Prayer for the United States of America

Prayer of St. Augustine (+430)

Before Thine eyes, O Lord, we bring our sins, and we compare them with the stripes we have received.

If we examine the evil we have wrought, what we suffer is little, what we deserve is great.

What we have committed is very grievous, what we have suffered is very slight.

We feel the punishment of sin, yet withdraw not from the obstinacy of sinning.

Under Thy lash our inconstancy is visited, but our sinfulness is not changed.

Our suffering soul is tormented, but our neck is not bent.

Our life groans under sorrow, yet amends not in deed.

If Thou spare us, we correct not our ways: if Thou Punish, we cannot endure it.

In time of correction we confess our wrongdoing: after Thy visitation we forget that we have wept.

If Thou stretchest forth Thy hand, we promise amendment; if Thou witholdest the sword, we keep not our promise.

If Thou strikest, we cry out for mercy: if Thou sparest, we again provoke Thee to strike.

Here we are before Thee, O Lord, confessedly guilty: we know that unless Thou pardon we shall deservedly perish.

Grant then, O almighty Father, without our deserving it, the pardon we ask; Thou Who madest out of nothing those who ask Thee.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

V. Deal not with us, O Lord according to our sins. R. Neither reward us according to our iniquities.

Let us pray. -- O God, Who by sin art offended and by penance pacified, mercifully regard the prayers of Thy suppliant people, and turn away the scourges of Thy wrath, which we deserve for our sins. Through Christ our Lord. R. Amen.

Fr. Perrone: can lost innocence, virginity, or sacredness be regained?

Fr. Eduard Perrone, "A Pastor's Descant" (Assumption Grotto News, June 2, 2019):

Proposition #1. Innocence transgressed is irreversible. #2. Virginity undone cannot be regained. #3 Sacredness defiled cannot it be recovered -- or can it? Number 3 is moot (disputed) while numbers 1 & 2 are factual. What most ails the Church in this time is violated sacredness. It is the spiritual equivalent of rape, a terrible invasion of a precinct that must be strenuously guarded against assault. What is today labeled the "abuse crisis" in the Church is a yet-unfolding story, the apex of which, I fear, has not yet been hit. It has taken "victims" not only in the sense of the persons abused but also in the faithful whose consciences have been seared by the disclosure of what had been done behind closed doors. The outcry and outrage over the discovery is just and right but is partially misdirected. This may be evident by responses to the scandal by various diocesan bureaucrats who obsequiously pledge approval and cooperation with civil authorities to bring down those accused; who offer hollow, formulaic apologies to the victims; who are more concerned over the threat of bankruptcy than over God being offended by the sins and crimes committed; who in a desperate move to avert any accusation for their own wrongdoing mandate the 'training' of all diocesan personnel to protect children from abuse but who refrain from identifying abusers as perverted or mentally ill.

The real shame is not the publicity of horrid, secret sins but the venting of lewd passion, the foul degradation of the flesh, the mortal sins committed, the extinction of God's grace, the subversion of conscience, the loss of a sense of guilt, and the vanquished sacredness from priests, from the Mass, the Sacraments and sacred rites. Where did the holiness go? In truth, it had been slowly seeping out of clergy (and not a few lay people) and out of seminaries and parishes for a long time, so subtly that it was scarcely noticed.

Yes, the evils done and publicized are horrible. Why, though, was there no protest "back then" when Catholic doctrine was deliberately suppressed in CCD programs and Catholic schools; when teaching about the commandments and forbidden acts was outlawed; when chastity, in marriage and outside marriage, were taboo topics; when sex-ed programs for youth were introduced that stung their innocent souls and extinguished their spiritual sensitivities? Why was there little indignation over priests' secular clothing, their unbecoming manner of talking and worldly behaviors? Where was the sacredness? At one time it was nearly tangible. Where did it go and with it the fear of the Lord, modesty, and priestly dignity?

When sacredness fled so did its abiding companion, wisdom. "Truths are diminished from the sons of men" (Ps. 11, Vulgate). The departure of holiness from clergy (and laity) meant the loss of wisdom so that we don't even know how to respond to this crisis. We've become foolish, unable to analyze why we have come to this disgrace. This ignorance is itself a punishment for the sins committed.

In recent decades the Church has been run more like a corporation or a business than a divine organism intended for man's salvation. Its policies and rhetoric have resembled civil law and echoed popular opinion more than the Gospel of Christ. Its models and mentors have not been the saints of her illustrious history but CEOs, business men, psychologists, and lawyers. Its greatest concerns have been financial viability and growth; its successes measured in numbers; its worship directed not to God but to the enjoyment of the attendees. The eternal and irrevocable consequences of mortal sins -- to say nothing of the now ubiquitous sins that "cry out to God for vengeance," which include abortion, sodomy, and causing scandal to children, are terra ignota in preaching and religious instruction.

What's been wrong with the Church in our time such that it brought on the said crisis? Pope Benedict indicated that the moral lapses of the clergy brought on a reticence to witness clearly and forecefully to moral truth.

Once trespassed, can sacredness be recovered? Only God knows; but with a return to unambiguous teaching on faith and morals, the foundation will be laid for a restoration of a sacredness that's been sorely missing from the Church for a very long time.

Fr. Perrone

Fr. Perrone reflects on two priests -- a bitter old turncoat and a joyful new one

Fr. Eduard Perrone, "A Pastor's Descant" [temporary link], Assumption Grotto News, May 26, 2019:

A dismal and blistering article was published last week in a prominent mag -- here unmentioned -- a diatribe against the Church for the often-alleged crime of clericalism, the credited reason for the Church's present troubles. Only well into the piece was it revealed that the writer was an ex-priest, a fact which didn't surprise me since only such a one can publish a splenetic attack on the faith with impunity. I won't bore you with summarizing what he wrote since there's nothing new there except the expression of a particular talent for rant. His writing led me to reflect no on the dread subject matter but on how it could be that a man ordained to the priesthood could get so much wrong about the Church, the priesthood, and theology. He was, early on, a liberal priest who championed leftist causes and challenged orthodoxy. Perhaps he was poorly educated and malformed in the seminary but his writing gave just enough indication that he knew what Catholicism stands for, even if he has rejected it. It was a wonder that he could have turned out so bad as to write what he did and be led, in the end, to leave the practice of the faith. (Actually, that's not all bad since it spares our Lord the offense of sacrilegious Communions.) Was he, I thought, one of those fake priests who infiltrated the Church years ago to make an attempted coup? Or was he among the pitiful duped who followed false guides and fell away from the truth little by little?

These questions motivated me to write here -- again, not about what was in the mag, but about the hard reality of someone rejecting "the faith once delivered to the saints" (Jude 1:3). This became a personal reflection on how many there may be, over the long course of my priesthood, who listened to my teaching or preaching and instead of taking in what I intended to impart to them interiorly resented my words or even outright rejected them. How many young students, for example, hearing my instruction opposed it, unknown to me? The fault in such case may lay with my poor teaching abilities but it might also be due to a bad disposition, whatever its causes. I realize one can't always know by body language whether one's hearers agree or disagree with what's being said. This reminded me of the parable of the sower sowing his seed and the various types of ground on which it fell: rocks, briers, or good soil. When our Lord spoke to His audiences, some of them received His teaching approvingly, some outwardly protesting it, while others harbored interior resentment. He always identified these various responses to His words, and to those who harbored hostility He exposed their private thoughts. Lacking the gift of mind-reading, I can't guess who or how many people I've taught over the years took in what I said or rejected it. Whatever may be in be in the mind sooner or later comes out into the open, as it did in the sorry example of that ex-priest. It made me realize that I must pray more that the Holy Ghost will adapt, adjust, and even correct my poor words as needed for particular souls to make the truth evident to them. (I have elsewhere averted to the divine phenomenon of what I believe may happen when the Holy Spirit causes to make heard in various minds divine truths in spite of a preacher's poor abilities, or even his errors. This would be, if I'm right to think it, an extension of the grace of Pentecost when He made each person hear what wwas being said, modifying it for their comprehension.

How can it be that some Catholics like myself brought up in the good ol' days turn out to be doubters of the Church's doctrines, deceivers of others, and turncoats? At one time, I must suppose, they were sincere and devout Catholics. Something happened to them (unless the conspiracy theory is correct, and they were deliberate "plants" sent out to destroy the Church.)

I forgot to mention where and when I heard about that article. It was while I was in Chicago for the Ordination and First Mass of our own Father Matthew Schuster. What a contrast to read about one priest's falling away and to witness another's joyful ascent to Christ's holy priesthood! While I would not wish to be presumptive of God's grace, I can't refrain from expressing my great hopes for a richly fruitful priesthood for Fr. Schuster. I'm deeply grateful to have witnessed its beginnings. He will have his first Grotto Mass on Pentecost Sunday, June 9, at the 9:30 Mass, following which he will confer, during an open reception for him in the gym, his individual priestly blessings which carry the plenary indulgence.

Finale: Pray on Memorial Day for the souls of the faithful departed who served in various capacities for our country's defense, especially those who died in conflict. We will offer holy Mass for them on Monday at the 9:15 a.m. Mass, preceded by the flag-raising ceremony at 9:00, and followed by the pryers in the cemetery. A doughnut and coffee breakfast chaser may be had in the gym.

