It was only within the last year or so that people began to realise that Brother Denis was no longer a young man, that he was in fact just seventy years of age. When death claimed him on April 29th, the community of Mount Argus lost one of its most well-known and beloved figures.
Known in the world as William Kane, he was born in Dublin on October 9th, 1876 and was educated at the Westland Row Schools of the Christian Brothers. At the age of twenty, he entered the novitiate at St. Saviour’s, Broadway, Worcs., and after his profession on March 10th, 1897, he was stationed in the Passionist House in Paris, from which the community was expelled by the French Government in 1902. He was then transferred to Highgate, London whence he came back to his native Dublin in 1910.
Even to chronicle his many works would be an almost impossible task. For years he was Porter at the monastery-door, where his cheery greeting to visitors invariably warmed their hearts to him. Night after night he faithfully locked up the church, and then knelt down for a few minutes’ prayer before he retired. As Infirmarian he nursed the sick with devoted attention, and the last hours of many a Passionist were soothed by his presence.
Despite his amazing capacity for work and the many conflicting calls upon his time, Brother Denis always made time for his devotions. He invariably served one of the first Masses of the day, and never missed saying daily the Stations of the Cross and the Rosary.
He never spared himself and was always at every body’s beck and call. Now his unwearying feet are at rest at last, and a good and faithful servant of the Master enjoys everlasting peace. R.I.P.
(The Cross, Vol. XXXVII, 1946-47; p. 47)
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OBITUARY OF REV. BRO. DENIS, C.P..
William Francis Kane was born in Dublin in 1876. and received his education at the Christian Brothers School, Westland |Row. He entered the congregation at the age of 20, making his profession at Broadway in 1897. After a short time in Paris, he was transferred to St. Joseph’s Retreat, Highgate, where he remained until 1910. He returned to Dublin in that year, and laboured in Mount Argus until his death. Such is the meagre account the records give of his allotted span of 70 years. But to give some picture of the man, the religious, and the Passionist, , more is needed — and there is much to draw upon.
It is said that we take from life what we put into it, and if that is so, brother Denis had much. For into the life he chose, he put and an abounding enthusiasm, and unflagging zeal, and a tireless energy that remained until his last illness. By nature cheerful, he had, besides, a geniality of manner that won him many friends among those with whom his duties brought him into contact. He had the loyalties that mark a man – an abiding attachment to his old school, love of his native city, and a passionate love for his country, and above all, an enduring love for the congregation. For he learned well. His early years in religion were set amongst stalwarts of Passionist life, and he ever afterwards gloried to recall their endeavours in spreading devotion to the Passion. All his religious life he was intensely imbued with the love of the passion, and had an absorbing interest in all things Passionist. In this regard he was a mine of information. Not once, but many times, he resolved doubts that arose concerning Passionist activities. It is not easy, and often less than just, to judge the inner man by externals. But the whole bearing of the deceased, during a life of 50 years in the congregation, betrayed a profound respect for the sacraments and sacramentals, a respect never blunted by years of usage. In the quietest time of the day it was his invariable custom to make the Stations of the Cross. His signing himself with holy water was a lesson in itself. From his boyhood, he retained and most childlike devotion to the Mother of God, and the recitation of her Rosary expressed his joy, no less than consolation in sorrow. Of the performance of his duties as a brother, too much can scarcely be said. All his life he rose early, and worked late; the multiplicity of his tasks found him ever the same, cheerful, willing and obliging, with an energy that seemed tireless. It may truly be said that his life and his work, and pre-eminently his love for the passion, were an inspiration to his fellow religious. Our father and founder, St Paul of the Cross, will have an affectionate welcome for so generous as son of the congregation. May he rest in peace
Adrian of the Seven Dolours, Rector.
PS.04.12.1973
He was at the Christian Brothers school in Westland Row, where fellow schoolboys were Padraig Pearce, Father Myles Ronan (Dublin Diocese Historian) and James McCormack maternal uncle of Frs., Declan and Lawrence O’Sullivan.
Declan, C.P.