August 4, 2014
The Memorial of St. John Vianney
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
By now you are probably aware that a Satanic group has scheduled a
so-called Black Mass for Sunday, September 21 at the Civic Center Music
Hall in Oklahoma City.
Even though tickets are being sold for this event as if it were
merely some sort of dark entertainment, this Satanic ritual is deadly
serious. It is a blasphemous and obscene inversion of the Catholic
Mass. Using a consecrated Host obtained illicitly from a Catholic
church and desecrating it in the vilest ways imaginable, the
practitioners offer it in sacrifice to Satan. This terrible sacrilege
is a deliberate attack on the Catholic Mass as well as the foundational
beliefs of all Christians. It mocks Our Lord Jesus Christ, whom we
Catholics believe is truly present under the form of bread and wine in
the Holy Eucharist when it has been consecrated by a validly ordained
priest.
In spite of repeated requests, there has been no indication that the
City intends to prevent this event from taking place. I have raised my
concerns with city officials and pointed out how deeply offensive this
proposed sacrilegious act is to Christians and especially to the more
than 250,000 Catholics who live in Oklahoma. I am certainly concerned
about the misuse of a publicly supported facility for an event which has
no other purpose than mocking the Catholic faith. I am especially
concerned about the dark powers that this Satanic worship invites into
our community and the spiritual danger that this poses to all who are
involved in it, directly or indirectly. Since it seems this event will
not be cancelled, I am calling on all Catholics of the Archdiocese of
Oklahoma City to counteract this challenge to faith and decency through
prayer and penance.
Specifically, I am asking that the Prayer to St. Michael the
Archangel be included at the conclusion of every Mass, beginning on the
Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord (August 6) and continuing
through the Feast of the Archangels (September 29). I invite all
Catholics to pray daily for divine protection through the intercession
of this heavenly patron who once defeated Lucifer in his rebellion
against the Almighty and who stands ready to assist us in this hour of
need.
Secondly, I am asking that each parish conduct a Eucharistic Holy
Hour with Benediction to honor Christ’s Real Presence in the Holy
Eucharist, between the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin
Mary (August 15) and September 21, to avert this proposed sacrilege.
Finally, I invite all Catholics, Christians and people of good will
to join me in prayer for a Holy Hour, outdoor Eucharistic Procession and
Benediction at St. Francis of Assisi Church in Oklahoma City at 3:00
p.m. on Sunday, September 21, the day of the proposed sacrilege. We
will pray to avert this sacrilege and publicly manifest our faith in the
Lord and our loving gratitude for the gift of the Holy Eucharist, the
source and summit of our lives.
A printable version of the Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel is
available in English, Spanish and Vietnamese on the archdiocesan website
(
www.archokc.org). If you have
not yet done so, I urge you to contact the Office of the Mayor, the
Honorable Mick Cornett, to express your outrage over this offensive and
blasphemous sacrilege and this misuse of a tax-supported public space.
Commending our efforts to the Lord through the loving intercession of Mary, the Mother of God, I am
Sincerely yours in Christ,
Most Reverend Paul S. Coakley
Archbishop of Oklahoma City
