Msgr. Charles Benoit died saving the Host in the Haiti quake

You and I must forever revere the memory of Msgr. Charles Benoit, the archdiocesan vicar general in Port-au-Prince. When his body was found in the destroyed cathedral some days after the January 12 earthquake, in his hands was a reliquary containing the Host.

"Well done, thou good and faithful servant."

Here are quotes from a Catholic Relief Services (click on this post's title) article today (January 24):

"Leaders of Catholic Relief Services joined mourners at the [January 23] funeral Mass of Archbishop Joseph Serge Miot of Port-au-Prince, who died in the January 12 earthquake.

"Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York, chairman of the board of Catholic Relief Services, was a celebrant at Saturday's Mass.

"More than 1,000 people came to the grounds of Port-au-Prince's cathedral and gathered in front of two coffins holding the remains of two Haitian clergy, Archbishop [Joseph Serge] Miot and Monsignor Charles Benoit, the vicar general...

"Behind the mourners—in full view of the Mass celebrants—were the ruins of Port-au-Prince's impressive cathedral, destroyed in the quake. Many Haitians were celebrating Mass and died there when the quake struck. A statement from Caritas, the Church's organization of humanitarian aid agencies, said that when Monsignor Benoit's body was found in the cathedral ruins, his hands were around a reliquary with a [H]ost inside. Archbishop Miot was killed when he fell from a balcony at his nearby residence when the quake struck..."