I had a very profound experience of the significance of my hospitaller vocation while giving pastoral care to a patient suffering from a chronic disease. Following a blood transfusion, Mr A. contracted chronic hepatitis, which after 30 years turned into liver failure. The patient, who until then had run a small tourist hotel, was a very active  member of the parish. He was a friend of several doctors at our hospital in Regensburg since his wife had been nurse to a baby who grew up to become the hospital’s director.   Mrs A’s wife was always at her husband’s side and, thanks to my frequent pastoral visits, a deep relationship developed between the three of us over the months.  Caring for Mr A. and his wife I understood what it means to make oneself brother to all men, as Christ taught us. It is important, in sickness and despair above all, to “be there for the other”, listening to their words, supporting them and praying with them.   In the terminal stage of his illness, Mr A. was transferred to the palliative ward. I had the privilege and the joy of being able to be with him, together with an Indian Sister, in the last hour of his life, when we all supported him by celebrating the unction of the sick. Mrs A. was upheld in her bereavement by the conviction that her husband is now serenely with the Lord. I have always encouraged and comforted her in that conviction. The brotherly support I was able to give Mr A. and his family allowed me to experience to the full what it means to be a hospitaller Brother.