Fr. Perrone.

Fr. Perrone: a foreboding of the world falling into darkness under some impending, overpowering evil

Fr. Eduard Perrone, "A Pastor's Descant" (Assumption Grotto News, February 17, 2019)

You may wonder from time to time, as I do, where we may be in the line of human history. Are we in its last days? Or are we nearing a time of great tribulation like that which preceded the outbreak of the two great World Wars, when the forces of evil were gathering strength but awareness of them was slight and th strength to resist them wanting? I think about this (as I mused in a recent sermon) with reference to Germany just before its takeover by the Nazi party. There's a feeling of apprehension in the air that some overpowering evil is about to descend upon us -- the USA and the Catholic Church. There have been times of mounting tension in society and in the Church where things somehow worked themselves out without the worst happening. I'm trying to understand if ours is but a passing moment testing our endurance or the prelude to some great catastrophe.

Along comes my reading of the Divine Office -- the prayerbook every priest is obliged to say everyday -- where the following passage is given for this Wednesday past, a portion of Saint Paul's Second Epistle to Timothy. It reads like a prepared script characterizing people of our time in surprisingly accurate detail. "In the last days, dangerous times will come. Men will be lovers of self, covetous, haughty, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, criminal, heartless, faithless, slanderers, incontinent, merciless, unkind, treacherous, stubborn, puffed up with pride, loving pleasure more than God, having a semblance of piety." One would be hard put to amass a better compilation of adjectives to describe people at this time. In another letter, the Apostle writes, "There shall come a time when men will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their onw desire they will heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears, and will indeed turn away from hearing the truth, but will turn to fables." Translation: people hearing only what they want to hear.

I get tired of the endless regression of things, from bad to worse. No matter where I turn, in education, politics, jurisprudence, the Vatican, and just about anywhere else, good initiatives are shot down, those of good will are stymied or punished, and the wicked go from success to success. Priests doing the things they're supposed to do are being squeezed in on two fronts -- opposed by their parishioners from below and chastised by their superiors from above. "Catholic" politicians promote child killing and sodomy with impunity by the Church and are reelected to office. Abortions can't be stopped. Innocent children are being hopelessly trapped in addictions to electronic media, porn, and in gender uncertainty. Most people seem oblivious to the dissolution of civilized society and to the crisis in the Church. All bad news. The single exception to the barrage of distressing reports is the economy which is doing very well, I'm told. But might this not also be a veiled misfortune signifying that our love of money (Mammon) prevails over every other concern?

I know this is a confused mixture of secular and ecclesiastical woes. And that's the point. They're coming together as in a strange coalition (dare I say, collusion?) such that one wonders whether some nefarious Mastermind is so arranging events in the world and in the Church to conspire in a huge eruption of wickedness incapable of abatement. In that case, "last days" would not be a far-fetched estimation of our present moment. In any case, the times are out of joint. My recourse to this unrelenting assault of evil is to implore God's intervention through more focused and frequent prayers of reparation.

Maybe this alarming message, whatever its intrinsic value, is a good inroad to Septuagesima, the pre-Lenten season which opens today for Latin Mass goers but which can be useful to everyone as the season of penance approaches. Speaking for myself, I'm going to give thought to how my Lenten practices might manage to sway our Lord to bring relief from the evils plaguing us. You also should get mentally ready for Lent now so as to greet its arrival eagerly, like true soldiers ready to do battle for the cause of Christ. Like it or not, you may find yourselves embroiled in the conflict.

Fr. Perrone

P.S. Before I take leave of you, don't forget Dr. Blosser's philosophy class today (Sunday) in the lounge after the noon Mass. Feed your mind!

July 4th, partisan politics, Canada, and the Feast of August 15th

Fr. Eduard Perrone, "A Pastor's Descant" (Assumption Grotto News, July 1, 2018):

Although I try to keep blissfully free from knowledge of some of the risible affairs euphemistically called politics, I can't remain totally uninformed or unaffected by what passes as the "news." It's a shame and an embarrassment to hear about the conniving and the accusations being flung from political pole to pole. I'll be we're the laughingstock of non-Americans worldwide. "Collusion" or "harassment" or "sex scandal," or gay "rights" or media manipulation of public opinion, and the like -- these have become some of the political "issues" in this sad moment in our country. Certainly there are other things that concern us such as crime, the economy and taxes, health care, international security, immigration, the free expression (or else abatement) of religion. For me, however, these valid and relevant concerns are so buried in the ideological ranting as to give me, if not nausea, disgust when following the daily news.

But on July 4th we manage somehow to put all these divisiveness aside and celebrate Independence Day together. It's a momentary respite in the cultural war, a kind of national truce when all or most of us can be proud patriots and observe a secular sabbath rest from the political wrangling. "One nation under God" is the phrase we utter in common, even though it has itself become a matter of contention.

While we pray together the holy rosary after all our Masses here "for God's mercy on our country," I have been adding to the intentions in my daily private prayers, "for the conversion of our people to the ways of righteousness and of Catholicism." "People" in that intention means our American people, and "righteousness" means "moral goodness." My prayer is that Americans may be delivered from the perverse ideological leanings that have caused so much ruination in our country and that they would be open to the full truth of the Catholic faith -- the one and only Christian religion founded by Christ. That's a tall order, one might say, an awful lot to tack on to one's prayer intentions. Agreed. Yet undaunted by the enormity of it I have now with even greater boldness added to this already heavily-laden intention the same prayer intention for our neighbors in Canada. This comes as a result from speaking to some Catholic Canadians recently who are smarting even more than we from the same philosophical poisons that have been dividing and corrupting us Americans. Religious liberty is seriously endangered for our friends to the north, and it is -- naturally -- the Catholic religion and its moral tenets that are the target for elimination from the governing and even from the minds of Canadians.

Would it be too much to ask you to make the mental (if not outspokenly verbal) intention in your daily prayers, "for God's mercy on our country and on Canada"? It would be a very literal and concrete way of having effective Christian charity on our "neighbor," in this case, our geographic neighbor. Over the issues that trouble and conflict Canadians we stand in a unified worry, for we are all solicitous that the rights of Christ be protected.

While the most blissful month of July is at hand when your pastor tries to forget (not you, but) some of the mundane aspects of parish business, there looms in the not-too-distant future our August 15th celebration. My simple appeal to you is to become much involved in the preparation, the events themselves, and the follow up of Assumption Day 2018. I was reminded at the recent preparation meeting for the feast day that my revered predecessor Monsignor Sawher would goad, urge, and exhort parishioners from the pulpit to take August 15th as a holiday and to clear home calendars so that the entire day could be devoted to Our Lady at the parish. Taking my cue from him I ask you to make this your day of parish involvement and pride by being present and active throughout the day, praying and assisting in the various activities. If Grotto holds a special place in your heart, this is the time to prove it in action. Although it may seem that I'm asking a great favor, the reality is that you will get the greater benefit for the investment of your time and work. Plan now to be a big part of our feast day.

Fr. Perrone

The twitch upon the thread ... that can enslave to sin and damn

Fr. Eduard Perrone, "A Pastor's Descant" (Assumption Grotto News, June 24, 2018):

We often use the expression "hanging on by a thread" to indicate insecurity or uncertainty. I'd like to invoke it for another cause, namely, to indicate how a fragile link can become a mighty powerful means of constriction. I mean this in reference to the subtle means the devil employs to take control of someone's life and either enslave him in sin or else inhibit him from doing good or making spiritual progress. It merely takes such a "thread."

We often acknowledge the devil's activity and power in relation to evils that are widespread. Even though they be ever so common, mortal sins bring on the loss of grace and -- lfet unforgiven -- eternal damnation. The evil one and his accomplices can rightly be blamed a good deal for the commission of such sins. And then there are those great evils such as war, abortion, torture, sacrilege and the like which are more readily attributed to devils. My topic here has to do not with these notorious sins but rather with the minuscule, featherweight, insidious "threads" by which demons entangle and ensnare their victims. Although I claim no special discernment of demonic arts, I, as everybody else, have my own experiences with sin and my own tendencies to sin to reflect upon. It doesn't take much of a thought, attraction, word, or object to become not only an occasion of sin but a very powerful tool of enslavement to evil.

Threads. I recall the Canons of the Holy Cross telling me about people in a poor mission country that wanted to build a cathedral church for which there was insufficient money. The Masons of that place, hearing about the intention to build a church, offered the bishop to finance the entire cost of construction on one sole condition: they had to agree to affix to one of its walls a small Masonic emblem, barely noticeable. The offer, howsoever tempting, was wisely and firmly rejected by the Church. All the devil wanted, you see, was his small cut.

From long back in my priesthood I remember hearing about a wife whose husband was kept from converting to Catholicism because of a little fetish he carried about with him and which he cherished. The man, a rather affable sort and a Catholic-inclined man, never succeeded in making the jump. He died a non-Catholic, unable to part with his little "relic."

