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

Aquinas' Commentary on Romans

Dear Friends and Family,

I hope this email finds you well. Here, it is a beautiful sunny day. After much rain the past month summer seems to have fully arrived in Tuscany. In a little bit, I plan to go for a fun up the mountain.

Among the many blessings of this past week, I spent a good deal of time studying St. Thomas Aquinas' commentary on the Letter to the Romans. Though the following may be a bit theoretical, I thought some of you might like to know a little of what I'm studying.

Part of the licentiate paper that I am working on, for the STL in Toulouse, involves this commentary, which has many interesting points. I thought I would share one with you. In chapter 7 of St. Paul's letter to the Romans there is his famous description of an interior struggle:

We know that the law is spiritual; but I am carnal, sold under sin. ¹⁵ I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. ¹⁶ Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. ¹⁷ So then it is no longer I that do it, but sin which dwells within me. ¹⁸ For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. ¹⁹ For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. ²⁰ Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin which dwells within me. 

²¹ So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. ²² For I delight in the law of God, in my inmost self, ²³ but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin which dwells in my members.

Many commentators have asked: Is St. Paul describing the situation of a man before conversion, of someone not in a state of grace? Or is he describing someone in a state of grace, even himself, who has these struggles? St. Thomas spends about 40 pages analyzing this, so I'll only be able to share here a tiny bit of what he says.

He analyzes each line by giving both possible interpretations and showing what each would mean, but he says that the better interpretation is that St. Paul is speaking of someone in a state of grace.

In that case, Aquinas holds that the "I do the very thing I hate... the evil I do not want is what I do. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin which dwells in me"--that such phrases refer to the involuntary movements of what is called the sensitive appetite, i.e. the consequences of original sin that include disordered desires that spring up in the soul. He speaks of someone in a state of grace--say, St. Paul--who does not consent to these desires. In his actions, both exterior and interior, he acts according to what is right and just, according to what is God's will. Nonetheless, there is a part of him that acts in the opposite manner, interiorly, through such interior movements. Aquinas describes, therefore, someone who never gives in to sin and yet for whom these words hold true. But his analysis can also be used to show what--for most of us on most days--is the case: that we at times do commit sins, even if venial ones. In that case, the part of his analysis which applies to the man in mortal sin could be applied to the venial sins.

For the sinner, Aquinas writes that the sinner is still said to want the reasonable good in the sense of the “incomplete willing by which men want the good in general, just as they have a correct judgment about the good in general; yet this judgment is perverted by a bad habit or a perverse passion with the result that the will… does not do what it knows in a general way should be done and would want to do." In other words, man's reason and judgment allow themselves to be more and more drawn in the direction of what is being proposed by the sensitive appetite, by desires that go contrary to what is right and just, and so the man's reason becomes distorted and he convinces himself that the reasons in favor of doing the sinful action are actually the more important ones, that this is really the reasonable thing to do. In this sense he does not what "in a general way," or deep down, he knows to be right, what deep down his soul truly wants. 

Well, that is probably enough theology to have put many of you to sleep, so I'll stop there.

Blessed Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul tomorrow! I will be praying for you in the Holy 

Sacrifice of the Mass.

In Cordibus Iesu et Mariae,

Fr. Pillari

Mountaintop View

Dear Friends and Family,

Blessed Father's day! Thank you, Dad, for being such a great father to me.

Above is the beautiful view that I am blessed to have a few times a week when I go jogging. I finally carried my phone on the run Friday to take some pictures for you. There is something so uplifting about looking out from a mountain top, gazing at neighboring mountains across the horizon, looking down into the valleys. Perhaps it is because it makes me think of God's perspective looking down on the world, and helps me realize how limited my own perspective is. I'm not sure the reasons, but it is a really beautiful view that I always find refreshing.

This morning I had the blessing of celebrating Mass for a couple's 23rd wedding anniversary--members of the family I'm staying with. Wedding anniversaries are truly worth celebrating today, when it is more difficult than ever for spouses to sacrifice themselves faithfully, day after day, for their spouse and children.

Another of the many blessings of this past week occurred yesterday. I received a note from a mother in Pakistan who has been joining in the Our Lady of Fatima Worldwide Rosary Crusade that I've been leading online. She wrote that she had been unable to pray with us for about 12 days due to an illness, but that her three teenage children had nonetheless continued to pray the rosary daily, along with other prayers. It is good to hear of three teenage children maintaining that level of fidelity to prayer without their mother, and a privilege to be able to pray with them via the online rosary. When I read a bit about Pakistan online, I felt even more honored.

