Our Lady of Fatima

Our Lady of Fatima's statute--placed out for this weekend's Masses.

Dear Friends and Family,

First, to all those mothers out there: a very happy and blessed Mothers Day to each of you. Thank you for all the daily, hidden sacrifices you make for your families. May God grant you extra peace, strength, and joy on this day,

As I was praying in church yesterday, looking at this statue, I was reminded of something that happened 23 years ago, when I was a sophomore at Notre Dame. I had begun to go through a conversion and was just beginning to discover a number of aspects of the Faith. There was a dance in my dorm one weekend--it was called a "dance" but actually was more drinking and partying than dancing. I had decided not to attend and to not even be around the dorm that night. Instead I was in the library. It was not an easy sacrifice at the time for me to make: to be alone in the library instead of with the others in my dorm. So I was looking for something distracting to read, and then picked up... The True Story of Fatima by Fr. John de Marchi.

For the rest of that night, until after 2AM (when the "dance" finally ended and things returned to relative quiet in the dorm), I sat in the library reading this wonderful little book and discovered... the amazing story of the lives of the children of Fatima. How amazing, wonderful, and humbling it was to read about how these three little children, with the simplicity of children, responded to Our Lady's message! It was beautiful to read how they learned to pray from the angel, how they bravely accepted to make sacrifices for the conversion of sinners, how they related to each other as friends and cousins, and how in the end Francisco and Jacinta bravely gave their lives at such an early age. Inspiring and humbling.... to realize how very far, far away I was from how these children had responded.

Today I'm unfortunately still far, far away from how these children responded, but they are great intercessors to ask for help. If you haven't read this little book, which you can still find for sale (and I think for free online in some places), you might consider it. The children of Fatima still have so much to teach us I think

May Our Lady of Fatima watch over each of you and may She grant us to renew our devotion to Her Immaculate Heart.

I'll sign off for now as I promised a local family that I would join them for lunch. This was an intense week of studies. One course in particular is really hard! But I suppose that means I'm learning more by being challenged.

I'll be writing you next Sunday from Rome, where I'll be for the Rome Life Forum. Until then, oremus pro invicem!

In Cordibus Iesu et Mariae,
Fr. Tony Pillari

The Queen of Heaven and Earth

Our Lady Crowned on this First Sunday of May

Dear Friends and Family,

We have a Queen! The Queen of Heaven and earth. And what a wonderful, beautiful queen She is. This morning the pastor here, Fr. Deprey, very kindly asked me to be the main celebrant for our Solemn High Mass. The Mass began with a procession to the statue you see pictured above, except that She was uncrowned at the time.

The procession was led by about 10 young men who would then serve the Mass. They were followed by a little girl, about 7 years old, carrying the crown of flower for the Virgin Mary on a special pillow. Then came the MC, Fathers Deprey and Breton (acting as Deacon and Subdeacon for the day), and myself.

We processed to the side altar as pictured here:

Side Altar to Our Lady.

This is also where I celebrate most of my quite early morning Masses during the week. As we arrived there a small stepladder was placed in front of the altar, I climbed up (having to then stand on the altar as there was no other way to reach the top of the statue), received the crown of flowers from the little girl, and then crowned Our Lady. All the while the choir and organist led a beautiful hymn in French to Her. A beautiful moment to crown Our Heavenly Mother!

We then processed into the sanctuary and began the Solemn High Mass.

The chanting of the Gospel.

It was a beautiful Mass. I was struck by the diversity of the congregation: white and black, French and English speakers, young and old, handicapped, great numbers of little children--all came together to kneel and adore the Lord in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. And among the Congregation were.... my own parents.

My Dad and I outside the original chapel St. André helped build.

They traveled here for the weekend to see where I was living, praying, and studying. Yesterday we made a day pilgrimage to St. Joseph's Oratory and the tomb or Saint André (Brother André). It was especially nice to read some accounts of his life, while praying in the oratory, to pray at his tomb, and to see the little chapel he lived in and helped build (before the larger one was built). It was a very nice weekend with my parents.

Last week was intense for studies and this week will be the same, but for now I am simply giving thanks for the graces of this weekend.

I found this article interesting--a timely and perceptive analysis of the connection between the Fatima message and the threat of communism. It's a 2-minute read in case you are interested. https://www.lifesitenews.com/opinion/russia.-why-was-our-lady-of-fatima-so-concerned-about-russia

May the Blessed Virgin Mary guide and bless each of your families during this month of May!

