Obituary Notice
This obituary notice has been digitally processed from a scanned archival document. Some words may be imperfectly rendered.
‘Fr. Placid Wareing (1846-1920) VATHER PLACTD 0, Ps (W/aatva) The religious of the Provinces, will already have learnt with sorrow, of thé death of Father Placid, of the Most Holy Redeemer, 4 member of this community of St. Saviotux, Broadway, During his long Life in the Congregation, he had the. genuine Respect of his brethren. It has followed him to thé grave, and te hops. will bear fruit in Long YemembYarice of him and fervent prayers for the reposé of his BOUL « 7 _ ; He afiteved the Congregation i the year 1486, being then twenty yeats of age) did ih’ the following year thade his sacred ”: profesaieni Atready, Hé hkd teceivkd a supdvid# education, finhh dn the Benadictine Collegd/ Kt Douat, dnd aftettatdh in the house bf. Father Rooke 6.9.3, at Bldbkmore Bub, Worgegtesshire. Possedsihe tore than ordinary abilities, He padted adgsiy ghd sucdébafully —— through his course of studies for the pridgthobd) and, in a few ' years after his profession was ordained, Sy6ih that thie; untat : — Yandered. unable by his last iliness, he worked zealoudly in tha vine yard of Jésus Christ. During his priestly life of nearly fifty Years, he gave himself generously to God and to his neighbour, As a director of conselences, he was much sought after, and . afways to ba found, Very séldom, ifideed, had anyone to ring the confessional bell a second tine bor his présence. His obedience to: it was moat prompt, though in later years, this often méant great physical effort and no littla sufferings, He took his share of the _ Parochial wotk of the Province, Glasgow and Belfast principally weré the scends of his labours, but, wherever statiotied, he always hélped th the‘ work of the parishes, attached to our ohurches, He was frequantiy upon missions, and, although not 4 pYesoher, of the style usually associated with such apostolic efforts, he was alway eagerly listened to, whilst hia Laboure in the confédsional on such o0casions iitet Always have beon e Gonsiderable agadt, in-lessenitig = - the burdens of his companions, Butit was chiefly in giving retreaty to prigsts, déclésiagtical students, and religious, that he found congenial stope for his apecial gifts, For many years he was ene gaged in teaching ouw own students, For this work he was well aqhipped, and undoubtedly ox young men owe much to his culture and erudition, , He Loved his Loxd and Saviour for. Whom he. laboured, with a* ereat personal love, Hie knowledge of the. Sacred Passion was profound, Both by tongue and pen, He. used: this means to inspire othavs with the Love for Chriat, which filed: his own heart, Witness hie "Highway of the Crosa a6 devotional yet so historically accurate well worthy of being reacued from the fugitive pages of our Magazine, and given, in book form te tha public, . _ For nearly nine years he hald tha office of Superior or Rector. ’ These Were passed at Wareham, Casmarthen,, and Harborne, In all | “he proved himself a wiee and careful adminiatrator., Yet or there~ fore hé never deprived the religious. of what the rule allowed, ox of what was granted to them by legitimate.custom. He was anxious also for the apivituel welfere of his. subjects, These aré not always perfect, Some offend not only once, but even twice, The rule supposes they may aven fall occasionally, and actually makes provision for such a contingency, This will not surprise those, who remember
the accident of Adam's fall, and the necessary resultant of original. sin. As Rector, Father Placid was equal to his responsibilities. — . If he had to reprimand, it wad doné in the spirit of St. Paul of the Cross. He never Wanflicbed ten Wouhda, in the effort to heal one", His was a charity that did not tajoice in iniquity, We do not know if Our Holy Founder's “Letters t6 Rectota' was available in his tithe;. But if he had ‘not read it, he acted upon its piecepts. More he could not have dong; if he had obefed the injunction of perlising it once a week, erjoinbd tpon Rectors of Bt. Paul, fat of Brovinddal consul tér was also one of the offices he held int the Congtegation, In it ais6 he edified hid brethren, He was very sticcessful in minding his o6Wh business, drid equally so in not interfering with that of othera, He Knéw that 1t Was only in thd. absence of the Rector and Vicar, that he had pHacéa neé of juriddia- tion in the community. When they were present he alwayd donsidéted | they wete quite able to bear the burden of their own respotisibiiltiés ahd support the burden of their own houses, however thickly they came upon them, and thought that his duty to the congregation was best done, by confining himself etrictly to his "Consultorial work". He never assumed over the religious on authority he did not possess. He did not wish to be big with vragmatical greatness, It is not ~ the temptation of a refined mind, Apart from this he had a fund of . true humility and » sense of proporgion, These would save even the *yvuigar human" from the antios of the fabled jackdaw, - Father Placid was.in his .75th year of his age when he died, For the past twelve months, he had been in failing health. Nothing absolutely necessary for his state. was left unattempted, and he had acqtired the virtue, so necessary to the religious of this Province, in the evening of their lives, of being grateful for small mercies, | At the same time when kindness was shown hiin, savouring of the generous charity of the tule, he was very responsive, though in the promptness— of him, there was something of the pathos of surprise. In all his: . . sufferings he displayed a thost edifying patience, Most of them could * not be helped, Sota of them were avoidable. A want of elementary. —.. forethought deprived the religious of St. Saviour's of fires during. some of the coldest days of the present winter. They do not yet advantage by the heating apparatus, It is at considerable risk to their health thet our parishioners attend Moly Mass, Under such — conditions one of Father. Placitd's years necessarily suffered. But hie complaints, indeed, were very few, If thete was no fire in hia. room, ah 611 lamp was kept burning, which he told us, warmed the atmcapheré, Then the help, his. disease required should be given to nature, was alwaye forthcoming, and kindly enough bestowed. But he grew steadily worse, At length, by the advice of his doctor, he decided to undergo an operation. For this purpose, he went to a nursing home in Birfhingham. I+ was performed on Thursday the 9th of December, At first, hopes of his perfect restoration to health were entertained. But his previous long suffering at so advanced an age, had so weakened him, that he could not combat the effects of. the operation, and he succumbed to them on the following Saturday. . He received bine last Sacraments with great faith and love, and with -.. perfect resignation te God's Holy Will. He was able to answer the prayers for the dying which Father Browa said, and to accede though unwillingly to the request for his blessing, Then the dying priest. ineisted upon Father Bruno blessing him in return and a few minutes: afterwards he breathed his last, His last resting-place is the little cemetery, attached to our Churoh at Harborne. May the earth lie lightly on his remains, and more lightly still on hia soul, the frailties of human life, Fot “he has fought a gallant fight, in death's cold arms he persevered",. ; | May he rest in peace!
Source: Obituary Notices, Provincial Archive, St Joseph's Province. Passionist Congregation.