CHARLOTTE — More than a thousand confessions were heard March 15 during St. Matthew Church’s first “Day of Reconciliation and Adoration.”
The occasion, held in lieu of a usual Lenten penance service, involved more than a dozen priests who heard approximately 1,200 confessions over the course of more than 12 hours, starting at 7:30 a.m. that day. The St. Matthew Parish priests probably heard about nine hours of confessions each, and they had help from Father Richard Hanson (six hours) and 10 other priests from around the Charlotte area who each generously offered about two hours each, Father Patrick Hoare, pastor, reported. By way of comparison, he noted, a parish penance service would have enabled them to hear around 600 confessions at most.
“I have had numerous expressions of gratitude from parishioners who were moved by the day and the number of people seeking God’s grace,” Father Hoare said, adding that seeing so many people seeking the sacrament of reconciliation brought “tears of joy” to his eyes.
The effort was so successful that the parish is considering repeating it in future years, he said.
— Catholic News Herald
CHARLOTTE — The Vigil of the Two Hearts continued on First Friday, March 1, at St. Patrick Cathedral, with Father Joshua Voitus, pastor of St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Charlotte, offering the evening Mass and providing an inspirational homily on finding hope amid troubling new abortion laws in New York and other states. Later that evening during nocturnal Adoration, Deacon Tom McGahey from St. Mark Parish in Huntersville (pictured) led attendees in a Holy Hour of Reparation for the sins of abortion.
The all-night vigil is organized by the Carolina Pro-Life Action Network of Charlotte (C-PLAN), with the mission of praying for families, offering penance for sins, and the conversion of the country. The next vigil will be held starting at 8 p.m. Friday, April 5. For more information, go online to www.prolifecharlotte.org/two-hearts.
— Mike FitzGerald, correspondent