Catholics make up less than 1% of the population, which is about 95% Muslim. Persecution and marginalization have been, and are, very real realities for Catholics in Pakistan. As one of the Pakistani Bishops said in an interview, forgiveness of those who persecute you is something very real for them, something they need to put into practice often. It is also a young part of the Church, with many children. It was a real joy to know that I could be present to a family like that, from all the way in Italy, and could assist in some small way by praying the rosary with them each day.

May God grant us, and Catholics all over the world, the graces of joy, peace, and courage, so that we might be prepared to face whatever God may ask of us in this coming year.

And to all fathers reading this, happy Father's Day!

In Cordibus Iesu et Mariae,
Fr. Pillari

The Blessing of Lectio Divina

Mountain top I hope to run to in a little while.

Dear Friends and Family,

It is a cool Sunday afternoon here in Tuscany, perhaps mid-60's, which is beautiful weather. We had a strong rainstorm last night, which was pretty to watch from a little porch. This morning has been a typical Sunday morning. After morning prayers in the chapel, I spent time practising the pronunciation for my Italian sermon. This takes a while--up to an hour of repetition if I want to get close to a smooth Italian delivery--but it is also good practice for my Italian in general.

After that, I headed to the chapel for 30 minutes of prayer in preparation for the Mass, took about 30 minutes after Mass for prayer, and then headed to lunch. While some of the finer points of Italian grammar are still a work in process, I'm getting closer and lunch conversations are becoming easier.

Yesterday, on the Feast of St. Anthony of Padua, I felt drawn to a renewed focus on the practice of lectio divina--the "divine reading" which is the expression classically used for reading the Bible prayerfully and trying to listen to what God wishes to teach us. I enjoyed yesterday re-reading the very beginning of the Gospel according to St. Matthew, reflecting on St. Joseph's hidden role and on other more hidden points of the first two chapters. For example, I wondered what became of the scribes and chief priests consulted by Herod.

Both they and all of Jerusalem were aware that the wise men came from the East seeking the newborn Messiah. And they were aware that it was prophesied, in Micah, that he would be born in Bethlehem and that Herod subsequently tried to kill him in the slaughter. Did some of them go seek out the Messiah before the slaughter? Did any of them later recognize the Lord when His public life began? Did they reproach Herod for what he had done?

I hope to start, little by little, committing some of the Gospel to memory each day--at least enough to think about it throughout the day. I've found in the past that this gives strength, peace, light, and hope.  On that note, I am now due to head to the chapel for my daily time of lectio divina so I will sign off here.

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

In Cordibus Iesu et Mariae,
Fr. Pillari

Florence's Famous Museums

One of the most famous piazzas and churches in Florence: Piazza Santa Maria Novella.

The same piazza looking the other direction.

The facade of the Duomo (Florence's famous cathedral).

Dear Friends and Family,

I pray that this email finds each of you well in the midst of the challenging situations our world and the Church are still living. My heart goes out in a particular way to those in the US right now.

I was blessed with a very unique opportunity this past Thursday: the opportunity to have almost private tours of Florence's two most famous art museums--perhaps the most famous, alongside the Louvre in Paris, art museums in the world: The Accademia and the Uffizzi.

I had almost private tours of each because they reopened on Wednesday but, due to the severe travel restrictions, almost no one was there! Normally, you would have huge crowds of people filing into each and would perhaps have a few moments before the most famous pieces of art, trying to peer around people and get at least a glimpse from up close. Whereas Thursday I was able to take as much time as I wished to contemplate the works of sacred heart, sit and pray in front of them, walk up close and examine details, walk around the statues, etc. You can find photos of the famous works in each online, but to give you an idea of how truly private it was, look at the photo below.

This photo is taken from right below the famous statue of David by Michaelangelo. It is in the most important hall of the Accademia and stands an imposing height that fills the main space: it's perhaps 20 feet tall. You can see below how many people were there...

Empty main hall (except for a few guards) of the Accademia.

It was amazing to see Michaelangelo's unfished sculptures (in the background along the wall), and see the marks made with his chisel, and then to look at the amazingly smooth David. Truly amazing that he was able to do this out of a single block of marble, and at just 26 years old. But more interesting were the many altarpieces and works of sacred art. At the Uffizi I had the blessing of being guided around by a member of my host family who is an expert in Renaissance art. She carefully explained to me the development of sacred art from Cimabue to Giotto, to later masters such as Michaelangelo, Rafael, DaVinci, and lesser-known names but ones whose art is quite beautiful. It was an amazing few hours.

Though masks and rubber gloves in the museum were obligatory (rubber gloves only at the Accademia), it was well worth such small sacrifices in order to have a once in a lifetime "private tour" of each museum. One of many blessings of the past week. This coming week's main work will be Italian grammar and some research for a theology paper.

