Photos of Hermitage

Dear Friends and Family,

Thank you very much for your prayers for me these past two weeks. The retreat was very blessed. Being alone with God in solitude, silence, and prayer is excellent medicine for my soul!

I'll say a few words but first some photos:

The valley below the monastery and hermitage. I walked to this point on many days to pray.

Looking the other direction down the valley.

My hermitage was the first door on the right.

Inside the main door is an image our Our Lady with holy water. Meant to be a place to greet Her whenever entering or leaving.

Just inside the main door (my Mass vestments laid out on the left. The hermitage has three levels. This photo taken from middle level.

Chapel door (just inside hermitage)

Chapel in hermitage. I offered Mass here each day (travel crucifix is hidden behind chalice)

Wood burning stove that heats the hermitage on right. In center is what you see below when open...

Small bath.

Sitting area in same room as wood burning stove.

enclosed garden attached to hermitage.

Top floor which has bed and reading desk.

I spent hours each day the reading desk, which had a nice view.

Tray where food was placed for breakfast and dinner. I would walk to kitchen to pick it up each time and then bring it back to eat in hermitage.

Top level of hermitage was a sort of choir loft looking down into chapel. I'm not sure exactly how this space was meant to be used...

Wood in shelter in enclosed garden.

Icicles in garden.

Hermitage entrances viewed from outside (three hermitages in a row).

Looking out window from reading desk.

From same window.

From same window in the morning.

A sunset. I watched these a number of days.

Sunrise.

It was a very blessed retreat. Though I could contact the sisters when necessary I was essentially alone with God for 10 days. While I think that most of the work that God does in a soul is hidden. Here are a few small examples of some of what took place during the retreat (I wrote this and gave it to people at Mass this morning):

This retreat, as it took place in a hermitage, was especially intense in terms of silence and solitude. But those elements are keys of any traditional retreat, even where preaching is given each day. What is the purpose of silence and solitude? To help a soul to “die to itself” and to “die to the world.” By living alone each day with God, where He is the only one you can talk to, the only one you can ask for help (normally—unless you need to ask for help in making the word stove in your hermitage work!), the only one to whom you can listen, etc. etc. a soul tries to open itself more intensely to God’s action. This can take place in many different ways. To give you just two examples:

On the first Thursday evening of the retreat I felt the Lord was asking me to spend much of the next day meditating on His Passion with the help of the Gospels. So that Friday I made four “mini Holy Hours.” Each one was spent trying to read slowly through one of the Gospel accounts of the Passion, or rather trying to “pray through” one of the accounts of the Passion, pausing at different moments to adore Him, thank Him, listen, meditate, etc.

Second example: one evening, Sunday evening in fact, I felt particularly helpless before the Lord. I felt intensely (though no doubt not nearly as intensely as the reality would demand), how incapable of anything I am, how weak, how sinful. I felt the temptation of hopelessness. It was quite painful. Nothing seemed to help. I tried spiritual reading, praying the Divine Office, etc. Finally I simply repeated, over and over again, simple prayers asking for God’s mercy upon me as a sinner, invoking the name of Jesus, and making simple acts of faith, hope, and love in Him. After some time, I felt peace and strength returning. After some further prayer I was able to finish the evening peacefully.

To give one additional example: I felt more keenly on the retreat how much we need prayer, how much we need times alone with God. Of course it is rare, even for priests, to be able to get away to a hermitage. And most laypersons never have that chance. But our souls can be alone with Him, even while in the midst of others at Mass, or while a rosary is prayed in common, or perhaps during a Holy Hour, or 20 minutes that a soul finds by getting up early while the house is still quiet, or in the evening, or by going out for a walk, etc. The devil hates prayer and will do anything he can to stop or diminish it. One such temptation—used frequently I think—is to convince Catholics, to convince priests, that what they need above all are good activities, or good teachings, or any sort of activity. And we do need those things to an extent. But what we need much more is prayer and silence. If the Church only prayed more, if souls had more regular time alone with Him, so many problems would be solved! So many good things would be able to happen.

I've returned with a wonderful peace and joy in my soul. And am ready to now dive into the intense work that will take place between now and Easter!

In Cordibus Iesu et Mariae,

Fr. Tony Pillari

Why do Priests go on Retreat?

