Pilgrimage to the Shrine of the Chideock Martyrs

Dear Friends and Family,

Today was a beautiful pilgrimage to the shrine of the Chideock Martyrs. Really grace-filled. Because of how full tomorrow will be I wanted to at least post some photos for you tonight.

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The Sacristy, which had been richly painted as a chapel, after the persecution ended.

The Church where I offered Mass, with a full congregation.

Our good organist. The music was beautiful!

A travel Mass kit from... the 1500's.

Approach to the Church, seen in the background.

For more photos and information, see here: https://www.chideockmartyrschurch.org.uk

May Jesus and Mary watch over you and guide you.

In Cordibus Iesu et Mariae,
Fr. Pillari

The Joy of the Martyrs

Dear Friends and Family,

This past week I had the wonderful blessing of my parents' presence. They were able to join me for Catechism--and a fun game of soccer (football for you Europeans!) with some of the children--dinner, rosary, a visit to Auntie Rhoda, who will be 100 years old in a week, and then a pilgrimage to some sites of the English martyrs in London.

"Auntie Rhoda" who lives in the village and who will turn 100 next week. She spent her life as a housekeeper for Anglican Vicars. Please pray that she might become a Catholic!

Some highlights of the trip to London were the chance to pray at the Tyburn Convent, where 105 Catholics were martyred in the 16th and 17th centuries, after cruel tortures and questionings. A convent of nuns there maintains perpetual adoration and gives tours of the impressive collection of relics kept in the crypt. The nun giving us our tour is just beginning her novitiate, and spoke movingly of what the martyrs went through for the holy Faith. Though some of the stories are rather gruesome, I found it quite uplifting to contemplate the joy, peace, and courage that God granted to them during those trials. What a gift to have such friends and heavenly intercessors! How great is God's grace and mercy to grant such gifts to weak men!

After visiting the convent, we walked to the actual site of their martyrdom, which is now in the midst of a traffic circle, with a commemorative marking as pictured below:

The "Tyburn Tree" was a triangular scaffold so large that 8 men at a time could be hung on each of the three sides...

We then visited the Tower of London, where it was moving to see the engravings that martyrs had carved in stone during their captivity: a beautiful image of the Sacred Heart, moving engravings of devotional words, professions of faith. We also saw the instruments of torture used on them. Really impressive that God gave them the grace to resist courageously all of that.

I then caught the metro to Paddington Station, with plenty of time to catch my train until... the metro came to an abrupt halt and it was announced that it would be stopped for an indefinite time and that we should seek alternative transportation. I flagged down an uber who spent the next 45 minutes dodging the London traffic in the hope of making my 3:03 PM train. Somehow, he managed to beat the clock and get me within a few hundred yards of the station at 2:58 PM. Hopping out of the car and running with my luggage to the station I reached the main entrance at 2:59. Now to find the platform... As I scanned the board the clock struck 3:00. Locating platform 4 I ran toward it and hopped aboard the train... 1 minute before it left the station.

A good number of Memorare's were prayed during the journey and I'm most grateful to Our Lady for getting me there on time.

May God grant you a blessed week. Please pray for me this Saturday as I offer Mass for a Latin Mass Society pilgrimage to the site of the Chideock Martyrs in our diocese.

May Jesus and Mary watch over you and guide you.

In Cordibus Iesu et Mariae,
Fr. Pillari

Saint Michael's Mount and Land's End

Saint Michael's Mount from a distance

The old monastery on the Mount from up close

Dear Friends and Family,

I had the special joy of spending this Sunday with my parents here in Cornwall. After Mass and breakfast, I took them to see St. Michael's Mount: a small island off the south coast of Cornwall, where Benedictine monks built a monastery where they worked, prayed, sacrificed, and received pilgrims for several centuries until the reformation. While the visit was bittersweet, realizing that their monastery had been seized by the Crown and turned into a secular castle, which now hosts protestant services in its chapel, it was nonetheless a joy to visit a holy site where so many prayers and sacrifices were offered up, and where tradition holds that St. Michael appeared.

