The Miracle

The phone rang.
   "You can get that, I'll set the table," said Matilda.
Lin walked casually over & picked up the phone, "Hello."
"Yes."
"Who is it?' asked Matilda.
"Tomachun, " Lin replied softly.
"What does he want?" Lin held the phone against his chest to answer.
"It's about someone called Patros Saviour. He’s dead & Tomachun expects me to go to the funeral. Who is he?"
   "That's the fellow at our wedding. The one who was drunk & you wanted to throw out."
Lin had turned & was listening intently to Tomachun's slow precise English & trying not to get annoyed. It wasn't Tomachun's fault that the Saviour fellow was drunk & a nuisance. Matilda could see Lin's shoulders tighten and his elbows rise. A frozen moment. He hung up & turned to Matilda & said, "Bloody relatives, Bloody obligations." 
    "What was that all about?" asked Matilda.
"That Saviour fellow was a heavy drinker. He died in his sleep."
    "Just as well you didn't get rough with him at the wedding. He may have died then." Lin nodded.
"Tomachun said that as a male member of the community, I'm obliged to attend the funeral."
"That's right, you're part of the Malayalee Community now," said Matilda. "He was a pest at the wedding. No way I'm going to his bloody funeral." 
The phone rang again. Lin took the call.
"Hello again," he said when he heard Tomachun's voice.
Lin held out the phone to Matilda and said, "It's Tomachun for you."
   "He keeps apologizing for bothering us."
Matilda took the phone & spoke to Tomachun.
She listened for a while & then asked, "Where & when is the funeral?'
Tomachun & Lin both said, "This afternoon at four in Our Lady of Lourdes Church."
"That's between Roche Canal and Arab Street. Near the thieves market, isn't it?"
Matilda was too busy listening to Tomachun's laboured apology to respond. She waved to Lin who sat down at the table & began eating. The food was getting cold.
"All of this just when we were about to eat," he thought.
Matilda turned to look at Lin & nodded & said, "Uncle Victor will be shamed if we don't attend," & hung up the phone.
Mention of Uncle Victor and the thought of going to the Thieves Market swung it.
"OK, we'll go then," he said, "but only for Uncle Victor and for Tomachun."  

It was a cloudy Wednesday afternoon and the humidity was rising when they got to the church. Lin particularly noticed the stale smell of rotting garbage rising from the canal. Tomachun came over to greet them both warmly and Uncle Victor, though quite formal, smiled broadly.

Men from the Roman Catholic Malayalee Community were gathered in the bare courtyard in front of the church talking quietly. They were dressed in sober grey suits. Several people came to greet Lin & Matilda.  Faces Lin only vaguely recalled from the wedding. He'd only met Tomachun and Uncle Victor at the wedding too. But he had found them to be dignified & very interesting people.Most of the people waiting for the funeral service Lin hasn't met but they all seemed to know him.

Matilda was the first Malayalee girl to marry an outsider. All the people had been invited because in some way they were connected to the family because they were relatives, or came from the same village in India. Some were work colleagues or business associates. Only handful were outsiders, friends.   
 
The priest, a tall thin elderly Eurasian father with gaunt face appeared at the front door and announced that the coffin was open should anyone wish to view the body. Some people went up to gaze at Saviour’s remains. Matilda & Lin filed past. Neither of them looked at the corpse, but Lin did read the fancy silver name plate on the lid that was leaning up against the coffin with interest 

          ANDREW  ANTHONY  JOSEPH  PATHROSE  SAVIOUR

Taped pipe organ music played a Josquin transcription softly as the group seated themselves. Periodically, people bobbed up and down to kneel or reach forward to collect the "order of service" which was expensively printed and embossed. "They'll send one of these to all the friends and relatives in India." said Matilda as she leaned briefly against her new husband.    The front of the church looked like a mud wall painted with frescos. "This is an exact replica of the Lady of Lourdes church in France," she said. "That's where miracles happen."    

Lin looked over at the open coffin and wondered if the dead man might stand up a speak or levitate during the service. He kept looking at the coffin, half expecting a head to pop up and say something. He thought about the jack in box coffins he’d seen in tourist shops. They were delicately rigged so that when curious people tried to open the lid a little to see what was there the lid would pop up suddenly. The beautifully carved wooden figures lying in wait suddenly sported a spring loaded erection. What fun it was to watch the looks of surprise from everyone & to see the girls giggling. Now if such a thing should happen that would really be something to write home about, he thought smiling to himself. Nobody seemed to notice the only white man smiling to himself during the requiem mass that day.  

Lin had to have lessons on catholic faith from the priest at the Cathedral they had been allowed to marry in the church. He told the Holy Catholic Monsignor, Father Rosario that he didn't believe a word of it and that he liked the Buddhist ideas better. Despite their differences of opinion they had lively and interesting discussions about the meaning of life and death.

And Father Rosario agreed to perform the marriage ceremony.   Lin sat through the whole funeral service in a day dream. His eyes wandered around and he studied the backs of heads the wall in front, he kept returning his attention to the open casket, smiling every time he did in anticipation, just waiting for a goodbye salute from the corpse.  

   Matilda was very busy doing her spiritual exercises -  standing, sitting, kneeling on one knee, kneeling on both knees, doing the sign of the cross over & over again & talking away in Latin or English as required according to the order of service. She only lifted her head to look at Lin when the priest had finished blessing everyone in the name of the Father & the Son & the Holy Ghost.

   Pall bearers solemnly carried the coffin unevenly from the church. One bearer was a good bit taller than the others. Two men followed with the lid with the silver name plate. Most of the congregation followed them on to the bare concrete courtyard. Matilda & Lin left through the sidedoor. It was quite bare. The sun had penetrated the clouds. The light was good. They stopped in surprise when they nearly walked straight into the photographer who had his back to them. 

Men of the Malayalee Catholic Community in Singapore were lined up staring formally towards them.  "ANDREW   ANTHONY   JOSEPH   PATHROSE SAVIOUR" stood stiffly with them inside his coffin in a grey suit. His tie was bright green with yellow flecks. It was the best & loudest tie in the line up. His skin was a cold greyish dark green & his his eyes were shut. Pall bearers on either side of him had their hands on his chest and belly to keep him steady. The tall pall bearer had his hands on top of the coffin & he peered over the top. The liMircd was held up in front of the solemn group of mourners with the silver name plate clearly visible. Indeed, it was a  memorable moment frozen in time.
"They'll be sending the photo back to his widow and the family in India," Matilda said quietly to Lin who turned towards her and rolled his eyes.

It was a day of miracles after all.