The "Buscombe Squad" of altar boys whom I am blessed to have serving as a team each Sunday here at Lanherne. 

Dear Friends and Family,

Tomorrow morning I will have two wonderful blessings: at 5:15AM I'll celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass by candlelight for the sisters, and will then fly to Austria to begin my annual retreat! As the monastery is up in the mountains (for some photos see here http://english.bethleem.org/monasteres/kinderalm.php and click on the photos at the bottom of the page), I will need to spend Monday evening in Salzburg before traveling to the monastery on Tuesday. Providentially Bishop Andreas Laun, the auxiliary bishop of Salzburg, is very kindly letting me stay with him in his home Monday evening.

In the Carmelite tradition I will be making a 10 day silent retreat, and will be spending the time in one of the hermitages you see pictured in the photos at the link above. Why is every priest supposed to make an extended retreat each year (canon law specifies a 5 day annual retreat as a minimum)?

A first reason is out of love for God Himself, as a gift to God. The first and most important priority in my life as a priest is the first commandment: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind." This is the first priority for everyone, but is especially so for a priest. One becomes a priest first of all in order to love God even more, to offer Him service, to seek to please Him. So the very first reason for a priest's retreat is so that the priest can be fully available to God, can try to give Him his undivided attention each day of the retreat, to adore Him, to love Him, to talk with Him, to listen to Him, to learn from Him, to be formed by Him.

The second reason is so that the priest can be formed and strengthened by God in order to better serve those who God asks Him to serve as a spiritual father. The priest is supposed to be an instrument that God can use to grant people graces all throughout the week--especially through the Sacraments, but also in simple encounters with him--whether it be encounters with people in the village who may not even be Catholic, or talking with people who need guidance--as well as in the priest's role of helping form souls, such as teaching catechism to children (I'm currently preparing two little ones for their First Confession and First Holy Communion), or helping a young man in his spiritual formation as he discerns the priesthood, or preparing a sermon, or giving spiritual direction to a nun, etc.

This work, these contacts, go on throughout the week, all throughout the year. So many, many people are in need of help, in need of Jesus Christ whether they know it or not. It is not the priest's own ideas of wisdom that will save them or resolve the deep needs that they have. Moreover these contacts are often relatively brief. How can I help them in such a short period of time? The only way is if Jesus Himself is able to use those contacts to work in the person's soul. And the only way that can happen is if the priest is more deeply united to Him. Sadly I have a long, long way to go in that department.... and that is why extended times of daily prayer, and times of retreat and solitude, are so needed.

So I would be most grateful if you would say a prayer for me during my retreat that will begin Tuesday. It is a great joy for me to be heading off for this extended time in the hermitage. May God make use of it as He wishes! Among other things I plan to renew my consecration to Our Lady and to ask Her to please dispose of me as She wishes.

While I will not have access to email or phone while on retreat (thankfully!), and so will not be posting on this blog next Sunday, please be assured that each of you will be carried in my heart as I offer the Holy Sacrifice each day.

May Jesus and Mary bless and guide each one of you.

In Cordibus Iesu et Mariae,
Fr. Tony Pillari

Saint Edward the Confessor in Plymouth

Dear Friends and Family,

First, I am finally healthy again! Thank you all very much for your prayers.

I celebrated Mass today in St. Edward the Confessor Church, some photos of which can be found here: http://taking-stock.org.uk/Home/Dioceses/Diocese-of-Plymouth/Plymouth-St-Edward-the-Confessor. (The picture at the top of the page will rotate between photos if you wait a few seconds). I had meant to take some photos myself, but the day got quite busy--as I'll explain below--so I'll have to settle for giving you the webpage photos!

The day began with quiet prayer at 5AM in the chapel here at Lanherne monastery, the Divine Office, then Confessions, followed by a 7:30AM Mass here at the monastery. Why so early? Because of a special request from Bishop O'Toole. Since he arrived in the diocese 2 1/2 years ago he has wanted to initiate a weekly Sunday Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) in the capital city of his diocese: Plymouth. Since the first time I met him he has been asking my help in starting that. Today that became a reality. And in order to accommodate an 11:30AM Mass in Plymouth, the Mass here had to be moved earlier.

