Roman Catholic Priest Fr Reginald De Four says his calling was chosen for him when his mother made a promise to the Virgin Mary that if he survived a life-threatening childhood illness, he would be consecrated to God’s service. He was speaking at the Solemn High Mass on the Feast of the Queenship of Mary, at the Sacred Heart RC Church, Richmond Street, Port-of-Spain, yesterday. Eighty-year-old De Four was also celebrating the 50th anniversary of his ordination.
De Four said, “We were eight children. After the third child was born, he died after six months. “Then I came along later, after 18 months, I was on my deathbed with dysentery and Dr Hayes attended to me. “Dr Hayes told my mother if he vomits once more, he’s dead. “My mother turned to our Lady and said, ‘If you let him live, I will consecrate him to you.’
“And then I lived and I’m still here.” He said what was amazing was that he cannot vomit and has never done so since. De Four said it was a sign from the Virgin Mary that it was she who had cured him and she was the reason for his strong devotion. He said of great concern to the church was that there were not many replacements for the priests who had died during the year—Frs Knolly Knox, Gerard Farfan, Neil Rodriguez, Phillip Howard and Arthur Lai Fook.
The service was a traditional Latin Mass (TLM) which De Four said was still relevant because people gravitated towards tradition even though many were not familiar with Latin. He said people’s flocking to the Vatican to see classic paintings, artwork and for TLM was in keeping with the traditions of the church. TLM was observed for about 1,000 years and was only changed in 1970.
De Four said some people were holding on to TLM, and the number of people attending TLM was growing exponentially in the US and gaining in popularity in France, and attracting more people daily. He said at his St Anne’s parish in San Diego, California, USA, TLM was held exclusively. De Four, who was ordained in 1964, was taught Latin at the Spiritan seminary, in Port-of-Spain, and as a student at St Mary’s College. He said parishioners remembered that form of mass.