Please find below a few more photos:

Some of the gardens below the monastery.

The lower part of this room used to be the monks' refectory, while the upper half was their dormitory, and all the ornate carvings were not present at the time.

Looking down on some of the gardens.

Back window in the stone chapel.

We then visited Land's End--the farthest point West you can go in England before the land is swallowed up in the ocean and the next stop is... North America.

Looking toward the U.S. from Land's End. A last lighthouse is perched on the rocks.

But before all of this the day began with a special joy: to offer Holy Mass for my parents as part of the congregation, and then to introduce them to many of the parents and children who have been confided to me here as a little flock. (For those in Plymouth, I am sorry that my parents did not get to meet you this time!). It was a real joy to let them meet those I have spoken about these past few years.

I will finish by presenting you with a theory of my father's. His theory is that the key to good health is eating donuts. Though you might be skeptical, there is a certain logic in this theory. He says that when you eat donuts you are happy. And when you are happy this helps your health. Therefore...

Since he practices what he preaches, we stopped into the Land's End donut shop. And I must say that their donuts were particularly tasty.

May Jesus and Mary watch over you and guide you this week.

In Cordibus Iesu et Mariae,
Fr. Pillari

Climbing to the Summit

The sun setting Sunday night over Cornwall.

Dear Friends and Family,

Sunsets are such beautiful gifts of God. In the space of a few minutes, all that seemed so ordinary and increasingly dull, as the daylight fades, takes on a brilliance, a splendor, a vividness and fullness of life that can be truly breathtaking. Perhaps God gives us such beautiful moments at the close of the day to give us a glimpse of what the close of this life can be like, with His grace:

This life begins to dim, and perhaps becomes increasingly grey and painful and then, when our eyes close forever on this world, the soul that dies in His grace with the assistance of the Sacraments, might open its eyes to see all of a sudden a beauty and splendor never before imagined: Jesus Christ Himself and all the beauties and splendors of Heaven such as we could never dream of--the true dawning of a new day full of life and beauty.

But I wanted to share with you this evening something that took place during my annual retreat at Norcia this summer. A fellow retreatant and I set out to spend a day hiking to the summit of a nearby mountain and back. The cross on the summit can be glimpsed (perhaps) in the far distance in this photo taken from near the monastery where we began hiking:

When we arrived at the summit, the view was breathtaking:

After contemplating the beauty of God's creation from on high, we started our descent. About 3/4 of the way down, we spotted what seemed to be the more direct path to the monastery, which we had missed coming up. So we started on this path, which led into the woods in the direction of the monastery.

The path grew steeper and steeper, to go over what we thought was a small rise in the landscape, on the other side of which would be the monastery. And the path grew narrower and narrower, and more and more encumbered by trees and bushes, such that it became more of a deer path than one for people. 

By this point--perhaps some 40 minutes into the woods, we knew that this was not the direct path we had thought it to be. "Should we turn back?" We briefly considered the question: though we would lose another 30 minutes going back, the path we would return to was sure to lead us, albeit by a longer route, to the monastery. But it seemed to us that the ridge could not be much further ahead, and then it would be just a few minutes down and we would be at the monastery. So we decided to press on.

The day was growing hotter and hotter, and we grew more and more tired as the hill became ever steeper and the footing more unsure, having to hold on to tree limbs or get down on all fours over some stretches of it. Just how lost were we? It was not becoming increasingly difficult to think of turning around, and we were more and more tired after hiking most of the day. Thankfully my cell phone was working in case of an emergency, but that was not a prefered option. We pressed on...

After some further crawling, the ground grew a bit more level and there was a bit easier going if we turned to our right, so we did, hoping.... we came to an open field and eventually spied a rough path for jeeps exiting the other side of it, which we followed and eventually made it back to the monastery, after a detour that took us... about 3 1/2 hours longer than the previously known "long" route would have taken us.

