After placing over 200 candles at Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton before the cross in the vestibule and nearly 1,100 candles before the cross in the aisle at Immaculate Conception Church yesterday (view video), I thought that, before I went to bed I should go to each church and make sure that I did not cause a fire!!!!
I rolled by Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton and sat in my truck as I looked at the candles burning before the Cross through the glass door and offered The Chaplet of Divine Mercy for all the intentions that the candles represent. A true light in the darkness…Christ’s victory of death… and the hope in our prayers.
I continued down Route 30 to Immaculate Conception to check on the 1,100+ candles that were burning there. Since I could not see them from the outside, I went into the church to make my inspection.
It was about 2:00 a.m. in the morning and the warmth of the candles and the smell of wax was so inviting and comforting as it called to mind the prayers and the needs of so many.
I stopped and prayed before Saint Joseph where nearly 200 candles burned and then to the Blessed Virgin Mary shrine where 300 candles were glowing in the dark. I offered the fifth decade of the Rosary there for all of our intentions.
Then I sat on the last step of the sanctuary and just stared down the candlelit aisle to the cross at the entrance. I fathomed to think how many times in nearly 15 years did I walk that aisle at the end of the Mass smiling at so many as I went by…receiving warm smiles in return.
Walking the aisle at the end of the Mass, through the faithful, to go live our mission for the week. It was then that I thought that when I celebrate Easter Mass I will not look to the empty pews where you take up your place at Sacred Mass but to each and every candle that lights the way…from the cross to the altar of Mass! I sat for a long while looking and praying at the candles…hearing your voices and your cries mingled with my prayer, my thoughts and my heart. Each Hail Mary, Our Father and Gloria I uttered I did not pray alone…you prayed with me!!!
Yes, this Lent, this Easter is extraordinary for many reasons but I never felt closer to you and your desire for me to be your intercessor, priest, and spiritual Father!!!
So, know that you and your loved ones have been prayed for and we are together in Faith and raised up in the hope of the Resurrection. I am so proud to be the pastor of both Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton and Immaculate Conception parishes. No priest prouder nor humbled by your faith!!!
Happy Easter!!!