"In the afternoon the curé asked us how our patient was, and he was not less edified than ourselves at the account we gave of his admirable dispositions. Preparations were made to give him the last Sacraments. At the sight of the Holy Viaticum, he was so penetrated with emotion that he begged pardon aloud of God for all the sins of his life in detail, and it was with the utmost difficulty he could be persuaded to lower his voice, his heart being too full to contain itself. He passed the following night and the next day in the same dispositions of faith, regret and piety, until Monday morning, December 1st, when he peacefully rendered his soul to God, and we have every confidence that it was received into the arms of His mercy.
"We relate what we saw and heard; it took place in our ward, which numbers sixty patients, the majority of whom witnessed a part of these details."
NOTE.--Before burial, the Sister took the medal off his corpse, and the patient in the next bed begged to have it, so persuaded was he that it had been the instrument of this touching conversion.
This consoling return to God was followed by several others not less striking or less sincere, and in that very institution, by the same means--the medal. Quite lately two have taken place, but the details are so very much like the above that for this reason alone we refrain from giving them.
All this has been confirmed by M. Ancelin, curé of the Invalides.
This account was sent us by the Superior General of St. Sulpice, who was anxious that we should have it. The venerable priest of this very estimable Community, who was favored with this grace, wrote the details himself, and they were attested by the Superior and the Director of the grand Seminary of Rheims, both of whom were witnesses.
"To the glory of Mary conceived without sin, I, Jean Baptiste Fermin, unworthy servant of the Blessed Virgin, and subject of M. Olier, have, together with my Superior and confrères, thought it my duty to transmit to our very honored Father, an account of the special favor accorded me.
"Many persons knew what I suffered for six whole years, how I was worn out with a nervous, worrying cough, whose attacks were so frequent and so prolonged that one can scarcely imagine how I ever survived them. My physician himself told me that, for the first three years, my life was in imminent danger, and if in the last three I was less exposed to death at every step, as it were, the giving way of my stomach, the weakness of my chest, were such that all my days were filled with bitterness, and new crosses were laid upon me. In this condition, what ecclesiastical fasts could I keep? Four or five years ago, the desire of complying, in some degree, with the precepts of the Church led me to fast the Ember week before Christmas, and the prejudice to my health was such that I was not permitted to fast again even for a day. Abstinence from meat became impossible, and for having attempted this slight mortification, how much I suffered in consequence, even in the very month of July, 1834! Whilst my health was so impaired, and I saw only a lingering end to my afflictions, it pleased my Superiors to give me a year's rest. I received with gratitude this additional evidence of their consideration for me, and endeavored to co-operate with them in re-establishing my health, of which they had been so thoughtful; but, in my condition, the recuperative powers of nature were of slight avail. Even amidst perfect quiet and rest for four whole months, I experienced but little alleviation of my sufferings, for though my chest became, at least, apparently stronger, my stomach grew weaker and more disordered, so that I was obliged to diet, which, added to the dieting I had already practiced, reduced me to such a state of exhaustion that I could not foresee the consequences.