In Cordibus Iesu et Mariae,
Fr. Tony Pillari

O Canada

Dear Friends and Family,

A blessed Feast of St. Joseph! There are so many, many graces available on his feast day. He is a powerful intercessor for husbands, fathers, priests, workers, for administrative/financial challenges, for purity, for the contemplative life, for the Universal Church. So take advantage of the graces of this day by confiding your needs to St. Joseph and asking him to obtain the necessary graces, and to guide you according to God's will.

I just arrived back in Canada for an intense 9 weeks of studies and exams this side of the Atlantic. I'm staying at St. Clement's once again, the FSSP parish here in Ottawa:

High Altar at St. Clement's. I offered a quiet Mass this morning on St. Joseph's altar (not pictured--off to the left of photo).

The two priests here are very kind, the parish is beautiful, quiet, and reverent, and it's 10 minutes from the University. A blessed situation.

The flight across the Atlantic was interesting--always interesting, when traveling in a cassock, to see what conversations will develop. A medical doctor who teaches at Stanford sat next to me and was eager to talk. After a while he began asking questions about my studies, faith, etc. He himself seemed an agnostic. So I told him about the great miracles of Fatima, and about one of the miracles of Padre Pio, asserting that it was more reasonable to believe in Divine Intervention and in God Himself, when confronted with such events, than to not believe. He wasn't yet convinced and as we continued talking he brought up the "claim" that Jesus was Divine, comparing it to the tradition in Japan of considering each emperor to be in some sense "divine." I pointed out the difference between the two assertions and uniqueness of the Christian faith but he was not yet convinced. He gave me his email address though and invited me to visit him at Stanford one day.

He was very kind, but sadly kindness is not enough to make it to Heaven. Something more is needed: the humility and courage to go through a true conversion--to accept to change your way of living and to accept to live as a servant of Jesus Christ. Not easy for someone who is used to being in control. Reasons for belief are helpful, but ultimately the real struggle is between grace and sin, humility and pride. I pray that one day he'll find the Truth and accept to follow Him fully. Please say a prayer for him, and for all those who are in need of conversion.

Before heading to Canada I had a wonderful 48 hours at home with my parents. It was wonderful to see them and some of the rest of my family. Here is a photo from Saturday night:

a

A crucial moment...

...at the beginning of the game of Clue.

My brother TJ (left), brother-in-law Patrick (right), and Mom are pictured. TJ, Quinn, and their three children, along with Elizabeth, Pat, and baby Thomas (just 2 months old), all came over. Another things we had a good game of Clue. At one point Leo (my 5 year old nephew, who was on my team) and thought we knew who had done it, with which weapon, and in which room. But alas, we were not correct, which meant we were out of the game... But immediately each of the other players proceeded to guess and.... all of them were wrong! Except for the very last one, my niece Lucy, who won by being the only one still in the game. I've never seen that happen before. It was a fun evening to be with all of them, to catch up, play with baby Thomas, and eat some great homemade pasta.

At the moment I need to work with a computer technician to try to get my computer functional before heading to the university this morning, so I'd best sign-off.

As we begin this month of May, may Our Lady guide each one of you and watch over you.

In Cordibus Iesu et Mariae,
Fr. Tony Pillari

Blessed Divine Mercy Sunday!

Flowers outside Lanherne.

Daisey's outside Lanherne.

Bodmin Moore. We hiked to the top, as you can see...

Highest place in Cornwall.

Dear Friends and Family,

Happy Divine Mercy Sunday! I was praying for you all in Mass this morning. Here it was a very blessed day and week. At today's Mass in Plymouth I had two particular joys: offering First Holy Communion to a boy and blessing a couple's renewal of their wedding vows.

The renewal of wedding vows took place right before the Mass. the couple has three young boys, two of whom should begin serving at the altar soon! Since the wife is from Mexico, we had the renewal in the traditional form, with the couple kneeling, but also incorporating some of the Mexican customs, such as the husband giving his wife "arras" and the placing of the lazo over them both. For those not familiar, the "arras" are symbolic gold coins that a husband gives to his wife to symbolize the care he will provide for her, etc. The lazo is actually a large rosary, but made in such a way that is has two large loops--one for each spouse. After blessing the lazo the priest places it over both of them so that they are both "caught" by the large rosary and held together by it. It is a nice symbol of the place the rosary should have in a couple's life: uniting them both to Jesus through Mary and thus uniting them to each other. In this case it was a particular joy to perform this ceremony as the couple is one that prays faithfully the rosary with their children ever day. And, as an extra blessing, the couple gave me two beautiful images of Our Lady of Guadalupe! I have certainly missed her here and am delighted to now have two good images to put in my room.