You may find these stories interesting but perhaps not relevant until you reflect a little on your own sins. How often it is that people fall into the same sins they so recently confessed because some tiny "thread" of an evil, so small as to be dismissed as a thing of little significance, wasn't severed. (An example of self-deception!) In such a case, the snare was set and one fell into it, predictably. The sinner is guilty not only for the sin committed but for refusing to acknowledge and cut that connecting evil strand, be it ever so fragile a cobweb -- the instrument employed by the evil one. Consider the possibilities: the use of a computer, or a cell phone; the company of a certain person or visiting a certain place; that one alcoholic drink which inevitably leads to too much; wearing immodest clothes which entice others to sin. Eating, exercising, reading, music listening ... the list of possibilities need not be long. There is a specific "thread" which is the deathline of this person linking him to hell. I invite the reader to consider whether there may be some such thing to which he is attached and can't seem to let go of. It is such a thing that is the subject of this writing.

It takes a great deal of self-honesty, that is, integrity, to admit these subtle affections to evil, to confess them, and to be resolutely firm to disallow them to ensnare thenceforth. What a shame it would be for you to lose your soul eternally because of a tiny little fiber that bound you to eternal damnation.

Fr. Perrone

P.S. Today is Saint John the Baptist's feast day. (He was certainly not one to flirt with evil.) Friday is the feast of Saints Peter and Paul, two great giants of the Church. Next Sunday is -- already -- July 1st!

God's gift at Pentecost

Fr. Eduard Perrone, "A Pastor's Descant" (Assumption Grotto News, May 20, 2018):

Pentecost. You'd be right to think that with the prefix pent- this day has something to do with the number five. It actually concerns the fiftieth day, or the seventh week, from the beginning of the harvesting of grain in Old Testament times. An agricultural feast, it had other names as well: the Feast of Weeks, the Feast of the First Fruits. It was at this time, that is, seven weeks (fifty days) since Easter, that the Holy Spirit descended upon Our Lady, the Apostles, and the other disciples of Christ. As a Christian feast it ranks higher in significance than it did for Jews since the first Christians on this day were given "power from on hight," as our Lord promised them before ascending into heaven. The "power" received was of a supernatural kind which strengthened their souls to convert the nations and to face a world that would be unwelcoming of their message. To this end they were given the grace needed to withstand opposition, and they were consoled in advance for the time when imprisonment, torture, and death for the sake of Christ would be their lot. Immediate visible signs attended the Holy Spirit's arrival: a violent wind, fiery tongues, and the much-disputed tongues by which the disciples could speak of Christ in various languages of the peoples. As it is in many places of the New Testament, Saint Peter is the champion of the day, appearing fearless and speaking with extraordinary conviction to the Jews about the new faith in Christ.

The gift of the Holy Spirit for Christians who are already baptized is not the vocalization of unintelligible babbling but the Sacrament of Confirmation which perfects the graces conferred in baptism, much as in the order of nature adulthood completes childhood. The red vestments in use this day in the Roman rite are reminiscent of the flames ('tongues') of fire that alighted upon the heads of those present on Pentecost day, and for us it is also a reminder of the blood which must sometimes be shed as the sole convincing sign to unbelievers of the truth of Christ and which won for the sufferers the highest places in heaven.

Pentecost's flames were consuming. Fire has a purifying quality which, in the spiritual sense, burns away the corrosive residue of sin by its painful heat. Our Lord's disciples had not yet known the suffering of martyrdom but the experience of Pentecost gave them the fire which consumed the self love that inhibits a consummate witness to Christ. For us, the metaphorical fire of the Holy Ghost is the purifying, toughening, and inuring of the soul against the inevitable trials, temptations to sin, and hostility to Christian truth which at times must greet every sincere witness to the Lord.

If these themes seem forbidding and weighty, one may also draw attention to the joyfulness of Pentecost as the birthday of the Church. Like Adam in the beginning of the human story who was first formed in clay and later came to birth upon receiving the breath of God's Spirit, so was the Church first formed by Christ when He promised to build it upon St. Peter's rock but fully animated with Spirit on Pentecost. It is a birthday and the cause of great happiness. (We will give full vent to our joy in the Latin mass today with the exuberant music of Bach.)

In the liturgical calendar formerly universals observed in the Latin Church, and now once again in use for the traditional Latin liturgy, Pentecost was deemed a day too great for a single day of celebration. Eight days are set aside for it to be celebrated and contemplated. I already announced that Pope Francis has designated Pentecost Monday as a commemoration of the Holy Virgin Mary as Mother of the Church. Mother of Christ on Christmas, Mother of all Christians on Pentecost -- both instances of a spiritual maternity which depended on the fertility of the Holy Ghost. There is a mysterious collaboration of Mary and the Holy Spirit both in the Son of God made man and in the making of us as other sons of God, reborn by the Holy Spirit and of Mother Church.

Fr. Perrone

Montesquieu: "The Catholic religion will destroy the Protestant religion and then the Catholics will become Protestants."

Fr. Eduard Perrone, "A Pastor's Descant" (Assumption Grotto News, May 27, 2018):

Many, Many years back, I would say in the 1970s, I read something that so shocked me that I never forgot it, and from time to time would quote it in my teaching. Admitting the possibility of the memory's paraphrasing it a bit, it asserted: 'Protestantism has within it the germ of its own destruction. But by the time it destroys itself Catholicism will have become Protestant.' I wish I had noted who said that but I had not -- a fact I greatly regretted. The statement The statement shook me greatly as I had been -- even way back then -- witnessing both the disintegration of Protestantism and the temporizing of much of the religion in which I had been reared. I knew then, and I still affirm that the Catholic Church cannot ever be extinguished. Yet there is no divine guarantee that the true faith will be preserved intact everywhere until time's end. The prophecy of doom contained in that forbidding dictum may not have been entirely accurate but it contained a truth that experience could not deny Something was going wrong with the Catholic Church.

During the past week I was overjoyed after so many years, to have alighted upon that quotation once again, at least substantially. It reads somewhat variously fro the form preserved in my memory but conveys essentially its core. "The Catholic religion will destroy the Protestant religion, and then the Catholics will become Protestants." The source cited is the (Baron de) Montesquieu in a work of his titled, Spirit of the Laws (1748-50). This writing was condemned by the Church and put on her Index of Forbidden Books, yet it proved to be very influential in forming American political theory.

My purpose here is not to advance the writings of this or any other philosopher but to refer to Montesquieu's frightening prediction as an impetus for us to remain solidly grounded in the true Catholic faith which admits of no compromise with error. The Author of the Church and of her doctrines is none other than the Son of God, He who can neither deceive nor be deceived. And where this bears particular relevance is in the affirmation of profession of the Creed.

There's a corrosive tendency in our anti-intellectual times to denigrate creedal formulas (by which I mean here the Apostles' and Nicene Creeds as the prime examples). A vaguely formulated biblical creed (essentially a protestant postulate) is admired as presented as the ideal, for it shrinks from making apodictic [indisputably certain] affirmations of belief. In order to bring down the whole edifice of the Catholic Church, one need not begin at the periphery, dismantling brick by brick, but only to dislodge its foundation of stones. Such are the articles of faith enshrined in the various Creeds of the Catholic Church, first and foremost being those articles that refer to God Himself. "I believe in one God" is not an idle opening statement having little or no bearing on what follows. It is rather that without which nothing else can be asserted as true. From the "unity" of God (that is, the one God) follows the trinity of God (His threeness), and from there all the rest: the incarnation, redemption, the Church, the scaraments, grace, eternal life.

Today is Trinity Sunday, the liturgically ideal day for the priest to assert and explain to the people the foundational beliefs of the Church in the whole truth about God. That most parish priests will probably avoid delivering a dogmatic sermon for this day is as sure as the aforementioned dire prediction of Montesquieu, for many priests lead their charges away from that indispensable doctrine which alone identifies them as Catholics. An amorphous belief in Jesus, or in "the bible" is regarded as all-sufficient, even though nothing can be therein asserted as positively binding beyond barebones statements. It is this minimalism, this reductionism which is uprooting the Catholic religion from the minds of men and leaving them, at best, as Protestants.

Today when you stand up to sing or recite the Credo (Creed), do it with confidence and with an awareness of being a faithful witness to the whole edifice of that Catholic truth in which you have been baptized as Christians. It is, may I say, your moment of glory, of greatness. And, while I'm at it, I'd like to propose thatyou revive the age-old Catholic devotional practice of reciting the Creed with your daily morning prayers. Such starts the day off with that solid affirmation of truth that will steady the course of the rest of your day.

"This is our faith: it is the faith of the Church. We are proud to profess it in Christ Jesus our Lord" (from the Rite of Baptism).

Fr. Perrone

An important footnote: Next Sunday is Corpus Christi Sunday (either a replication, in the Tridentine calendar, or a transfer in the new calendar), a feast which more properly belongs to this Thursday. The Latin Tridentine Mass net Sunday will not be at the 9:30 but at noon where it will be followed by the Eucharistic Procession, that splendid demonstration of Catholic belief in the Real Presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. Our fearsome ushers will be at the ready to offer you, for a nominal price, a light lunch after the Procession (weather permitting).

The weight of a priest's examen: How will I be judged by history, by God?

