When Fr. Gandini passed away, St. Luigi Orione wrote down a circular letter to his sons expressing his feelings.
Tortona, 19th February 1920
Dearest Sons of Divine Providence,
What sad news I am now about to give you, my sons in
the Lord. (…)I cannot tell you what I feel in giving you this sad news.
Fr. Gandini is dead!
He died suddenly this morning in this House. Yesterday he was healthy,
full of strength, serenely good-natured, alive: today he is dead! It does not
seem true that he is dead! (…)
He went off to rest peacefully, and now he is
dead! One can hardly believe it; yet it
is so. And it seems that the hand of the Lord led him to say goodbye to
everyone first. On Sunday, being in
Alessandria to celebrate Mass in our new parish of St. Rocco, he made a trip to
his native village, to see once more his father, sister, brothers and
brother-in-law. Yesterday morning he
then wanted to say Mass for the young people, at the altar of Our Lady of
Divine Providence, even though another priest was due to say it, and it was his
last Mass, and he distributed the sacred ashes, pronouncing these words over
everyone's head: Remember, man, that you are dust! Then, late last evening, he
also went into the infirmary, and into the printing office. He stopped by everyone, poor Fr. Gandini!
I had taken him in when he was a child, there in that
old convent of St. Clare, and his serene face and innocent look and, what is
more, his pious and good behaviour, made me foresee that he would hear the
voice of the Lord and become a priest, a priest with a modest soul, full of
faith, innocence and goodness. And I remember
that I called him Johnny, because to me he seemed already to be completely of
God and, looking at his fine face, also of St. John the Baptist. (…)
Yesterday evening Fr. Gandini had come to ask me if he
could go to say Mass in the Cathedral today, in the place of another priest;
and no-one was surprised this morning to find his room closed, as they thought
he was already at the Cathedral. But, once 8 o'clock came, seeing that he was
not back, someone sent for him and we discovered with a shock that he was not
in the Cathedral and had not even gone there.
A terrible doubt then arose in us and increased
dramatically. Fr. Gandini's room was locked.
We knocked and we called, but no-one answered. We had to enter by a window. And our poor Fr. Ernesto was there, stretched
out on the floor, at the foot of his bed.
He was still alive, but unconscious and unable to
speak.
His bed was unmade; he had obviously gone to rest and
during the night he must have felt ill.
He would have got up to call for help but, perhaps suffering a heart
attack, as the doctor said, he did not manage to get to the door, and collapsed
on the ground where we found him. He did
not speak any more or give any sign of understanding. I gave him absolution; I commended his soul;
I anointed him with the Holy Oil, but a quarter of an hour later he was already dead! It was not yet nine o'clock. How quickly death comes!
My dear son, were you waiting for me then to breathe
forth your soul in my hands?
Also present were Fr. Zanocchi, Fr. Draghi, Fr. Enrico
Bariani and several of the senior seminarians and young people.
While I am writing to you our Fr. Gandini is there, on
his death bed, and seems to be asleep.
His face still has that serene expression of gentleness and goodness
which was so like him. He is clothed in
his sacred habit and his priestly stole.
On his breast is his Crucifix and his hands are joined in prayer. His fingers are clutching his Rosary. He will probably be buried in the cemetery of
Predosa, his village, near his mother who was a truly Christian mother, and my
heart is troubled, but I want to take him there.
And now what shall I say to you, my brothers? It is a great anguish, but the Lord gave, the
Lord took away: Blessed be the Name of the Lord. May the Lord's will be
done! May the Lord always be blessed,
blessed in life and blessed in death!
Although this sudden death gives me great pain, I have no doubt that, as
Fr. Ernesto had always lived as a good religious, he was found ready for the
great step. He had consecrated himself entirely to God and the Church! It will be a great sorrow for us all my sons,
but let us be consoled by these words. We are comforted, as we well know that
our brother belonged to God, and it is right that God does with His own
according to His mind and will, neither do we despair like those who have no
hope - that would not be Christian. We
will see him again. We have full hope in
immortality! He has just gone before us
to show us the way. And the Lord will
lighten our grief, and will use this death to increase our numbers. I can see more and more coming... sent by
God. Happy are they who, listening to
the voice from Heaven, come to fill the place left empty by Fr. Gandini.
In any case this sudden disappearance proves to me
ever more how useful it would be for us all to make a point of making the
exercise of a good death every month.
This is how death can surprise us at any time, and
suddenly.
It respects neither youth nor strength of character,
but comes like a thief, at a time when we are least expecting it.
The Lord has visited our Institution; let us adore Him
and pray to Him! Yes my sons, let us
pray and persevere in our holy vocation, and let us be vigilant with our lamps
in our hands, always ready.
For me and for you this sudden death is a special word
from God.
A word which invites us not only to bow our heads
reverently, to become humble and to adore the inscrutable judgements of the
Lord; but a word which comes to shake us, to fill us with the fervour of a
religious life of virtue and holiness.
This is what God wants from me and from you.
And He wants us to pray for our dear dead brother, and
pray deeply. The prayers will be a
comfort for us and a relief for him.
Even if he has already gone up to that God, who can find stains even on
the white wings of His angels, even if Fr. Gandini had no more need of our
prayer, it would not be in vain.
Merciful as he always was towards sufferers, he will joyfully see the
Lord distribute to others those prayers dutifully said by us for his soul. And may we be comforted by the thought that
one day we shall meet our Fr. Ernesto in Heaven where, at the feet of our Holy
Mother in Paradise, he will be praying for me and for you, and he will be an
angel of consolation for our sorrows, as well as the other brothers who have
gone before us to our Home.
Rest in the peace of Christ then, my gentle and
blessed son, who have left this miserable life for a blessed life. May the angels of the Lord go with you to
Heaven; may they take you into that holy Jerusalem and, on the palms of their
hands, may the Virgins and Martyrs bear you to the throne of God. Then, united with the Heart of Jesus
Crucified, pray for us! We will all soon
come with you; we want to be with you always, in the arms of the Lord for ever,
and close to our heavenly Mother.
You see it is just a short wait for you and for
us: This life is a fleeting shadow.
Oh Fr. Gandini, my dearest son who have loved God, the
Church and her Pope; who have served God in the little ones and the poor
orphans: I embrace you for me and for
them, and for your brothers in the Congregation who are not here. For all our people who, far away, lament your
death with sorrowful yet sweet tears, I embrace you and kiss your forehead,
with a holy kiss!
Goodbye my blessed son, sleep in Christ: Tomorrow we shall be together again.
Your Father in Jesus Crucified and in Our Lady,
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