Heading to England

Canadian March for Life in the midst of 22,000 people. Bearded gentleman to the right is Michael O'Brien, the author,
whom I had the pleasure of meeting.

Dear Friends and Family,

Blessings on this feast of Pentecost! This week—which is the Octave of Pentecost in the traditional calendar—is one of my favorite times of the liturgical year. I’ll be praying for you all in a special way, asking the Lord to strengthen you with all the graces you need for your particular missions in life.

There would be much to say about this past week: the Canadian March for Life, a visit to the Apostolic Nuncio, a major exam, etc. but I wanted to post here a wonderful blessing that I will have for this coming year. This July, after a brief visit in June with my family and then a month in Italy for studies, I’ll be heading to England. After much prayer and discernment, and with the advice of my spiritual director, I believe this is what the Lord is asking of me for this coming year.

In January I had the blessing of meeting with Cardinal Burke in Rome. He graciously took a lot of time—much more time than I would have expected—to learn about my situation, spiritual life, past studies, etc. and to then advise me. I essentially asked him to advise me on how and where I could best serve the Church today. He proposed several options, one of which is the F.S.S.P. whom I have had the blessing of spending the past two months with here (and as a quick aside, it has been a wonderful past two months and I look forward to being here again next spring!). At the top of the Cardinal’s list though was a place I had never considered: England.

There is a traditional Carmel in the Diocese of Plymouth, located at Lanherne near Newquay. You can see a brief video of the nuns and monastery here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8P-_25Y5Rjc  (you will notice that the habits are not Carmelite because at the time the nuns were Franciscans of the Immaculate, before re-founding the Carmel). The Cardinal knows well the mother superior and thinks highly of her. He also spoke highly of their young bishop. He felt that it might be a good situation for my apostolate and prayer life, as well as a good place to continue my studies. For that was the other thing he encouraged me to do: to continue advanced studies.

I spent three weeks in February and March visiting the Carmel and meeting with Bishop O’Toole. The visit went very well. The Bishop would be quite happy to have a priest dedicated to the traditional Mass and Sacraments—one who could not only offer Mass and Confession for the sisters but who also could offer traditional Baptism, last rites, traditional weddings, etc. to those in the diocese seeking the traditional Sacraments. I was impressed with the fact that he wanted me to prioritize whatever would be best for my own discernment, spiritual life, and studies. He spoke of several possibilities for apostolates in the diocese if I wished to do more apostolic work, but simply offered those as options.

After a good deal of prayer and discernment, and after discussing the matter with my spiritual director, I feel a great peace that the Lord is calling me to England for this coming year. Several other options emerged but this seems to be God’s will.

It should be a great place for prayer and study. The Carmel is located in a tiny village. The whole diocese is quite rural, with Catholics making up only 1.8% of the population, and with most of the rest of the population seeming to be irreligious rather than belonging to any religion. Hence there would also be much to be done in the way of evangelization. But for this coming year my primary objectives will be to: 1) pray—always the first priority, 2) offer the Sacraments to the sisters, and perhaps at some point give a few talks to them on St. Thomas or some such topic, 3) study: this will likely take up most of Monday – Friday. Thanks to the wonders of online education, and the flexibility of graduate research, I will, God-willing, be completing this coming year the J.C.L. degree and also the first year of the J.D., in view of passing the State of California’s “mini-bar exam” this June (also called the “First Year Law Student Exam” that students take after their first year of law school). I’ll write more at some point about the J.D. but so far it’s been both very challenging and educational. My first year law professor (more like a tutor who assists), has a private practice and can be found here: http://kathleenreaganlaw.com . She specializes in equine law and second amendment rights. I told her she should move to Texas! Having some ministry on the weekends to young families in the Diocese of Plymouth sounds very nice and is healthy for my own priestly life—I’ve found here that regular ministry, in the midst of intense studies, certainly helps to keep me focused on the salvation of souls and grounded in reality.

Even though when I headed to Rome in January England had not crossed my mind, I feel very much at peace that this is what God is asking of me for this coming year and am grateful for the opportunity. To not make this blog post too long I should probably end it here, but just a few quick points before I go.