Fr. Perrone, "A Pastor's Descant" (Assumption Grotto News, April 22, 2018)

Recently I watched a video about the Stalin years in the Soviet Union. It was concerned with the 'other' interest of my life, music. The backdrop to the story is that during the height of the Communist era everything was under the control of the central government which, in turn, meant under Joseph Stalin. In terms of music, there was a Soviet Composer's Union which promoted patriotic, that is, Soviet, themes of national pride, (forced) happiness, and (feigned) comradery among the peoples of the USSR. Along with this artificially induced patriotism there was a suppression of any music which was deemed modernistic or, in the language of the day, formalistic. By this means of name-labeling, certain composers of modern music were held in check by Soviet controls. The man Stalin appointed to head this union of composers was the subject of the DVD I saw. In the historical footage he was shown at the height of his power delivering inflated fustian (pompous talking) about the high ideals of Soviet nationalistic music with condemnation of types of music that were being performed in those decadent western countries (such as the USA). At the time of the making of the DVD, the Soviet empire had collapsed and this same man who had once been Stalin's appointee was being interviewed. It was a sad spectacle, in some ways. Now that the great Enemy (Communism) had been defeated, what was one to say for having stood by, complicit in the oppressive Soviet system, an accomplice in fact of the brutal Stalinist regime? Thus was the man interviewed in the post-Soviet era.

This DVD affected me greatly, not only because of the musical interest I had in it but also because of the significance it holds for me as a priest in those disturbing times. What will history say about us, and about me specifically, when at some future time the Church will have settled down (God grant it!) and there will be a return to orthodoxy and sanity in the Church? I imagine an interviewer questioning me about what I was doing and not doing during those years (the present time) and why I had not been more outspoken about abuses in the Church, about the failure of the hierarchy to defend Christ's truth and their contentment to be silent bystanders as corruption rotted away the faith and morals of the Catholic faithful. "How come you, Father Perrone, did not come out and speak more forcefully against the tidal wave of corruption?" This is the question I imagine being posed to me in some future time. The dilemma for me now, as it was for many in the Communist era, is whether it is prudent to be vocal in condemnation or in working in more subtle, behind-the-scenes ways. Prudence is needed to know how much to say at a given time and when to say it. Should, for example, I have spoken out any more forthrightly against things such as contraception, gay 'marriage,' or the troubling messages purportedly made by Pope Francis? Have I been wimpy? Certainly, at the moment many priests and bishops in our country have been anywhere from timid to cooperative in the evil things taking place in our day. What then will happen when this era will have passed and history will pass its judgment upon them? While I wonder about this I am particularly disturbed about what will be leveled against me for not having been a more outstanding critic and defender of truth.

I know of priests who have stood apart and been bold to challenge the mediocrity of our leadership. They have suffered the consequences of their valor. But in the end, and especially in view of the Last Judgment, I wonder how will I stand against accusations of my moderation or my cowardice. Will I be deemed a betrayer of moral and religious truth? Do I need to be more clear or forceful to make my parishioners comprehend doctrinal truth and to practice Catholic living? Or am I failing them by my weakness?

It's always difficult to assess oneself in the present moment, to know that one is pursuing the right path. If I were to deliver a weekly diatribe against the evils of our time in the world and in the Church, would I have been acting rightly? Or are my people already in the know and I only need to be subtly nuanced in condemning errors and the deceptions that cause many to err? I recall Saint John Paul II's first address to the world after his election: "Do not be afraid!"

This reflection of mine also concerns you as parents, citizens of this country, and members of the Catholic Church. How much must you be a vocal "witness"? If you speak up imprudently you may do more harm than good. If you fail to act at all you may be betraying Christ. This is the dilemma.

God's mercy is for this life. When we will finally appear before God's judgment seat, we should expect only justice, what is neither too lenient nor too severe. Each will get exactly what is his due, not more or less, according to what he has done or failed to do.

Wile we have time in this life let us do as much good as we can and repair for our evils. And let us not fear to help our relatives and neighbours to do the same. Much is expected of us.

Fr. Perrone

Recipe for a more profitable Holy Week

Eduard Perrone, "A Pastor's Descant" [temporary link] (Assumption Grotto News, March 25, 2018):

Directions for a more profitable Holy Week:

Save this page and thoughtfully read over the following quotations every day:

• "You will all fall away because of Me this night." (Mt 26:31)
• "Even if I must die with You, I will not deny You." (Mt 26:35)
• "You will deny Me three times." (Mt 26:34)
• "What will you give me if I hand Him over to you?" (Mt 26:15)
• "I have sinned in betraying innocent Blood" (Mt 27:4)
• "Jesus offered up prayers ... with loud cries and tears." (Heb 7:7)
• "I thirst." (Jn 19:28)
• "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." (Lk 23:34)
• "My God, my God, why have You abandoned Me?" (Mt 27:46)
• "When they had mocked Him, they stripped Him." (Mt 27:31)
• "A Lamb led to the slaughter." (Is 53:7)
• "When I am lifted up, I will draw all men to Myself." (Jn 12:32)
• "Behold the wood of the Cross on which hung the Savior of the world." (Antiphon, Good Friday)
• "Let us go to die with Him!" Jn 11:16)
• "If we die with Christ, we shall live with Him." (2 Tim 2:11)
• "Let a man deny himself, take up his cross and follow Me." (Mt 16:24)
• "Where I am, there will My servant be." (Jn 12:26)
• "God forbid that such a thing should happen to You!" (Mt 16:22)
• "My soul is sad, even unto death." (Mt 26:38)
• "Christ became obedient for us, even unto death, dying on a cross." (Phil 2:8)
• "They spat on Him and struck Him." (Mt 27:30)
• "Father, let this cup pass Me by." (Mt 26:39)
• "The cross is foolishness to those headed for ruin." (1 Cor 1:18)
• "Now judgment has come upon this world." (Jn 12:31)
• "You will all leave Me." (Jn 16:32)
• "They pierced My hands and My feet." (Ps 22:16)
• "My one companion is darkness." (Ps 88:18)
• "By Your blood You purchased people for God." (Rev 5:9)
• "By Your holy cross You have redeemed the world." (Stations of the Cross)
• "Could you not keep watch with Me one hour?" (Mt 26:26, 28)
• "The Lamb has been sacrificed." (1 Cor 5:7)
• "I trod the winepress alone." (Is 63:3)
• "Golgotha -- the place of the skull." (Mt 27:33)
• "They shouted all the more, 'Crucify Him!'" (Mk 15:13)
• "His sweat became as great drops of blood." (Lk 22:44)
• "They jeered at Him." (Mk 5:40)
• "His face was so marred beyond human likeness." (Is 52:14)
• "I offered My back to the smiters." (Is 50:61)
• "A soldier pierced His side." (Jn 19:34)
• "This Jesus ... whom you crucified." (Acts 3:36)
• "I have forgotten what peace is." (Lm 3:17)
• "He was bruised for our offenses." (Is 53:4)

Fr. Perrone: the precious gift of God's mercy and the serious danger of "mercy abuse"

Fr. Eduard Perrone, "A Pastor's Descant" [temporary link] (Assumption Grotto News, March 18, 2018):

My subject today concerns whether Christ might be suffering from mercy abuse -- surely an eyebrow-raising topic. We have been fortunate to have had in recent years a much trumpeted exposition of the Divine Mercy. Both in the liturgy and in devotional life, in the canonization of two saints (John Paul II and Sister Faustina), in sermons, literature, and film, the theme of Christ's inviting welcome to sinners has assumed a significant place in the Catholic Church. There must be providential reason for this. It's due, I believe, to the fact that Christians have been much adrift in an environment increasingly hostile to their faith. They have needed to know that there is a safe haven whither they can turn, confident of being able to find God securely amidst the maddening clamours of secularism. Also, Christians themselves have too often wandered off like the proverbial erring sheep into sordid byways. Affected by the moral pollution surrounding them, they have themselves succumbed to the powerful downflow of a putrid culture. Guilt resulting from having sinned grievously and committed various serious crimes (think of abortion, sodomy, divorce, cohabitation, contraception, drug addiction -- just for starters) will inevitably lead sinners, should the devil only succeed, to total despair -- sin being a real torture to the Christian when he awakens conscious of his former wickedness. Since such grave sins would spell certain spiritual death (viz. hell) for so many, Christ in His great compassion and love for souls has wished the message of His mercy to be emphatically publicized as an encouragement for them to have hope. Such, anyway, is my analysis for the urgency of the message of Divine Mercy in our time.


... with a firm purpose of amendment!
If the need for divine mercy is truly great, how is it that I question here there be such a thing as mercy "abuse"? A long time back, when attending public high school, I first heart the criticism leveled against Catholics that forgiveness for them is cheap because they have ready access to Confession -- the implication being that for other transgressors forgiveness has to be earned by heart wrenching pleading in a near desperate hope that mercy will be accorded them. At the time, it was a shock to my innocent Catholic ears to hear that Confession was considered by some to be an easy thing. I had always been taught that Confession called for serious preparation, integrity, and determination to make amendment of life.

I fear that some may be using Confession as a catharsis (mental relief), that is as a natural remedy for their guiltiness as opposed to supernatural act which remits sins and confers grace. Do some people use Confession merely to shake off guilt but don't have the firm intent never to commit sin again? The fear of a positive reply to this question is the reason for my writing. Is our Lord perhaps being abused by those appealing to His ready forgiveness while lacking a determined will never again to sin? The question is meant to be probative. Mercy abusers confess the same sins every Confession on account of the guilt feelings they have but they lack the steely intention to refuse the next opportunity temptation makes its round. Fod for thought -- thought for change.

