Within a week of the passing of Fr. Francis LeBlanc, Rector of the International Shrine of the Sun in El Mirage, Arizona, Fr. Cornelius Gallagher passed away on October 1, 2006, at a Phoenix Hospice. Fr. Gallagher expired while reciting the Rosary with his confessor.
A Requiem Mass and Funeral will be celebrated at Our Lady of Quito Roman Catholic Church in Phoenix by Fr. Terrance Finnegan, an independent traditional Catholic priest, who also celebrated the Funeral Mass of Fr. LeBlanc.
Dona Eis Requiem. Sempiternam Requiem.
Oh, for the days of the old church...incense, latin, Saturday afternoon confessions, early to mass on Sundays, the communion rail, women in pillbox hats with nets, men in suits and ties.
Go ahead, try and tell me it wasn't a better world.
Requiem aeternam dona ei, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat ei. Requiescat in pace.
Father Francis LeBlanc was sent off yesterday on the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, Oct. 5th, with a Solemn Requiem High Mass and full military honors. The church was full of faithful Roman Catholics. An interesting side note, just at the moment the military honor guard played "Taps" for one of their best as Fr's casket was being prepared at the burial site, the sky filled with the roar of modern jets as they passed overhead from nearby Litchfield AFB during training maneuvers. A fitting end to a Traditional Roman Catholic Warrior. Bishop Dolan said the Requiem mass and Fr. Andrade, a Phoenix native and new pastor of our Lady of the Sun assisted along with others.
We are losing so many of the stalwart faithful priests who are "aging out" of this place. May God Bless Them! Pray for their souls! PAX