Letter from Fr. Albert Bibby OFM Cap., St. Francis Hospital, Santa Barbara, California, to Fr. Bonaventure Murphy OFM Cap. referring to his declining health. He writes 'Tis a desperate fight I'm making for life. ... I was more a corpse than alive when brought in here [hospital]. I have anaemia & ulceration of stomach. Though [the] former more serious, the latter would almost kills a bull'. Bibby adds 'When I think of Fr. Peter and his 4 Def[initors] I find it hard not to be bitter, but I try as best to have patience and offer up this suffering in expatiation of my sins’. He also refers to on-going work at the mission in Santa Inés.
Letter from Fr. Albert Bibby OFM Cap., St. Francis Hospital, Santa Barbara, to Fr. Bonaventure Murphy OFM Cap., referring to his weakening condition and suggesting that the end is near. He writes ‘I know my dear mother and sisters will feel my death – won’t you write and console them’. He asks to be remembered in a lengthy list of family members and friends. Bibby writes 'Remember me to all the brethren – for no one have I the smallest particle of bitterness, though alas I have often said bitter things for which I in heartily sorrow'.
Letter from Br. Colmcille Cregan OFM Cap. to Fr. Bonaventure Murphy OFM Cap. referring to Fr. Albert Bibby's worsening condition in Santa Barbara Hospital. He writes that Father Albert ‘has no desire to die, as he had [a] big wish to do something for Saint Agnes [Mission Santa Inés], but God has ordained otherwise. Anyway, he set the Mission going and had got many interested in the restoration work’. He also refers to Fr. Dominic O'Connor's presence which has delighted Albert and that the latter expresses no bitterness towards his brethren at home. He also affirms that it is Bibby's wish to be buried in Ireland and to make representations to the Provincial Minister and the relevant authorities in Ireland to ensure that this happens.
Letter from Fr. Albert Bibby OFM Cap. to Fr. Peter Bowe OFM Cap., Provincial Minister, referring to his weakened condition and his closeness to death. He asks for 'forgiveness and pardon for all my faults, and for all the disedifications I have given, as well for all the violations of [the] Rule, Constitutions and Regulations of which I have been guilty'. Bibby asserts that he wishes 'to die a loyal member of the Irish Province'. He encloses a newspaper cutting from the 'Santa Barbara Daily News' (21 Jan. 1925) containing an article with (photographic prints) of Mission Santa Inés and ‘Padre Albert’. With a cover and copies.
A newspaper clipping from the 'Santa Barbara Daily News' (21 Jan. 1925) containing photographs of Fr. Albert Bibby OFM Cap. at Mission Santa Inés in California.
Telegram from Fr. Dominic O'Connor OFM Cap. to Fr. Bonaventure Murphy OFM Cap. regarding the death of Fr. Albert Bibby OFM Cap. in St. Francis Hospital in Santa Barbara, California. The text reads 'Albert with martyrs of the Gael / peaceful happy death / Dominic'.
Letter from Dorothy Godfrey, 267 West, 139 Street, New York City, to Fr. Peter Bowe OFM Cap., Provincial Minister, Holy Trinity Friary, Cork, referring to the poor treatment which Fr. Albert Bibby OFM Cap. received from the higher echelons of the clergy and the Order. She asserts: ‘May God forgive the clergy or Free Staters who had a hand in his exile. Sending a dying priest 3,500 miles across our land. I went with him to the train and it left a picture in my mind that cannot be blotted out. Another Christ carrying his cross. He was not able to drag his feet across the platform and carrying a heavy bag’.
A letter from Dorothy Godfrey (1893-1975) to Fr. Bonaventure Murphy OFM Cap. on her anger on hearing of the death of Fr. Albert Bibby OFM Cap. She writes ‘I want to tell you and your good friends, that Fr. Albert did die broken-hearted over the treatment he received from F. P[eter Bowe] and the two who went over to England to have his faculties taken from him. What he suffered for God and Ireland he did not mind, but to think of his own in religion doing such mean things almost broke his heart'.
