Emery, Father Jacques André

1811, April 28

Date of Birth: 1732, August 26

Paris
April 30, 1811

Very Reverend Superior:

 Toward you and your devoted confreres who with you conduct your seminary, I herewith discharge an extremely painful duty, the very thought of which fills me with sorrow.  God, however, requires of us a complete and perfect submission.  Let us then reconcile ourselves to Heaven’s decrees and bless the hand of God that deals us so severe a blow.

Last Sunday, April 28th, at about two in the afternoon – at the age of almost 79 – death came to Father Jacques Andre Emery, a priest holy and venerable, a superior watchful and zealous, a mind brilliant and accomplished, a heart large and raised up and strong in the midst of difficulties, a soul filled with priestliness and endowed with the eminent virtues which enhance the holiest of priests.  His illness had lasted only five days; he succumbed to a complex of ills which might well have cut down even a younger and stronger man.

I cannot put into words the dismay which his death has occasioned throughout this city.  His illness was a matter of concern to all who knew him - and who did not!  The seminary was constantly crowded with people of all kinds who came seeking news about him.