You are in my prayers!

In Cordibus Iesu et Mariae,
Fr. Pillari

Company while Praying the Breviary

Dear Friends and Family,

Blessed Pentecost Sunday! While strolling back and forth outside in the yard just now, praying the breviary, the chickens decided to come join me in the yard, as can be seen in the photo above. Here are some of his companions:

Today is doubly wonderful. Not only is it the great feast of Pentecost, one of the three greatest Feasts in the Church's liturgical year--the other two being Christmas and Easter--I also had the blessing of renewing my consecration to Our Lady according to the formula of St. Louis de Montfort that I used 25 1/2 years ago, in a little chapel at the University of Notre Dame, to make the consecration for the first time.

I have so very much to be thankful for from these past 25 1/2 years! Our Lady has taken good care of me, watching out for me in a thousand different ways, and giving me the priceless gift of my vocation to the priesthood, with the blessing of being consecrated to Her Son for life. It was a real joy to renew the offering of my life, of all that I am, to Her. It is exciting to think of what She will be able to do in this coming year, for She does so much with the little we give Her.

And I had the blessing of not only making the consecration myself but of doing so in union with many, many others throughout the world. I'm not sure how many of the 2,000+ who join in the daily rosary made the consecration. But however many it was, it was nice to be united with them, and to have the others praying for us.

Then there is the special joy of Pentecost, with its octave. In the traditional calendar, most of the liturgical year is centred on Pentecost--every Sunday from now until Advent is designated as the "second, third, etc." Sunday after Pentecost to highlight how crucial the feast is for the entire life of the Church. The ancient Jewish feast of Pentecost commemorated the giving of the law through Moses on Mount Sinai. The Christian feast of Pentecost commemorates the giving of the new law through the coming of the Holy Spirit, who is Himself as at the very heart of the New Law.

All throughout this Octave, I will be praying for you. And this Friday, as I do on every first Friday of the month, I will offer my Mass for all of you who are so graciously continuing to support my studies and priestly ministry through your prayers, sacrifices, and donations. I am especially grateful for your kindness during these past few months. May God reward you a hundredfold.

May Our Lady by your sure guide and comfort in these challenging times.

In Cordibus Iesu et Mariae,
Fr. Pillari

The Blessing of Good Storytelling

Dear Friends and Family,

On this beautiful Sunday after the Ascension--a glimpse of which you see in the photo above, I had the blessing of spending the first part of the afternoon, after the Holy Mass, tasting fresh cherries from cherry trees near the house. I had stepped outside to find the adults--three couples and their children were here this afternoon--for lunch. But since lunch was not ready yet and since there was a flock of children calling to me under a cherry tree, I decided to go visit the children.

They were eagerly picking cherries, a few of which were ripe, and offering some to me. While I think the cherries will be better in a few weeks, it was a joy to see them laughing and to make them happy by eating some cherries with them. They then eagerly asked me to go examine two other cherry tries in different parts of the fields, and so we headed over there to examine the cherries and sample a few. Meanwhile, I picked up the four-year-old so that she could reach one of the branches and then swung her back and forth so that she could pretend she was Tarzan while holding onto the branch. All in all, a delightful way to prepare for lunch!

The lunch was an enjoyable time of learning and speaking Italian with new people, discussing the situation in the world and in Italy, raising their children in the Faith, and so forth. As with many people I've met, they were all quite bilingual (actually at least tri-lingual), but kindly agreed to have the conversation in Italian so that I could continue to learn. During the post-meal coffee I went off to call my parents, which was a blessing and joy, am now typing this to you all, and then will head out the door for a jog.

But the particular blessing of this week that I wanted to highlight was this.

I ordered it to encourage the children to read it as a way of working on their English and having something healthy and conducive to the Faith while doing so. But they are not quite ready for it yet, so I began reading it myself... I had forgotten how good of a writer CS Lewis is. Quite witty and entertaining, and quite profound. It's been a real joy to read some at the end of each day, as I hope to do this evening.

I'll leave you with how he concludes "The Horse and His Boy"--and excellent story though not as well known as some others. He is speaking of the two main characters, young adolescents when the story ends.

"Shasta had many quarrels (and, I'm afraid, even fights) with Cor, but they always made it up again: so that years later, when they were grown up, they were so used to quarrelling and making it up again that they got married so as to go on doing it more conveniently."

With those words of wisdom, I wish you a blessed Sunday.

May Our Lady be by your side to pray for you during the novena in preparation for Pentecost.

In Cordibus Iesu et Mariae,
Fr. Pillari