Two twin brothers, Adrian and Julian Reisters, who were born 92 years ago in Buffalo (USA) and have lived side by side all their lives, simultaneously died a natural death
The Reister brothers were born on March 27, 1919 in a large family, where, in addition to them, there were five more older sisters. “Our father was a doctor and prayed for a son. The Lord made fun of him and gave two of them at once!”, - once said one of the brothers Adrian.
At first, the brothers began their military careers, but both had vision problems - one had a defect in the left eye, and the other with the right. A little later they took the monastic order of the Catholic Church.
After a short separation, from 1951 to 1956, they both attended theological seminary in Sant Bonaventura. Then, for 17 years, they served in different parishes, but eventually returned to Sant Bonaventura.
Adrian and Julian were brothers of the Roman Catholic Order of the lesser brothers. For 65 years, they worked together at the University of Saint Bonaventure as preaching monks, doing carpentry, tending the gardens, and even leading tourists around the city.
“They were very quiet and with gentle souls,” said Yvon Pease, who has been working at the Monastery of St. Bonaventure for 21 years, about the brothers. Adrian was more talkative, and Julian always took on the role of "big brother", was very calm and reasonable. And no one really knows who the elder was."
Since 2008, they have been at the Monastery of St. Anthony in St. Petersburg, Florida. It was in the hospital of this city that both brothers died last Wednesday. Julian died in the morning, and his brother Adrian in the evening. Both had heart failure.
“The end of their life story became truly poetic. On the one hand, it is surprising, but in fact not, since they have always been together,”the French edition of GENTSIDE quotes the representative of Saint Bonaventure Tom Missel.
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The funeral service for the Reister brothers will take place on June 6 at the Church of St. Mary of the Grace of God in St. Petersburg (USA). The bodies will then be transported to Buffalo, where they will be buried in a cemetery near the University of St. Bonaventure.