Tradition in Action fulfills the sad obligation to communicate to our readers the loss of a decades-long close friend, assiduous collaborator and donor: Prof. Remi Amelunxen. He passed away on Christmas Eve, December 24, 2017.

Yesterday evening he received some friends for a Christmas Eve supper at his house in Prairie Village, Kansas. After dinner, prayers at the Manger and opening of gifts, he offered them a piano concert. After playing two pieces he excused himself from continuing due to a strong pain in his shoulders. He retired to his room where, a while later, he was found dead lying on his bed with a serene expression, his hands folded over his chest.

A priest came shortly to assist his soul with the Last Rites of Holy Mother Church, whom he dearly loved all his life. The medics diagnosed his causa mortis as being a massive heart attack.

That morning he had attended Mass and Communion. He and his friends were preparing to go to midnight Mass.

He was a devout Catholic who daily prayed the 15 decades of the Rosary as well as several other prayers including the 15 St. Gertrude Prayers on the Passion of Christ.

He wrote The Great Saint Joseph, a small book we published, to express his strong devotion to this Saint. It is interesting to consider that the birth of the Divine Infant at midnight, which was St. Joseph's great moment in life, would start to be celebrated shortly after Dr. Remi Amelunxen left this earth. We are led to suppose that the Patron Saint of the good death wanted to show his predilection for him, by taking his soul a little before that celebration would start in Heaven.

TIA has lost a great friend whose warm and enthusiastic support in difficult times was decisive to keep our fight going. We will feel the absence of his irreplaceable encouragement for a long time to come.

We recommend his generous and noble soul to the goodness and mercy of Our Lady, Saint Joseph and the Divine Infant on this day when goodness and mercy came from Heaven to open Heaven for us.

Requiem aeternam dona ei Domine, et lux perpetua luceat ei. Resquiescat in pace. Amen.

TIA - December 25, 2017