FATHER FRANK’S LOG: 9th - 16th NOVEMBER 2025
This Sunday we celebrate the Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica, which always sparks off a specific memory for me. In 1982 I went to Rome for my diaconate year. I was staying in the Passionist Retreat of Saints John & Paul, and attending the Gregorian University, taking a course in Pastoral Theology. I arrived in September for the start of the academic year, and I was scheduled to be ordained a deacon in December. I had completed all the necessary exams at the Milltown Institute of Philosophy and Theology in Dublin. To proceed with the Diaconate, I had to provide a transcript of all the exams taken and passed. I requested that the Milltown Institute post these on to me. In those days, it wasn’t just a simple case of attaching them to an email, it had to be by snail-mail. However, as the time for Diaconate drew closer, I still hadn’t received the transcript, and I was informed that I would have to take a set of oral exams in Scripture, Systematic Theology, and Moral Theology. These would take place in the Rome Diocesan Offices attached to the Basilica of St John Lateran – the Lateran Basilica as mentioned above.
So it was that, in early December 1982, and with some trepidation, accompanied by the Rector of Saints John & Paul’s for moral support, I made my way to St John Lateran, spending some time in prayer in the basilica, before proceeding to the offices. This, of course, is one of the basilicas on the itinerary this jubilee year for visiting the Holy Doors. I was directed to a magnificent aula, where there were a number of tables spread throughout, each with an examiner sitting behind a table, and a chair opposite for the examinee. I sat gazing at the wonderful ceiling, trying to stay calm, before being called forward for my exam. Eventually I was summoned. My examiner turned out to be a Swiss Redemptorist, dressed in his Redemptorist habit, while I was wearing my Passionist habit. The Redemptorists and the Passionists were founded around the same time in the 18th century, the “Reds” by St Alphonsus Liguori, mostly throughout the south of Italy; the Passionists by St Paul of the Cross, mostly throughout the north of Italy, each engaging in similar works of preaching popular missions and retreats. There has always been a friendly rivalry between us, and I was hoping that this Swiss Red would not take that rivalry too seriously and be too hard on me. As it turned out, he was the nicest man I could have wished to meet. We had a good conversation, and then worked our way through some topics, before he graciously and willingly passed me with flying colours.
On that same day I headed north to the first ever Passionist Retreat, the Retreat of the Presentation of Our Lady, on Monte Argentario. I made an 8-day retreat there in preparation for my ordination. I remember there being a number of very dramatic thunder and lightning storms throughout those days, as if the biblical God of the Mountain, El Shaddai, was speaking to me. I then returned to Rome. Ironically, when I returned, I went to check my mail box. Standing beside me, doing the same, was another Passionist who had been away for some weeks on a preaching tour. His name also began with an “F” and his mail box was next to mine. When he opened it, what did he find, only my transcript, which had mistakenly been put into his box instead of mine. All that stress for nothing! Still, these things always happen for a purpose, and I have retained fond memories of my visit to the Lateran Basilica, and my encounter with the Swiss Redemptorist. Before the month was out, on December 18th, I was ordained a deacon in the St Paul of the Cross Chapel in Saints John and Paul, where the founder’s body is encased beneath the altar. A week later, at Christmas Midnight Mass, I would preach my first sermon as a deacon in the chapel of a local cancer hospital, run by Irish Sisters, the Little Company of Mary, accompanied by my Superior General and other members of the Passionist community. It was quite a few weeks, but all turned out well.
As ever, protect yourself, your loved ones and others, and protect Christ in your lives.
This Sunday we celebrate the Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica, which always sparks off a specific memory for me. In 1982 I went to Rome for my diaconate year. I was staying in the Passionist Retreat of Saints John & Paul, and attending the Gregorian University, taking a course in Pastoral Theology. I arrived in September for the start of the academic year, and I was scheduled to be ordained a deacon in December. I had completed all the necessary exams at the Milltown Institute of Philosophy and Theology in Dublin. To proceed with the Diaconate, I had to provide a transcript of all the exams taken and passed. I requested that the Milltown Institute post these on to me. In those days, it wasn’t just a simple case of attaching them to an email, it had to be by snail-mail. However, as the time for Diaconate drew closer, I still hadn’t received the transcript, and I was informed that I would have to take a set of oral exams in Scripture, Systematic Theology, and Moral Theology. These would take place in the Rome Diocesan Offices attached to the Basilica of St John Lateran – the Lateran Basilica as mentioned above.
So it was that, in early December 1982, and with some trepidation, accompanied by the Rector of Saints John & Paul’s for moral support, I made my way to St John Lateran, spending some time in prayer in the basilica, before proceeding to the offices. This, of course, is one of the basilicas on the itinerary this jubilee year for visiting the Holy Doors. I was directed to a magnificent aula, where there were a number of tables spread throughout, each with an examiner sitting behind a table, and a chair opposite for the examinee. I sat gazing at the wonderful ceiling, trying to stay calm, before being called forward for my exam. Eventually I was summoned. My examiner turned out to be a Swiss Redemptorist, dressed in his Redemptorist habit, while I was wearing my Passionist habit. The Redemptorists and the Passionists were founded around the same time in the 18th century, the “Reds” by St Alphonsus Liguori, mostly throughout the south of Italy; the Passionists by St Paul of the Cross, mostly throughout the north of Italy, each engaging in similar works of preaching popular missions and retreats. There has always been a friendly rivalry between us, and I was hoping that this Swiss Red would not take that rivalry too seriously and be too hard on me. As it turned out, he was the nicest man I could have wished to meet. We had a good conversation, and then worked our way through some topics, before he graciously and willingly passed me with flying colours.
On that same day I headed north to the first ever Passionist Retreat, the Retreat of the Presentation of Our Lady, on Monte Argentario. I made an 8-day retreat there in preparation for my ordination. I remember there being a number of very dramatic thunder and lightning storms throughout those days, as if the biblical God of the Mountain, El Shaddai, was speaking to me. I then returned to Rome. Ironically, when I returned, I went to check my mail box. Standing beside me, doing the same, was another Passionist who had been away for some weeks on a preaching tour. His name also began with an “F” and his mail box was next to mine. When he opened it, what did he find, only my transcript, which had mistakenly been put into his box instead of mine. All that stress for nothing! Still, these things always happen for a purpose, and I have retained fond memories of my visit to the Lateran Basilica, and my encounter with the Swiss Redemptorist. Before the month was out, on December 18th, I was ordained a deacon in the St Paul of the Cross Chapel in Saints John and Paul, where the founder’s body is encased beneath the altar. A week later, at Christmas Midnight Mass, I would preach my first sermon as a deacon in the chapel of a local cancer hospital, run by Irish Sisters, the Little Company of Mary, accompanied by my Superior General and other members of the Passionist community. It was quite a few weeks, but all turned out well.
As ever, protect yourself, your loved ones and others, and protect Christ in your lives.
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