To those in Texas

Chasuble for this morning's Mass

Nativity set that some one kindly gave me to set up in my room. Everyone is there except for the Lord! You all are there too through that little box, which I'll explain below...

Dear Friends and Family,

This post is especially for all those in Texas, with whom I was blessed to spend the past 15 Christmas's. Before I enter into the home stretch of this semester and final preparations for Christmas I wanted to write you. Hopefully after Christmas I will be able to sit down and reply individually to your letters, but in the meantime I wanted to at least write you this post.

As Christmas approaches you all are in my heart and mind in so many ways. Every Sunday when I chant Terce I think of the Sunday mornings when I had the privilege of chanting it along side the altar boys, then of vesting for Mass and hearing the different choirs chant, offering the Holy Sacrifice, coming down under the tent with you all, or speaking to a group of the children, then heading to San Antonio and being received so kindly by the good sacristan who had everything so well prepared for the Mass, and then Confessions and Mass, time with families, etc.; I think also now of candle-lit midnight Masses, of Christmas meals with the community at MDM, of our attempted staff party post-Christmas, of sharing with your families painful and joyful times, of Baptisms, of First Communions, and of so many other things. So much to be thankful for!

I will miss you all in a particular way at Christmas, but offer that sacrifice to the Lord asking Him to bless you all and Our Lady to greet you on Christmas morning for me. I know there is "no distance between souls" and so in what truly matters we can exchange gifts without any need of the post office. That little box with the purple ribbon is a reminder to me of that. One of you very kindly gave me that gift a year ago on behalf of the young children--saying that though the box was physically empty it contained the prayers that the children would be saying for me. Those prayers are extremely precious to me and the box has safely traveled everywhere I have gone in the past year. At the moment it sits next to the Virgin Mary awaiting the birth of Her Son.

Those prayers are particularly dear to me here in this mission territory, because England is truly mission territory. Without any exaggeration I can say that I'm now in a pagan country desperately in need of evangelization. This particular section of England has less than 1% of the population that goes to Mass on a Sunday, and there are more Catholics going to Mass than there are Christians going to any other service on a given Sunday... it is a tiny tiny group and most people are in need of evangelization and conversion. Congregations are tiny. For example it is not unusual for me to hear that a pastor will have two Masses on a Sunday, perhaps one with 20 people and another with 50. Here, in addition to the 12 sisters, there is a steady congregation of around 30, about half of whom are children. So midnight Mass will be closer to the numbers present at that first Christmas adoration with the shepherds and Mary and Joseph: we'll likely have about 12 parishioners, along with the 12 sisters of course. The Mass will be by candlelight, and I am very much looking forward to it--only two weeks to go now! And you all will be there because...

I was able to schedule a novena of Masses running from Christmas through New Years. Those Masses will be offered for all those whom God has confided to my care as a priest--and I certainly still consider you all in that category, even if my care is now primarily carrying you in may heart at the altar--as well as for all the benefactors who are supporting me or the sisters here, whether through prayers, sacrifices or other gifts.

On my end your prayers have certainly been fruitful (if mine have not been fruitful on your end then please pray harder for my conversion.... so that I can pray better). I miss you all very much and no doubt will miss you in a particular way on Christmas day, and yet God is taking good care of me here. He has provided a very good situation for prayer, a good community of nuns to support and be supported by spiritually, some good local families and a good bishop, as well as a situation that is allowing me to be in particular contact with people involved in the struggle at the heart of the Church today. All particular blessings. Above all I can see the hand of God challenging me, nourishing me, pushing me, etc. working on my soul, which still needs so much work.

As we enter now the final preparation for Christmas please know that you all in Texas will be in my heart and prayers in a very particular way. Please give your children a hug for me (or for the teenage guys put them in a headlock or something), and thank them for their prayers for me. That is the best Christmas gift I could receive.

In Cordibus Iesu et Mariae,

Fr. Tony Pillari

Treasure from the Past

Dear Friends and Family,

We had a few days this week where it got down to around freezing and there was frost in the morning! This is probably the closest thing I'll get to snow so I enjoyed it.

Clear, cool sky.

