Bro. Michael of the Seven Dolors Died Nov. 7, in Holy Cross Retreat, Belfast; St. Joseph’s Province. This good Brother was received into the Congregation by the most distinguished Passionists of the Anglo-Hibernian province: F. Dominic of the Mother of God, and F. Ignatius of St. Paul. So perfectly did he inherit their spirit, that all their virtues seemed reflected in him. He was the last of the early pioneers, and his fellow religious were justly proud of him. He never tired of rehearsing the trials and the successes of days long gone by, nor did his hearers weary of listening to the venerable old man, so interesting and exact were his recollections. He contrasted the venturesome beginnings of our Congregation in England and Ireland, the few and widely scattered religious of those early days, with all that has since taken place, and seemed never satisfied in praising the sweet Providence of God who blessed the little grain of mustard seed planted by F. Dominic, making of it a great tree, with its various Retreats (like so many branches), and a goodly number of fervent Religious (like its flowers and fruits). Bro. Michael was born in Dublin, the capital city of the ancient kingdom of Ireland, on February 22, 1822. In the 26th year of his age, he entered our novitiate, and on Oct. 19, 1849, he made his profession. His secular name was Thomas Behan. During his long life of 57 years as a Passionist, he was employed in the various Retreats of the province in nearly all the offices discharged by our lay-brothers; but the two that he exercised the longest were questing and being sacristan. For the last sixteen years of his life he was always busy, in Holy Cross Church where with the greatest diligence he looked after the neatness and orderliness of the sacred edifice and all its appurtenances. He made use of his nearness to the sanctuary to cultivate a special devotion to the BI. Sacrament; and when his work was over, he consecrated all the time that remained kneeling in prayer before the tabernacle; and whilst thus engaged, his whole demeanor was so recollected, that both at home and abroad he was looked upon as a saint. For some years he suffered so much from rheumatism, that being unable to do any domestic work, he profited thereby to devote still more of his life to the worship of his Risen Lord in the sacrament of his love. His tender heart was almost equally attracted to our Bl. Lady; and giving rein to his natural aptitude for versification, he delighted to compose devout little hymns in honor of Jesus and Mary. These holy names were frequently on his lips his whole life long; his last hours were likewise sanctified and made most edifying, by his untiring repetition of them. When his death was known to be nigh, the sacraments and comforts of Holy Church were administered to this her faithful. child. He retained the full use of his senses to the very last, tranquilly breathing out his soul on the morning of the 7th of November. He was the first to be interred in the little cemetery adjoining the Retreat. Bro. Michael Behan At 3 o’clock in the afternoon Nov. 9th occurred the death of Rev. Brother Michael, whose venerable figure was for many years familiar to worshippers at the Church of Holy Cross, Ardoyne, Belfast. The deceased had attained the age of 85 and was 59 years in the order, having joined at Aston Hall, in Staffordshire which was then the novitiate house of the Passionists at a time when the journey there from Ireland occupied five days. He was born in Dublin in 1822, and received the habit in 1848, arriving at Aston Hall on 29th September, the feast of St. Michael, the Archangel. The Superiors who received him were the Very Rev. Fr. Dominick CP, of the Mother of God, and the Rev. Fr. Ignatius of St. Paul. In consequence of the fact that he arrived at the novitiate house on St. Michael’s Day, he was named Br. Michael. He was professed Oct 19th 1849. His reminiscences of the early days of the order in England were very interesting, dealing as they did with the struggles which had to be made when Catholics were so few, and the relisious habit was such a novelty in the country after the penal times. In the course of his long religious life Br. Michael resided at nearly all the houses of the Anglo-Hibernian province of the Passionist order, and during the last 16 years, he lived continuously at Ardoyne. He was a familiar figure both in the old and new churches at Ardoyne, and up to the very end of a long and saintly career was blessed with a robust constitution. On the vigil of the Feast of all Saints, however, he contracted a chill and sank rather rapidly owing to his advanced years passing away most peacefully, after having received the sacraments at 3 o’clock in the afternoon of November 9th. Those who attended the Holy Cross Church will miss the familiar figure of the venerable Brother whose devotion in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament where he spent so many hours of the day was a source of great edification to all. After his devotion to the Blessed Sacrament his reverent love for the Mother of God was the most conspicuous trait in his character and this was especially notable during the trying hours preceding his death. (This is item 1139, at 3/1/5/3.) Brother Michael (Behan) C.P., who has been mentioned in the life of Father Charles as often accompanying him on his visits to the sick. A model religious in every sense, his one great devotion was the Holy Sacrifice which was manifested by his desire to assist at and serve as many Masses as time allowed. When crippled by rheumatism for some years before his death, even to the last, he would continue to drag himself to the Church, supported on crutches, to be present at the first and many subsequent Masses. He had also a literary turn which took the form of writing devotional verses, by no means devoid of merit, some of them, and published from time to time by the Catholic Weeklies of the day. As sacristan for several years it was his privilege to instruct and train boys for the service of the Altar, and we may well imagine what spirit he sought to instil into their young minds by the little poem of his given below, taken from an American Catholic paper. He lived to a great age and died in Ardoyne, Belfast, 1907, where his ascetic figure is still well remembered, and the memory of his saintly life held in veneration. (This is item 2138, at 3/1/5/2.)