I wish to say a special word of gratitude to those of you who have been supporting me financially as I begin this time of studies. Your help has been invaluable so far and will be helping in a particular way to make this next year possible. The Carmel is very poor. Though the mother superior offered to provide me with whatever I needed for this coming year they are really poor and have a number of needs that they need to find funds for. In that light I told them I would take care of all my own expenses for this coming year. I think if I did otherwise the Lord might either strike me with lightning or assign me an extra 1,000 years in Purgatory. Both of which I would really rather avoid… Given the poverty of their situation, and the priest’s quarters, I may have a few additional expenses this coming year such as office equipment or some furniture, but thanks to your generosity those things should be doable. May the Lord reward you for all that you are doing to make not only my studies possible but also this year of service to these nuns.

Lastly, this schedule will likely mean that I will not be able to return for a visit in Texas until next spring. That is a real sacrifice for me. I miss you all very much, but will have to wait to see you until probably next April or May. Until then, you will continue to be in my daily prayers!

I’d best sign off now, but will plan to continue writing you each week and telling you all about England when I arrive.

May Our Lady, the Spouse of the Holy Spirit, obtain for you an abundance of graces throughout this Octave of Pentecost.

In Corde Mariae,

Fr. Anthony Pillari

Mothers' Day Sermon

Dear Friends and Family,

To all the good mothers I know: a very happy and blessed Mothers' Day! You will be in my prayers in a particular way as I offer the Holy Sacrifice this evening. Mothers are such wonderful blessings on the earth. I think we could never give thanks enough for the gift of mothers.

I recorded this morning's homily in case anyone has trouble falling asleep and needs something to listen to:  https://clyp.it/svkq5251 . I'm not sure it was a particularly good homily, and to boot the recording quality is not that great, but perhaps it will give those of you far away a tiny glimpse of the parish I'm in: Sunday announcements, French and English, baby noise in the background and all.

Since the audio is a bit long (though the second half is in French), I'll simply write in this blog simply on the topic of how a sermon is prepared. Have you ever wondered how a priest prepares his Sunday homilies? For myself Sunday homilies develop in a variety of ways. In general though each one begins with some prayer at the beginning of the week, essentially asking God the question: what would you like me to preach about this coming Sunday? In my case I like to also ask the Virgin Mary directly that question: what would you like me to preach about? I've found that She is quite helpful for this.

This week the result of those prayers was the thought that it could be good to center the homily around two different elements:

1. The similarities between the Virgin Mary with her "children" (the Apostles and disciples) gathered around Her in prayer, preparing to face a hostile world (which is what took place during these 9 days between the Ascension and Pentecost), and mothers today and their children, who are also preparing to face a hostile world.

2. (in French) the call to spiritual maternity for all those women who either don't have children or are unmarried.

After the initial idea then there is the whole process of fleshing it out--perhaps researching texts if they are involved: Scripture, saints' writings, etc.--and then developing an outline or writing it out. Sometimes something develops in this process which is different, and hopefully better, than what I first planned on. In this case I felt I should write the whole sermon out, especially since half of it would be in French. After praying some more on it during the week and reflecting on different aspects of the sermon, I began developing the outline Friday morning. That took perhaps 90 - 120 minutes. Then I spent most of the rest of the day writing it out. I was hoping to do it in less time but it took a lot longer than I thought. To be honest I was not very happy with it, and kept needing to come back to some sections, to delete others, etc. in the hopes of having it come across clearly, trying to choose language carefully to fit people's situations, rewriting a section if it didn't seem to convey what the Lord would want said, etc. And doing this in French of course took longer due to the language.

You might think: all of that work for a sermon that is nothing special? yep... and then yesterday I spent perhaps another hour reading it through it and making a few more adjustments. Then this morning in prayer I read through it a last time, and adapted a few items. So that's one way that a Sunday sermon develops, at least for me!

May the Lord grant special graces to all the good mothers I have known as a priest-and to all those mothers I have yet to meet.

In Corde Mariae,
Fr. Anthony Pillari

The Smallest Among Us

Ontario Lake: one of many!

Dear Friends and Family,

Happy Feast of St. Joseph! The Feast of St. Joseph the Worker is such an important feast that in the traditional calendar it takes precedence even over a Sunday Mass. So since this year May 1st fell on a Sunday I had the blessing of celebrating this morning a high Mass for the feast of St. Joseph. It was wonderful to offer the Holy Sacrifice for all in need of St. Joseph's patronage, but especially for all men and all fathers of families in particular. At the end of Mass we exposed the Blessed Sacrament and I had the double-joy of giving benediction. The altar was nicely decorated and it was a joy to kneel for some moments looking up at the Lord, adoring Him, and then to grant benediction.