This week had a number of special blessings--including a visit to a family home where the 5, 3, and 2 year olds introduced me to their toys... lots of fun and then I had the blessing of praying with them and going over a bit of Catechism with the 5 year-old whom I'll be helping prepare for First Holy Communion this spring, God-willing. But I wanted to share with you a special blessing I'm preparing for this Christmas.

God-willing the midnight Mass will be the first Mass of what will become a daily experience for me here at the Carmel: the celebration of the Carmelite Rite (more properly Holy Sepulchre Rite). I'll share with you here below the introduction that will be going in the booklets people will have, and will add more of a personal commentary later (since I have to get into the Confessional now or I'll be late!). Many blessings to you all on this Second Sunday of Advent.

In Cordibus Iesu et Mariae,
Fr. Anthony Pillari

LANHERNE HISTORY

Through all the chances and changes of history, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass has been offered at Lanherne and God has been worshipped according to the traditional Roman Rite since the dawn of Christianity in Britain. During the time of the Reformation, when the manor of Lanherne became a refuge for persecuted Catholics, the first of the seminary priests of Douai who suffered martyrdom during the Reformation, St. Cuthbert Mayne, used to celebrate Holy Mass here at Lanherne for persecuted Catholics.

In 1794 the Carmelite nuns, fleeing from the terrors of the French Revolution to Cornwall, opened a new chapter of the history of Lanherne: Holy Mass continued to be celebrated and tradition claims that the light before the Blessed Sacrament at Lanherne has never been extinguished since pre-reformation days.

The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass according to the traditional Roman Rite continues to be celebrated at Lanherne up to our day. Whoever participates at this Mass witnesses the Rite which the Church has been celebrating for centuries and which links them to the Mass celebrated here by St. Cuthbert Mayne and, going back, to the Apostles themselves.   

The persistence of the Carmelite life at Lanherne naturally requires the use of the proper Carmelite Rite, which is nothing else than the traditional Roman Rite with some enrichments and variations. So the gestures and words of the Mass that one is about to experience are almost exactly identical to what persecuted Catholics experienced, right here at Lanherne, when St. Cuthbert Mayne offered the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

THE CARMELITE RITE

The rite which Carmelites follow in the carrying out of liturgical functions is known as the “Rite of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem.” This rite was adopted at the same time as the Carmelites received their Rule from St. Albert, Patriarch of Jerusalem, about 1209, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre being his metropolitan church.

The Carmelite Rite, together with the Dominican and others, belongs to the Roman Rite, having the same Roman Canon for the celebration of the Mass. In fact, when the Carmelites adopted the Holy Sepulchre Rite, the liturgy then in force in this church was classified as Roman-Gallic. It was fundamentally Roman with a few variations drawn from the Gallic usages of that age. This liturgy had been established in the church of the Holy Sepulchre by the French Canons who had been brought there by the Crusaders. In the course of time, the liturgy was embellished by additional ceremonies, for it was fitting to observe with special solemnity the mysteries of the Redemption in the places where they were originally enacted. And today, two of the processions proper to the Carmelite Rite and still prescribed in the Missal, namely those before the Conventual Mass of the feasts of the Ascension and of the Assumption, are precious relics of the ceremonies performed by the Canons of the Holy Sepulchre in the very places in which these mysteries occurred.

When the hermits of Mount Carmel adopted this liturgy, they naturally modified it to conform to their simple, eremitical way of life. And at the time that the Order was transplanted from Palestine to Europe in the thirteenth century because of the increasing dangers of Saracen persecution, they brought this liturgy with them.

 The rubrics for the celebration of Mass indicate the early origin of the Carmelite Rite. Among the more prominent are the preparation of the chalice at the beginning of a low Mass or just before the singing of the Gospel at High Mass; the shorter Confiteor and other prayers at the foot of the altar; the symbolizing of the unity of the Sacrifice by the offering of the bread and wine together at the Offertory; and the recalling of the Sacrifice of the Cross by the repeated signs of the Cross made by the celebrant and in particular, by the extending of the arms in the form of a Cross immediately after the Consecration.