On a different subject. Today is Passion Sunday in the traditional liturgical calendar for it inaugurates a shift in the prayers and chants, focusing them more nearly on the approaching days when our Lord will undergo His sufferings and death for our salvation. Today would be the feast of Saint Joseph but this must be deferred until tomorrow on account of the precedence of the Lenten Sunday. Don't however neglect to honor the good Saint on Monday. There is prepared a fine St. Patrick's Day Lunch after the 9:30 & noon Mass today: $8/adults, $3/children.

Next Sunday is Palm Sunday -- already! -- the gateway to Holy Week. Altar boys who wish to serve the principal Palm Sunday Mass at 9:30 with the procession of palms must come to a practice in church this Saturday, March 25 at 1:00 p.m. The rehearsal should last only about an hour. Our altar boys will also have their annual retreat, beginning on Wednesday evening of Holy Week. For this they need to submit the registration forms provided for them today.

Fr. Perrone

"Despondent Converts"

Thomas Howard, "Despondent Converts" (CatholiCity, March 8, 2010):

Reprinted with permission.

I receive, not infrequently, inquiries by mail from recent converts to the Church who, after a year or so as new Catholics, find themselves wondering about this and that. All of these letters are from former Evangelicals who have read themselves joyfully into the Church. With their earnest, muscular, biblically oriented background in the free churches, or in the Episcopal Church to which they had migrated because of its liturgy, at some point they had come upon such books as Newman's Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine, or Karl Adam's The Spirit of Catholicism, or The Catechism of the Catholic Church, or one of the volumes from the recent flood of testimonials from erstwhile Evangelicals recounting their own itinerary to the Ancient Church.

In most cases, they have, in the course of this reading, been dazzled by the sheer serenity of the Catholic Church, derived from its immense antiquity, its undoubted apostolicity, its liturgy and sacraments, its Magisterium, and its unswerving fidelity to the Deposit of Faith over the last two millennia – often in the face of heresies, war, tyranny, and sin in the camp. The marks of their own piety hitherto have been the great marks of Reformation and Evangelical Christianity: sedulous personal study of Scripture, with its corollary of exhaustive familiarity with the whole Bible; an atmosphere of talkative friendliness and "sharing" of spiritual matters among their fellows; meaty biblical preaching on the part of the clergy; a somber distrust of the pitfalls to be found in 19th-century German historical/critical methods of Scripture scholarship; and a strong sense of "knowing the Lord Jesus Christ as personal Savior" on the part of every individual. Until their entry into it, these good people understood the Church to be, quite simply, the dispersed aggregate of all individuals scattered across the globe who believe in Christ.

Any lifelong Catholic reading this will anticipate straightaway the questions such a convert finds himself entertaining: Why does no one greet me at Mass? There's not much animated Christian fellowship around here. Nobody sings the hymns – and there seems to be an impoverished fund of hymnody in any case. I'm not sure what to make of the preaching: As often as not, it doesn't sound like the fruit of studious and prayerful preparation. But most puzzling of all, the pastor seems to have identified himself with the dissenters in the Church. He appears to have espoused what Popes Pius IX and X would have called "Modernism." The homilies often seem to reflect popular notions on morals and politics championed by the New York Times, NPR, and the Washington Post.

How shall I respond to my correspondent? What would you say? What would Benedict XVI or John Paul II or Cardinal Newman say?

A start might be made by encouraging our friend to reflect on the question as to what the Catholic Church is. Certainly the ambience in a Catholic parish is different from that found in the Evangelical churches of his background. The observations are understandable; so it may be helpful for him to canvass again the reasons that moved him to make his obedience to this ancient Church in the first place. What is the Catholic Church?

It is what it claims to be. It is the Church of God's New Covenant with man, built by Jesus Christ on the foundation of the prophets and apostles. And – as was the case with Israel, who was the bearer of God's earlier Covenant with her – the Church is God's people. But it is God's people – human beings who turn out to be weak, wayward, and often untrustworthy. The Hebrews, as often as not, made a hash of things. Their very first high priest (Aaron) made them a golden calf to worship. They had wicked priests, wicked kings, unfaithful prophets, and no shortage of bad men in their midst.

But God looked on them as His Spouse, as He does on the Church. In both cases, the very thing that God Himself was bringing into being was shot through with human sinfulness and failure. God's forbearing grace was at work, century after weary century. A faithful Catholic does not throw in the sponge over the phenomenon of bad Renaissance popes, other than to deplore their evil doings: the Church, Christ's Mystical Body, does not stand or fall with the faltering fidelity of us mortals. (It is interesting to note in this connection that no pope, be he never so wicked, ever taught from Peter's chair that his simony, avarice, luxury, nepotism, and lechery were anything other than sin. He never substituted the euphemism "style of life" for the stark category "sin." Dante, a fierce Catholic, had half of his popes in hell.)

Whereas Protestantism, when discord, heresy, or scandal arises, can always split off and start a new parish or denomination, the Ancient Church has no such option. As was the case with the Hebrew Covenant, earnest and faithful men had no warrant to hive off into the wilderness and start things over if there was unfaithfulness in the camp. We recall Elijah and Hezekiah, and Simeon and Anna and Joseph and Mary: faithful Hebrews in the temple, and eventually the synagogue that fell under the power of "scribes, Pharisees, and hypocrites." These faithful men and women never thought of starting up a new, pure sect.

Fortunately for us, the Church has been served by godly and faithful pontiffs for a very long time now. It is an article of faith that the Church Herself will never teach falsehood. If a given priest or bishop ever sponsors novel or unscriptural ideas in place of the Deposit of Faith, it is of course to be deprecated, and parishioners in such a parish or diocese have to try to fix their gaze on what the Catholic Church teaches. If Father X, in the name of affability, is distributing Communion to non-Catholics, or tacitly endorsing abortion, or winking at moral disorder in the parish, we know that confusion, infidelity, and disobedience are at work here. But the Catholic Church is a hierarchical Church. Only rarely might it ever fall to a layman to try, on his own authority, to set things right. He may, in a pinch of course, venture inquiries. But the Catholic's ordinary duty is fidelity to the Church and to her teaching – which is to say, of course, to Sacred Scripture, the Magisterium, and the Petrine authority in Rome.

But all of this brings us to the question as to why we go to Church in the first place. A Protestant goes for the preaching primarily, and then for the fellowship. Why, on the other hand, does a Catholic go to Church? We go to offer the Sacrifice of the Mass; to join ourselves with the ancient and apostolic Church as she joins herself to her Head and High Priest, Jesus Christ, in his eternal self-offering to the Father, which offering was made present in our history, once and for all, at Calvary, as a perfect oblation of thanksgiving, and as the propitiation for our sins.

A Catholic lives there. This is the lodestar, the anchor point of everything, the Still Point of the Turning World. All other aspects of Catholic life – private prayer, the rosary, the divine office, the sacraments, retreats, pilgrimages, and works of mercy – find their wellspring here. This has been going on for 2,000 years. Other factors – war, plague, one's own weaknesses and sins, domestic tragedy, clerical infidelity – can never dry up this fountainhead of Catholic life.

These remarks, of course, do not bring easy consolation to a confused or distressed new Catholic who finds things different from what he may have expected. But he will find that fidelity in his own prayer life, habitual participation at Mass, and an attitude of self-effacing expectation will draw him gradually into the ancient company of Simeon and Anna, and Bede, and Brother Lawrence, and Francis de Sales, and all men and women who have made up the body of the faithful from the beginning.

Thomas Howard is retired from 40 years of teaching English in private schools, college, and seminary in England and America.

© 1996-2018 The Mary Foundation · 501(c)3

Related:

Thomas Howard, Evangelical Is Not Enough (1988)
_______________, Lead, Lindly Light: My Journey to Rome (2004)
_______________, On Being Catholic (1997)
_______________, Chance or the Dance? A Critique of Modern Secularism (1969, 2018)

[Hat tip to J.M.]

Fr. Perrone on the ground of our hope and certitude

Fr. Eduard Perrone, "A Pastor's Descant" (Assumption Grotto News, December 18, 2017)

No matter what some people might think of our parish, there is no regnant idea here of being the sole surviving remnant of true Catholicism, the last of the hardliners on Church doctrine -- theological and moral -- or on the liturgy. The truth is that we try merely to be faithful, as our Lord demands His disciples to be, of all He has given us. I like to think of this kind of conservatism as 'preservatism,' an appreciation and custody of what is most to be valued, rather than a stiff, desperate inflexibility. In fact, those who fit the ideal I believe directed by our faith are often (not always) the most reasonable, understanding, gracious, tolerant, and -- within limits -- accommodating people there are, liberal-minded people of a kind fast fading from the scene. There are, on the other hand, sternly rigid and harshly restrictive, dogmatically closed-minded folk of political correctness for whom there must be unbending conformity to the prevailing opinions of those who set the standard for culturally accepted norms. Those norms -- decidedly leftist -- will not admit disavowal by those upholding the perennial validity of an inherited body of intellectual truths and moral precepts.