Thankfully almost all of our little congregation got up early enough to arrive on time for a 7:30AM start here at the monastery! This was followed by a nice breakfast, which all the kids seemed to particularly enjoy.

Then, some of the altar boys and two generous parents bundled into a car and drove to Plymouth to assist with this first TLM at St. Edward's. It was a bit of an adventure to get everything put together, even with all that the parish sacristan and others had done to prepare vestments, altar cards, etc. We finally got everything together, processed out to the accompaniment of the organ, proceeded to go through the asperges,  and then I looked up at the altar and... discovered that none of the altar candles were lit! So during the confiteor I called an altar boy over and whispered, "can you light the candles?" This led to a juggling act as the altar candles were lit while the altar was incensed, but we made it through and--albeit with a few bumps in the road--made it through the rest of the Mass.

It turned out quite nicely--with someone pitching in to play the organ, about 60 - 70 people attending (a good sized congregation here in England!), a bunch of them children, and the congregation joining in well in the chanting. I was especially happy to discover the church's acoustics which, as you might guess from the photos, are quite good. The chants reverberated throughout the church, and then all fell silent for the adoration of the Holy Eucharist, as we knelt in adoration of the renewal of the Sacrifice of Calvary, made present there on the altar. I so love offering the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass...

It was a particular joy for me, and was a historic moment for those attending, as some of them had been hoping and praying for this for years.

I then visited with the families at a reception in the parish hall, talked about the coming year, the availability of the all the other Sacraments in the Traditional form, etc. About 3PM, as the reception was winding down, a few members of the congregation requested Confession, I walked back to the church to hear their Confessions, and then finished with a prayer of thanksgiving for all the blessings of the day (but not before discovering that I had been locked out of the sacristy and having to find a way back in!).

I am a bit sleepy right now, as there were many preparations this past week in order to get ready for today's Mass, but will sleep well tonight, and with a grateful heart.

I would confide to your all's prayers this new initiative in Plymouth. May Jesus and Mary guide it according to their will.

In Cordibus Iesu et Mariae,
Fr. Tony Pillari

A Year of Formation

The nativity scene is still up! Will remain up until Feb. 2nd.

Prayer for as the priest enters the sacristy. It says, "In will enter, O Lord, into your Sanctuary with fear and love, to sacrifice to you the victim of praise."

Dear Friends and Family,

I am finally pulling out of this flu bug, even if I'm not completely out of it. It is a particularly nasty bug that has been laying people low all over Cornwall. Even our bishop caught it and has been almost a month in recovering, and is still not yet quite recovered. Hopefully by a week from now it will be fully out of my system.

Among the blessings of this past week I'll share two: today a young family from Plymouth visited. The husband is English and the wife is from Mexico city. It was a real joy to hear some Spanish being spoken again! Though I'm afraid that when I tried to speak it there was a mixture of Spanish and Italian coming out of my mouth. But it was a joy to meet here a good young Mexican mother--with all of the faith, courage, and other wonderful traits that Mexican mothers seem to have. The husband plays the organ and will be playing the organ for a Mass I'll be celebrating in Plymouth next Sunday. More on that later.... but for today it was very nice to have lunch with them.

The other blessing that I'll share with you here concerns a local 20 year-old young man who, you may recall, headed off to spend some time discerning a religious vocation this fall. After some discussions these past few weeks, I received a call from the Bishop Friday giving me the green light for something: for the next 12 months, if he survives that long, the young man will be living here at Lahnerne, assisting me with some of the work (such as the liturgy, kitchen, helping take care of the grounds, etc.), and I'll be helping provide him with some spiritual formation. The goal is to give him a year which can help him grow in the love of God and in learning to lay down his life for Him and for the salvation of souls. We shall see.... this is a bit of a leap of faith for me, and no doubt for him. But after praying about this it seems to me that it is God who arranged it and who would like for it to happen. And if that's the case, what else do you really need to know? He's a good young man. Please say a prayer for him and for me as we launch into this year, which will likely begin tomorrow, if he's able to get moved in then.

As I'm still recovering my strength I won't write more here. May Jesus and Mary watch over each of you, and grant you many blessings as we begin 2017.