Moreover, the prominent role which the Mother of Carmel was to play in the liturgical life of her brethren is particularly evident in the Carmelite Rite. Thus in the Carmelite Calendar we find seven feasts of our Lady which are not found in the Universal Calendar of the Church: Her Betrothal; Her Patronage; Mary, Help of Christians; Mediatrix of All Graces; Her Purity; The Holy House of Loreto; and Her Expectation. Other feasts of our Lady already had a place in the Carmelite Calendar long before they were extended to the rest of the Church. Among these were The Immaculate Heart of Mary, Her Maternity, and The Immaculate Conception. The votive Mass of our Lady of Mount Carmel which is said each Saturday has a centuries-long tradition and has special liturgical privileges, for it has the Gloria, Credo, one Collect, and a proper Preface. It recalls for us the origin of the Carmelite veneration of Mary on Mount Carmel and her gift of the Scapular to the Order. And finally, in every Mass, a Carmelite priest recites immediately after the Last Blessing the Salve Regina or, during Eastertide, the Regina Cœli.

This devotion to Our Lady was naturally extended to those who were associated with her in a particular way. Thus, we find the Carmelites especially devoted to St. Anne and St. Joachim; to St. Joseph, devotion to whom they did so much to spread; and to St. Gabriel the Archangel.

When the saintly Pope Pius V in 1568 imposed the restored and unified Latin liturgy upon the universal Church, he excepted those rites whose beginnings antedated two hundred years. Since the Carmelite Rite was much older than two hundred years, it successfully escaped extinction. It has been handed down to us as a treasure, an heirloom that has ever been dear to the hearts of Carmelites in centuries past. It is for us to cherish and preserve, especially here at Lanherne, which is the oldest Carmel in England.

Holy and happy Lanherne, hallowed by the footstep of the martyrs, poor and abandoned in the eyes of the world, yet rich, immeasurably rich in the things that perish not.

Mass Requests and Donations for Sisters

Dear Friends and Family,

I am currently in the process of setting up a new bank account for the nuns here. It may be a while, due to the complications involved in setting up a charity account here in England, before they can cash checks. So in the meantime if you wish to make a donation to them or to make a donation for a Mass that I am offering for your intentions please make any checks payable instead to me (Anthony Pillari), as this is the only way I can currently cash checks for the sisters, but indicate somewhere that the donation should go to the nuns and I will ensure that it does.

The most efficient way to get the funds to the sisters via check is to send the check to my mother at:

Mrs. Melissa Pillari
30028 Applewood Drive
Bay Village, OH, 44140
U.S.A.

Praying for you all as we begin December.

In Cordibus Iesu et Mariae,
Fr. Tony Pillari

The Digger

Dear Friends and Family,

Blessed first Sunday of Advent! It is such a wonderful season--as season of penance, hope, and joy in the expectation of Our Lord's coming at Christmas. Many Catholics sadly don't realize that Advent is a time of penance--one of the two great times of penance in the liturgical year, along with Lent--and so we should make a serious effort to engage in some sort of penance during Advent. I think that one reason many people to not experience the joy God wants to give at Christmas (which is imperfect here on the earth, but still a very special joy) is that they don't live Advent well as a time of sacrifice. So if you haven't already done so, make a resolution today and put it into practice these next four weeks!

Today I wanted to share the visit of "the digger"...

Due to some heavy rains a pond began to form in the monastery's orchard. Not a problem as all of our apple trees are above the level of the little pond and it was still draining off slowly as it should. However on Friday my doorbell rang and I opened the door to find the owner of the local pub standing in front of me (a nice fellow with a young family). He asked if I could come take a look at something. We walked past the pond, which sure enough was quite large and still growing because we sit towards the bottom of the valley. He then walked me across the road to where his pub sits facing the monastery. And low and behold there was a small river running out from under the road and along the outside of his pub through the outdoor seating area....

Somehow the water from the pond, seeking another outlet, had made a tunnel under the road and was exiting along the side of his pub. The water was flowing so strongly that there was a danger it might enter the pub and do serious water damage (not to mention disrupt the local customers in there). Being a resourceful fellow who had worked until recently in the local fire brigade, Jay had waded into the pond and tried to find what was obstructing the normal flow of the water. Because normally the water should have flowed under a little bridge on our property and then down into the stream below. It was flowing, but not as quickly as possible.

Not having success waiting around in the pond itself he went into the narrow tunnel (from the other side of the bridge where the water flows out), and climbed up the tunnel to see if he could dislodge anything blocking it. He encountered there a largely blocked entrance with leaves and grass, and poked at it a bit, but not too hard because if that wall suddenly burst... he wold likely be drowned in the tunnel.

