The last days, sickness and death of Bishop Jean-Marie Simon.
Two years ago His Excellency Bishop Simon had a severe attack which the Doctors attributed to the bad state of his liver and his teeth. As a true son of St. Francis de Sales the Bishop followed the advice of the Doctors after he had consulted then. He had his teeth extracted. This actually seemed to have a good effect on his health. His flock could hope for many more years under his paternal guidance. Yet his strength was failing. A year ago he could go on long voyages without fatigue; now he loathed to go even on a short outing away from his daily routine. His step however remained steady and alert until the day that he was suddenly too weak to walk.
At the beginning of 1932 he was convoked to a Bishops’ meeting in Cape Town under the presidency of the Apostolic Delegate, On his return he seemed to be rejuvenated for some time. Then some considerable worry preoccupied him: his Jubilee. It was as if he had a pressentiment of his approaching death. This Jubilee so lovingly and zealously prepared by his spiritual children would be his Thabor before the sufferings end death of Calvary. He often repeated hall jokingly: “You want to kill me with your Jubilee.” “No, My Lord, we want to keep you alive for it will give you life to see how much your children love you!” But he was not convinced.
Towards the end of May His Lordship caught a cold which was serious enough to cause alarm. What! if My Lord was to be in bed for his Julilee. However with the loving care of the Sisters he recovered and the Jubilee was celebrated in due time with pomp and so much joy and love that the Bishop was reconciled. But he was exhausted, frail, transparent like an apparition from the other World, transfigured.
Two weeks after these unforgetable days our dear Jubilarian had a relapse and again caught a severe cold which in spite of the good care given him gradually grew worse. On 26th July he was obliged to go to bed. Mr Slabbert, our School Inspector, who saw him that day, advised us to call in the Doctor. Sr. Francoise-Alexis offered to sleep next door to the Bishop in case of an emergency. Bishop Fages was notified and Sr. Jeanne-Raphael came from Pofadder to attend to the Bishop as all the Sisters of the Pella Community were teaching in school and could not give the constant care which the patient needed.
For the month that he was in bed we, Missionaries, each had the privilege of seeing him for a few minutes every day. In the evening we gathered in his room for a short recreation. Then, in spite of his intense suffering from the bowels and left side of the chest, he showed a keen interest in everybody and in everything. Hot poultces were applied to relieve the pain and when Bishop Fages arrived our venerable patient was feeling better. However, when the Doctor had thoroughly examined him he declared that he had been very close to pneumonia and that he was still in danger but that with good care and the remedies he had prescribed we could hope for a complete recovery.
Naturally, during all this time His Lordship had sleepless nights. Sr. Jeanne-Raphael, his loyal nurse, would then stay up and keep him company and through the long hours of endless nights he would talk…..talk of Eternity, of the happiness of belonging to God, of the misfortune of those poor people who have no supernatural sentiments, of the happiness awaiting the soul who has been faithful to his vocation, of his dear Missions and his approaching death. But let us leave the word to Sr. Jeanne-Raphael: “To me it seems that My Lord is convinced that his end is near. He made the allusion often enough: “My task is done; it is time to retire.” And if we protested: “My Lord, you must not say that; we need you. We hope to celebrate your Diamond Jubilee; at 74 you are not too old for that.” “Say what you like, but I tell you I will not see my 74th birthday. I feel that I have finished my course.”
One day we spoke to him about the church windows: “When are you putting in the others, My Lord?” “My successor will do that “1 he replied. At last Bishop Simon was gradually recovering but he was as thin as a rake and very weak in spite of the special delicacies prepared for him out of nothing as at Pella there is nothing available for the sick. This is what made Bishop Fages decide that he would take our dear patient to Keimoes, “the land of milk and honey”, as soon as he was well enough to travel.
Bishop Fages now more or less assured that his venerated Father was on the way to recovery, returned to Keimoes on the 16th August. On 9th September Bishop Simon could say Holy Mass in a room nearby and a few days later we had the joy of seeing him at the alter in church. On 24th he presided the ceremony of clothing and Profession of our coloured Brothers. He also received an application for admittance to the Novitiate from a young man of Pella who attended the school here up to standard VI and who promised to be an excellent Oblate. This was one of the last joys of Bishop Simon at Pella.
