Church

Dear Brothers and Sisters, I love the great hymn For All the Saints–especially the second verse: O may your soldiers, faithful true and bold Fight as the saints who nobly fought of old And win with them the victor’s crown of gold Alleluia, Alleluia! The lives of all the saints exhibit an awareness of the need for battle. Even the Little Flower–Therese of Lisieux says, “Sanctity! It must be won at the point of a sword!”  Therefore, to make spiritual progress with the saints, we have to engage in battle. The …

Dear Brothers and Sisters, In our society, which emphasizes kindness and gentleness we often forget an aspect of our faith which is summed up in the phrase, “the Church Militant.” Christians today are inclined to turn away from old fashioned hymns like “Onward Christian Soldiers”, “Fight the Good Fight” or “Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus, You Soldiers of the Cross”. We find it difficult to align a religion of forgiveness and tolerance with a religion that encounters enemies, expects conflict and marches confidently to war. We’re especially reluctant to …

Dear Brothers and Sisters, When I was a kid September meant “Back to School”. After the luxury of the lazy summer days, it was back to work and back to busy schedules. In the years since then the start of school has moved earlier and earlier—eroding the summer vacation for our kids. OLR school got started last week and it has been a joy to see so many boys and girls filling our classrooms. Over 300 are enrolled this year and we are bursting at the seams! Mr. Curtin’s strategy …

Please go HERE for the Confirmation registration form and instructions. Go HERE for Sunday Morning Catechesis forms for K4-5th Grade. …

Dear Brothers and Sisters, In the months to come there will be increasing opportunities to support the work of our parish financially. As the parish and school continue to grow the demands for new ministries and facilities will increase. In the light of this I would like to share a personal story about Christian giving.  My Father was a successful Christian businessman. It was his practice to give 15% of his income to the Lord’s work. While I say he was a success—it was not always so. For some time in …

Dear Brothers and Sisters, The other day someone asked me, “What is your vision for OLR parish?”  I answered, “In the sixth century the great Roman Empire was disintegrating as a result of unlimited power, untold wealth and widespread moral degeneracy. The infrastructures were failing. Politicians were corrupt, the old religions were moribund and indifferent. The barbarians were encroaching and there was widespread fear, despair and collapse of civilization.” St. Benedict of Nursia went out from Rome and began to establish small monastic communities in the hills of Rome. His …

The Summer is ending, and with it comes the sought after stability of the school year with the reminder that we have forgotten much, and have a great deal to learn. Especially when it comes to the Faith, we have the wonderful opportunity to constantly grow further up and further in to our understanding of the Church and our Blessed Lord. St. Jerome is credited with saying that “Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ”. I would go further to say that ignorance of Christ is ignorance of Christ! It …

Dear Brothers and Sisters, Earlier this summer our Headmaster, Tommy Curtin, wrote a series of letters bringing you up to date on the developments at OLR school. At that point we were unsure whether we would be able to acquire the five acre plot across Frontage Road from our property. Even if we were able to obtain that land, it was not clear exactly how to use the new acreage. Should the new school be built there or keep that space for future development? In March we had a meeting …

Save the Date for HS Youth Group! Are you an incoming freshman-senior student? If so, mark your calendars for our kickoff meeting Sunday August 13, and our Youth Day Away at Camp Awanita on August 19. For most young adults, the time in high school can be a “make or break” period in one’s faith. The Youth Group at Our Lady of the Rosary Parish provides a place where you can ask the difficult questions: what is my purpose? Who and what is God? Should I persevere in Catholicism? Is …

In my last letter, I argued that OLR school offers an education that is fundamentally different from and superior to the pagan education of the public school system. We achieve this through an academic program that is at once Catholic and classical. Those reading these words likely have a good sense of what it means to receive a Catholic education. The doctrines of the Church are clearly taught in the classroom, validated by the words of scripture and the lives of the saints. While this teaching is being received by …

Imagine a planet where a large portion of the population is both highly educated and believed and did patently absurd things. In fact, the more years the inhabitants spent receiving this planet’s education, the more likely they were to become illogical and narcissistic. A visitor to such a planet might reasonably conclude that the “education” in question was the very thing producing these results. In other words, the activity the inhabitants called education was not in fact creating well-educated people. It was creating the exact opposite.  Welcome to Planet Earth, …

It is hard not to notice that Our Lady of the Rosary Church has added many families to the congregation over the last few years. Something is attracting families, not just from within Greenville, but from across the country. I have heard OLR called a “Unicorn.” This term describes a community that combines all desirable traits in one place: reverent liturgy, faithful families, holy clergy, lovely music, charitable ministries, and classical Catholic education, within a livable city and state. And like unicorns, they basically don’t exist in real life. OLR’s …