that Van de Velde rallied sufficiently to be able to accept the sacrament just prior to his death. Death With his death only 23 months after arrival in Natchez, Bishop Van de Velde had little time to make any lasting impact on his new diocese. At 7AM on November 15, 1855, after weeks of fever and five final hours of paroxysms and sliding in and out of consciousness, Van de Velde expired on the feast day of St. Stanislaus, to whom he had reportedly just completed a novena. He was sixty years old. His body was placed on view in lavish vestments with his eyes still partially open and his casket displayed on a tilt, "so as to give the impression of being partially erect", according to a letter sent back to Europe by a Jesuit priest informing fellow Jesuits and other European Catholics of Van de Veldes' death. His wake lasted long into the night and he was buried the next day, November 14, after a funeral Mass sung at the St. Mary's Cathedral by the Archbishop of New Orleans, Anthony Blanc. See also Roman Catholic Diocese of Jackson, formerly Diocese of Natchez Pierre-Jean De Smet, fellow Belgian-American Jesuit from Van de Velde's hometown; author of eulogistic letter References External links St. Mary Basilica Archives, Natchez, Mississippi, James Oliver Van de Velde, S.J., second Bishop of Natchez St. Mary Basilica Natchez, Mississippi Episcopal succession 1795 births 1855 deaths 19th-century American Jesuits 19th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States Belgian emigrants to the United States Georgetown College (Georgetown University) alumni People from Chicago Roman Catholic bishops in Mississippi Roman Catholic bishops of Chicago Roman Catholic Diocese of Jackson People from Lebbeke