On the same day we had the visit of Rev. Father Fangauer, Provincial of the Oblate Father; of St. Francis de Sales. Though Bishop Simon said Holy Mass he no longer took his catechism classes nor did he preach as he usually did taking his turn as a simple Priest. Although we did our very best My Lord remained weak. But in spite of all he never lost that respectful and dignified attitude, straight up on his knees during prayer. What edification!
On 11th October Father Fangauer vas back at Pella, He was shocked when he saw the Bishop who no longer complained but was visibly
wasting away. Then on 13th October he again had an attack of violent pain in the bowels and chest and, this time, also in his back up to his shoulder, so much so that we thought it was rhumatism. A Doctor on leave from Cape Town passing through Pella also had this opinion. He gave some medicine and assured us that as soon as the pain had subsided, the Bishop would be able to travel.
Once more Bishop Fages was called; he arrived on 19th October accompanied by Sr. Jeanne-Thérèse, our dear “Sister Doctor”. Thanks
to her good nursing the Bishop recovered and the pains ceased. Now we all prayed that he would agree to go to Keimoes where he
would be near the Doctors and where plenty of vegetables, fruit, butter etc. could be procured, things indispensable for the care
of the sick but unheard of at Pella. Moreover at Keimoes he would be near his Coadjutor who would be responsible for the major part
of the administration, leaving to Bishop Simon only what his frail health would allow. Alas! our plan was good and our intention still better. But God disposed otherwise. Bishop Simon was extremely reluctant to leave Pella. He must have had a presentiment that he would never see it again. When somebody asked him: “My Lord, when will you be coming back?” he answered with an evasive gesture: “I have no idea.”
This was not his wont. Usually when leaving Pella he would say: ” I’ll be back soon. In six weeks or two months we’ll meet again.” We were sad to see him going….. so weak, so pale and worn-out! Yet we hoped. Some lives are so indispesible to us that we cannot bring ourselves to believe that even they must come to an end. Our beloved Bishop had only a month to live and nobody realized it.
On 23rd October he left Pella for Keimoes where he was able to celebrate the Holy Sacrifice every day of that week till the 31st, Feast of Christ the King, his last Mass on earth. He had another relapse: the whole Vicariate was alarmed but Doctor still hoped and so did we as we could not imagine the flock without its beloved Shepherd. Alas! He did not get better; his heart failed. On 14th November he had a severe attack and lost consciousness. Fearing the worst Bishop Fages administered Extreme Unction. The next day Bishop Simon himself asked for the Sacrament of the dying and was surprised to hear that he had already received it. Now we knew that his days on earth were numbered. The last week was one of great suffering for our Bishop and of profound edification to those who had the privelege of being with him in the last moments to collect his last thoughts and to feel the last beatings of that noble heart.
One of our Sisters who nursed him, did let us have a glimpse of this perfect patient on his sickbed: “My Lord who always was so simple as more so during his illness. He took his medicines, bitter they were, as if he enjoyed taking them. He was Obedience personified even to those who looked after him. His delicate charity made him forget himself to think only of others. He could not bear to see our Sisters staying up late and would say: “You must go to bed now.” or again: “Why don’t you sit down? You must not tire yourself.”
In his last illness Bishop Simon, as a true Oblate, perfected the virtues he had learnt from St. Francis de Sales and gave us all the sublime example of patince, fortitude, gentleness, humility, simplicity, abandonment to God and forgetfulness of self. How edified we were by his inviolable fidelity to the Rule and to his duty. It was the same charity that urged him who himself was dying to send one of his Priests to see a stray sheep of the flock who was dying. Words fail to describe the joy of our Bishop when the Priest returned to tell him that the lost sheep had been brought back to the fold. The dying man had welcomed the Priest and after a good Confession he had received his God in Holy Communion. His humility was equal to his charity. Once a Sister of Keimoes said to him: ” Surely, My Lord, a beautiful crown is awaiting you in Heaven” With tears in his eyes he answered: ” A crown….. I do not know if there is a crown for me… if only I could have a t-i-n-y place in Heaven.”