I had a nice 36-hour break from studies this week. On Thursday afternoon, after morning classes, I drove a few hours west to the area near Barry's Bay. The above photo is one of many beautiful lakes in Ontario. I took the photo from the edge of a playing field where I had the blessing of playing... ultimate frisbee! 

I had traveled to the Barry's Bay area to meet with a pro-life family. After celebrating Mass for them and having dinner the kids offered me a chance to play ultimate frisbee. So, thanks to an extra pair of gym-clothes lent by the father of the family and some hiking boots I'd brought along, I headed down to this large field and spent a good hour running around with about 10 young men and the dad, chasing down and throwing frisbees. It was a lot of fun. Moreover I was impressed with the attitude of the young men. Sports is often a "moment of truth" when even in the best of us the desire to win can bring to the surface some vices that we thought had been stamped out... But this game was played in a very good spirit. As we were preparing to head down to the field an 18-year old told me, "When we play we try to get the younger ones involved too. For example we try to pass to the 6 year-old who is playing. Ultimate frisbee is a good game because you wind up passing to everyone and getting everyone involved," etc. 

This made for quite a fun game. I think in the end my team lost by 1 point (10-9 I think), but we played until the sun went down and we couldn't see anymore, and then reluctantly headed home. After talking late into the night with the parents, the next day I offered Mass again and then spent time talking with various members of the family, and learned a game called "Wahoo" which involved marbles and a wooden board with a bunch of holes in it. It was a very enjoyable visit. More importantly it allowed me to connect with the good pro-life work being done in Canada.

If you are not already familiar with LifeSite News I really encourage you to make a habit of checking their site (not updated though on Sunday's or Mondays as their staff takes a break): https://www.lifesitenews.com.  With 60 million visitors a year it spreads the pro-life message to many, many people. I have also found it quite helpful for its reporting on current events in the Church as well as issues such as the struggle for marriage or religious liberty in the U.S. I have been particularly impressed by the way the site combines charity and truth. It can be easy to either try to be charitable at the expense of proclaiming hard truths (which in the end is not being charitable), or to communicate hard truths and toss charity out the window (which in the end winds up not being fully truthful as it often criticizes too quickly before discovering the truth). 

After hours of discussing current issues with my gracious hosts, I took some time to visit the Madonna House "Island Chapel" which some of you would be familiar with. I prayed for you there! I had some time for adoration, a rosary walk in the crisp clean country air, and a brief visit to Our Lady Seat of Wisdom Academy http://www.seatofwisdom.org . 

Then I hopped in the car to drive back to Ottawa, joined in a  local "Hike for Life" with the parish young-adult group Saturday morning, and then got back to studies.

I hope your weekend was blessed. I was praying for you all this morning! and will be praying for all mothers in a special way next Sunday.

Until then, may Our Lady watch over each of you.

In Corde Mariae,
Fr. Anthony Pillari

The Mother Teresa of Osceola

The side altar where I often celebrate daily Mass. The statue is a copy of a miraculous statue from a shrine in Quebec.

Dear Friends and Family,

The above photo gives you a glimpse of what I see whenever I lift my eyes up as I am offering the Holy Sacrifice at 6AM on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays here at St. Clement's parish. The photo doesn't do Our Lady much justice as the statue is quite beautiful. I like very much offering the Holy Sacrifice with Her gazing down upon me, opening Her arms as if to receive the offering of Her Son and all my poor prayers, and then to pour out graces upon the world. Most Saturday mornings the first blessing of matins (in the traditional Divine Office), asks the Virgin Mary to bless us. It is always nice to ask for Her motherly blessing.

It was a beautiful Sunday here: sunny, crisp and clear. I went to the hospital in the afternoon to give some parishioners Holy Communion, and to visit with them. As usual I think I received more than I gave. There is something about being with those who are ill, or with the elderly, or with the handicapped, that helps put life in perspective. When you look at life from the perspective of those who are no longer (at least at the time) able to participate in a "normal" life, or who are preparing to meet their Lord, knowing their time in this world is at an end, or who will have throughout their life the mental ability of a little child, so many things that can seem important in this world seem to fade: what others think of us, whether or not we are "successful" in our work, studies, etc. Visiting the hospital today reminded me of the visits I used to make, while an undergrad at Notre Dame, to the one they called the "Mother Teresa of Osceola."

