Bereaved Families Mourn in Chicago |
CHICAGO, Dec. 7 - (UPI) -. |
Priests fought vainly Sunday for words to comfort grief-striken families of Our Lady of the Angels Roman Catholic Church, where 91 lives were lost Monday. |
“Any words we say to these people will fall short of the experiences they have lived through this week,” the monsignor said. |
Cause of the blaze which killed 88 children and three nuns still has not been determined. |
Eighty-seven children and three nuns were buried after services Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Seventy of the children, ranging in age from 9 to 15, were buried Friday, 27 of them after mass services in Northwest Armory with Archbishop Albert G. Meyer celebrating the mass and Cardinal Francis Spellman of New York presiding. |
A wake for Victor Jocobellis, 9, who died Friday in St. Anne's Hospital to become the 91st victim of the fire, was to be held Sunday night, with funeral services Monday. |
Father John Egan, another priest of the parish, said he sought help from the Gospel in his sermon. The Gospel today, the second Sunday of Advent, was Matthew 11, and included these words: “...and Jesus answered ... 'Go and report to John what you have heard and seen: The blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead rise, the poor have the gospel preached to them: What did you go out to the desert to see? A reed shaken by the wind...” |
Families also received their copies of the parish weekly bulletin at their entrance of the church Sunday. Across the front of the bulletin in heavy black letter were the words. |
“Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted.” |