Growing still weaker, S. Thomas foresaw that his hour was drawing nigh. He sent for Rainald, and with deep contrition and many sighs made a general confession. Having done this, he begged the brethren to bring him the Body of our Lord--that Lord, who from his infancy, had been the mainstay of his life, and the one desire of his heart. The abbot, accompanied by his community, came solemnly bearing the Blessed Sacrament. Immediately the great Angelical perceived his Master's presence, with the help of the brethren, he rose from the pallet, and kneeling upon the floor, adored his King and Saviour; and amidst the sobs of the monks, he made his act of faith in the Real Presence of his Lord. When he had made an end, and the abbot was on the point of administering the Saving Host to him, he exclaimed, in the hearing of all the monks: "I receive Thee, the price of my soul's redemption, for love of Whom I have studied, watched, and laboured. Thee have I preached, Thee have I taught, against Thee never have I breathed a word, neither am I wedded to my own opinion. If I have held ought which is untrue regarding this blessed Sacrament, I subject it to the judgment of the Holy Roman Church, in whose obedience I now pass out of life." Then, as the abbot lifted up the spotless Host to administer to him, with a torrent of tears he uttered his favourite ejaculation: "Thou, O Christ, art the King of Glory: Thou art the everlasting Son of the Father!" and received upon his tongue the Bread of Heaven. As the end was approaching, the abbot with the brethren watched about his bed; and those senses, which had served their Master with such generous loyalty, were one by one anointed with sacred unction by loving Benedictine hands at his request, whilst he, quite conscious of what was going on, answered "Amen" to the prayers of the minister of God. The brethren, with untold tenderness and reverence, followed his countenance with their eyes, and watched life gradually ebbing away. He was taken from exile in the early morning of the 7th of March, 1274, in the prime of manhood, being scarcely forty-eight years of age. The religious of Fossa Nuova committed all that was mortal of S. Thomas to its resting place with the honour due to the remains of such a saint, and such a genius. The whole country side followed him mourning. The superior of the convent, a blind old man, was led to the side of the corpse to pay it a last tribute of respect. Seized with a sudden impulse of faith, he placed his sightless eyes to those of our saint, and the blind eyes of the dead restored the vision of the living monk. Rainald with tears, and choked with emotion, pronounced a funeral elegy over his master and friend, before he was laid at rest in the convent church. Many other miracles were wrought by his body.