Then the Mass itself was the First Communion Mass. The 8-year-old boy had been well prepared and seemed to take quite seriously his preparation and the ceremony itself. Though quite nervous he seemed very intent indeed as he came forward for Holy Communion, knelt on the special kneeler prepared for him, and closed his eyes in order to receive His God for the first time within Him in this blessed moment. After Mass I returned to kneel in the sanctuary and invited him to kneel next to me, surrounded by the acolytes, to kneel in silence and thank the Lord for the wonderful gift of Holy Communion. Now begins his journey to become a saint... may he become one!

The last two photos above are from our Easter Friday outing, with the current altar boys of Lanherne, to reward them for all their hard work this past semester. We spent the afternoon hiking "Bodim Moore"--a sort of national park in the area. We hiked up to the highest place in Cornwall, as seen in the photo above. It was a very nice outing. Then that evening they took me to "Piero's"--an Italian pizza place. It was fun--and did indeed have real Italians working there! I was able to speak some Italian with them. I managed to eat an "inferno"--the pizza with chili's on it, to sample some Italian gelato, and to simply have a fun time with them.

Though we got back late and I felt a bit under the weather this weekend it was a nice way to celebrate with them.

And now, this Thursday, I fly back to North America for two months of studies... So next Sunday's post will come from your side of the Atlantic (at least for most of you).

Until then, may Jesus and Mary watch over you all and grant you continued Easter peace and joy.

In Cordibus Iesu et Mariae,
Fr. Tony Pillari

Resurrexit Sicut Dixit, Alleluia!

Dear Friends and Family,

Happy Easter! What a wonderful, wonderful joyful day this is. It is now 8:30PM and the day started before 5AM so I am tired, but very happy.

During the Easter Vigil yesterday I was rather overwhelmed with gratitude for what God has done in my life--for how well He has taken care of me. Thank you all for being some of those wonderful blessings in my life. Though many of you are across the ocean, I ask Jesus and Mary to embrace you for me and to grant you much Easter peace and joy.

For this evening, I thought it might be best to give you a few photos of this Easter for me here. The first set of photos is from this afternoon and evening's "Egg competition" at a family farm nearby.

After the Mass and related activities in the morning here I headed into Plymouth for Mass and celebration with the congregation there, then back here for a quick 25 minute run, shower, and then off to the family farm for a meal and "egg competition" with about 40 people involved. The basic rules were: each adult or child could submit one entry. It had to be composed of a real egg, but then could involve many other elements. I've never seen a family tradition like this before but it seemed to come off great, with much excitement in the viewing and voting on the eggs. The teenagers and children got quite into it. One young man wanted to design a canon that would shoot an egg, which didn't materialize. However another did manage to make, albeit accidentally, his egg explode during the presentation of his entry. Here are some of the entries...

Entrance to family farm

"Egg man" walking down corkscrew, made by...

The boy pictured here. Notice the nice detail in the face of his egg.

Though the appearance is unassuming, w hen you press on the "press me" button the egg shoots water at the person looking at it!

Introducing the rules for voting.

An electronic entry designed by the young man spending a year of spiritual formation here. In the midst of Holy Week preparations he found time to build this and to program it so that there was a unique light sequence that took place on the board, along with the egg flashing different colors.

The caption reads "jail break"...

The egg that exploded. The attached motor made it spin around but as it spun fast...

Egg Pod

Nicely done

Made bu children, with real little eggs under the one on the right.

Mouse and cheese

Shawn the Sheep and the "Cold South Pole"

Altar of Repose for Holy Thursday

Baptistry at Lanherne. Items prepared for blessing of Baptismal water during the Vigil.

Hopefully that gives you a glimpse of some of the blessings of Easter. There were many more, but for now I should turn in for the night. May our risen Savior grant you much peace and joy.

In Cordibus Iesu et Mariae,
Fr. Tony Pillari

The Holiest Week of the Year

Back of Chasuble for Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows (optional feast for last Friday before Palm Sunday)

Front

Top of burse. Hand embroidery which is three-dimensional.

Hand embroidered front of chalice veil.