Another time when some of his Priests came to see him and asked pardon for any pain they may have caused him, he answered with sincere
humility: ” Yes, I forgive everything …….I am weak now but I also ask you to pardon me. He faced death with joyful resignation. When Bishop Fages asked him if he was resigned to die he simply answered: ” Absolutely, perfectly”. When his burial came into question Bishop Fages asked him where he would like to be buried, he simply answered: ” I would have liked Pella but now what will you do ? ” He left it to Bishop Fages to decide. So great was his abandonment to the divine Will that he did not refuse to live on if such was the will of God. In an intimate talk with Bishop Fages he said to him: ” If it is the Will of God and I can still be of any use to the Vicariate I do not refuse to live. All through his acute sufferings he lovingly adhered to the Divine Will.
One day when one of his Priests was with him he spoke as if to himself: ” A Priest is another Christ and he must carry his cross whether you like it or not, you must carry your cross!’” And did not those who were near his sickbed hear him repeat several times in succession: ” Yes …. Yes ……Yes!” Was he not on the point of accepting the Divine Will! He loved to talk about Eternity: ” Yes, we must all go. We must die the death of saints. It is hard learning to die …… As for you who are young time seems to pass too quickly, but how happy we others are when 50 years have gone by. The beginning will be a little hard in Purgatory but after that we know what to expect.”. Then he added ainiably: ” You talk about the example I have given you; I know of one only; I celebrated my Golden Jubilee before my death. Not one of you should leave before your 50th anniversary in Africa.”
Bishop Simon enjoyed a little innocent mischief even in his last days on earth. Before he left Pella tho nursing Sister who slept next door to him once told him that she could hear him at night turning in his bed and rattling the big Rocary hanging on the wall. Some time later when she entered his room he asked her if she had heard him knocking on the wall that night. No, My Lord” said she. “Well, don’t come and tell me that you hear me saying my Rosary at night. Nothing less than a cannon shot would wake you.” Three or four days before his death when he was helped to sit up in bed he passed his hand over the protruding vertebrae in the spine and turning to his Coadjutor he said: ” In any case there is not much left of your Bishop; you will have very little to put into grave, When he heard that some of his Priests were coming to see him he said: “I’m going to have a good laugh at them. I’ll say to them: “You’re coming for my funeral, are you? Well, you are too early. “
Although he could have been dispensed from the Lenten fast at 73 years of age he was scrupulously faithful to this mortification till the
last Lent of his life this year 1932. Also when his health failed and he could no longer say his breviary he insisted on saying his three Rosaries daily up to the very last day when he still had the courage to say two Rosaries before midday when his death agony started. He said his last Mass on 31st October, feast of Christ the King; after that he received Holy Communion every morning with that ardent faith which characterized him, For that he would not break his fast before Communion not even with a drop of water. He would ask his nurse what time it was or remind her to give him a big glass of water at a quarter to twelve so that he would need nothing more after midnight as he wished to receive Holy Communion. Then nothing would persuade him to take the least refreshment even though he was suffering an unquenchable thirst.
All those who saw Bishop Simon in his last illness were embalmed with the perfume of his virtues. Even the Doctor considered it a privelege to attend to him. When there was no more hope of recovery he continued to come, saying to Bishop Fages: “I can do nothing more for him but I come all the same for your consolation and my edification.”. On 15th November a telegram was sent to all the Missions notifying
Priests and Religious that there was no more hope for our beloved Bishop. Consternation struck all hearts. Fervent prayers went up
to Heaven to obtain a miracle at any cost. That day and all the following days our people at Pella came to church in the morning and in the evening to say the Rosary and to make the way of the Cross. Whenever the telephone rang all the people, Europeans and Coloureds, were there to hear the news. Many wept. Some of the old Coloured people came to Sister Superior, sobbing: “Sister, if My Lord dies they must bring his body back to Pella. This is his Mission. We are his children. He …… He must be buried here. They must give him back to us; he belongs to us. Or else, may the Good God give him the strength at least to return to Pella that he may die in our midst! But we want our Father back, we want him. He belongs to us!
