Life And Death At St. Pancratius Comments

Mass begins at 6 a.m. every day at St. Pancratius. Despite the early hour, and no matter the weather, elderly parishioners come out of their little bungalows in the dark to walk to Mass. Some have canes, others have walkers, and there's one man who pushes his wife in a wheelchair. For the most part, they move in silence down the surrounding streets and converge on the big Gothic church in small installments.

Patrolling the neighborhood at the end of his nightowl shift, Officer Thomas Gursky likes to watch the old-timers make their way to church. Having worked that shift for 15 years, he wants to make certain they make it to the church. But every few years, no matter how vigilant he is, one of them falls.
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