At this point in the history of the Church, some of us might feel numb to the idea of homosexuality inside the Church. It seems like every other day we have some gay seminarian, priest, or bishop come out of the closet with glitter and makeup on their faces. To say that these are “concerning times” is an understatement. What is going on? What should faithful Catholics do? How do we speak about this to others?
A friend and I decided to put into practice the advice of Our Lady of Fatima to pray a Rosary in reparation for the sins of the world. On Sunday, June 23, we decided to drive out to Hoboken, New Jersey, to the parish of Our Lady of Grace Church, where a “Pride Mass” would be taking place. We felt moved to offer some kind of public witness against this “pride sacrilege.”
We arrived 30 minutes early to the Mass in order to take a look around. Sure enough, there were rainbow banners on the columns of the church, and on the altar were placed flowers of different colors to form a rainbow. Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament must have felt suffocated by the “gay pride” spreading in the air. It definitely felt suffocating to me at least.
Orthodox. Faithful. Free.
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Despite the monstrosity of rainbow decorations, the church itself preserved the beauty unique to an older church. The outer brick walls manifested strength and grace; a solemn sculpture of the Holy Family inspired deep piety; and the mere height of the ceiling from the floor was awe-striking. The authentic beauty of the church remained despite the outer garments of sin.
After praying quietly inside until start time, my friend and I walked outside to offer our prayers of reparation. We had prepared a few prayers in a special order before praying our mysteries of the Rosary. A copy of the prayers said can be found here.
First, we prayed an act of reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus for our own sins. Then we prayed an act of reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary for the sins of the world and specifically the sacrilege we were witnessing. Thirdly, we prayed a litany of humility to prepare ourselves to have the right disposition in offering our prayers without the danger of self-righteousness. We were making reparation for our own sins, first and foremost, and, secondly, for the sins committed by a sacrilegious Mass. After those preparatory prayers, we offered a full set of decades for the Joyful, Sorrowful, and Glorious mysteries.
When we walked out of the church to start, we found a group of protesting Catholics already there on the sidewalk opposite the front door. They were members of Tradition, Family, and Property and were well-equipped with their banners, bagpipes, and drums. We decided to pray our own tailored prayers beside them instead of chanting with them. Though I do not doubt their good will, we were not convinced that shouting the word “reparation” across the street is more efficacious toward reparations than simply praying a Rosary out loud.
As my friend and I were praying, we took note of who was actually attending the Mass. I was not very impressed with the show of attendees. For such an “important event,” it did not bring a big crowd. Even more noteworthy, the attendees seemed to be average Sunday churchgoers—not crazy, rainbow-headed people in drag clothing. There were a few people wearing pride shirts, but no one seemed to be a hard-core queer advocate. This makes me wonder whether this “pride sacrilege” accomplished its goal of “inviting the LGBTQ+ community into the Catholic Church.” At least at first glance, it seems like the queer community doesn’t care about attending a Mass even if it’s celebrating their sin.
While the Mass was going on, there was only one minor confrontation with a wacky liberal. Someone driving down the street stopped and stepped out of his car to point his finger in our faces. “You should be ashamed of yourself! Yatta yatta yatta…” Nothing surprising or worthy of starting a conversation over was said by this man.
Luckily, there were two police officers stationed in front of the church doors. I am not sure if they were intentionally there to surveil our “protesting behavior,” but luckily, they acted as honest and noble police officers would. They immediately walked beside the man shouting at us, ordered him to continue driving, and stood on the street directing traffic until it was flowing normally again. One of the officers even looked at us and apologized for the incident. God bless our servicemen.
When the Mass ended, my friend and I continued to stand with the other protesting Catholics as the Mass attendees walked out. Immediately, they took out their phones and were pointing cameras at us. I suppose that seeing faithful Catholics trying to stand up for the truth is a rarity nowadays and is a worthy occasion for being caught on camera. On this point, I can fully agree with the woke advocates.
I had a pile of Memorare prayer cards with a beautiful image of the Virgin Mary in my pocket. My friend and I looked at each other and agreed that we had to give one to the priest. After committing such a terrible sacrilege, any little prayer will come in handy for his soul. We crossed the street and made our way through the group of people walking out of the church. The police officers seemed to notice us, but they let us go unhalted.
When we walked into the church, the priest was close to the door, greeting people as they walked out. I held the prayer cards ready in my hand and got in line to greet the priest. As soon as I was in front of the priest, I made my request: “Hi, my name is Christopher Jimenez, and we were hoping you would pray this Memorare with us.” Being placed on the spot out of the blue, he immediately consented. “Oh yeah, I know that one,” he responded.
My friend and I, thrilled by his agreement, prayed a Memorare with the priest. We prayed for an act of reparation with the very priest who officiated the sacrilege! Without starting a huge commotion—and with a simple holy card—we were undermining the evil act committed. The words of our Lord came to mind: “So be as wise as snakes and as innocent as doves” (Matthew 10:16).
After finishing the prayer, the priest looked at us with what seemed like a suspicious eye. I can imagine him thinking in his head: “These guys aren’t gay…” And he couldn’t have been more right! With a noticeable amount of awkward discomfort, he said goodbye. We had accomplished our mission, so we were ready to leave as well. With a “Thank you, Father. God bless!” we left the church with a smile. Even disheartening events like a “’Pride Mass” can be used as a source of Glory for God.