At midday on this same day 15th November Father Wolff phoned Bishop Fages enquiring whether he should leave but His Lordship answered that it was not yet the moment. However at 2 o’clock and again at 2.30 there was another call from Bishop Fages himself saying: “If you want to see the Bishop alive come immediately.” At 3 o’clock Father Wolff and Sr. Francoise-Alexis left Pella. They were joined by Fathers Eich and Thünemann all on their way to Keimoes. Unfortunately the Hartebees River at Kakamas was full so they had to go through Kenhardt, a detour of 125 miles on roads unknown to them. Instead of 11 o’clock that evening they arrived at Keimoes only the next day, Wednesday, at midday axhausted and anxious lest they had come too late. Bot no, their Bishop was still alive, though extremely weak after another severe attack he had had in the morning. They gave him several injections though he had expressed the wish not to have them as, he said: ” I am not afraid to suffer; on the contrary, I want to suffer.” It was these injections that kept him alive for a few more days.
When the three Priests and Sr. Francoise-Alexis entered the room hisenotion was so great that he could not restrain his tears. Fearing another heart attack Bishop Fages asked the visitors to leave the room for a while. In the afternoon they had the joy and prilege of seeing him several times and of talking to him. Among other things Father Eich begged him for a word which he could transmitt his Novitiate for Coloured Brothers. After a moment’s reflection our dying Bishop said: ” Obedience” and spoke at length of the capital importance of Obedience in religious life. Then Sr. Francoise-Alexis brought him the loving message from Pella: ” My Lord, our Sisters asked me to tell you how much they are praying for you and how close they are to you in spirit. “
“Oh…….. to think that I cannot even write” he answered. Why Lord, I can surely tell them that you bless them and also our children”
Sister said and he replied eagerly: ” Oh yea! With all my heart!” There was some talk of leaving Father Wolf: at Keimoes while one of the other Priests would take his place at Pella. When Bishop Simon was consulted on the matter he firmly answered: “The service of God before everything else. You belong to Him before you belong to me. Go!” Only those who knew what Father Wolff meant to Bishop Simon and Bishop Simon to Father Wolft could realize that the mutual sacrifice was heroic. Bishop Simon kept his lucidity to the end. Even when his body was prostrate his mind was alive and alert. He then enquired about everybody and everything or else, he would take up his Rosary again and start saying it at the precise point where he had left off overcome by drowsiness.
Our dear patient was already partly paralysed by the time that the visitors left Keimoes on 18th November. His right eye became blurred
and he could hardly swallow; fever consumed him. As a special favour to the Missionaries of this area the civil authorities very kindly kept the telephone line open all night between Keimoes and Pella. We were most grateful to them. That night at Keimoes they heard that Father Cornelius van ‘t Westeinde was coming in haste to see his dear Bishop. On Saturday morning the Bishop was heard to say: ” It is today that I should have gone but I hear Father Cornelius is coming so I’ll wait for him.” When Father Cornelius did arrive Bishop was overjoyed to see him. He brought him the good news that they had bought the ground at Garies in the West of the Vicariate. The contract was signed; all they now wanted was the Bishop’s signature, Seeing that Bishop Simon was extremely weak they naturally turned to Bishop Fages for the
signature but Bishop Simon objected: “No, I can do it.” and he insisted on signing himself. That was his last autograph, neat, precise, traced by his dying hand.
One day he said to a Sister who was helping him: ” How can I repay you for all your kindness! ”
” Oh, My Lord, it is I who have to pay you; I owe you so much! ”
” What do you owe me?”
” First of all my religious life and all the graces I have received in this life. But I hope, My Lord, you will still pray for me in Heaven.”
