On Saturday, the Feast of the Queenship of Mary, concluding the Octave of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, I concelebrated a funeral Mass at Saint Gregory the Great Church in Bluffton, SC for Father Robert Spriggs, whose obituary I print below these comments.
As per his request, he asked that the homily not be a eulogy for him or about him at all. He asked the preacher to focus in on the Paschal Mystery—which is what the General Instruction of the Roman Missal states is the purpose of the Funeral homily.
The pastor of St. Gregory’s followed Fr. Spriggs’ request and gave a beautiful homily on the paschal mystery and a model of what a funeral homily should entail.
Father Spriggs was very active in his retirement helping in all the parishes in the Bluffton/Beaufort/Hilton Head/Hardeeville area. The Church was full for his Requiem Mass.
And yes, this is his full obituary:
Robert W. Spriggs
Jul 15, 1938 — Aug 16, 2026
Hilton Head Island
Robert W. Spriggs, born July 15, 1938 and died August 16, 2026. Father Spriggs was ordained for the Diocese of Springfield-in-Illinois and served actively at a number of jobs and in a number of parishes in the Diocese for over 60 years.
Funeral mass for Father Spriggs will be celebrated at 11:00 am, Saturday, August 22, 2026 at Saint Gregory the Great Catholic Church, Bluffton, SC.
In lieu of flowers, anyone wishing to do so may make donations for Masses for Father Spriggs.
6 comments:
Brevity is the soul of whit!
Requiescat in Pace
Practical to the end,
it is the poem
of his existence
that triumphed
finally;
a wisp of grey hair
Retired vestments,
Hands folded symmetrically
as if in prayer,
the eyes closed,
the black coat
Featureless,
an effigy of a man,
a dried husk only,
left to say
and it says it
without offense,
beautifully;
This was I,
a servant of God.
I did my best;
farewell.
Father, exactly what I have asked for at my own Funeral.Nothing about me in Obituary notice,and nothing about me in the Funeral Mass Homily.Only a request for prayers.
Father, this is off topic, but this article is truly disturbing. I would appreciate your take on this:
https://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2026/08/an-interview-with-don-pietro-leone-in.html#more
Memory eternal.
External from the homily, I've explicitly notated this in planning that I've done for another. These eulogies have almost become a cultural norm, to me one that is self serving. We have no concept of this in the East.
Re: Don Pietro. DP says, "In the sections on the Church in Herself and in Her relations with the outside World, the Council demeans the Papacy by putting it on the same level as the “Episcopal College” and by creating a legal structure for Popes to delegate authority to Bishops' Conferences. In its documents on Ecumenism and Religious Liberty it reduces the Papal authority further by debasing the Catholic Religion to the level of other religions or bodies in the State."
These assertions are both demonstrably false.
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