Osceola is a tiny town in Indiana, not far from Notre Dame. A group of us students used to drive out there on Saturday mornings to assist this good lady: Dolly Donahue. Dolly passed from this life a few days ago, after having lived her earthly pilgrimage extremely well. Married relatively young, she was sadly abandoned by her husband some years later while her children were still relatively young. Faithful to her marriage vows she dedicated herself to raising her children, and then--I don't recall the details of just how--she at some point welcomed some children in need, or perhaps it was a handicapped person, or perhaps it was an elderly person with nowhere to go, under her roof and cared for them.

This led to another knock on the door, and then another. For the next 40 years of her life she would have between 15 - 25 people living under her roof: abandoned children, the elderly, special needs children, convicts who had just gotten out of prison, the homeless, and so on. She received no funding from the government, and much of those 40 years was the only "caregiver" living there. Caring for 15 - 25 people whom she knew might (at least some of them) try to steel from her, or who might get into squabbles with each other, or who had significant needs, such as the wonderful down syndrome young woman who needed her diaper changed regularly, or troubled teenagers, and many, many other special needs, largely all on her own...

Since people would give her donations of clothing, not all of which she needed for her guests, she would constantly iron the clothing and box it up to be sent to the Missions. She also maintained a large garden in the back (by large I mean perhaps an acre), with vegetables and flowers. She would dry the flowers and hang them, and would can vegetables and fruits.

When we would show up on Saturdays to help out with the children or with some work in the yard I invariably would find her peaceful and smiling--even if she would also speak frankly about some of the problems she was currently facing with this or that guest. She would do so with some laughter and smile and then would continue calmly with her work, or with disciplining whoever needed to be disciplined, etc. I don't think I ever saw her "in a rush." I once asked her, as I was trying to get more organized in my own work, "How do you organize your work so that you get so much done each day?" She laughed and said, "The only thing that gets done around here is the day!" And yet, it seemed semi-miraculous how much got done, and more importantly how much charity and faith there was in that home.

I'm not sure how much sleep she got but I know she would rise early each morning to pray before others were up. And since it was impossible for her to take all those guests out for a Sunday Mass, or for her to leave them in the house while she went, Fr. Edward O'Connor would come each Saturday evening to celebrate Mass in the home. I think Dolly left the home perhaps once a year for 2 - 3 days of retreat. Beyond that it was where she lived, worked, and prayed 24/7.

I'm sure Dolly would ask you to pray for the repose of her soul--and so I would invite you to do so and will do so myself. Yet she is one person who I think has a very good chance of already being in Heaven. May the Lord grant us some share of the charity, faith, and boundless trust in Him that this good lady had.

In Corde Mariae,
Fr. Anthony Pillari

Life in a Cassock

My First Attempt at a "Selfie"--my attempt to get a photo of myself in cassock before writing this blog post.
 Looks a bit goofy to me. Then again, it is my face so looking goofy might be inevitable!

Dear Family and Friends,

I hope this post finds you well. It is a gorgeous Sunday afternoon here in Ottawa--70 degrees, blue skies and sunny. As I write this post my mom is in Boston preparing to run in tomorrow's Boston Marathon. Will be praying for you Mom!

Some of you had asked me about "life in a cassock" since I had worn a religious habit for the past 20 years. What would it be like to wear a cassock? Would people react differently on the streets, etc. than they did when I was wearing a religious habit?

It has been striking how much more quickly people now recognize me as a priest. Already the religious habit allowed many people to recognize me as a Catholic brother or priest--though in the words of Brother Mikael, "When people see me wearing this [religious habit] they think I'm going to a Renaissance Festival." Many non-Catholics, and even many Catholics, don't seem to know just what a religious habit means or signifies.  I still remember some years ago returning to the University of Notre Dame, wearing of course a full habit with a very visible rosary hanging from the belt, and asking at the reception desk of a student building where the chapel was. The employee kindly walked me down a hallway and opened a door to.... an empty room with a large square design on one wall. I looked at him in bewilderment and then he said, "Oh, you wanted the Catholic chapel."

