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hear her comment. "he should be making his soul," in other words,
preparing, which would involve an awful 101 of praying. for instance,
ancnding church a lot. In other words, you're getting older now and
you mllst prepare yourself for death because it's coming.\
The oldest Catholic generation still hopes for a "happy dCalh," which means death in the
presence of a priest, hence receiving the "sacrament of the sick" and the Eucharist. Father
P., testifies about the "last wish" of his Tilting parishioners in the fifties and sixties:
FP: Another thing that I noticed here panicularly, on the whole island, this
particular thing and that was their attitude towards the lasl riles, the
sacraments of the sick, we call it now; they would be very anxious until
I arrived. Once they received the sacraments, all the fear, whatever
anxiety, you could see, was drained away from them, you know. So
much so that they were not asking to make a special trip here to Joe
Batt's Arm, to Fogo or Island Harbour, but they would say, "if you
come up in the next few weeks and I'm still here, you'll drop in to see
me, won't you?" All their anxiety and fear of death was gone
completely, almost looking forward 10 it. It was really, an education
for me, you know. . At that time the isolation was such that if I left
the island, very very often I was called back because of the fear of
dying without the priest. But if I came back and gave them the
sacraments, I could be away for months then as far as that particular
person was concerned. They were OK then.
IP; How did people cope with death, what was their greatest comfort?
FP: The greatest comfort was that, whoever it was in the family; that they
had died if they had gOllen the priest to receive the sacraments. The
greatest sadness for the people here, anywhere on the island LFogoJ,
was that they had died without receiving the sacraments. That W.IS the
greatest sore, not that they died so much.2
The fear of hell, likewise, motivated Protestants 10 receive Baptism:
Church of England people and Methodist people could not think of anyone
dying, not even an infant, without being administered the rite of infant
Baptism.3
Catholics had their own way of keeping "the sacrament" at hand. "Sick call sets" come in a
variety of shapes and sizes, from the small cupboard fixed to Ihe bedroom wall to
something resembling a pencase. The contents usually include a candle, matches, holy
water, a folded white cloth and a cruciflx. 4 Anxiety to receive all due rites sometimes
prompted unofficial practice and belief in their efficacy. Father K. confessed doing things
lMUNFLA 87·1591C12034.
2MUNFLA 87-159/CI2043.
3Tinard 74.
4 My host had both types in her house; see also MUNFLA ms 78-303, p. 52.