” Yes, I will drag you along to Heaven.”
Another time one of our Sisters said to him: ” My Lord, you will help us, won’t you, so that we may be all together with you in heaven one day.” Certainly. Up there I will not be the Master but I’ll do what I can. On Sunday 20th November a Sister mentioned the feast of the following day. As if he knew that the Blessed Virgin Would call him Home on Her Feast day, he said: ” Yes, tomorrow will be a beautiful day…..
Yes, tomorrow will be a beautiful day…” And after a pause: “but it will be hard for me! !! as if thinking of his agony. On the same Sunday his heart went out to his Missionaries and all their families and to our Novitiates in Perugia and Linz. With a support under his arm he raised his hand in a supreme effort to bless then tracing the Sign of Salvation over them. The 21st of November was indeed a beautiful day! At 5 o’clock in the morning Father Cornelius van ‘t Westeinde entered our dying Bishop’s room with the Holy Host.
This is the day that all Oblates of St. Francis de Sales renew their Vows. Bishop Simon as the perfect Religious he always was wanted to read the formula himself. Weak as he was he started:
“Ego Joannes Maria Simon ….” but could go no further. He asked for his glasses but his eyes already veiled, could no longer see to read. Thinking it was too dark in the room he asked for a candle and a third time his feeble voice pronounced the same words: ” Ego Joannes Maria Simon …..” unable to continue.
Then only did our beloved Father and Shepherd allow his Coadjutor to take the book and slowly, word for word after Bishop Fages he
pronounced his last words, the words of the renewal of his Holy Vows. Then his eyes closed for ever; his parched mouth half-open, could
absorb nothing more; all that we could do was to moisten his dry lips to cool the fever that was burning within him. At midday his agony commenced and lasted till 10. 40 in the evening when he rendered his very pure soul to his Creator. He was 74 years old. He was clothed in his Pontifical Vestments and laid out for the veneration of the faithful who all admired the calm and beauty of his face. On Tuesday at midday when the body was placed in the coffin it was still burning with the fever that had consumed him. Bishop Fages had made all the arrangements for the transportation of the mortal remains of our venerated Father. He was to be buried in his own Cathedral at Pella.
On Wednesday evening as daylight was fading a convoy of cars started out from Keimoes: the car with Bishop Fages, Father Puy jalon and
three Sisters from Keimoes in front of the lorry carrying the precious remains and Father Cornelius van ‘t Westeinde bringing up the rear.
They arrived at Pella at i o’clock on Thursday morning. The whole parish was there as well as many families from the neighbouring farms
who insisted in coming to show their last respects and veneration to their beloved Bishop. Twenty-one Oblate Fathers and eichteen Oblate
Sisters had arrived from their distant Missions. Father Wolff too was there, heart-broken, sobbing. Two of our Fathers led him to a chair near the wire fencing outside the church while the coffin was being lowered to the ground. Father Wolff could restrain himself no longer; with arms outstretched he lunged forward as if to embrace his dearly beloved Father and Bishop for the last time, crying bitterly: ” My Lord, My Lord …. Oh! my Bishop ….!” and he kissed the coffin. It was heart-rending ….. a scene which the bystanders will never forget.
Reverently, in the silence of the night the Oblate Fathers carried the lifeless body of their Bishop to the catafalque prepared in front of the sanctuary now draped in black. There they laid him down facing his people. The nitre and staff, the pectoral cross, the Chalice and Missal were placed on the coffin, What sorrow in the hearts of all at Pella on this dark night! Was this the return of their Shepherd so ardently desired? What a contrast to the Jubilee celebrations hardly six months before! Then the stately figure of Bishop Simon had entered his Cathedral, the work of his hands, led by a brilliant procession of Bishops and Priests who had been so happyto celebrate his feast with him
at Pella. Now he was laid out in a coffincarried by his children in mourning and followed by his people in tears. Our only consolation in these days of sorrow is the thought that God called our Bishop away from his chidren who loved him so tenderly only the sooner to crown His “good and faithful servant”. In church Bishop Fages recited some prayers for the Dead and overcoming his own sorrow he spoke a few words of sympathy and encouragement to the Congregation. At 1.30 the people reluctantly retired leaving only a few privileged ones to keep watch and pray near the coffin of their Father till 5 o’clock in the morning when the first Holy Masses were celebrated.
