The Month of October 2026
My Friends,
“Love is never monotonous…”
Blessed Archbishop Fulton Sheen, now only a step away from being Saint Archbishop Fulton Sheen, is recognized as perhaps the greatest preacher the Catholic Church in the United States has ever known. He is also known for his deep affection for Mary, Mother of the Lord, and for the mysteries of the holy rosary. The month of October, in Catholic tradition, gives special focus to the rosary and to meditating on the mysteries of the life of Christ that it proposes. Blessed Archbishop Sheen offered this reflection of the holy rosary:
“It is objected that there is much repetition in the Rosary because the Lord’s Prayer and the Hail Mary are said so often; therefore some say it is monotonous.
“That reminds me of a woman who came to see me one evening after instructions. She said, ‘I would never become a Catholic. You say the same words in the Rosary over and over again, and anyone who repeats the same words is never sincere. I would never believe anyone who repeated his words and neither would God.’
“I asked her who the man was with her. She said he was her fiancé. I asked: Does he love you? ‘Certainly, he does’ she replied. But how do you know I asked. ‘He told me’ she replied. What did he say I asked. ‘He said ‘I love you’” she replied. When did he tell you last, I asked. ‘About an hour ago’ she replied. Did he tell you before I asked. ‘Yes, last night’ she replied. What did he say I asked. ‘I love you’ she replied. But never before I asked. ‘He tells me every night’ she replied. I said: Do not believe him. He is repeating; he is not sincere.
“The beautiful truth is that there is no repetition in, ‘I love you.’ Because there is a new moment of time, another point in space, the words do not mean the same as they did at another time or space.
“Love is never monotonous in the uniformity of its expression. The mind is infinitely variable in its language, but the heart is not. The heart of a man, in the face of the woman he loves, is too poor to translate the infinity of his affection into a different word. So the heart takes one expression, ‘I love you,’ and in saying it over and over again, it never repeats. It is the only real news in the universe. That is what we do when we say the Rosary, we are saying to God, the Trinity, to the Incarnate Saviour, to the Blessed Mother: ‘I love you, I love you, I love you.’ Each time it means something different because, at each decade, our mind is moving to a new demonstration of the Saviour’s love.”
You did it for me…
Each year the Archdiocesan Annual Catholic Appeal funds people programs that serve over one half million children, women and men in our metropolitan community. People of all faiths, and of no faith, benefit.
The 2026 Annual Catholic Appeal has now formally concluded. Our challenge goal this year, set by the Appeal leadership, was $32,647.00. Our gifts total $39,381.00. Our new donor goal was two. We have three new donors this year! Our participation rate was 55 percent of our 38 households! Our participation was among the ten highest of the 139 parishes in the Archdiocese of St. Louis.
In my twenty-four years among you we have never not reached goal. That is so again this year! And this year our Pro-Cathedral family was first in total gifts over goal among all the parishes in our region. You are, consistently, as generous to God and the things of God, as God has been generous to you!
I am grateful. Archbishop Rozanski is grateful. All those who benefit from your generosity are most grateful!
A catalyst for prayer
During our Sunday celebration of the Eucharist, in the Prayer of the Faithful, we regularly include the intercession, “Give strong grace to married couples and Christian families. Multiply vocations to priesthood and religious life.”
I was reminded of the urgency of that second petition recently when reading an article by Father Scott Jones, one of the four episcopal vicars in leadership of the Archdiocese. He was responding to an expressed concern about diminishing numbers and times of Masses scheduled in our parishes, and the reasons for this. He writes:
“To give context as to why these changes occur, we need to be realistic about how many priests are available. Currently there are 86 archdiocesan priests who serve as pastor or parochial administrator of parishes. Of them, 31 are 60 or over (and 16 of those are at least 65). What’s more, of those 86 archdiocesan pastors, roughly one-third are pastoring more than one parish. There are currently 45 associate pastors, 22 of whom are 59 or older. There are 15 under the age of 40.”
At present, too, there are forty young men at our Kenrick-Glennon Seminary in formation from first year of college through graduate school of theology. Each is discerning, with the help of the seminary formators, if he is called to priesthood. Pray that God gives each of them wisdom and insight to know His will for them.
All of this is a catalyst for that prayer during our Sunday Eucharist and otherwise frequently, “Multiply vocations to priesthood and religious life” We pray to the Lord.
The apse artwork
Some time ago, in a homily, I spoke about the stained glass windows in our Pro-Cathedral Church. I mentioned that they include the work of the world renowned Emil Frei Stained Glass Studio which is located in St. Louis. The Frei artistry is also seen in, among others, the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis, St. Francis Xavier-College Church, and St. Francis de Sales Church. Presently the studio is led by Aaron and Nicholas Frei, the great-great-grandsons of Emil Frei Sr. I am blessed to count them good friends.
Following my reference to our Frei windows, our own resident archivist, Melissa McCanna, made me aware of another interesting detail about the Frei artistry. Emil Frei Sr., who immigrated to St. Louis from Germany, was not only skilled in stained glass, but was an accomplished painter. His obituary in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch following his death in 1942, notes this: ‘He learned painting in the Munich Academy of Arts, and his earliest work in St. Louis was in this branch of art. He painted the large Transfiguration group in the apse of St. John, Apostle and Evangelist Church, at Sixteenth and Chestnut Streets.’
The apse fresco of the Transfiguration, you know is a reproduction of Raphael’s 1520 painting which still hangs in the Vatican Museums. Our fresco was commissioned in the 1920’s, by the then-pastor, Monsignor John Sesnon, to replace an original 1860 painting of the Ascension of Christ into Heaven after it was damaged beyond restoration by water infiltration.
Forward in Faith
Our St. John’s Faith Enrichment Group, regularly meets on the first Sunday of the month, in the church hall, following the 10:00 o’clock Mass. The group that gathers reflects the diversity of our members.
A video series on the life and preaching of now-Blessed Archbishop Fulton Sheen is the springboard for conversation on faith matters. Jeff McGee facilitates the discussion. The sessions spark engaging reflections by participants. The next Faith Enrichment Group meeting is Sunday, October 4th following the 10:00 Mass and lasts about one hour. Light refreshments are served. All are welcome.
In Brief
Father John J. Johnson was my predecessor, and 17th pastor of this parish, from 1997 until 2002. In recent years Father Johnson has lived in retirement at our Regina Cleri Residence. Father Johnson is in advancing stages of pancreatic cancer and has entered hospice care. We pray God keep a careful eye on Father Johnson in his Homegoing.
On Sunday, October 11th, Will and Eva Schuller O’Shea will present their first-born, James Daniel to be baptized in Christ. James Daniel is proof-positive, in flesh and blood, of the age-old intuition of the Church that “love creates life.” May God keep a careful eye on the O’Shea’s always.
We share the joy of Matt and Theresa DeWitt as they await the arrival, in April, of their third-born. Young Peter and John are excited, too, for the blessed event. May God keep the Dewitt Family growing great in His love!
Until an employment-related relocation to Eau Claire, Wisconsin two years ago, Brett and Kaitlyn Louviere were members of our Pro-Cathedral Parish. They are expecting their first-born now. We pray God’s best blessings for the three of them in coming days and always.
We keep in prayer Father John Johnson, Margaret Czapla, Dan Prater, Paul Hogan, Cardinal Justin Rigali and all who are ill, together with their loved ones and caregivers. May God give them strength, grace, and peace.
Faithfully,
Monsignor Delaney