So after some head scratching and trying a few other things we eventually called in what they locally call "a digger." Here is a photo:

Digger sitting at edge of pond.

Seeing the man manoeuvre it around our property made me eager to see next year's annual performance of the "dance of the diggers" when a bunch of these things perform at the local village festival in September. He dug down into the pond, removing large chunks of dirt, rocks, leaves, and eventually a small tree, until this was revealed:

Pub owner in background. Entrance to tunnel, now partially unblocked, visible below.

It turned out the entrance to tunnel had been completely buried underground! In fact that is why I'd never noticed it before. Once the tunnel was unblocked we saw rapids form on the other side of the tunnel as a massive amount of water flowed out. He would indeed have been drowned if he'd been in the tunnel when this happened! His children and some other villages had turned out to watch this whole process and we had fun taking in the excitement of it all.

So I now know what we need to do to keep this clean and the water flowing well, I got to meet Jay and his children and some other villages, and it gave me a nice analogy for today: for God's grace to flow feeling through our souls and to others who are in need of God's grace we need to cooperate by removing the junk which has built up on our souls. We often are not even aware of this build-up, as I wan't aware that then entrance to this tunnel was blocked. And it's only when we begin digging that we can discover how much sin, bad-habits, lack of efforts at prayer, etc. there is in our lives.

Take this Advent as a privileged time to do some digging in your own soul, so that the tunnel might be truly unblocked by the time we arrive at Christmas. Blessed first Sunday of Advent!

In Cordibus Iesu et Mariae,
Fr. Tony Pillari

Quiet Sunday Morning

The graveyard of the Arundel family Church next to the Carmelite monastery, that was taken after the Reformation to become an Anglican Church. But Catholics from centuries past are buried there!

Part of downtown St. Magwan. The sign in the middle says "Craft Shop and Boutique: Interesting Things." That about covers any possibility: "Interesting things"...

Dear Family and Friends,

On this quiet Sunday morning I just took a stroll and took the above two photos. In a little bit I'll be heading down to hear Confessions and then to offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. This week I wanted to simply give thanks for a few of the many blessings of this past week involving parishioners.

First though, for those who were praying for my exam, thanks be to God that I think I made it through successfully! I likely won't know for several weeks until it is graded but as far as I could tell I did OK on the essays, which was a real relief because the essays covered six months of classes in three different courses. Thank you very much for your prayers.

Monday evening I had the particular blessing of going to a family's home for a dinner to celebrate the one-year anniversary of their four boys being confirmed in London by Cardinal Burke (who seems to come annually to London to offer Confirmation in the traditional form for children throughout England). It was a fun evening as we had Chinese in honor of the fact that they had eaten Chinese a year ago on that night, they told stories of the trip to London and Confirmation, I got to see an invention one of the young men came up with (or at least let's say that he installed creatively some wiring and lights) in order to provide reading light in his room, etc. It was a real blessing and joy to be there.

Wednesday evening I headed to a family farm for their weekly family rosary--a nice occasion that I am trying to make each week. It is wonderful to have the chance to pray with the children and adults--parents and grandparents--all together, to listen to each one present their intentions, visiting with them before and after, etc.

This afternoon I will be heading for tea to the home of a local lady who lives near the ocean (well I guess I live near the ocean too since we're just a mile or two away!), to get to know her and her family better. I'll likely be going to another villager's home this week to get to know him and his wife better.

Going to homes regularly, perhaps even several times a week, for meals and for tea is a new experience for me, as those in Texas know! But in addition to being chaplain for the Carmel I'm also essentially the pastor of a country parish and so this is an aspect of apostolic life I'll need to grow into. One I don't mind, but that is new.

And speaking of visiting homes and families and blessings, the following happened about two weeks ago but it's worth recounting here:

Each Thursday evening we have a Holy Hour and Benediction and I hear confessions during the Holy Hour. There have also been many fall leaves falling and it has been wet--extremely wet. So when a family came for Holy Hour they decided to also light on fire a stack of wood that needed to be burned up. As a result, when we came outside after Holy Hour, there was a bon-fire blazing away. One of the young men "happened" to have brought along a bag of marshmallows so we got sticks and roasted marshmallows over the fire. But, wonder of wonders, when I asked the family about s'mores they had never heard of them! So I'll have to introduce them to that bit of American culture at some point.

