Diary of a Country Priest ending explained

What happens

Ill and alone, the priest learns in the city that he has a grave illness. He dies in a friend's home, and his last words are that grace is everywhere. His failures are never turned into visible success.

The last image

The screen goes dark and a cross appears, with nothing else to explain it.

What it says

The ending moves the focus from the man to something beyond him. The priest's work shows no results you can measure, and the film refuses to invent any. Grace, it suggests, works in ways neither he nor you can fully see.