Just before he was slain on the altar of his own church in France last week, Father Jacques Hamel was said to have pushed away his attackers with his feet while saying, “Go away, Satan!”

According to the Associated Press, Father Hamel’s last words were revealed by the Archbishop of Rouen, Dominique Lebrun, during a solemn funeral Mass which was held yesterday inside the cathedral of Rouen.

“Evil is a mystery. It reaches heights of horror that take us out of the human,” Archbishop Dominique Lebrun said during his homily. “Isn’t that what you wanted to say, Jacques, with your last words, when you fell to the ground? After you were struck by the knife, you tried to push away your assailants with your feet and said, `Go away, Satan.’ You repeated it, `Go away, Satan.”‘

With those words, Lebrun said, “You expressed … your faith in the goodness of humans and that the devil put his claws in.”

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the July 26 attack which was carried out by two teenaged Islamic extremists who took two nuns and an elderly couple hostage during morning Mass. Father Hamel was attacked on the altar where his throat was slit. Meanwhile, a third nun was able to escape the church and alerted authorities who killed both assailants as they tried to exit the church.

A week later, more than 1,500 people attended the funeral of the beloved priest, who was once again found upon the altar, this time in a simple wooden casket draped in his vestments and a red stole.

Among the congregation were French dignitaries as well as Muslim and Jewish leaders. Local citizens gathered outside to watch the Mass on a big screen while huddling under umbrellas to protect themselves from the constant rain.

Rouen Cathedral;

Emotions were high while listening to the murdered priest’s sister, Roselyne, describe her 85 year-old brother as being a man of “mercy and love.”

She said he once turned down an officer’s position while serving in Algeria because it would have required him to order men to kill.

“His refusal was categorical.” she said, according to the BBC. “He chose to serve God so that he can cultivate love and sharing and tolerance among people of all faiths and denominations, believers and non-believers, throughout his life.”

Father Hamel’s message to everyone would be, “Let us learn to live together,” she said. “Let us be the workers and artisans of peace, each one in his own way.”

This was certainly Father Hamel’s goal in life. Even though he was well past retirement age, he kept himself in shape and devoted himself to the work of baptizing, marrying, and celebrating Mass for parishioners in St. Etienne du Rouvray where he spent most of his life.

“He could have retired at 75 years old, but seeing how few priests were around he decided to stay and work, to continue to be of service to people, up until it all ended, tragically,” the Rev. Auguste Moanda-Phuati, the parish priest of the Église St.-Étienne, where Father Hamel worked as an auxiliary priest, said in a phone interview with the New York Times. “He was loved by all. He was a little like a grandfather. We were happy when he was around and worried when we hadn’t seen him in a while.”

In the homily, Rouen Archbishop Dominique Lebrun reminded the faithful: “As brutal and unfair and horrible as Jacques’ death was, we have to look deep into our hearts to find the light.”

This isn’t the first time the citizens of Rouen were called upon to search their hearts upon the death of a saintly soul. It was in this very city, on May 30, 1431, that Joan of Arc was burned at the stake.

Father Hamel’s burial took place after Mass and was restricted to close family members.

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