In the cassock though--from gas stations to airports, to people at the check-out line of a supermarket, to people on the street--almost everyone seems to know that I'm a priest. I have certainly noticed a significant increase in the number of people who address me as Father. For example, the other day in a supermarket a clerk came up to offer to help and said "Father, I presume?" and then proceeded to tell me that she was no longer practicing but had been brought up Catholic, etc. Or yesterday in a Subway sandwich place someone (who I think was not Catholic), recognized me as a priest and struck up a conversation. Or another mother, on a plane, asked me to bless her infant child who was a bit sick; or a security personnel worker asked me to bless her, etc. etc. etc.

A few days ago I was walking in the neighborhood and a man spotted me and said "Father, I had to be away from Mass for several weeks, could I go to Confession with you right now?" So while walking along the sidewalk the man made his Confession and was absolved.

Of course not everyone is happy to see a priest. While walking in Rome one evening a man came up to me a bit upset to say "Now why do you dress differently from everyone else? Aren't you just trying to call attention to yourself? Priests should be humble and normal, dressing like everyone else." I tried to explain to him that it was precisely (among other reasons), in order to be visible to everyone as different from them in the sense that I was a priest and anyone could come up to me to ask for prayers or help. He didn't agree and eventually walked off, but even that conversation--which perhaps planted a seed in his heart--would not have happened without being "visibly different" due to the cassock.

The fact of wearing a cassock instead of a "clergy suit" (roman collar, black shirt, black pants), as far as I can tell doesn't phase the general public. They just think I'm a bit more dressed up than usual.

And it's true that I am a bit more dressed up, but feel very comfortable and relaxed in the cassock. While it is more formal looking than a religious habit, the fact that it is black wool also makes it very practical in the sense that dirt doesn't show as easily, etc. This came in handy today when sitting on the back patio of a "vocational discernment house" after lunch. The young ladies in the photo below are discerning possible religious vocations and invited me over for lunch and discussion.

It was a very nice meal and discussion. Please pray for them! But I mention this because (though it turned out the patio chair was quite clean), I would have felt quite comfortable sitting on a rock or even the ground in the black cassock. Black is a very practical color!

More profoundly the cassock reflects the deep tradition in the Church of the priest visibly manifesting--to others and also to himself as a sort of constant reminder--that he is set apart from the ways of the world. He is called to be "in the world but not of the world." Given our society today this witness is needed more than ever. And the cassock gives that witness in a striking way.

In sum, I would say that the cassock has felt quite a natural transition from the religious habit, and one that highlights the priestly character. May God bless those of you who so generously provided me with these initial cassocks. May God reward you!

In Corde Mariae,
Fr. Anthony Pillari

Snow and Montreal

Our Lady outside the front door of my rectory--in April!

Dear Friends and Family,

I write you on a gorgeous Sunday morning where the sun is shining, the sky is blue, there is snow on the ground, and it is a comfortable 26 degrees outside. On Wednesday I was treated to a six inch snowfall--not quite what I was used to in Texas!

The next day we drove to Montreal to spend the afternoon with FSSP priests from several houses in Canada. While there I began to learn more about the Catholic history of Quebec. It's rather impressive. There are a number of impressive saints who lived and died here at the beginning of Quebec. Also saints that we're familiar with such as Kateri Tekakwitha, who lived in this area and is buried near Montreal. It was hard to keep up with all the miraculous statues, mystics, and miraculous events that the fathers were telling me about.

For example, (don't quote me on the details as I'm probably not recounting them accurately), Montreal itself was founded due to some visions and miraculous events. It sounds like an initial apparition lead to some of the initial settlers. Then there was a miraculous preservation from flooding.  In one of the early years of its founding--I think the first year--the river began to flood and so the head of the colony climbed onto the highest hill in what is now the town, and planted a cross on it's summit. Then the waters receded. That's why to this day there is a large cross at the summit of this hill. Then later another apparition led, if I remember correctly, to a key group of religious--Fr. Olier's community, coming to Montreal.

Then there is the famous shrine to St. Anne near Quebec city. I can't remember if it is a miraculous statue of St. Anne, or graces that come from a first class relic of her, or what the case is, but it's a place known for many miracles. Then of course there is the shrine to St. Joseph, and St. André who promoted and built it, and so many miracles, and many other places and shrines. Quite impressive! The priests invited me to spend some days in Montreal or Quebec City and visit the shrines there. Sounds quite appealing. We'll see if I can get far enough in my studies to be able to take 2 - 3 days to do so.

