If your father asks for me, it must be serious!

Mrs. Kronsteiner from Austria once told this true story to her children: My father was a liberal; he did go to church where he sang as a tenor, but during the sermon he would just read the newspaper.

He did not want to hear anything about confession and communion. During the Easter season, I sometimes gathered some courage to speak to him, but he would react by saying harsh words verging on blasphemy. I made no more remarks and for thirty years I prayed to the Virgin Mary for his conversion.

In 1917 my father fell seriously ill. One evening I begged him to receive the sacrament of the dying. He replied: "If it's so bad, okay, but not now, tomorrow morning ... And I don’t want to see the parish priest but his vicar." Then I had an inspiration and told him: "Father, I think the vicar is still at the nearby tavern. Do you want me to call him there?" - "Sure, go ahead."

The vicar was there. "If your father asks for me, it must be serious!" he exclaimed and he hurried over at around 11 pm. He ministered to my father and, at 4 am, the dying man passed away. The next day would have been too late.

Maria Siegt

May 1982, by P.H. Schmidt SM