Dear Friends and Family,

First, thank you for your very kind letters and prayers for my birthday, which were a great joy to read. May God reward you for that gift. You all will be particularly intensely in my prayers this week as we enter into the holiest days of the year.

It's hard to know how to put into words all that takes place this week. Of course we celebrate each of the Triduum liturgies, the morning of Easter, Tenebrae, etc. and I could describe those. For example this morning we processed with palms on a beautiful Sunday morning--temperature in the upper 40's, sun shining, and the little congregation gathered close together as I chanted the processional hymns (since the nuns had their own procession in their cloister I had to lead the chanting for our procession). What I mean is that what really goes on this week is very hard to put into words: the great action of God in each of our souls, to the degree that we're open to Him and cooperate with Him.

This week is not just a commemoration of the holiest events that have ever occurred in the history of the world: the passion, death, and resurrection of our Lord. Rather, these days are days in which the Lord wishes to truly work in each of our souls a passion, death, and resurrection. A death to sin certainly, but also a death to my plans or ideas that are not his plans or ideas, and even more deeply a death to (according to His call) who I am, so that I can more fully embrace His will and His plans for my life. An example of the latter would be what took place for the apostles during this week: they died to their own egos, to their own ideas of what following Christ meant, to their image of who they were or should be etc., so that Christ could begin to remake them according to His image, so that they could truly become apostles and could embrace the invaluable mission He had in store for them.

Well, to tell the truth, this work only began during Holy Week. It would be more fully achieved on Pentecost, but it began during this tremendous week.

Christ has plans for what he wishes to do in each of our souls during this week. Beyond the external things that you will do, each of us called to try to be attentive to the working of His grace in our own soul, docile to His inspirations, to what He wishes us to die to, to what He wishes us to embrace.

More than any of that, I suppose, He wants from us a great hope, a great trust. To trust that, in spite of how limited our poor prayers and efforts may be this week, He comes as our Savior and wishes to act powerfully in your soul.

May the Virgin Mary grant each of us to be docile to this work of grace. Please pray for me here this week. I will be praying for you!

In Cordibus Iesu et Mariae,
Fr. Tony Pillari

Passion Sunday

Our Lady just outside the monastery entrance.

Street near parish in Plymouth in today's beautiful sunshine.

Dear Friends and Family,

We're now just two weeks away from the greatest moment in the whole year: the reliving of our Lord's passion, death, and resurrection. Only two weeks until the celebration of His triumph over sin and death!

As I sit down to write this post I am exhausted but happy after a full day. It began as usual with quiet prayer in the early morning hours, then Confessions, Mass, etc. both here and in Plymouth. Then in the afternoon I had the joy of visiting with a young couple expecting their first baby, whom I'll have the joy of baptizing in a few months! One of several babies due to arrive this year either here at Lanherne or in Plymouth. And a few children are being prepared for first Holy Communion. This past week I had the blessing of hearing three first Confessions. Another two will be making their Confessions and First Holy Communion in the Fall.

Speaking of which, each Wednesday evening I teach those two, who are preparing for the Fall, their Catechism. It's the first time I've had the opportunity to teach children weekly in their preparation for first Confession and Holy Communion, and has been a joy and a good learning experience. They ask good questions!

The children are 5 and 6 years old. You never know what questions they will ask! The other day the 6 year-old girl, seemingly out of nowhere (as I was giving their lesson), asked: "What is the special role of girls and women?" An interesting question that gave a chance to try to speak a bit about the unique grace of women. Or this past Wednesday we were talking about Our Lady's motherhood, the fact that Jesus was God and so She is the Mother of God, and also the fact She was conceived without original sin. On the last point, after some discussion of original sin, I asked them, was there anyone who was ever conceived without original sin? 

Answer: "Jesus!"

"You're right, but there was one other person. Who was that?"

"God the Father!"

"That's true (now we had just been talking about the three persons in the Trinity so this was of course a correct answer), but there's one other."

"God the Holy Ghost!"

"OK that's true... so there are a few more than one other person. Who else?"

At last the response came "Mary."

I share that just to give you a small sampling on how questions that I think will lead naturally to one answer in fact lead to others, which keeps me on my toes :).

But at the moment I should not stay on my toes, or feet, much longer. The position of lying down for a good night's rest is probably a wise choice.

Before that though I'll go downstairs to get some dinner, but wanted to write you first.

I will be praying for you during these holy two weeks. May Jesus and Mary guide you and form you.

In Cordibus Iesu et Mariae,

Fr. Tony Pillari