Life of St John Vianney.pdf - the Catholic Kingdom!

""HIS FUNEKAL. 335well :You have been our friend on earth, be our friendstill in Heaven !One of the lower rooms of the poor presbytery washastily adorned with white hangings, decorated withcrowns and flowers ;and thither, for two long days andnights, came pilgrims from every part of France, to weepand pray around him, who, for the first time, had noanswering tears to give, but whose prayers, now tenfoldmightier than before, were rising for them before thethrone of God.The mournful sound of the death-bell from his ownbeloved church was echoed back from every neighbouring steeple.Two Brothers of the Holy Family knelt by the bedof death, protected by a strong barrier from the pressureof the crowd, their arms weary with the toil of passingbackwards and forwards the crosses, rosaries, and medalswhich were brought to touch the sacred corpse, and togain a last blessing from those hands which for the firsttime moved not to bestow a benediction.Notwithstanding the intense heat,not a trace ofdecomposition appeared upon the body up to the nightbefore the funeral. The venerable countenance lay uncovered, sweet, calm, and benign as in life. He seemedas if in a blissful sleep.Those who watched that belovedface even thought they could trace a gradual brightening,as if he were drinking in deeper and deeper of the visionof peace.On Saturday, the funeral procession was formed.From early dawn thick masses of people had been collecting on every side of the village, amounting on themost moderate calculation to six thousand. More thanthree hundred priests, and representatives of almost all