There need not be an apology for wholeheartedly embracing the tradition of religious, philosophic, and moral truth. It is a precious inheritance which has been entrusted to our care, to be preserved for successive generations -- to Christians in particular. This legacy obliges those who recognize its worth to safeguard it from any who may dilute or abolish it. With regard to our parish, this means that we continue to teach doctrinal truths, that we covetously preserve our liturgical tradition, and that we insist on enduring moral truths (especially with regard to marriage and sexuality) which are of divine origin and which, for that reason, are irreformable.

What is it that is hapening in our beloved Catholic Church where many of our brethren seem eager to bow to the spirit of a rebellious age, dismissing past beliefs and ways as no longer tenable? More distressing perhaps is their silence in the face of creeping doctrinal novelties and liturgical caprice. Should there not be in a time of great confusion and moral obscurity, manifest clarity about what's true and right and decisive means put forth to preserve it? The mind and heart crave surety and stability rather than vagueness and diffidence, especially from our pope, bishops, and priests, those official guardians and expositors of the deposit of faith and heralds of Christ's Gospel.

There ought not to be doubt about the truths of faith, moral conduct, liturgical propriety and the worth of the apostolic tradition that has been bequeathed to us. It is a cause of wonderment that these certainties can be so readily discarded or adjusted to the spirit of the time -- a restless, ever shifting spirit which must soon forsake its devoted adherents for faddish novelties it has yet to propose.

In the meantime, while temporizing is condoned, those who insist on perennial truth and on tradition are dismissed, ridiculed, or hatefully regarded as enemies of progress. They ought not, however, to entertain doubts about what is right, good, true and beautiful. Confidence comes not from an egotistical estimation of being the measure of truth, but from Christ's indefectible Church which has weathered centuries of stormy controversy over what is true. It is the abiding presence in her of the divinely promised Spirit of Truth that is the foundation of certitude.

"God is our refuge and strength. Therefore we shall not fear even should the mountains tremble. The Lord of Hosts is with us" (Psalm 46). Being sure of God and of His promised fidelity is an anchoring, stabilizing, and healthy way of being a Catholic Christian. Saint Paul sounded a word of admonition to the Ephesians that would well be heeded in our day: "Be no longer children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the cunning of men, by their craftiness in deceitful wiles. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into Him who is the Head, into Christ" (4:14). I wish our parishioners to persevere in this age of anxiety and uncertainty as people who steadfastly 'speak the truth in love.' May you ive tranquilly in this often disconcerting, sometimes exasperating, manifestly troubled age.

Fr. Perrone

A day in the life of a parish pastor

Fr. Eduard Perrone, "A Pastor's Descant" (Assumption Grotto News, December 10, 2017):

What's on a pastor's mind?

As I suppose it to be for everyone, I would rather do the things I most like doing. I would rather not be exceptional in this> For me, the desirable things to do would be what are called the works of leisure, that is to say, things that are not of practical necessity. Yet I, like most of you, am restricted in my desire to pursue those more delightsome things by the duties that demand my attention.

These necessary things for me are primarily pastoral and administrative. Preparing each week to teach my three or four classes sometimes takes a good chunk of prep time. Following through, I must teach the classes for for which I have prepared. There's also a Sunday sermon to write which has a whole week's period of gestation in my daily prayers where -- presumptuous or foolish to admit it -- God gives me the substance, if not the very words, of what I should deliver to the people. And then there's the writing of the weekly pastor's column, the Descant, which is a duty to which I am resigned. Some pastors don't write a weekly column for their parish papers but I, following the lead of my predecessor, have remained faithful to this weekly chore, sometimes even less ungrudgingly. Thus far my "literary" duties of the week.

Administration of the parish is another mental pressure. So many areas of parish life require decisions of all kinds which depend on the pastor's judgments. Finances, utilities, meetings, the physical plant with its innumerable necessities never escape the mind during the day, during the night, in conversations, and into prayer.

Pastoral work is the thing for which I was ordained and the active form of work I most relish. Here are saying Mass, reciting my daily Divine Office, directing my people in the spiritual life, caring for their sacramental needs, hearing confessions, visiting the sick. The precious time alloted for this must be shared with my literary and administrative activities and so is sometimes cut short and only the minimal gets done in a given week Alas!

At the end of the day I sometimes wonder where all the time has gone. Eating and sleeping, driving, occasionally cooking a meal, and such inevitable gobblers of anyone's time leave me without much of that desired free time, the leisure time to do the things most enjoyed. Now it may sound pious or self-righteous to you for me to say it, but my personal prayer time is my very favorite thing to do. I manage to do this in the early morning hours most days, long before the work of the day begins. Here I can speak to my God to my heart's content about all that's on my mind. In some unexplainable ways I know that He hears and answers me in those quiet hours, often spent before the Blessed Sacrament. Finally there's reading books, playing the piano, and spending social time with relatives and friends. But, like the dessert after the big meal, the sweetest part takes the shortest time. Such is life for me and no doubt for you.

This reflection on the parcelling out of time in my week is not meant merely to let you know what's on my mind and what I do all week long. It's to indicate that for most people life's time consists of things that must get done as opposed to the pleasurable things one would rather do. This imbalance will be redressed, I believe, in the next life when there will be no more 'things that have to get done' but only things that are most delectable: enjoying God and His largely unknown gifts which must certainly be innumerable and delectable beyond what words can say.

In this valley of tears the all-important thing is to do what God expects us to do. Much of that is what we might rather not be doing if we had the choice. Yet He, in His goodness, gives us just enough of the good things of life, even the most simple of them, as a consolation for carrying out our daily tasks.

Perhaps you feel as I do that there are many, many more advantageous things to be grateful for in life than things to complain about. I wholeheartedly love the holy priesthood and the work proper to it. For the rest, I do what I must, sometimes even cheerfully, while I await those fewer moments when I can go about doing what's most pleasing. I hope you find your vocation in life to be equally satisfying in the larger sense, even though its demands may at times seem burdensome. In the end I am compelled to admit that life's not only worth living but, except for sin, good and fulfilling.

Carry on, Christian soul, in your daily life's work. As Saint Paul said of the athlete, he keeps his mind on the end of the game so as to win. This is hope and its season is Advent.

Pardon and Peace: The Joy of Confession

Why Pay a Shrink for What the Catholic Church Does for Free?

By Oswald Sobrino, a review of Pardon and Peace: A Sinner's Guide to Confession, by Fr. Francis Randolph (Ignatius, 2001)

On Holy Thursday, 2001, Pope John Paul II wrote to all priests to encourage them to focus on the sacrament of Penance, or Confession. In doing so, the Holy Father referred to the recent “crisis” of this sacrament. Certainly, it is no surprise in Western countries to find that the loss of a sense of sin, and certainly of a sense of grave sin, has had a significant effect on whether Catholics avail themselves of this great sacrament. Yet, as noted in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, this is the sacrament where continuing Christian conversion takes place. As described by John Paul II, Confession is a dramatic encounter between Christian and Christ, an encounter fraught with the majesty of man’s freedom and Christ’s eager offer of grace.

The following thoughts on Confession arise from considering two books with the same title Pardon and Peace, but published over 50 years apart. The first Pardon and Peace, written by Fr. Alfred Wilson, C.P., appeared in 1948 and has been reprinted by Roman Catholic Books. The current Pardon and Peace was published in 2001 and was written by Fr. Francis Randolph, an English priest. In spite of a half century of tumultuous change in the Catholic Church, the fundamental thrust of the books is the same: Take advantage of this astonishingly approachable but powerful sacrament and its richness. While the books understandably differ in their emphasis on certain issues, both authors end up in the same place: A buoyant and cheerful Catholic will find his sustenance in Confession.

It's almost Thanksgiving ... and Fr. Perrone goes to Confession!

Fr. Eduard Perrone, "A Pastor's Descant" (Assumption Grotto News, November 19, 2017)

This week we observe the second of the three great holidays, Thanksgiving Day. Second? Yes, when one figures in Halloween which, according to news reports, is the second most celebrated American holiday, second only to the December one which everyone used to call Christmas. (Word is out that President Trump has declared that it's once again OK to say, "Merry Christmas." That may be reassuring to some, but to those who never championed political correctness it is, in an ironic bit of pointing the finger, "fake news.")

Thanksgiving Day is worthy of Christian endorsement so long as we recall that there's an object to our thanks -- namely God -- to whom we owe our very existence as well as everything we have. As I remarked in a pastor's column of some past year, secular society gladly embraces Thanksgiving Day for its commercial potential (kicking off, as they say, the holiday spending spree) and for the momentary reprieve of work. One may openly express thankfulness for anything whatever if it is left unsaid that the gratitude must be direct to the Almighty.


Just this past week I made thanksgiving to God for one of the most precious of His gifts to me as a Catholic: the absolution of my sins. (In case you didn't know, priests not only hear confessions but make themselves penitents of other priests.) It so happened that this confession was in close proximity to my birthday (the admission of which is not meant to cue a raucous rendition of the familiar dirge). Confession, I would say, is a great Catholic way of celebrating one's birthday, compelling one to recollect one's utter dependence upon God for forgiveness, for His grace, for life itself. Going to confession ought not to make one grumpy and cross. I'm reminded of what I once read about a composer Igor Stravinsky who would faithfully go to confession on his birthday, the prospect of which would put the composer, in his own words, "in a mood," that is, crabby.