In Cordibus Iesu et Mariae,
Fr. Tony Pillari

Sick with the Flu

This image is on the wall with the vesting prayers in the sacristy that the priest prays before Mass.

Dear Friends and Family,

This message finds me sick with the flu, so I'm afraid you'll be stuck with (or blessed with depending on your perspective), a very short post this week. There is a very strong flu virus going around this part of Cornwall now and a number of the members of our little congregation have been hit, as well as myself. It's not so bad except that I can't do much except make it through Mass each day, sleep a good deal, and then do some reading or studying, answer some letters--and that is one real benefit of this illness: I've finally been able to sit down and answer some of your kind Christmas letters. As the mother superior here was remarking the other day, illness is a good teacher: it teaches humility in realizing how weak we can be, how short life can be (because even a mild illness reminds us that we could be called from this life at any moment), that suffering is even more important than our work, etc.

Also, especially for the benefit of my mother reading this, rest assured that I'm under a doctor's care and am doing fine--it's just a matter of rest, fluids, etc. and time to recover.

So since I can't write much else at this point, I'll leave you with a link to the monastery where I'll be making my annual priestly retreat, in a hermitage there, in a few weeks. Enjoy the photos: http://english.bethleem.org/monasteres/kinderalm.php

In Cordibus Iesu et Mariae,
Fr. Tony Pillari

Your Letters

At a gathering with families.

Dear Friends and Family,

Blessings on this Feast of the Holy Family! Thank you for the letters that many of you sent me (and that finally arrived after the Christmas mail rush) for Christmas. It has been wonderful to read about how you are doing, to smile and laugh hearing some of the stories you all recounted, also to hear about what is painful and difficult, to know what to pray for in your life, and simply to hear from you. I now find myself in the painful situation of realizing that I will be unable to reply to all of your letters, at least not in the near future, and so I wanted to at least let you know through this post that I treasure them and am praying for you all. In a few moments I will head into the Confessional and then will offer the Holy Sacrifice at the altar, and will ask Jesus to convey to each of you much more than I could say with words.

On this Feast of the Holy Family I'll go ahead and share with you today's sermon. If nothing else this should lift your spirits by allowing you to be grateful for the fact that you now can listen to better sermons from another priest!

With fatherly love and prayers,

In Cordibus Iesu et Mariae,
Fr. Tony Pillari

“Put on therefore as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, a heart of mercy, kindness, humility, meekness, patience. Bear with one another and forgive one another, if anyone has a grievance against any other; even as the Lord has forgiven you, so also do you forgive. But above all these things have charity, which is the bond of perfection. And may the peace of Christ reign in your hearts; unto that peace, indeed, you were called in one body.”

On this Feast of the Holy Family the Church gives us these beautiful words from St. Paul. Do you feel that these words would be an accurate description of your own family? Would you like your family to be such that they would be an accurate description? Because on this day the Holy Family—Jesus, Mary, and Joseph whish to come into your home, into your family’s life, to live with you in your home, to teach you, to guide you, and to strengthen you so that you might live as they lived. And yet often people, even those who come to Mass every Sunday, don’t believe that.

Some say they don’t feel they can relate to the Holy Family; because Jesus, Mary, and Joseph were so good and holy and their family is… not good and holy. I recall a young mother of a large family saying that she found it hard to be close to the Virgin Mary: “After all,” she said, “She was immaculately conceived and so didn’t have some of the temptations and struggles that I do, and She only had one child to raise, and He was always perfectly behaved!” Sadly, in this fashion, many people close their hearts, at least to a degree, to the intimacy and the tremendous help that the Virgin Mary, as well as St. Joseph and the Child Jesus, wish to give—precisely to poor, sinful, struggling families.

If instead we were truly realistic we would have tremendous hope, believing the solemn assurance given in Sacred Scripture: “God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear,” (1 Cor 10:13), “but will make with temptation issue, so that you may be able to bear it.” That is God will always ‘issue’ you the necessary graces to be able to avoid temptation, to avoid sin. This means that every moment of each day God is offering to you, and to each member of your family, the grace to not sin, the grace to be faithful to Him all day long, to live a holy life.

