Dozens of priests, family, friends and former parishioners crowded into a sweltering St. Joseph’s church for the Mass of Christian burial celebrated Sept. 11 by Kingston Archbishop Brendan O’Brien. Msgr. Raby, 94, the beloved former columnist of The Catholic Register, died Sept. 6 in a Kingston hospital.
“He was the salt of the earth,” said Fr. Stanley Alanen, a long-time friend who gave the homily. “There was no other interest in his life than to make sure he served his parishioners well. I never ever heard him grumble or complain when a request was made of him, particularly if someone was ill or in hospital.”
Alanen said that Msgr. Raby was never someone interested in possessions.
“He was not a selfish man. He was not a collector. He wasn’t interested in worldly things.”
Besides serving his parishioners, his great passion was writing, particularly the column he penned for The Register for almost 50 years. When Msgr. Raby’s health made it impossible for him to continue writing his column, “that was the thing he missed most,” Alanen said.
But, said, Alanen, Msgr. Raby accepted God’s will.
“He accepted that as he accepted everything in his life – with grace,” Alanen said.
Alanen said Msgr. Raby not only had a gift for writing, but a gift “to tell ordinary stories about people that always had a religious message. If you ask the people at The Register . . . they will tell you that most of the readership opened the paper first to the page that had Msgr. Raby’s column.”
Alanen said that long before the advent of the New Evangelization in the Church, Msgr. Raby was using the media to spread God’s word.
“He was ahead of his time. That was the type of insightful and forward looking man that he was.”
Msgr. Raby’s final years were difficult because of his failing health but he retained an active prayer life until the day he died. “He was completely faithful to his prayers,” Alanen said. He also retained his famous sense of humour.
Alanen recalled a recent visit to Msgr. Raby when, after about half an hour, Alanen said he was leaving so Msgr. Raby could get some sleep. When he reached the door, Alanen looked back to see Msgr. Raby watching him.
“You can’t sleep with your eyes open,” Alanen said.
“You’d be surprised,” Msgr. Raby replied. “I’ve slept through many sermons.”
When he wasn’t writing, Msgr. Raby delighted in being active in parish life.
Alanen said there were times when there were three meetings happening in the parish at the same time and Msgr. Raby made a point of dropping in on all three.
“He was a visible leader. Those that were involved in the pro-life movement would recognize that. He would be out there marching with them, he would be with them in Ottawa (at the annual March for Life). He was always visible with his support.”
After the Mass, Msgr. Raby was interned at St. Patrick’s Cemetery.