The subway group returned to the church as the noon Mass was about to begin, one of the few breaks they would take. Hail Mary number 1,000 would begin just after Mass.
This is the church at its finest hour(s), breathing with both lungs the breath of grace. It’s the people in the pews living out their baptismal call to holiness with passion and conviction in a city that is often judged only by its sinners.
Just as courage doesn’t mean anything unless there’s an occasion that requires bravery. virtue has little meaning unless there’s a challenge to virtue, and in New York, there’s no shortage of that.
In the trenches where the world assaults the Faith, this is the battle fought, these are the warriors; they are New York’s saving grace.