“That’s all very nice,” you may say, “but my family will never take Him up on His offer—do you know the kind of people I have to live with!” And so you think, “because my family is so messed up, or because my religious community is so messed up, the graces of the Holy Family are something I will never touch or experience in this life. It’s not for me, it’s just a sort of fairy-tale.” But God’s promise to always provide you with the graces necessary, every moment of your life, to avoid sin and live a holy life, is not directed only to those who live in families that are already holy. His promise is directed to you personally, no matter how bad your family may be, or how obstinate they may remain. “God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear,” (1 Cor 10:13), “but will make with temptation issue, so that you may be able to bear it.”

God is offering to each one of you, and offers especially to those in particularly difficult family situations, the opportunity to truly have Mary as your mother, St. Joseph as your Father, and an intimate friendship with the Child Jesus. Indeed no matter how good your family may one day become, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph will always be your truest family. The ones your heart is made to be closest to. But they respect your freedom. You have to choose them as your family, and to choose to work at the relationship with them. This means, among other efforts, choosing in a particular way to prioritize prayer. Even if no one else in your family is praying, you should be. And wherever possible the daily effort of the rosary should be done. I cannot emphasize enough how crucial the daily family rosary is and how many graces it brings into the home.

But it is not only efforts and sacrifices in the area of prayer that are needed. St. Bernard touches on another key effort that anyone in a family must make if they wish to nourish a relationship with the Holy Family, and at last remove some of the bitter taste of sin and disappointment which comes from trying to live according to the world’s ways. This crucial area is obedience. Saint Bernard urges us to this commenting on the incredible submission of God to a human mother and father. If children find it hard to obey their parents because they feel they might know better than their parents what should be done, look at Son of God who knew infinitely more, and yet who chose to obey a human mother and father. Saint Bernard says:

o   “This is your lesson, man: obedience. Formed of the earth as you are, learn subjection. Dust that you are, learn to bend your will. In speaking of your Creator the Evangelist says, “And He was subject to them,” meaning Mary and Joseph, of course. Blush for shame, proud ashes! When God humbles Himself, will you exalt yourself? When God subjects Himself to Men, will you set yourself above your Creator by flaunting your desire to dominate men? If I should ever have such thoughts, may God in His mercy say to me what He said when rebuking His apostle: “Get behind me, Satan; you have no grasp of the things of God.” Every time I desire to be above Men I am trying to move ahead of God. And in this I certainly have no grasp of the things of God; for of Him it was said, “And He was subject to them.” You may balk at imitating the example of Men, being a Man yourself; but certainly you will not think it beneath your dignity to imitate your Creator.”

Prayer and obedience: two crucial pillars to the holiness that God is calling you to within your own family. Two areas where you need to personally get to work, and be willing to work hard. But God also calls you to hope, to have great hope, in what the Holy Family can do, through your efforts, for your own family. One day, when the Devil was attacking the Curé of Ars, beating him physically because of how many souls the Curé was snatching from his hands, from the path to hell, the Devil cried out in frustration, “If there were three men like you in France I could do nothing in this country!” Such is the power of a holy soul.

There were two young children who, after hearing this episode in the Curé’s life told in the course of a conference, came up to the speaker afterwards and said “we want to be the other two Curé of Ars!” What if God were to find your own soul, whether you are a child or an adult, ready now to begin to embrace holiness—to truly work hard and make sacrifices in the areas of daily prayer and obedience, so that His grace could begin to permeate your life? So that you might begin to have a divine friendship with Jesus, Mary, and Joseph? When one soul goes through a conversion it will often have an effect on the whole family.

Pope Leo XIII assures us, in his apostolic letter on the Holy Family: “When their help is asked for, Jesus, Mary and Joseph will be present within the home, fostering charity, guiding conduct, and stimulating to virtue by their example. And by alleviating those hardships which everywhere harass mortal men, they will make them more bearable.” What beautiful promises: “When their help is asked for, Jesus, Mary and Joseph will be present within the home, … and by alleviating those hardships which everywhere harass mortal men, they will make them more bearable.”

As we prepare now to enter into the heart of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, may the Holy Family be by your side to help you to left the eyes of your soul to God with great faith and hope in what He wishes to offer you, in what He wishes to offer your family.

