The end of a long journey

17 May 1977. Co-founder of Our Lady’s Nurses for the Poor, Rev. Father Edward (Ted) McGrath msc, d

17 May 1977. Co-founder of Our Lady’s Nurses for the Poor, Rev. Father Edward (Ted) McGrath msc, dies at Our Lady’s Home, aged 96 years. He has been confined to a wheelchair for some months. In April, he falls and breaks his pelvis. Word spreads that Father McGrath’s health is failing and his relatives arrive from Victoria to say farewell. Mass is celebrated in his room, followed by the prayers for the dying. Father McGrath dies smiling as the Holy Rosary is being said. His body is dressed in his Mass vestments, ready to serve once again at the altar of God. St Brigid’s Church, Coogee, is filled to capacity as an archbishop, two bishops, Missionaries of the Sacred Heart Kensington Superior, Rev. Father Bede Mooney, and 22 other priests concelebrate his funeral Mass two days later. It is the Feast of the Ascension. Father McGrath has been an ordained priest with the Society of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart for 68 years. The boy from Bungeet West has had a remarkable and fruitful vocation spanning Australia, New Zealand, Mesopotamia, India, England, USA, France, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium and Hungary.