Bishop Slattery died this Saturday evening at 9 pm. May he rest in peace. And may he intercede now for our local Church. He was a holy man, holy priest, and a holy bishop, known for his heroic dedication to preserving our Catholic tradition.
He nurtured the original Community of St. Peter, founded the FSSP parish, later established a church for it, brought in the Clear Creek monks and sisters, for a period several pro-Latin Mass communities, promoted Gregorian chant, ad orientem worship, a parish for families living near Clear Creek attached to the traditional Mass, actively supported the traditional Mass at Sts. Peter and Paul, built new traditional churches and chapels, etc.
I first got to know him, as the new bishop, serving Mass for him at Holy Family cathedral in the 1990’s. He was a gentleman, kind, humble, quiet, had a contemplative temperament, was very devout, and is said to have said the TLM privately in later years of his life. He had an extraordinary dedication to the Church.
Two hours before he died, my wife and I were hiking at the NSU-BA hiking trail, when two black and white butterflies kept bumping into her, that behavior of butterflies as a child always prompted her to pray for someone dying at that moment, per her Filipino mother and culture, she not knowing for whom she was praying. Black symbolizes mourning; white symbolizes new life. It seems a sign from God through nature that Bishop Slattery is now with God.
His Requiem Mass will be at Clear Creek Abbey, where the monks offer the Traditional Latin Mass. LINK Please have Masses said for him.