Via the Deacon’s Bench, comes this story in the Washington Post about a Maryland priest who died on Holy Thursday.

Md. Priest’s Death Adds Meaning to Holy Week



Dying on Holy Thursday — the day marking the creation of the priesthood — on the floor of his parish’s sanctuary, under the eyes of a statue of the patron saint of happy deaths, the Rev. G. William Finch left his Rockville congregation with powerful Easter symbolism.

Even as St. Raphael Catholic Church, one of the region’s few Roman Catholic megachurches, mourned its pastor, members said yesterday that the imagery was striking. Not only did Finch die just after he finished saying Mass, surrounded by parishioners praying the rosary and priests anointing him, next to the statue of Saint Joseph, but it happened just before Easter, a time when Christians focus intensely on mortality.

That left Finch’s community grief-stricken and inspired by the memory of a jolly 55-year-old who loved red wine, Italian food and dancing fervently.

“As tragic as it was, it was kind of perfect,” John Reutemann, a seminarian who grew up at St. Raphael’s, said yesterday afternoon in the sanctuary, which was quiet except for the organist practicing for last night’s Easter Vigil and for today’s services. “He celebrated the priesthood, had a great bottle of wine [the night before, for his birthday], celebrated Mass, Saint Joseph looking down at him. That’s the way to go!”

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Finch had just finished leading Mass, and most parishioners were gone when he felt chest pains, the onset of a heart attack. He asked a priest to anoint him, something done for the sick or those near death. He was taken to a hospital but could not be revived.

“It was kind of a beautiful death,” Dwyer said, choking back tears. “Sometimes in a priest’s life, you’re alone. Maybe he could have gone back to his room, but he was right there.”