More on Father John Edwards...


Father John Edwards, SJ, died on Wednesday. My Parish Priest Father Kevin Hale, was a great friend of Father John's, and put the following quote from Fr. Ray's blog in our newsletter yesterday:

Please pray for the repose of the soul of Father John Edwards, SJ. He concelebrated community Mass at Farm Street on Wednesday and died in the evening. In his last circular letter to family and friends he wrote that his impending death brought him immense happiness. His last public Mass was offered for his friend and brother Fr. Hugh Thwaites SJ, the first time a traditional Mass was offered at Farm Street since the 1970's. I am told that he regarded the process of dying as "a very busy affair".
He was a good friend to us in this Parish and over the last nine years he has heard thousands of our Confessions! He had a great knack of teaching people to pray and to go to Confession. He was such a good Confessor, he could lift weights that had ground people down for years. He actually used to say that it would be worth being a priest if it was only to absolve one mortal sin, and he believed it and lived it. He was one of the last great Mission-giving Jesuits. I remember him saying to me "You know, you tell if a Mission has been really successful by whether or not the collection goes up, because the last and most difficult thing to convert is somebody's pocket."
His Requiem Mass will be on Thursday 20th, at 11am at Farm Street Church, Mayfair.

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