Our Lady of the Rosary Family Catechism Launches

 

Dear Friends and Family,

I had a beautiful weekend here in Rome. The three children whom I helped prepare for Confirmation this September made a "post-Confirmation pilgrimage" to Rome to ask for the intercession of the saints, that they might become better soldiers for Christ.

Yesterday we were able to visit the rooms where St. Philip Neri lived and prayed, with an excellent tour guide, as well as the church he built--Chiesa Nuova. The afternoon was then spent visiting the Colosseum, and then the chapel on the site where St. Sebastian was martyred, spending time in Adoration.

This morning, after Mass at the tomb of Santa Francesca Romana, we visited the Mamertine Prison, an ancient prison in the heart of ancient Rome, right next to the Roman Senate building. More importantly, Sts. Peter and Paul were prisoners there. It was a real grace to pray at the site where these heroic martyrs prayed and suffered.

As most of you are likely aware, Our Lady of the Rosary Family Catechism launched this week at olrfamilycatechism.com . It is a real joy to be able to offer families throughout the world, for free, access to the teachings of Our Lady at Fatima and to a whole program for teaching their children the Baltimore Catechism. May it bear fruit!

Meanwhile, some other filming was going on here in Rome:

One of the main streets in Rome was blocked off for... the filming of Mission Impossible 7. If you look carefully in the center of the picture you will see them filming some sort of crash scene, with the large microphone visible against the white background.

You all are in my prayers here in Rome. I hope that this catechism program will be of use for you and your children. Much work and love was put into creating it, and will still be put into the post-production phase. So please keep in your prayers all the work of video and audio editing.

Wishing you a very blessed Sunday.

In Cordibus Iesu et Mariae,

Fr. Pillari

Classes have begun!

Dear Friends and Family,

Classes have begun! After almost a year of preparation, it is a real joy to now dive into studies. The atmosphere is rather unusual--a year like no other--in the sense that masks are now obligatory everywhere indoors, including in classrooms, along with social distancing, pulse and temperature checks, etc. But none of that should affect significantly my doctoral studies.

Rather than try to recount everything that happened this week, I'll tell you about Wednesday, which was spent getting to know the library, which you can see here:

It is a beautiful, old library--and I was told by a professor at a different university, the best one in Rome! What you see above is just a few of the rooms. It has multiple levels and, as you can see, within rooms different levels of bookshelves. There is something neat about the smell and feel of old books.

My morning orientation began with a walking tour of the different parts of the library especially pertinent to canon law--among them is a room full of doctoral dissertations from the past 100 years or so from multiple Roman universities. Other rooms have canonical journals, other historic commentaries, others general books, etc. etc. Then we went to see the collection desk. 

No one is allowed to take books out of the library (well, no one except for the professors and some of the Jesuit community in residence, I believe). This reminds me of something recounted in the life of St. John of the Cross. When he was studying theology at Salamanca, several hundred years ago, books were chained to the wall to prevent any student from carrying them away.... which gives an idea of how seriously books and libraries are taken here. So, the system is that you locate, in the online catalogue or on the shelf, the book(s) you wish to consult. You then submit an online request to the collection desk. Within 30 minutes, sometimes less, they produce the books for you, you pick them up at the collection desk, study them there in the library, and return them before you leave.

Because the books you see in the above photos, and the others in the rooms we could walk around into, are only a small part of the collection. Most of the books are in a reserved area that only the librarians have access to. The books in the rooms pictured above are ones that we are allowed to pull off the shelves and then put back ourselves, by the key parts of the library only the librarians go to. 

So research will involve a good deal of scanning pages so as to be able to consult them later on, and use them for eventually composing the doctoral thesis. On this day I requested and collected a number of books, after I figured out how to operate the online system, which took a while, and will now be reading from home, thanks to scanning, a book that has a collection of articles on Sacramentorum Sanctitatis Tutela, a key document for the Church's discipline in violations of the 6th Commandment by clerics (probably doesn't sound very exciting to you, but in terms of Church law it's a really important domain that is now being developed and much commented on).

There were many other events and blessings this week, but to keep this short I will stop here and tell you more about classes or other things next week. And for any of you who only follow the online rosary occasionally, I would encourage you to make sure to tune in this Tuesday, Oct. 13th, for a special announcement.

May Jesus be your strength and protection, and may Our Lady guide you.

In Cordibus Iesu et Mariae,

Fr. Pillari

Beginning Classes Tomorrow

 

St. John Lateran visible in the distance, looking through the Colosseum.

