Candle-lit Masses

Altar where I offered Mass this Morning

Dear Friends and Family,

Blessed Laetare Sunday to you all! This morning I had the wonderful blessing of doing something very dear to my heart: offering a candle-lit Mass before the sun was up (I know some people consider a desire for such things a mental illness but for me it has been one of my favorite things to do as a priest). The above photo was taken using my flash, at 5AM, before the start of the 5:15AM Mass.

The chapel is part of a 900 year old house that became a Carmel around two centuries ago, but that has a long history of Catholics enduring persecution, hiding priests, having priests martyred, etc. In fact the sanctuary lamp has been continuously burning in the chapel of this home--now Carmelite convent--since the time of the Reformation, meaning that the Blessed Sacrament has been here continuously since that time. Reading about the heroism of some of the Catholics of this home was very humbling. At any rate this is where I have been offering a daily Mass, including this morning.

To make me feel even more at home the Mass was not only candle-lit but it was also around 45 degrees in the chapel, reminding me of brisk early morning Masses at St. Joseph's outdoor chapel in Texas. At 5:15 A.M. I rang the bell and started out for the Mass, with the congregation consisting of 12 contemplative nuns (I think all under the age of 40). The sisters are behind a grill that faces this altar. The only light came from the candles on the altar--not even a flashlight needed to read the book.

At the nuns' request I preached the homily in Italian (since most of them are Italian and many don't yet know English well), and it was a beautiful Gospel to preach on--the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves by Jesus, which symbolizes the immense graces available from the Eucharist. Having an attentive audience of nuns I preached on (among other things) the variety of souls throughout the world who at this moment were starving for God's graces--those far from Him, steeped in sin and despairing of His mercy; those who would die today and needed the grace of conversion in order to be saved; mothers so exhausted from the challenge of raising a Catholic family that they felt they couldn't go on; fathers of families facing great challenges as head of the family; young people sensing a call to a vocation but finding it hard to respond; souls in purgatory; priests and nuns, etc.

And then preached on the amazing fact that, right then and there--in that Mass, Jesus wanted to feed all of them. All of these starving souls could receive His graces this morning, the graces that flowed from that altar. But in God's plans He calls for our cooperation, our prayers and adoration, for those graces to be poured out more abundantly. And so we prayed... was quite a nice experience to pray intensely for the world with the nuns kneeling in adoration.

There are some other photos I had wanted to show you but my computer is not cooperating... so I'll just add that I discovered yesterday a jogging route that is a three mile loop down to the ocean and back, with lots of hills in the middle. It's a great run, and has pretty scenery. After running past fields with sheep, cattle, and horses, you reach a little sea-side village with ice cream stands, etc. and the waves breaking on the beach. Hopefully the photos will eventually come through and I can post them.

This past week was quite good for prayer and studying. Only one more exam this coming week so it should be a bit less pressure. Last week's exams went well. Thank you for your prayers!

In Corde Mariae,
Fr. Moses of Jesus Pillari