The Irish standard., 1904-07-30
FATHER KEALY.
Provincial Of PasSioniSt Order Dies
fh. Alfar

Provincial Of PassioniSt Order Dies
at the Altar.
BE ever ready to give an account
of Your stewardship. not knowing at
what hour you will be called to the
eternal Judgment seat"
With that solemn admonition. the
Very Rev. Stephen Kealy. Provincial
of the Passionists' Order in the Unit
Ell States, concluded his sermon last
Sunday morning in the West Hoboken
IasSionists' Monastery church. Fif-
teen minutes later he lay cold in death.
Stricken at the altar with heart fail
llre. Father kealy barely survived un-
Ill he had been carried to his cell in
the monastery. There. while the
priests. brothers and students knelt
and rlEtntcd the prayers for the dying,
the beloved priest. who WAS the cXccu-
tive head of his order in America,
passed AWAY.
AS life fed Father Barry, another
member of the order, who had taken
the stricken priests place at the altar
continued the celebration of the mass,
while the congregation wondered ut
the substitution of the celebrant. ig-
norant of the tragedy that had befallen
the church.
Father Kealy seemed in the best of
health when he entered the sanctuary
to celebrate the 6 o'clock mass,
Through the curly portions of the mass
his voice rang Sweetly solemn through
the church. and when he mounted the
pulpit there was particular eloquence
and force in his sermon. which was
preached on the parable of the unjust
steward in the Gospel read for the
day.
The discourse was brief and ended
with the strangely significant warning
which few minutes later was to have
so dramatic an illustration
AS he walked to the altar the priests
step suddenly faltered and a groan es-
capped his lips. He whispered family
to an altar boy, who hurriedly sum
moned Father Bertrand Barry.
Il am ill.," whispered the dying priest
on the arrival of Father Barry. "Do
you administer the communion"
Father Barry assumed the office, and
dragging his feet heavily Father Kealy
went to the s;,cristy. On the threshold
lie collapsed. His vestments were hur-
rirdly removed to give him air.
Take me away" he murmured. 81
The priest was hurriedly carried to
his cell, but an examination showed
that he was past all aid. Then the SOL
emn procession of priests and students
filed into the narrow cell and began
the chant for the dying. Father Kealy,
having received the last sacruments
of the church, passed quietly away.
When the death of Father Kealy
WAS made known to the congregation
at the later masses the deepest grief
was manifested by the members of his
flock. Practically all of his priesthood
had been spent in the community in
which he died.
The funeral services were held on
Wednesday. in the monastery, with
tishcp O'Connor of Newark presiding.
At 3:3O II. III. the solemn offices for the
dead was chanted. and at 10 o'clock
solemn requiem mass was celebrated.
lnterment was made in the vault
under the main altar of the church,
and Immediately beneath the spot
where Father Kealy was stricken.
Father Kealy was born in Ireland in
1910. He came to America while a
child. and in 1870 entered the Passion.
ist Monastery Mt Pittsburg. In 1871
he was ordained Il priest by the late
Archbishop Corrigan. then bishop OF
Newark. the ordination services being
conducted in the monastery at Wes
lloboken where lie died Since thel
Father Kcaly had filed every Office
of honor in the PasSiOnist Order il
America. He had been the eXecutiv,
head of the order for five years.
1t is Il striking coincidence. tina
Thomas Kenly. cousin of Fathe
Kealy, died of heart disease in April
1903. ut the monastery. He was no
an ordained priest, but had for years
been attached to the monastery in
lay capacity.