Dear Friends and Family,

Blessed Feast of St. Francis of Assisi! As one of the patron saints of Italy, his feast is liturgically a "first-class feast," which means that it takes precedence here even over the Sunday Mass. Thus, I had the blessing this morning of celebrating the Mass of St. Francis. He is such a wonderful saint. And the gospel for his feast day is one of my favorites. Even though you know it, I'll write it here again:

At that time Jesus declared, “I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes; ²⁶ yea, Father, for such was thy gracious will. ²⁷ All things have been delivered to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and any one to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. ²⁸ Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Wonderful words to meditate on.

Tomorrow classes begin. I will spend the morning at the Gregorian going through introductory classes in how to do research and writing according to their methodology. Given the presence of COVID, it will be interesting to see how we will be given access to the library. It will also be interesting to meet the other doctoral candidates. Apparently, we are 17 this year beginning the doctorate in canon law.

Then the afternoon will be spent at the Angelicum, hopefully getting to know their library system and also attending a class on the historical development of the doctrine of the Trinity. The class should be interesting because much of this semester we will be reading the original texts of authors such as Athanasius, Basil, and Gregory--Fathers of the Church who were key in the articulation of the great mystery of the Trinity.

After much preparation, it is a joy to be able to finally begin classes and research! Please say a prayer for me tomorrow, and this week, as I begin this next chapter of God's will for my life. 

This week had many other blessings. Rather than give you a long list I will simply describe one of them. I was pleased to discover that one of the neighboring ancient churches here along the ancient Roman Forum--namely, the Church of St. Sabastian--has daily Eucharistic adoration from 5PM to 6PM. I went there yesterday and it was very quiet and conducive to prayer, which is not always the case in the churches frequented by tourists in this area! The church is built on the site of St. Sabastian's martyrdom. Saint Sabastian was a Roman soldier renowned for his courage, who became a captain of the Praetorian Guard. Eventually, his faith was discovered, after he had helped a number of others to convert, and he was martyred and went to his eternal reward. 

I will be returning to the church in a little bit to make a Holy Hour, and will pray for you all there, for the virtue of courage in today's world.

May St. Sebastian intercede for you, and may Our Lady be your counsel and guide.

In Cordibus Iesu et Mariae,

Fr. Pillari

 

Vicariato di Roma

 

Dear Friends and Family,

It has been a very blessed first full week in Rome. Thank you very much for your prayers! Much of the week was spent sorting out logistics and learning a bit of how Rome works. Among other things the week involved a trip to IKEA to begin sorting out necessary furniture so that my room can work well as an office for study and also as a good living space, and a trip to the Lateran Palazzo, where the chancery of the Diocese of Rome is located. 

The photo above gives you a glimpse of the incredible artwork that adorns the ceiling everywhere (at least everywhere I went) in the Lateran Palazzo. Here is a photo of a stairwell:

While quite beautiful, I much prefer the churches that are often so conducive to prayer. For example, here is a photo of the Church of Saints Cosmas and Damian, who are our "next-door neighbours" here along the Roman Forum. I made a mini Holy Hour there yesterday morning, and took this photo.

The structure was originally a pagan temple, with a large library attached (the photo above is showing part of what seems to have been the library), that was transformed in the 500's into a church. It was quite, recollected place for prayer that I will likely visit again soon.

In just a moment I will be heading out the door to pray in a church or two and then make my way to Santissima Trinita dei Pelligrini, which is familiar to a number of you. It's the parish church of the FSSP in the heart of Rome. I was invited to be in choir for the High Mass (N.B. "assisting in choir"--for a priest, doesn't mean I sing, but means I am near the altar and praying while the priest celebrates the Mass), and then to join the priests for lunch afterwards. Looking forward to getting to know them. Then I plan to visit the Musei dei Fori Imperiali, which is supposed to have very good models and explanations of the heart of ancient Rome.

I prayed for you this morning in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, as I do every day. I will be praying for you especially this Friday, as on every first Friday I offer the Mass for all my benefactors--and all of you are certainly that, whether by helping bring me into this world--thank you Mom and Dad!, or by your prayers or in other ways.

And to show you that I'm officially here:

May God grant you a blessed and joyful Sunday.

In Cordibus Iesu et Mariae,

Fr. Pillari

In the Heart of Rome

 

Dear Friends and Family,

Greetings from Rome! It has been a whirlwind week getting settled in here but it is really exciting to be in the heart of Rome, where so many martyrs and saints lived and died. I am living in a really beautiful location, in the heart of ancient Rome, right in between the Colosseum and the Roman Forum.

