Fr Ben Grist - Rest in Peace
Blogged by James Preece on 17th October 2012
I didn't know Fr Ben, I never met him, but I heard about him a lot. He seems to have touched the lives of many of my friends in a profound way.
Dylan Parry writes...
On Sunday morning, a friend of mine, Fr Ben Grist, died after being fortified by the rites of the Church.
Ben was granted a special dispensation to be ordained at the end of his third year in the seminary, after having been diagnosed with a particularly aggressive form of cancer during the Easter break.
I first met Ben whilst staying in a Benedictine parish in 2003. For over a year before I was sent to Valladolid in 2006, he used to visit me every Thursday evening. We would pray Vespers together during these weekly meetings, singing the appropriate seasonal Marian anthem at the end of our time together. During this time of grace, we also encouraged each other in discerning our particular vocations.
A couple of years after I returned from Valladolid, Ben himself went off to seminary, as a student for the Diocese of East Anglia.
Although we grew apart around that time, with him moving to Birmingham and me to London, we would still meet up on the rare occasions when he travelled through Victoria.
Two things will always live in my memory whenever I think of Fr Ben -- his very innocent but great sense of humour, and the fact that I could have been a much better friend to him.
May he now rest in Christ’s sweet and eternal peace.
My friend Zosia also blogged about Fr Ben here.
Eternal rest grant unto him O Lord, and may perpetual light shine upon him.
May he rest in peace. Amen.
Reader Comments
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zosia said...
Fr Ben was a wonderful man, and a great friend. His character and sense of humour is something those who knew him will always remember him by, as well as his strength and the courage he showed in his last few months when fighting his illness. His ordination was a profoundly moving time - one I was blessed to witness. I went to visit Fr Ben two weeks ago, he still had his spark and his wit even in his weak health, commenting on his 'spikey' personality. He spoke so movingly about his faith and the blessed time since his ordination, and I left in tears after he prayed for me, and the three of us who visited prayed for him. We miss him. May he now rest in peace and rise in glory.
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Fr Luke Goymour said...
Ben remains in death what he was in life. A brother and a priest. He has taught me more about priesthood and christian conversion in his short ministery than I think I could ever learn in a lifetime. I pray that we have the grace to live the lessons he has taught us, with the same conviction (and humour!) that he did. Thank you brother!
Requiescat in pace
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