The Requiem Mass was sung at 9 o’clock in the morning followed by the five Absolutions according to the Liturgy. Six Oblate Fathers
in cassock an surplice then carried the precious remains to its last resting place in the Chapel of the Blessed Virgin. There our Bishop rests and there our Missionaries and the faithful come to pray for the repose of his soul and for themselves confiding to hin their trouble and pain, their work, their desires, their hope and their fear, sure to find the help they need as Bishop Simon, following the example of St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus to whom he had a great devotion, ” will not rest till the number of the elect is complete.”
The following inscrition on parchment in a sealed bottle was placed in the tomb above the coffin:
V+J
HIC REQUIESCIT
JOANNES MARIA SIMON
EPISCOPUS TITULARI TOMA CORUM
FONDATOR ET PRIMUS VICARIUS APOSTOLICUS
VICARIATUS FLUMINUS ORANGE – PELLA
NATUS 6 DIE DECEMBRIS 1858
ET
OBDORMIVIT IN DOMINO DIE 21 NOVEMBRIS 1932
DILECTIS A DEO ENT HOMINIBUS
D.S.B
After the ceremony at about 10.30 we all retired with sorrow in our hearts but in an atmosphere of profound peace. It was as if our beloved Bishop was still among us in person. One could almost see him going from group to group saying: “But why are you weeping, my children? I am so happy.” At about 11 o’clock Bishop Fages came to see the Sisters who were eagerly awaiting to hear every detail of the last illness and death of their dear “Monseigneur Simon” who was so much part of them. He belonged to Pella, yet they did not have the privilege of assisting him in the last supreme hour of life and of closing his eyes in death. Bishop Fages stayed with them for a long time. With tears in his eyes and a broken voice he spoke to them as only a most devoted son would speak of his father. He thanked God from the depths of his heart for the privilege of having been close to Bishop Simon till the end: ” We have seen the death of a Saint,” he said.
In the after noon His Lordship distributed some little object, a souvenir of Bishop Simon to the Oblates who jealously preserved their treasure as a true relic. At 5 o’clock the Oblate Fathers and after them, the Oblate Sisters met to render Obedience to the new Vicar Apostolic who received each one with paternal kindness. Bishop Simon too was there in spirit. Was it not be who united us all in heart and will to his
successor so that we should walk faithfully in his way of intimate union with God, with our Superiors, in fidelity to our Rule and our duty. Such was also the wish of his successor, Bishop Fages, expressed in his motto: “Pater Omnium”. All must be one as children of the same Father!
Oh! good Bishop Simon, may your spirit reign in us and in the hearts of all those in our care and those who in the future will come to join us. Help us to gain Heaven for the glory of God and to meet you there again. May God accept our prayers and sacrifices for you and in return “draw us and we will run in the odour of your perfume” till the day when you will receive us in your arms on the shores of Eternity and we will enter “in the joy of our Lord”.
A month later on 21st December Father Eich would come to Pella to sing the Requiem Mass in the Cathedral still in mourning, draped in black. On Friday 25th November all our Missionaries returned to their posts. All the schools of the Vicariate had obtained two days off for this Bad occasion. Bishop Fages remained in Pella till the following Thursday then returned to Keimoes leaving Father Wolff alone. We feared that our good Father would be overcoine by loneliness in this hour of sorrow when his beloved Bishop was no longer at his side. As it is he one day said to us: “The day that you bury Bishop Simon, you can begin to dig my grave!” But to the surprise of us all Father Wolff mastered his sorrow and soon he was his old genial self. We regard this as a palpable intervention of our late Bishop in favour of his faithful disciple and collaborator. May he always intercede for Pella which is and ever will be his Pella.
D.S.B.
