Sermons of the Rev. Francis A. Baker, Priest of the Congregation of St. Paul: With a Memoir of His LifeBaker, Francis A. (Francis Aloysius)
Religion
Sermons of the Rev. Francis A. Baker, Priest of the Congregation of St. Paul: With a Memoir of His Life
Baker, Francis A. (Francis Aloysius)
Baker, Francis A. (Francis Aloysius), 1820-1865; Catholic Church -- Sermons; Sermons, American -- 19th century
came to the room of one of the fathers and made his own
confession, as he did habitually every week. The next morning he
said Mass for the last time, at half-past eight, for the children
of the Sunday-school. As I passed his door at half-past ten, to
go down to High Mass, he met me in the corridor, and remarked
that he felt too sick to go down to the sanctuary.
{197}
From this time he came no more again to the table or the
recreation of the community, but kept his room. Nothing was
thought of his indisposition, and it was by accident that his
physician, who dined that day with the community, saw him and
prescribed for him in the afternoon. The next day three of the
fathers left the house for a mission, and bade him good-by as
usual, without a thought of anxiety on either side. F. Baker
remained on Sunday and Monday in the same state, dressing himself
every morning, and sitting up at intervals, but usually lying on
the bed, and occupying himself about some matters of business. He
wrote several notes, and dictated others, some concerning the
articles he had ordered for the sanctuary, and others concerning
some sick persons or penitents for whom he had a special care.
During this time, no symptoms of typhus had appeared, but his
complaint appeared to be a slight attack of pneumonia. On Monday
evening he went down by himself to the bath-room and took a hot
bath, after which he kept his bed entirely. The superior of the
house, who was engaged in the mission on Staten Island, came
every day to visit him, and had already detected an incipient
tendency to delirium, which awakened in his mind an anxiety,
which, however, was not shared by anyone else. On Wednesday,
however, although he retained control over his faculties, his
brain began evidently to show a state of morbid excitability. He
remarked that the bells of the house had a strange sound, and
fancied that his breathing and pulsations were all set to a
regular rhythmical measure, and gave out musical sounds. When he
was alone and his eyes shut, he said that a brilliant array of
figures continually passed before him, and that he seemed to be
hurried away by a rapid motion like that of a railway carriage.
During that evening he was more decidedly wandering in his mind,
although he became quiet, and slept nearly all night. On Thursday
morning the poison of typhus had filled his brain completely, and
he lay in a dull, stupid state, unconscious of what was said to
him, and incapable of uttering a rational word.
{198}
This gave place after a time to a more violent form of delirium,
during which he talked incessantly in an incoherent manner, and
could with difficulty be kept in a quiet position or induced to
swallow any nourishment or medicine. On Friday morning the danger
of a fatal termination was evident, as the disease continued to
progress, and the symptoms of pneumonia were also aggravated. The
superior of the house was sent for, and came over in the
afternoon. Dr. Van Buren and Dr.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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