This seemed a parable of the current state of the Church to me (beyond the more obviously lesson of our foolishness and that we should have turned back). The "new path" taken the past 50 years has become ever more increasingly entangled and problematic in its results. Whereas at the beginning it was considered that it would yield abundant fruit in the near future, a "new springtime." At the same time, we have invested so much time and energy in pursuing this path that many are increasingly reluctant to "turn back" which will cost even more efforts now that much of the past practical wisdom and knowledge has been forgotten. Much would have to be relearned. And yet would that not be so much better of a path to take? A path that might save us not just "3 1/2 hours" but countless mistakes. Much better to return to the solid path that has nourished the lives of saints and sinners alike for so many centuries, and then--from the solid footing of that path, to be able to examine the terrain and better discern the way forward.

May Our Lady, Seat of Wisdom, guide us in these difficult times.

In Cordibus Iesu et Mariae,

Fr. Pillari

The Blessings of Spiritual Fatherhood

Dear Friends and Family,

The past 10 days were full of blessings--so full that I usually forgot to use my camera to take photos! While it would be impossible to make a list of all of them, I'll try to follow my old novice-master's advice of "describing well one or two thigns in a letter rather than trying to describe too many."

A quick overview, working backwards: yesterday and today it was such a joy to see you all again here in Cornwall and Plymouth. Among many blessings we had our first-ever men's gathering this afternoon which I found quite encouraging. If you're living somewhere else and reading this, please pray for the local men in my congregations here in England.

My last evening in the States was spent with my family--it was such a joy to see again my little sister and her husband, neice and nephew, and my parents. Don't forget to pray for me!

The previous 5 days were spent in Texas, each day full of visits. I'll post a few photos below, but it's only a few. Thank you to all of you in San Antonio, Fredericksburg, New Braunfels, Canyon Lake, and Austin who took the time to come see me. While there was only one Mass with all of you (or at least most of you), it brought back so many fond memories for me. For those who weren't there, I'll try to create a mental picture:

St. Mary's Cathedral in the heart of Austin, Texas, kindly welcomed me again to offer the Holy Mass for the community there. A number of other friends from various parts of Texas came, leading to a congregation of 400+. With a good compliment of about 10 altar boys, a diocesan seminarian who drove over an hour to be there, we processed into the packed Cathedral as the choir intoned a full-bodied chant and then the asperges. It was truly beautiful to hear 400+ voices responding on many of the chants, to be able to distribute Holy Communion to so many friends and spiritual children, and to offer the Holy Mass in such a worthy setting. The rector of the Cathedral very kindly assisted with the distribution of Holy Communion and was most welcoming.

After Mass, and after a brief thanksgiving, I headed over to the hall and had a chance to talk a bit about the apostolate in England and to answer questions. Then came an extended time of trying to greet each family--so many fond memories came to mind seeing your faces!--and offer blessings or prayers. Then a late evening meal with the two families who graciously hosted me and organized the day, then a drive back to the San Antonio area with a heart full of thanksgiving. After turning in around midnight, the next day began around 5:00 AM with a full day of visits, and such went the 5 days...

I was particularly struck on this trip by the enduring grace of spiritual fatherhood. When I left Texas I remember telling folks that "there was no distance between souls" and that we could support each other just as truly from a distance as we could in person. While I believed that those spiritual links would only be strengthened if we each strove to grow in prayer, it was beautiful to experience that in person, to sense that a priest is a spiritual father forever, regardless of geography. Well, I now confide you all again to Jesus and Mary. May they watch over you and guide you.

A Dominican priest is a guest here, and in 1 minute I have to pull the burgers out of the oven and bring them downstairs to eat with him, so I had best sign off...

One practical note: a number of you asked how you could donate to support my life and ministry here. The best way would be to contact my mother at this email address: pillari6@me.com.  She could then coordinate the best method.

Have to run or the burgers will burn. Enjoy the photos below...

In Cordibus Iesu et Mariae,
Fr. Pillari

A gift from parishioners upon my return to Cornwall Saturday morning...

Notre Dame. My alma mater.