esence, and asked him concerning his life, not expecting him to
recall much of the doctrine; but he gave so good an account of himself
as to leave the father astounded. Among other things the old man said:
"Although I remain in this life with my body, my desires are in heaven;
and so much so that at night I dream only of the things of the other
life. There I see all the dwellers of heaven covered with splendor,
and especially one, who excels all the others in brightness. O, father,
would that I might be there, freed from this decaying and burdensome
body!" The father showed him a print of the judgment, in which heaven
was depicted with splendor and beauty, and then asked him if it looked
like what he had seen. He answered, _Aba_, which is one of their words
of surprise, and, as it were, of disdain. "That and nothing more,
Father? Much more, much more!" Then the father wondered as he beheld
the riches which God our Lord had deposited in that clod of earth; and
he felt sure that, as the old man said, his only occupation thereafter
would be to repeat "Jesus" and "Mary"--which would never leave his
memory or his lips, until he should end this life and begin that
which is eternal. Two of Ours, passing a wretched hut, found a man,
who must have been more than eighty years old, stretched upon some
reeds, unconscious and dying. So thin was his body that it was hardly
more than skin adhering to bones; and so wasted that he seemed the
living picture of death. In their pity for him they prayed our Lord
to have compassion on that poor soul. In a short time he recovered
consciousness, and gladly asked for the waters of holy baptism, which
he greatly desired; this was plainly evident in the ardor with which
he declared his belief in our holy faith. After being baptized, his
senses were entranced, and he very sweetly invoked the most blessed
name of Jesus, and that of Mary; and then he died.

One of our fathers desired to visit another sick man (who had, when in
danger of death, been baptized by the schoolmaster of the village),
but, with his many confessions and other duties, he had forgotten
to do so. Afterward, while resting, he had heard loud wailing and
outcries, such as they are wont to utter for their dead; and they came
to tell him that the man had died. The father could not refrain from
going to see him (although he left all the people in the church),
deeply grieved that he had not seen the sick man before. But with
great con