A Redemptorist priest writes
Who asks his identity to be withheld.
Once again I write with sadness about a Redemptorist Church with a great history that has lost it's focus. The Parish of St. Alphonsus in St. Louis, MO was one of the greatest of all Redemptorist Parishes in the US. How those holy priests and brothers who labored to build the church and parish dedicated to their founder would feel seeing this video clip I cannot imagine. It saddens me that we have lost the vision of St. Alphonsus and the zeal of St. Clement Hofbauer as exemplified by what takes place in so many of our churches and missions.
From "the Rock," so named because of it's granite walls, countless missionaries went throughout the Midwest preaching parish missions and instilling in people devotion to the Crib, the Cross, the Sacrament, and to Our Lady of Perpetual Help. It was at this church that the "perpetual novena" to Our Lady of Perpetual Help got its start in the United States, spreading throughout the country and the world. From this great heritage I cannot see how such a travesty could occur, but it does over and over again. If only the rule had been kept as given us by our holy founder!
It is tragic the this great monument to St. Alphonsus was struck by lightening and burned, but it is more tragic that it was turned into a dance hall where, rather than worshipping God, people go for a show on Sunday morning. Perhaps it is better that the lightening struck. Unfortunately, when rebuilt, I doubt it will be any better.
If you wish to publish my comments, please do so. But I ask that you withhold my name. It would have serious consequences for me.
May Our Mother of Perpetual Help guide you always
From "the Rock," so named because of it's granite walls, countless missionaries went throughout the Midwest preaching parish missions and instilling in people devotion to the Crib, the Cross, the Sacrament, and to Our Lady of Perpetual Help. It was at this church that the "perpetual novena" to Our Lady of Perpetual Help got its start in the United States, spreading throughout the country and the world. From this great heritage I cannot see how such a travesty could occur, but it does over and over again. If only the rule had been kept as given us by our holy founder!
It is tragic the this great monument to St. Alphonsus was struck by lightening and burned, but it is more tragic that it was turned into a dance hall where, rather than worshipping God, people go for a show on Sunday morning. Perhaps it is better that the lightening struck. Unfortunately, when rebuilt, I doubt it will be any better.
If you wish to publish my comments, please do so. But I ask that you withhold my name. It would have serious consequences for me.
May Our Mother of Perpetual Help guide you always
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