The flickering red candle, set alongside an open-handed statue of gentle St. Joseph, quietly drew attention to the shine of the gold monstrance on the altar. 

One man’s rosary beads clinked against one other as he moved to kneel. A young woman sat, head bowed, pen moving quickly across the pages of a journal. Scattered between pews, members of the college and local communities spent a week in prayer, their days filled with talks, Mass, and reconciliation. 

Last week, St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church in Hillsdale held its third parish mission since 2018. The parish hosted speaker Rev. William Casey of the Fathers of Mercy to preach and provide opportunities for sacraments and spiritual guidance for parishioners. 

“A parish mission is sort of like a retreat come to the parish. So many people can’t get away to do a more intense retreat, so the intention is that you bring the priest, you have numerous talks a day, you have Mass, you have access to confession. It’s meant to be a time of spiritual renewal,” said parishioner Kelly Cole, who advertised and organized the parish mission.

St. Anthony’s hosted priests from the Fathers of Mercy in both its previous missions, as well. The order has been preaching missions for more than 200 years and sends its priests out to various locations to preach on faith. 

This year, the Fathers of Mercy sent Casey, who appears often on Catholic network Eternal Word Television Network and radio programs. Casey also recently published the book, “You Shall Stand Firm: Preserving the Faith in an Age of Apostasy.” At the mission, Casey gave a different talk each day, addressing the topics of prayer, divine mercy, the Eucharist, pride and humility, and secularization. 

“The Fathers of Mercy are trained to preach, and they’re trained in spiritual direction,” Cole said. “It’s a huge gift to the parish that another confessor comes in who will talk with you for a long time if you need to. Every day there was at least three hours of confession available. And then in the evenings the priests just stay as long as they need to.”

The mission began on the evening of Sept. 11 with Casey’s first talk on prayer. During the weekdays, attendees had the opportunity to hear Casey’s talk twice each night and go to confession, daily Mass, adoration, and benediction.

Dean of men Aaron Petersen, who serves as a deacon at St. Anthony’s, reflected on Casey’s talk on prayer. 

“You can almost get an insight into Fr. Casey’s own spirituality, which is to pray always and never lose heart,” Petersen said. “He talked about the power of prayer and how it is a real force in this world. We can forget the importance of and the power behind prayer to make change in our lives and in others’ lives.”

On Thursday night, Casey addressed the increasing number of people leaving the Catholic faith, prevalent immorality, scandals within the Church, and the growing separation between Western culture and God.

“Today we see our holy faith in the East being driven out by persecution and exile and in the West by a new paganism: secularism. God knows these truly are times of crisis and confusion in the Church,” Casey said during his talk.

Freshman Veronica Fogo, who attended the talk and adoration on Thursday, the last night of the mission, reflected on the importance of Casey’s talk on apostasy and the decrease in practicing Catholics. 

“It’s really good to realize that you can be lukewarm in your faith and that there’s a real battle going on,” she said. “The way Father spoke was very powerful and forceful, so it was a reminder that you have to fight for your faith.” 

Casey also argued for the authority of the Church, apostolic succession, Christian morality, and the truth found within sacred scriptures. He exhorted the audience to remain loyal to the Church even in difficult times, citing Revelation 2:10, “Be faithful until death and I will give you the crown of life.”

Fogo reflected on Casey’s arguments for the Catholic faith and their relevance to Catholic Hillsdale students.  

“Even though most of us are Christian here at Hillsdale, there are differences between denominations. There are challenges. And it’s a good reminder to become even stronger in my own faith and learn to defend it, even to people who may share some similar views.”