Back to Writing!
I don’t know why, but people keep subscribing here even though I am not writing anything! Of course, as predicted, as soon as I indicated that I might start writing again, a group of people unsubscribed! Strange. But, then again, this column is strange, too, so I shouldn’t be surprised at strange subscriptions and unsubscriptions!
For the sake of the new subscribers, this is not primarily a theological, scriptural, or spiritual substack, although all of those might pop up once in a while, and, since I am a Catholic priest, all of those underlie everything I write, for they are certainly a part of who I am.
Far less is this a place where you will find expositions, explanations, or debates about current Church topics, controversies, or other necessary but tiring things such as that. There are plenty of good (and bad) writers out there, living—nay, thriving—on writing about current issues.
This, rather, is just a series of articles written by a rather ordinary parish priest (Diocese of St. Petersburg) who worked himself out of a job by turning a dead parish into a parish too large for one priest to handle, by bringing in the Traditional Latin Mass and corresponding sacraments and sacramentals, by encouraging the people to become Saints, and by striving (although often unsuccessfully) to live what he preached, so as to show that ANYONE can do it!
Once it was determined that the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest would take over and the parish became a Shrine, Yours Truly, by God’s Divine Providence, was asked to fill a needed Chaplain position for a fairly new Traditional Community, the Filiae Laboris Mariae (FLM) Religious Sisters near Fort Scott, Kansas. (The priests from several parishes around here recently told me that even THEY don’t know where Redfield, the city of our official mailing address, is located, hence the Fort Scott reference). My Bishop and the Bishop of Wichita both agreed that I could take on this new assignment, and off I went.
This blog started as a simple way of letting my family, friends, and former parishioners know where I was going and what I would be doing. Of course, I had (and still have) no idea what I was (am) in for, so we made (will continue) this journey together! From Florida to Kansas, from parish priest to chaplain of Religious Sisters: God works in mysterious ways. Pray for these poor Sisters! Little did they know what they were getting into, either, with me as their chaplain!
And now, after taking all of Lent and quite a bit more time mostly away from the blogosphere, it is time to return with more Tales from the Crypt Convent. (Old people will get that reference.)
We will start with the Feast of St. Joseph. March 19, 2026. My phone gave me the dire Weather Warning: Severe Fire Warning! High Winds and dry conditions... blah, blah, blah. Don’t burn anything. Got it. Time for a little exercise, a quick shower, and out the door for prayers at the chapel. Sniff, sniff. Smoke!
Looking around at the buildings of our compound, I couldn’t see any smoke, but it was still dark, so without visible flames, I could easily miss seeing what was burning. I quickly checked the parish hall, where construction is ongoing, figuring it was the most likely source of trouble if there was an electrical issue or something along those lines. No fire there. It was already 4:28 am, so, with only two minutes before the chanting of Matins was to begin, I called off my brief search and went into the chapel to pray. None of the Sisters was in a panic, so I was pretty sure their living quarters weren’t on fire, either.
After Matins, Laudes, a Holy Hour, and Prime, there is a break for chores before Mass. I was alone in the chapel when one of the Sisters came in and whispered, “Did anyone tell you that there’s a fire outside? The field adjoining our property is on fire!” I followed her out. Standing on the front steps of the Chapel, I could see the fire through the trees along the property line.
I stood there and rebuked the flames, demanding in the Holy Name of Jesus that they not damage our property or buildings. I took these (above) photos and then quickly went to my cell to bring out the fairly recently exorcized and blessed Epiphany Holy Water. I sprinkled it along the line of trees you see in front and asked the angels to protect us. In the meantime, the volunteer fire department had been called and would soon be on the way. As it was time for Mass, we all went back inside with trust that all was well.
After Mass, I took a few more photos, this time from the other side of the tree line.
As you can see, the fire stopped where it was supposed to. Within a week, the field was filling with green again. I took this shot from Hackberry Road; the fire didn’t stop at the fence along this side of the field!
With prayers for your holiness,
Rev. Fr. Edwin Palka