Speaking of studies, civil law courses began this week and are intense! Though I must say also quite interesting. So, except for Thursday in Montreal, I spent the week almost living in the library at St. Paul's, alternating between canon law and civil law. Though intense, it was a good week of studies. That will likely be my rhythm the next few weeks: from 8AM through the evening studying in the library. (with breaks though some days for jogging, and every day for time in the University chapel to pray).

Speaking of rhythms, I need to get into the Confessional. Happy Good Shepherd Sunday!

In Corde Mariae,
Fr. Anthony Pillari

Divine Mercy Sunday

Pulpit Prepared for Divine Mercy

Dear Friends and Family,

Happy Divine Mercy Sunday! It is such a wonderful, wonderful day with so many graces! Am praying that Jesus grant each one of you the peace and joy that only He can give, along with all the particular graces you may need. Well, there is so much that could be said on this day that the challenge will be keeping this post from getting too long... so I'll try to focus on just a few concrete things from today.

Was a blessed day here that began around 5AM. (I was of course thinking of you all in Texas from that time on, of all the preparations that would be going on at the Mission, etc. and was praying for you). I unlocked the church and had some quiet time alone with the Lord, among other things some time to pray in front of the Divine Mercy image you see above, which the pastor had set up the night before. There is something special about having a whole church, especially a beautiful old church, all to yourself with only the sanctuary lamp, and the votive lamps near St. Joseph and Our Lady, burning. So in the stillness of the early morning I began the day with Jesus and Mary. I then laid out my vestments for Mass, set the altar missal, etc. turned on the lights, and then took time for spiritual reading, praying Matins, Lauds, and Prime, and then heading into the Confessional.

Confessions began at 7:30AM and would go until about 11:30AM. At 8:20 I left the confessional and vested for Mass. The quiet low Mass began at 8:30--during which I had to eager altar boys, each about 7 years old, but who were still relatively new to serving. They were very reverent, so even though they made some mistakes it worked out fine, and was quite touching seeing them trying to do everything right. Then I had 5 - 10 minutes of quiet thanksgiving, and then back into the confessional... from which I would emerge to help give Communion during the 10:30AM High Mass.

The pastor preached at all the Masses today--focussing on the message and image of Divine Mercy, and also inviting everyone to the afternoon Holy Hour with the chaplet. Believe it or not though I actually had to miss the Holy Hour because of... a work of mercy.

At the High Mass---and at all the High Masses I have been to so far, there are 3 - 6 people in wheelchairs in the front row, several of whom are handicapped. For example one of these is an 18 year old young man with cerebral palsy, who joins in the chants with as much gusto as he can. This was a very nice element of the Mass. Even if his singing wasn't always quite on pitch... it added a very nice note of "becoming like a child." I later learned that the young man knows almost all the chants of the entire Church year, and knows very well the rubrics of the Mass, so much so that he points out to priests if they make a mistake. So I'll have to be on my toes!

After the High Mass there was exposition, the litany of the Sacred Heart, and benediction. Then, after greeting people, I headed to the home of the family with this young man with cerebral palsy for lunch. Due to several factors, and the location of their home, which was out in the country, lunch didn't begin until the afternoon Holy Hour was about to begin, so I had to miss the Holy Hour, but I don't think the Lord was upset with that. Spending time with the family seemed a very appropriate thing to do on Divine Mercy Sunday. It was a wonderful afternoon with them.

I just returned to the rectory a little bit ago, prayed vespers, and sat down to write you all. Of course there is so much that could be said about the message of Divine Mercy themselves: the beautiful, but challenging, visions of Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory; the constant invitation from Jesus to draw near to Him, receiving His graces of forgiveness, accepting to change our lives and to strive for holiness; how many, many graces He wants to pour out through the Sacraments and in times that we come to Him for quiet prayer; the invisible presence of angels and demons, etc. etc. etc. But rather than try to give you a mini-homily on that here, especially since so many of you are very familiar with those messages, I'd simply invite those who may not be familiar to pick up the diary and read a portion of it this evening, even just a paragraph or two.

And thank you for your prayers for my studies. It was an intense, but productive, past week. So far I managed to stay on pace. The most challenging aspect of staying on pace will be some preparatory work for my thesis these next few weeks (on top of the civil and canon law courses). Civil law courses begin in earnest this Tuesday, so won't be a boring week!

May Jesus and Mary watch over you all and guide you.

In Corde Mariae,
Fr. Anthony Pillari