Pat Hume was “pure of heart - she always put others first”

The mother of five’s commitment to truth and to justice was consistent and unquestionable, Father Paul Farren told mourners at her Requiem Mass in St Eugene’s Cathedral this morning.

“If you went to Pat with a problem, your suffering became her suffering,” said Rev. Farren. “Your pain became her pain. Your problem became hers to find a solution to and she found solutions in her astute, wise, compassionate and quiet way that always avoided any type of fuss or focus on herself. The empathy that Pat had was unique and incredible.”

Fr Farren described Mrs Hume as “pure of heart”.

“Pat had the purest heart of anybody I have ever met,” he said. “Pat saw God in everybody that she met and her joy at seeing God was written over her face in her most wonderful smile and totally engaged and interested eyes. Pat was a most humble and beautiful person. Much has been said about John and Pat and their unity in peacemaking. It is all true and if John brought the brilliant mind to the peacemaking then Pat brought the pure heart.”

Fr Farren said Mrs Hume did everything with a “mother’s heart”.

“She lived the vocation of motherhood in her home, in her community here in Derry and on the world stage,” he said. “The vocation of a mother is the most important vocation in the world because the vocation of a mother is to give life, to give joy; it is to serve and to always put others first. Pat did all of these things in a most powerful, gentle, loving, profound and simple way. I know for you, Therese, Aine, Aidan, John and Mo, your mother created an oasis of love and security, trust and joy for you in the midst of much turmoil and danger in your young lives. When your home was being attacked, because your parents were committed to peace, your mother held you and protected you and never allowed you to lose confidence in the truth that peace is always more noble and stronger than violence.

“Pat’s mothering went so far beyond the five of you and her grandchildren, who she was so proud of. Pat mothered us all, from those she taught many years ago to every one of us, looking at our faces, detecting tiredness, telling us to rest. Her mothering enabled her to ask questions all about us and our families as soon as she met us and to be truly interested in our answers. She rarely told her own stories because she was so interested in our stories and she could laugh and it was infectious and it was the cause of so much joy. I suppose her greatest example of mothering came in how she cared for John, in his long illness, in the last years of his life. With John she was for ever patient, for ever loving, for ever gentle and an example to us all.”

Rev. Farren added: “We thought that God should have spared her years after John when she could have focused on herself but, in hindsight, Pat could never have focused on herself. She always lived for others and that was even revealed in the generous manner of her death. Today we truly give thanks to God for the wonderful gift that is Pat Hume, for her pure heart shaped by her faith and her call to be a mother. We never wanted her to leave this world because it was always brighter and more joyful when she was here. But today we pray that she has heard John calling ‘Pat’ again and that he had brought her to the heart of God where they are united for ever.”

“We pray for Pat. It was no wonder that it was her heart that was worn out, because she truly gave her heart to God and to us all. We pray that rather than just remembering Pat we will be inspired to do as she did and to see God in the other and so be true peace makers ourselves.”