I will leave you with a portion of St. Paul’s words to the Colossians, the beginning of which the Church gives us in today’s epistle:

Col 3:12 – 4:2: “Put on therefore as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, a heart of mercy, kindness, humility, meekness, patience. Bear with one another and forgive one another, if anyone has a grievance against any other; even as the Lord has forgiven you, so also do you forgive. But above all these things have charity, which is the bond of perfection. And may the peace of Christ reign in your hearts; unto that peace, indeed, you were called in one body. Show yourselves thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you abundantly: in all wisdom teach and admonish one another by psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, singing in your hearts to God by His grace. Whatever you do in word or work, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. Wives, be subject to your husbands, as is becoming in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and do not be bitter towards them. Children, obey your parents in all things, for that is pleasing in the Lord. Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, that they may not be discouraged…. Be assiduous in prayer, being wakeful therein with thanksgiving.”

Playing in the Mud

Christmas continues :)

The Lamb who is offered every day on the altar of God.

My cassock after....

Dear Friends and Family,

This past week was full of blessings too numerous to recount, a chief one being the the opportunity to offer the Holy Sacrifice every morning and to adore the King of Kings. I also had the blessing of spending a day hiking along Cornwall's famous coast.

The day began with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, attended by the young men who put in the work of serving throughout this fall and preparing for the Christmas Masses. This was followed by breakfast together in their home (a natural fit since they are all brothers!). In addition to a delicious breakfast I got an education, or at least an introduction, to the ins and outs of surfing, which is a regular recreation for them and is quite popular here in this part of Cornwall. So much so that in 8th grade students have a course where once a week they go surfing and are instructed in how to do it well! Additional entertainment included one brother playing a video of his brother showing off on a rope swing by going so high that.... he crashed into a tree branch. All thought it was quite funny (I concurred). We then headed out for the day's hike.

We drove to the south coast of England (about an hour drive), and set off to hike "Nare Head." It is a bluff situated on a beautiful bay. We embarked from the beach and began working our way uphill. The path wound through fields where sheep were grazing, cut through patches of bramble, passed an old fishing shelter and cove, took us by a World War II military bunker, and eventually led up to a point on the bluff that jutted out over the ocean. After taking in the view from there we continued down to a rocky beach on the other side of the bluff. Hiking down to the beach one of the guys had an idea: "Let's race down this steep hill!"

So we took up our positions, and when the signal was given started running down this steep hillside. Now I must admit that I was quickly left in the dust as I was trying to control my speed in order not to topple over (and am simply slower than these young guys!). But on their way down the hill one guy did a face plant into the mud, then another toppled over. I made it down the hill safely, and actually had a chance to take the lead since the others had taken a wrong turn at the bottom of the hill. However I was quickly overtaken by the lead runner. Following him down the remaining part of the hill to the beach we hit a very muddy patch. "No problem" I thought. I'll slow to a walk here and will step carefully. That was going OK until my left foot slipped out from under me and I found myself on my back in the mud, the results of which you can see on the cassock above. But it was quite fun!

After arriving at the rocky beach we had a bite to eat and tried skipping stones into the ocean. This was quite fun--amazing the fun you can have with some stones and an ocean, and I managed to skip a few, a little. But the other guys were quite skilled and skipped stones very well.

As the tide was coming in, and to avoid getting trapped on this little beach we then hiked out of the cove and proceeded to retrace our steps back to the original beach where we had parked. There the guys drew in the sand a miniature rugby field and proceeded to introduce me to "touch rugby" which was quite fun, and the sand very forgiving. We then piled into the van, quite a mess, and headed back to the house for dinner. In spite of our condition we were let back into the home and enjoyed a meal, topped off with a chocolate desert that almost none of the guys could finish (which made me happy since I'd ordered it hoping it would top even the appetites of teenage boys).

Thus ended the Christmas outing with the altar boys. And now, after a blessed Christmas octave it's time to dive back into work--or play, for in it's own way my work (at least much of it) is something I enjoy, and isn't that what play is? Well, it should be quite an intense week ahead, whatever it is called, as there will be lots to do!

I have been praying for you all this week in the novena of Masses, and will offer the final Mass of the novena tomorrow morning. You all will be in my heart at the altar. May Jesus and Mary grant you abundant blessings.

In Cordibus Iesu et Mariae,
Fr. Tony Pillari