In Pace Christi

Bro. Antonio Gasparini was born at Carrè, Padova Province, on 25 February 1924. After the novitiate in Florence, he took his first vows in 1943, when he was nineteen years of age, and his perpetual vows in 1949. From 1943 to 1950 he worked at Thiene in the mechanical workshop, then in the communities of Florence, Venice and Rome at the service of the house community. Subsequently he spent some months in Sunningdale to study English and left immediately afterwards for Wau, Sudan, where he remained from 1951 to 1964, working in the mechanical workshop.

He was then transferred to Uganda where he spent ten years in the workshop at Gulu, next to the cathedral parish (1965-1975). In 1976 he went to Awasa, Ethiopia, where he worked for another 31 years, up to the day he died, 25 July 2007, at the age of 83 years, 55 of which he had spent in Africa. The long periods of time he spent in different provinces shows what was, perhaps, his main characteristic: his willingness to go wherever his superiors sent him.

In 2005, two years before he died, in a letter to Fr. Teresino Serra, the Superior General, he wrote: “I feel I have given everything I could to the mission. From now on I shall collaborate with my prayers and the offering of the sufferings caused by my illness”.

Fr. Sisto Agostini says of Bro. Antonio’s last days: “Everything was ready for the week’s retreat to be preached by Fr. Teresino Serra. The last fruit of the well-nursed avocado tree had been picked by the hands of Bro. Antonio, those same hands which, with great satisfaction, presented the fruit to his bishop with one of those smiles of his which seemed to light up his face more and more as time went on. It was the smile of a man at peace who knew he had given his all to a project which now lacked just a few refinements, refinements which he worked at every day, to the surprise of everyone.

His only problem with the retreat, he said, would have been caused by his poor hearing and, since there was no PA system, he would seat, against his usual habit, in the front row. That week he would move around steadily and with his back erect, in spite of a backache from which he suffered for years in Uganda, until Dr. Corti applied a spinal traction that made him a new man, young and strong again, with no back pain.
Bro. Antonio had beautiful memories of Uganda and Sudan and, after supper, willingly spoke to the confreres of his time in those countries where, besides the daily, methodical work, there were the occasional hunting and fishing expeditions.

On Saturday, 21 June 2007, the retreat was over and Bro Antonio was getting back to his usual round of activities in the community of Awasa. Sunday was always respected and honoured: prayer and Holy Mass above all else (he was always the first in church, in fact he was the one to open the doors in the morning). Then, with clockwork regularity and exactness he would see to the ordering and cleaning of his small room, take care of his correspondence, make a round of the garden, read his favourite magazines and rest in an armchair where he would pray the rosary and enjoy a short nap.

That particular Sunday he treated himself to a cake he had put aside some time previously. He did not sleep well that night, but the following Monday morning he was still first in church as usual. After a while he had to leave as he felt unwell: he was short of breath and found it difficult to walk. At breakfast he ate very little and agreed not to work that day. He declined to go and see the doctor, thinking it unnecessary and attributing his discomfort to the cake he ate the evening before. On the following morning, Tuesday, he felt better and did a little work. He still had no appetite, though he took his plate of food. The next morning he did not attend morning prayers, but came for breakfast with a little assistance. He was very short of breath and soon went back to bed. He now agreed to be taken to the small hospital run by the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary. He wanted to dress himself, but his confreres took care of him since he said he could hardly see. He handed over the keys and showed where things were kept in his room, took a last look around and left for the hospital. We prayed together in the car: ‘Pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death’. This was the last prayer he said aloud. He revived a little when we reached the hospital and saw Sr. Keko waiting for him. We helped him into the room prepared for him, but even those few steps were beyond him and we felt his legs give way under his weight. Lying on the bed he wanted to say something, perhaps to ask for absolution which he received just as he breathed his last. Those present prayed together a simple prayer to guide his passage from this life to the next.

It all happened in a matter of minutes. The best efforts of the doctors, injections and oxygen were all to no avail. Bro. Antonio went on his way, as always, without the least bother to anyone. It was 11.40 a.m. on Wednesday 25 July 2007, precisely five months after his eighty-third birthday. He died offering his service to the last breath, an example of faith, dedication and industriousness”.
Da Mccj Bulletin n. 238 suppl. In Memoriam, aprile-luglio 2008, pp. 4-9.