Posted on 12/23/2015 6:16:48 AM PST by marshmallow
London, England, Dec 22, 2015 / 05:26 am (CNA/EWTN News).- When the Titanic began to sink on April 15, 1912, Father Thomas Byles had two opportunities to board a lifeboat.
But he forewent those opportunities, according to passengers aboard the sinking ocean liner, in order to hear confessions and offer consolation and prayers with those who were trapped aboard.
Now, a priest at the former church of Fr. Byles in England is asking that his beatification cause be opened.
Some 1,500 people died when the Titanic hit an iceberg and sank in the Atlantic Ocean in 1912. Believed at the time to be "unsinkable," the ship lacked adequate lifeboats for all the passengers on its maiden voyage from Southampton to New York City.
Fr. Byles was traveling on the Titanic to preside at his brother's wedding in New York. The 42-year-old British priest had been ordained in Rome 10 years prior and had served as a parish priest at Saint Helen's Church in Essex since 1905.
Miss Agnes McCoy, a third class passenger and survivor of the Titanic, said Fr. Byles had been on the ship, hearing confessions, praying with passengers and giving his blessing as the vessel sank.
McCoy's testimony, and that of other passengers onboard, has been collected at www.fatherbyles.com.
(Excerpt) Read more at catholicnewsagency.com ...
It’s gonna take a miracle...
Best wishes for the initiation of his cause.
No need for a middle man, just repent to Jesus and you are good to go.
FMCDH(BITS)
I wholeheartedly and humbly agree.
Merry Christmas
FMCDH(BITS)
Either was a saint before he died - like 100% of those who have entrusted themselves fully to Christ’s saving sacrifice - or this man will never be a saint.
A little flaw in the article, the Titanic was never considered unsinkable.
I think that is possibly correct, but to me there is something different about having to verbally confess. It is certainly easier to confess in private than it is to a priest.
Actually, when you think about it, confessing to God ought to be harder. Granted He already knows about the sin, but goodness, it's GOD you're talking to, not another man.
Perhaps we don't see or understand the seriousness of our offense against a holy God that we often tend to take it so lightly.
Have you ever done it? I just see a difference between being in a church in front of a priest, rather than doing it in your bedroom alone. I have done both, and I don’t take it lightly, but for me, it is different.
For information, I was Baptist, now Catholic.
Yes, I’ve done it both ways.
And I said *ought*.
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