Nuns and Children

Vestments for Feast of St. Theresa of Avila.

St. Theresa, poised over the Nuns' choir, preaching.

Dear Friends and Family,

I am sitting down to write this at 8:45 PM, quite happy--even if a bit tired--after a full Sunday. In addition to the normal schedule of prayer, Masses, and Confessions, I had the joy this morning of hearing the first Confessions of three adults who are preparing to enter the Catholic Church.

Today's Gospel seemed especially appropriate: the parable of the King's wedding feast for His son. Those invited refused the invitation, so the King sends out servants to call in "whomever they shall find." The parallel text in Luke speaks of the blind, lame, etc., and St. Paul speaks of the lowly condition of most of the first Christians (see 1 Corinthians). A good reminder of the unmerited grace we have received, and a beautiful Gospel in light of those preparing to take the first steps toward that wedding banquet.

After Mass, they came one by one and knelt, with their right hand placed on the Gospels, to make their profession of faith. Almost all the congregation stayed to pray for them. And the Mass had a number of new families and individuals. It was a real joy to get to know some of them, and to look forward to getting to know the others. At about 3PM the gathering in the hall came to an end and I headed off to make a house-call. Coming in the door around 7:15 I had so much to be thankful for.

There were many other blessings during the week, but what came to mind especially was the child-like faith and simplicity of little children and of contemplative nuns. Both live normally on a different level from the storms of this world. This afternoon I spent some time stacking legos with two little boys and their parents. They also wanted to show me their "priest costumes" and how they played at Mass. It was wonderful to see. I tried to help the older one learn the proper gestures surrounding the consecration and elevation, and he did a pretty good job. Earlier this week I taught four children preparing for their First Holy Communion. They are learning well and it was a joy seeing their progress, and then this morning talking with them after Mass--during breakfast--about such important topics as which type of cereal they had. At first, I thought two of them preferred rice crispies and that another preferred the sweet cereal that looked like little chocolate chip cookies. But a mother explained to me that the two had rice-crispies because that had not been so well-behaved during Mass ...

It was a real joy to be with them. May Jesus and Mary watch over each of you and your families. And may They grant you some share of child-like faith and simplicity.

In Cordibus Iesu et Mariae,
Fr. Pillari

Soon-to-be Catholics

A Square in downtown Toulouse, France.

Dear Family and Friends,

I just returned from a week of studies in France. It is truly wonderful to be back here in the peace of the countryside of Cornwall.

This past week focussed on the "Divine Economy"--i.e. how God has acted in history to bring about redemption, and on metaphysics. We have about 15 new students to bring our total number to around 25. Here are photos of some of the class taken as we were opening a class with prayer.

It is an excellent group of priests to be around. I also had the blessing of spending a few hours in the center of Toulouse at the Couvent des Jacobins, where St. Thomas Aquinas is buried. I asked him to intercede so that my poor mind might grow in wisdom.

But I wanted to especially share with you a great joy I had today. After Mass in Plymouth this afternoon I spent two hours interviewing each of four candidates for Confirmation: three of whom had requested to enter the Catholic Church and one of whom is a cradle Catholic who never received Confirmation. I am pleased to say that all 4 passed the examination. I will thus have the joy next Sunday of receiving the profession of faith from three of them, as well as giving them absolution for the first time in the Sacrament of Confession. Then, on the Feast of All Saints, they will receive Confirmation and First Holy Communion.

Having followed them for some months or years it was a real joy to see them reach this step. Beyond the fact that their knowledge was sufficient to receive the sacraments, I was very pleased to see the depth of their intentions and desire to be Catholics. May God grant them the grace to persevere and to grow in holiness. I would invite you to join me in praying for them these next 20 days as they prepare for and receive these sacraments.

Lastly, if interested, you should see a brief interview I gave in Rome appear on the web by Wednesday.

May Jesus and Mary watch over each of you and guide you.

In Cordibus Iesu et Mariae,
Fr. Pillari

Roma: Praying for the Church

Altar prepared for this morning's Holy Mass.

Dear Friends and Family,

The past week was very intense and blessed in Rome. I was accompanying and assisting with the Voice of the Family pilgrimage and conferences for young adults. Monday we had the great blessing of making St. Philip Neri's Seven Church's Pilgrimage: where you hike from church to church in order to visit the 7 major Roman Basilicas. I was under the weather the night before and that morning, but joined them half-way through the pilgrimage and discovered that a hiking village to pray in front of relics was just what I needed to cure me! By the end of the day, I felt fine.

To see a 6-minute video of that day, see here: https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/young-people-receive-solid-catholic-formation-during-lifesite-sponsored-program-in-rome

The hikes between churches were great opportunities to speak with the youth one-on-one.

Tuesday and Wednesday were conferences to the youth on the spiritual battle, vocation, etc. See here for more details: https://www.lifesitenews.com/opinion/cdl-burke-top-catholic-thinkers-inspire-youths-at-rome-conference

Then came Friday's conference, which was great. See here: https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/lay-catholic-leaders-warn-about-amazon-synod-pope-francis-has-gravely-harmed-the-faith-it-is-time-to-say-it-out-loud

I have to get on the plane now, so have to go!

In Cordibus Iesu et Mariae,
Fr. Pillari