et in hora mortis nostrae, amen

–Will you come with me?
–I’ll go with you.

Our parish is mourning two deaths in one family today. A 17-year-old altar server in our parish died shortly after midnight Tuesday after a lengthy fight with cancer. Dominic Davulis had been serving at Holy Trinity Church in Boston for most of his life and hoped to serve at the altar of God for years to come.
We all pray for the grace of a holy death. The circumstances around Dominic’s passing and the unexpected death of his brother William make me wonder at what mysterious events can happen, perhaps in response to that prayer.

Tragedy strikes Southie family: Brother killed hours before tumor takes his sibling’s life
By Laura Crimaldi (Boston Herald)
Thursday, August 10, 2006 – Updated: 03:14 AM EST
The devoted older brother of a dying Dorchester teen fulfilled a promise to join his little brother on his journey into eternal life when he died Tuesday in a motorcycle accident just hours before a brain tumor claimed his kin.
William Davulis, 26, the eldest of 10 children, was on his way to say goodbye to his younger brother, Dominic, 17, when he lost control of his motorcycle at the intersection of East First and O streets in South Boston at about 4:35 p.m.
“William wasn’t expecting to see God. He was expecting to see his dying brother,” said the brothers’ mother Terina, who hasn’t slept since she bid adieu to her older son at the city morgue only to return to Dominic’s bedside and hold his hand until he died at 12:50 yesterday morning.

“That was intense for me,” said Terina, who took comfort in the fact that both boys were wearing their brown scapular medals, which some Catholics believe protect them from eternal damnation, when they died.
Now, the deeply devout Catholic family is facing mounting burial costs as they try to cope with the crushing loss of two beloved sons in the span of only a few hours.
“When Dominic got sicker, he started asking people would they come with him,” said Terina, whose son was diagnosed with a terminal brain stem tumor on Dec. 20, 2005. “William told him he would go with him. I said, `Why are you telling him that?’ And he said, `He wants to think someone’s going with him. Let him think what he wants to hear.’ ”
The Davulis family got their first hint that William may have made good on his promise to Dominic, a longtime altar boy, when they heard about the motorcycle accident, which took place just minutes from their Oyster Bay Road home. They called around, but were unable to determine the identity of the victim at that point.
The family went forward with commendation of the soul for Dominic, who was unconscious and suffering from a 107-degree temperature. Just before 7 p.m., their father, William, ended the candlelit prayers for the teen who had aspired to follow his uncle, the Rev. Domenic Gentile, into the priesthood.
At about 9 p.m., police came to the Davulis home to deliver the news that William, known to family as “Wonderful William,” had died in the motorcycle accident while coming home from his job with the state Department of Education in Malden.
Terina said her eldest daughter “brought it to my attention. She said, `Mom, do you remember William saying that he would go with Domenic?` I said, `You’re right, he did.’ ”
The brothers will be honored at a vigil beginning Sunday at St. Christopher’s Church in Dorchester followed by services at Holy Trinity Church on Monday and burial in Mattapan.