The confession of my sins reminds me of my lowly place under God's infinitely vast empire and that I must ever be grateful to Him for His merciful indulgence to my sinful self. Going to confession also reminds me of what it is to be a penitent in my confessional who must not only accuse himself of his sins before God, but who must also own up to his wrongdoings before a priest, one who is as fallible as another -- so that I will not easily to be compassionate and understanding of penitents. I have posted a few choice scriptural quotes on the door of my confessional. These help me to be kindly disposed to those beggars of divine mercy who come to me to be freed of the burden of their consciences. Should ever I fail in this and get uppity or impatient with you in confession, do me the charity of asking me to read the bible verses on my confessional door. That should awaken a needed humility and spare me a severe judgment from the Judge of judges.

Last week's somewhat panicky pastor's Descant forecasting a gloomy future for our parish Forty Hours devotion appears to have been overwrought. Attendance for the closing Mass at noon last Sunday was good and there always seemed to be someone adoring our Lord during the hours of Exposition. The real credit for the devotion, of course, goes to the benevolent Christ who makes Himself and His graces available during this sacred time. I want to make the Forty Hours a great spiritual success for our people and I would be sad to let go of it when we have held on to it so tenaciously these many years. Accordingly, I have asked a small committee to be formed for securing the future of the Forty Hourse Devotion in our parish. They would meet in September next year to plan for a greater participation and greater solemnity for this traditional parish service.

You will note the near completion of the handicapped entrance ramp on the church's south side, a project that has taken an unduly long time to come to completion. If its serviceability matches its fine looks, I would say that we will have a worthy addition -- or rather replacement entryway -- to our majestic church structure.

Fr. Perrone

Why traditional Catholic devotions are disappearing even from traditional parishes

One problem is that most traditional parishes tend to be "commuter parishes," whose members live at considerable distance from the churches. But listen in as a trusted pastor discusses the challenge today:

Fr. Eduard Perrone, "A Pastor's Descant" (Assumption Grotto News, November 12, 2017)

I've been toying with the idea of dropping the annual parish Forty Hours Devotion, beginning next year. The reason would only be lack of patronage. Grotto has offered this period of Eucharistic adoration for as long as anyone can remember. The Forty Hours Devotion reflects a time in the Archdiocese when this was practiced in every parish in its turn. The effect diocese-wide was that somewhere and at all times there was Eucharistic exposition. A lot has happened since those more reverent times. For one thing, Vatican Ii happened and this worldwide devotion was more or less dropped in favor of an indeterminate annual "Eucharistic day" which every parish was encouraged to host. With the decrease of Eucharistic devotion this became a dead letter in most places, though Grotto carried on with the Forty Hours. Suddenly there arose a wave of adoration in special parish chapels where the Blessed Sacrament would be exposed for some hours daily or even around the clock. A boon to adoration this was indeed, but it generally rendered those Eucharistic Days and the Forty Hours superfluous. While several parishes in the archdiocese have adoration chapels, there are almost none that have solemn public days of adoration, let alone the Forty Hours.


Forty Hours procession at St. John Cantius in Chicago
Another factor in the demise of the Forty Hours Devotion was the diminishing number of Catholic schools and the ruination of once highly Catholic neighborhoods around their parishes. The once tighly knit communities that gave rise to the parishes were a boon to adoration of the Holy Sacrament. Distances to the churches then were short and the presence of children in the parish schools supplied a steady stream of adorers.

We've had our parish adoration chapel going for nearly as long as I have been pastor. At one time we had less of a difficulty filling time slots for adoration. We barely succeed in having sufficient worshippers, but their number is small. Our people live far away from the parish and often have access to adoration places closer to home than Assumption Grotto Church. (Most people, however, do not practice a weekly holy hour of adoration.)

In the heyday, Forty Hours was a special celebration for a parish. There were processions and litanies. Altar boys in groups of two were assigned half-hour periods of adoration. A banner was placed over the front church doors of the church which announced to the neighborhood that this was the time of Forty Hours. Sermons on the Holy Eucharist were given. People came in great numbers to the solemn closing ceremony, and dozens of priests participated in it, followed or preceded by a grand dinner for the priests which was a confirmation of priestly fraternity. We have limped on with the Forty hours for a long time through interest wand attendance for it have been dwindling.

There is a Church law which forbids the Holy Eucharist to remain exposed without adorers being present. I'm not wholly sure that this has been honored all the time. Sometimes I or Fr. John or some single person have been the only ones present at a given time.

Having given all that preliminary information, I will assess the success of this year's Forty Hours. I do believe that it gives honor and glory to God, but only if there are people present doing the praying and adoring the Lord.


Forty Hours closing Mass at the London Oratory
Today [Nov. 12th] at the noon Mass we will have the solemn ceremonial as prescribed by the Forty Hours ritual. I hope the three days will be a success and warrant our continued practice of this venerable custom. If not, we will have to bid the Forty Hours Devotion a sad but fond farewell. It had nourished Eucharistic piety in the people of this parish for many generations. Let us see in what direction we must head in the years to come.

Fr. Perrone: Why pray for the dead?

Eduard Perrone, "A Pastor's Descant" (Assumption Grotto News, November 5, 2017):

What we know about life after death pales in comparison with what we do not know. There are so many unanswered questions. Our Lord Himself spoke of the next life in similes, leaving us to glean a literal understanding from the imagery therein. Although the church has officially said relatively little about the souls of the deceased as being in this world (think of ghosts, apparitions of and licit communications with the dead through prayer), we have some hints that the matter may be much more complex than the little doctrinal surety we have about these matters. Upon the death of our Lord, for example, it is written that many holy souls arose from their graves and appeared to many on earth (Mt. 27:53). In our time we have testimony from a convincing number of persons who have had 'near death' experiences in which their souls seem to have hovered over and about their not-quite-yet-dead bodies. How much is fantasy, how much deception, how much undefined truth is unsure. Our doctrinal certainty on the condition of the dead is rather succinct: after the particular judgment there is heaven, or hell, or purgatory. The rest is not specified.

Holy Church however has always prayed for the souls of the faithful departed, that is, for those who were once living members of the Church on earth but who may now, after death, be in need of our prayers. Canonized saints are excluded from this prayer since it is certain that they have successfully achieved their place and their state cannot improve. Likewise, the souls of the damned cannot be ransomed by any degree of supplication for them. Only the souls of the dead in purgatory can profit from our Masses, indulgences, and other prayers and good works offered for their amelioration.


At one time in rather recent history -- before Vatican II -- Catholics had a more manifest devotion to the "poor souls" in purgatory. Ever since the near demise of the Requiem Mass (the Mass for the dead, revived only ten years ago by Pope Benedict XVI by permitting the return of the traditional Latin Mass), Catholics seem to have forgotten that purgatory is a solemnly proclaimed dogma of the Church (which, therefore, no Catholic can deny and yet remain a Catholic) and that Masses and prayers for the dead are a real benefit to those in purgatory, enabling them to be released the sooner from the just punishments they suffer as a result of their sins. (For the uninformed: the daily black vestment Requiem Mass was a common occurrence before the Council; there were in some churches so-called 'privileged altars' where indulgences for the dead were secured; litanies and other prayers for the dead were commonly recited; and people customarily arranged for Masses to be said for their beloved deceased.) With the loss of the doctrinal instruction, today's modern Catholics have the erroneous assumption that nearly everybody goes directly to heaven after death. Given the infallibility of the Church's dogma regarding the existence of purgatory it would be at least negligent, if not cruel, to omit praying for the souls detained in this transcendent 'prison' (cf. Mt 5:25). How many of our beloved may be in need of assistance from the church on earth? With the facile dismissal of the doctrine of purgatory that help will not be forthcoming.


This entire month is set aside to remember the dead and to alleviate their sufferings. It has been estimated that the pains of purgatory are more intense than any known in this life. When one considers the excruciating possibilities of present pains, that's a staggering amount. Charity ought to motivate us to assist souls who have no means to help themselves.

God in His mercy provided a place of temporary punishment for sin which we call purgatory. Let us be grateful that we can help the poor souls by our works.

This weekend our parish will have the 40 Hours of adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. We open this on Friday after the 7:30 Mass until 7:00 p.m. It continues on Saturday after the 7:30 a.m. Mass until 7:00 p.m. Next Sunday adoration takes place only in short intervals between Masses and concludes with the solemn high Mass at noon, followed by the procession with the Blessed Sacrament. Plan this weekend on being in church for one hour of prayer besides your usual weekend Mass time.

Fr. Perrone

Fr. Perrone: a father's worry over his children's spiritual future

Fr. Eduard Perrone, "A Pastor's Descant" (Assumption Grotto News, October 29, 2017):

A priest is rightly called father because he has a spiritual progeny, his people, a family he was given through mother Church. Being a parent of sorts, the priest has duties toward his children, to provide for them in the things of the spirit. Dispensing the sacraments and imparting instruction through preaching and teaching are the most necessary of his duties. As parenting in its ordinary sense entials more than ensuring that basic necessities are met, so the priest-father has more to do than fulfillment of the fundamentals of pastoral care. Among these extras is his parental duty to worry. No parent worthy of the name passes his days without anxiety for the welfare of his children. Their good health, proper education, safety, and that personal security which makes for happiness are surely among things parents often worry about in regard to their children.

