice.” They commended themselves, their families, and all their affairs to his prayers before . the throne of God. Those who had been guided by his advice in the confessional found it difficult to imagine a future without him. One thought alone brought some solace to their sad hearts – “That the Saint had chosen for himself the best part, and that it would not be taken away from him.”