- The title of Book 9 is the same as the title of the entire book. Fancy.
- Oh, and heads up: you know those cool little sub-chapter titles from the last eight books? Yeah, Book 9 doesn't bother with those guys.
- The chapter opens with a letter from Archbishop Latour to the sister of Father Joseph Vaillant. It discusses Joseph, who has died.
- Latour says he feels closer to Joseph now that he's passed away, which is kind of a weird thing to say, considering they were pretty close when he was alive.
- Latour is now living on a country estate he has bought near Santa Fe. His major job nowadays is to train new priests who come over to New Mexico from France.
- His main way of relaxing is taking care of his garden, where he grows a lot of the stuff he eats. Things are pretty peaceful, but in a lot of ways, the guy is waiting for death to come to him (hey, it's just like the title says).
- Toward the end of Latour's life, a young religious student named Bernard Ducrot moves in with him and becomes like a son.