So do I, a spiritual father, worry about my parishioners' spiritual welfare. In particular, I have spiritual concern over what may happen to them in the times ahead. The present moment may be secure enough, but the prognosis is not good. Every good parent does his best to get his children off to a good start in the early years of his children's lives. The time inevitably comes when children become young adults and must fend for themselves in a highly troubled world and amidst "a crooked and perverse generation" (Phil 2:15). Looking ahead I do not see good days for the Church. While there are some signs of betterment for Christians in American society, these are tenuous and fragile. In our beloved Church, signs are less promising for a restoration of stability and clear doctrine. Moral permissiveness and equivocation in teaching seem to be getting the upper hand as the pope and many bishops, theologians, and a number of priests teach ambiguously or even outright falsely, giving grave scandal. It pains me even to mention this yet I'm aware that my people cannot be unmindful of at least some of what's been said and done due to professional and social media. Best efforts have been made to 'put a good spin' on what's been happening from the highest to the local parish levels of the Church. A time comes, however, when the obvious conclusions must be drawn and one must come to grips with the harsh reality of a Church already sharply divided over what is authentic Catholic teaching on moral living and ecclesiastical discipline. And here my parental worry kicks in. How will my parishioners fare if and when a schism (rupture) breaks out in the Church and one must make a declaration of where one stands? What principles will be employed in making that decision? Social pressure to conform? The measure of one's own evil tendencies? The bad example of some of the hierarchy? I think of the heartbreak of Christ when He asked: "Will you also leave Me?" or the foreboding in His rhetorical question: "When the Son of Man comes again will He find faith on earth?" Sadness grips me when I hear the blatant lies being spread about doctrine and right morals. My predecessors in this parish and I have tried to do our paternal duty towards our spiritual children in teaching the truth and encouraging our people to live by it. This must be an ongoing task for the priest, especially in view of the mighty leftist propaganda. The natural tendency in nature is towards dissolution rather than towards betterment, unless a counterforce is exerted. In other words, things by themselves don't get better and better but rather progressively worse when unattended. With the present weak leadership in the Church and the corruptive influence of the media, that needed force is not to be presumed.

The disciples once asked our Lord, "Will only few be saved?" Divine Wisdom did not give a direct answer. The incertitude over the outcome of salvation ought to stir up some salutary worry. While the true Church cannot die and while Christ will ever remain with it until time's end, there is no surety of any particular person being among the saved. And so, I will worry and pray for my parishioners.

I must set aside these dark ruminations to speak of some upcoming dates. Wednesday this week will be All Saints Day, a holy day of obligation. Masses will e at 6:30, 9:30, noon, and 7:00 p.m. Thursday is All Souls Day. Masses will be offered in the morning at 7:30, 8:15, 8:00, 10:00, 11:00, 11:30 and 7:00 p.m. Everybody should participate at Mass on that day -- or better, at several Masses, praying for the dead. (Communion may only be received up to two times per day, but one may assist at Mass without any limit.) Visits to the cemetery with prayers for the dead during the first eight days of November may gain aa plenary indulgence for them.

Get yourselves ready to engage in the annual parish Forty Hours Devotion,a time for the whole parish to adore the Blessed Sacrament. Every individual in the parish ought to spend at least an hour in the church during the time of November 10-11. More on this next week.

Fr. Perrone: without an intense, devout life, Catholics will not survive the age

Eduard Perrone, "A Pastor's Descant" (Assumption Grotto News, October 15, 2017):

The saintly priest, learned theologian, and catechist extraordinaire, Fr. John A. Hardon, was fond of saying that without an intense, devout life Catholics will not survive the age. I admit that at the time I thought this a ruse to shock his audience into taking their faith seriously. The longer I live in this age, however, the more I become convinced that this priest got it right. In recent decades we've seen great numbers of Catholics cease to practice their faith while others have exited the Church for small community non-denominational churches or trendy mega-churches that offer swingin' and swayin' worship services with an appealing "prosperity" message. I've heard many a sorrow-laden complaint from Catholics who have lost family members or relatives to such groups. It seems that no family has been wholly exempt from the defection. I did a little checking among my own family and close relatives to see how things stacked up in this regard. In a fast count from a pool of 52 family members and close relatives on my mother's side only (my siblings and their children, uncles, aunts, and first cousins), there were only 20 out of 52 still practicing the Catholic faith in which they were reared and living in a Christian manner.

These facts may make us wonder about many things. First, of the necessity of faith in Christ and of keeping His commandments. Without whole-hearted acceptance of all that Christ has revealed by His Church and without a state of grace, one cannot hope to be saved. Then, about the Church. It is by definition one, founded by our Lord: "Upon this rock I will build My Church" with Peter as its rock foundation (Mt 16:18). It is this Church which holds the true doctrine of Christ since it alone is "the pillar and bulwark of the truth" (1 Tim 3:15). Christ's apostles and their line of successors were handlers-on (transmitters) of 'tradition,' that is, of their authority, powers, the truth and the practices they received from Christ. Efforts to deviate from that apostolic inheritance were made from the earliest days of the Church. Thus were the faithful flock warned of those who would deceive and mislead the flock, false teachers and false prophets (Mt 24:24; 2 Tim 4:3-4), those "even of your own number" who would "draw away the disciples after them" (Acts 20:30). On account of the ever present danger of being misled and of departing from truth, Saint Paul admonished succeeding generations of the Church to "guard the truth that has been entrusted to you" (2 Tim 1:14) and to "hold to the traditions which you were taught by us, either by word of mouth of by [written] letter" (2 Thes 2:15).

The Catholic Church is the only Church which has existed uninterruptedly from apostolic times, unbroken in historical continuity. This is an indisputable fact. You will find the Catholic Church in every year since the first day of the Christian era. While the church as Christ's body has matured and organically grown in acquiring a greater clarity in its beliefs (the creed), in a more developed way of celebrating the Christian "mysteries" (the liturgy and the sacraments), and in a worldwide institutional expansion, yet she has remained true to her divine charter, being essentially as she has always been from the beginning and as she is destined to remain until the Lord returns.

The claim is made, of course, that the Catholic Church at some point erred and went astray from what Christ had intended from the beginning. [But] with the publication and now easy availability of the Fathers of the Church (and especially of the Apostolic Fathers -- those who immediately succeeded the apostles) and other early Church writings, it is clear for anyone who would care to investigate the matter that the early Church is the same Catholic Church we know today in all essential aspects. From these documents we learn many things: how Mass was said and the sacraments celebrated; the deeper theological understanding of the faith revealed in time by the Holy Spirit (who "will teach you all things, and bring to remembrance all that I have said to you" (Jn 14:26) and which was formulated in the ancient creedal statements; how holy orders were transmitted from bishop to bishop, and from bishop to priest; etc. Only the Catholic Church did all these things from the beginning of the Christian era and only she continues to do them faithfully.

The problem of defection from the true Church and from its faith plagued the Church from its earliest days. Already in the Book of Revelation we find mention of a sect known as the Nicolaitans (e.g. 2:6). St. Paul wrote against the beliefs of the Gnostics. Aberrant sects claiming to be some manner or other of 'church' apart from the unique historical body of the Catholic Church are fraudulent. There can't be a 'spontaneous generation' of a new Christian body claiming to be in any sense authentic. There must be, and is, but 'one body, one Spirit, one hope, one faith, one baptism, one God' (cf. Eph 4:4-5).

Of course, in our families there are those who are simply non-practitioners, those who still regard themselves as Catholics but who can't be bothered going to Sunday Mass or to Confession. Our Lord warned that the way to salvation was a narrow one, that few would find it (Mt 7:14), and that when He would return to earth there might be but a few who would have kept the faith (cf. Lk 18:8).

there are many diverse reasons why people cease to practice the Catholic faith or who leave holy Church for something other. The lure of sensuality and worldliness -- always a powerful force -- is not to be discounted. There's also the scandalous lives of bad Catholics which are discouraging; the incredible permissive things we now hear coming from Rome, from certain bishops, "theologians," and priests; the fallout from the clergy scandals of recent times; the enormous ignorance of Catholics about their faith and their history; the irreverent way priests and laity deport themselves at Mass such as to belie the doctrines of the Real Presence and the sacrificial nature of the Mass; the great number of divorces with remarriages of Catholics outside the Church; the Church's condemnation of all forms of artificial birth control; the circulation of the pernicious teaching that "one religion is as good as another" (indifferentism). Take all these things together and ... voilà! ... you have all that's needed for a great exodus from the true Church.

Christ is not indifferent about truth, about fidelity to the practice of the faith, or about His Church. The only Church which has perdured through the centuries since the time of its founding is the one, true Church of Christ: the Catholic Church, a truth "which nobody can deny, which nobody can deny."

Fr. Perrone

P.S. Today, Sunday, marks the fourth anniversary of my Mother's death. Mom and Dad were devout believers both. How profoundly grateful I am for the faith my parents passed on to me! I pray for them and I pray to them for the return of our family members who have strayed from the one truth Catholic Church.