Well, I have to go now.

Sending you all love and prayers.

In Cordibus Iesu et Mariae,
Fr. Tony Pillari

Rainbow over Lanherne

Dear Friends and Family,

On Wednesday Nov. 9th I woke up, expecting to face the heavy news of Clinton's election, and was amazed to see the results! I have been very thankful for those and can't help but wonder if there wasn't some divine intervention that brought this about. Not that Trump is going to save the world. He seems to have some huge flaws as a man, and has said and done things that I can only condemn. But the policies of Clinton would have been truly disastrous for Catholics and hence for the country in general. Whereas the Trump-Pence platform is surprisingly good in a number of respects. We'll see now if they fulfill their promises...

These articles pretty much reflect my thoughts on the matter:

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/cardinal-burke-trumps-victory-suggests-america-has-awoken-to-its-moral-cris

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/hillary-and-trump-have-made-shockingly-different-statements-on-abortion-and

On that morning, God provided this beautiful rainbow, the first one I have seen since arriving here, over the convent:

There were some beautiful graces this week, but unfortunately not ones I can write about in a blog because they were graces impacting very personal things in people's lives. But things that I am very grateful for.

This coming week will have a particular focus on studies. Because this Friday I will have the semester exams for 3 civil law courses (torts, criminal law, and contracts). Please pray for me! I studied a good bit last week but have a lot more to go and these are looking like perhaps the most challenging exams I have ever taken. We'll see. I don't regret the fact that I have often prioritized these past few months prayer and priestly ministry, which has meant cutting down on my time to study. But I think I'm still in a good place to do OK on the exams, but we'll find out.

Wishing you all a blessed and peaceful night.

In Cordibus Iesu et Mariae,
Fr. Tony Pillari

All Saints, a Baptism, and Three Priests

Chasuble in Sacristy for All Saints Day Mass.

Baptism on All Saints' afternoon.

Dear Friends and Family,

It was a blessed past week! The feast of All Saints and commemoration of the Holy Souls in Purgatory are two particularly blessed days.

I still remember my first Nov 2 (for the Holy Souls in Purgatory) day in the monastery, twenty years ago this month. The day was dedicated to penance and prayer for the souls in purgatory. We attended extra Masses offered by the priests for them, visited a cemetery to pray for them, and thought about the souls suffering so greatly in Purgatory. It might have seemed to make for a sad day but in fact I found myself feeling a particular joy and thinking "what a wonderful day this is!" Because on Nov 2nd how many, many souls must be released from Purgatory--thanks to all the Masses, prayers, and indulgences offered for them on that day--and enter the joy and glory of Heaven? That moment is the greatest moment of joy a soul will ever have experienced--the joy of entering the full joy and splendor of Heaven. And so in a sense Nov. 2nd should be one of the most joyful days of the year. Since that time I have gotten to know better and have come to love more the Holy Souls in Purgatory. If you're not already doing so, please say some extra prayers for them this month.

The previous day, Nov. 1 the Feast of All Saints, has one of my favorite Gospels: the Beatitudes. We can never think enough about them! It does our souls so much good. And that afternoon I had the joy of Baptizing the little man you see in the photo above (Godparents pictured behind him). The traditional liturgy of Baptism, with its exorcisms and powerful prayers, is a wonderful thing to administer. This afternoon I went to the home for a meal to celebrate the Baptism. A wonderful moment to celebrate!

Two priests are making their annual silent retreat here this week: Fr. Armand de Malleray, FSSP and Fr. Rupert of the London Oratory. Both seem to be excellent priests and its nice to have them spending these days in silence here and offering the Holy Sacrifice. Please say a prayer for them as a priest's annual retreat is a key time for him to open his soul to the action of God's grace.

Lastly, in just a minute I need to call one of my civil law professors in the States, who will help me prepare for our midterm exam Nov. 18th. I would also appreciate prayers for that as the preparation is a bit daunting.

Sending you all much love and prayers.

In Cordibus Iesu et Mariae,
Fr. Tony Pillari