Dear Editor: Let me relate one story that I heard recently about Father Thomas Doyle that the parishioners of St. Francis de Sales, Belle Harbor, might be unaware of.

About one year ago, one of the parishioners was dying and the family called the church for a priest to come over. Father Doyle was off that day but when he heard someone was in need, he called the family and went to the house. There he found the man lying in bed dying and he administered the Anointing of the Sick, absolution and gave the man Communion. There was a quiet peace in the room.

The man reached for Father Doyle’s hand. Father Doyle held that man in his arms and comforted him for several minutes. As he was leaving, he told the family if they needed anything to call him anytime and gave them his cell phone number.

Four weeks later after returning from a trip, Father Doyle called the family to see if there was anything he could do. He was told that that was the day the man was going to die. He rushed over to the house and gave the anointing again. The man died later that day.

Father Doyle only met that man twice yet when it came time to give the sermon at his funeral, he spoke as if he knew the man for 30 years. The family told me that they heard Father Doyle talked to all those coming in for Mass cards about the man who had passed.

JOE SAUNDERS

Belle Harbor