For this first post, I mainly wanted to give you a glimpse of what surrounds me. The above photo is taken from the bell tower of the monastery I just moved into. I climbed up the stairs the other day and Don Elvir, a fellow student, kindly took that and the photos below.

It is truly an amazing place to be in! And the monks have been most fraternal--it should be a very good place for prayer and study. This morning I was able to celebrate Mass in the crypt, where there is the tomb of San Francesca Romana, co-patron of Rome. If you'd like to take a glance at the Basilica to which the monastery is attached see here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Francesca_Romana,_Rome

Next Sunday, I will write more about life here. In the meantime, praying for you all here in Rome!

In Cordibus Iesu et Mariae,

Fr. Pillari

Two Special Graces and a Train to catch tomorrow

 

Photo of the three children I helped prepare for Confirmation, just after they were confirmed by Bishop Athanasius Schneider.

The "head bands" are a family tradition to cover the part of the forehead anointed with sacred chrism, as a sign of the holiness of the oil and of the Sacrament received.

With their sponsors.

Dear Friends and Family,

Though it is now midnight on Sunday, I wanted to show you these few pictures and write a few words about this blessed Sunday. I will try to continue with at least a few blog posts once I arrive in Rome.

Last Sunday Bishop Athanasius Schneider confirmed three children I helped prepare for the Sacrament. It was a real joy to see them receive the fullness of the Holy Ghost and His gifts. It was also a joy to assist at Bishop Schneider's Mass, and to see his prayerful, fatherly attention to the children and to others in the celebration that followed. In fact, the schedule worked out such that he had a good 20 minutes to interview the children before the ceremony began. It brought a real smile to my face to see them answering the good Bishop's questions and interacting with him.

Then today, I had the joy of a skype call with a former parishioner from Plymouth who became a postulant 6 months ago and today was invested in the full religious habit. She seemed very happy and it was a joy to speak to her about prayer, about religious life, and to hear about her experiences so far.

Tomorrow, I will take the train to Rome and begin my time of studies there. God-willing I will have some photos to share with you next Sunday. At the moment, I'm sitting in the middle of boxes of books and preparing to finish one last task, which I should do now...

Will pray for all of you at the tombs of the saints and martyrs in Rome!

In Cordibus Iesu et Mariae,

Fr. Pillari

Pause in Posting

Looking out over the valley.

Dear Friends and Family,

Blessed Sunday! And for those in the U.S., happy 4th of July weekend! Even if it is a very heavy time for the country, I am very grateful to have an American, to have received so much that is good from the sacrifices made by our ancestors in the States.

I want to let you all know that I will not be, at least not for a while, posting to this blog. The reason is that I all of a sudden find myself in the surprising position of being a rather public figure, due to the daily worldwide rosary crusade. I'm very conscious of the admonition of Scripture, "Let every man be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger." I think that, in general, we would do much better as pastors of the Church to speak less frequently but more to the point or more carefully. To that end, I think I ought, for the moment, to not add to the number of words I am spreading around the internet each week.

I began this blog as a way of allowing family, friends, and families who had been under my care to still be in contact, even if I was now living far away. But now that you can, for better or worse, pray the rosary with me any day you wish to, I don't think the blog is as necessary. Also, I had begun this as a vehicle of writing to friends and family in much the same way I would speak around the table if I were sitting in one of your homes. Now that I have begun more of a public person, anything I write or do online is that much more public, including this blog. The goal of a priest is to put people face to face with Jesus Christ, not with his own personality. "He must increase, and I must decrease."

So I think, at least for a while, that this is the right approach. Feel free to let me know your own thoughts. Perhaps after a few months, we can see if this is the best approach or not.  In the meantime, know that each of you will continue to be in my daily prayers and thoughts.

But since today I am still writing.... among the blessings of this past week was nearing the end of my 100-page licentiate paper in theology. I still have a few more pages of the conclusion to write, and then the process of reviewing and correcting, which will not be minor, but the hardest part is almost behind me! Tomorrow I will head into Florence, both to stop by a parish for Confession, in order to receive the graces of the First Saturdays, and also to have lunch with the chancellor of the diocese, a good canon lawyer who is also an American.

Thank you for the special gift that each of you is in my life. May Jesus and Mary watch over you each day. When travel becomes possible again, I will hope to see you in person. in the meantime, I will hope to see you for the rosary!

In Cordibus Iesu et Mariae,
Fr. Pillari