The next day, I started my morning as usual. The discussion and confessions from the previous night still lingered in my mind, so I tried to organize my thoughts before beginning my day. Without rushing, I dressed in the finest clothes I could find and put on the specially tailored cassock from my episcopal consecration.
For several days, I had felt so alone, even though I was surrounded by my old friends who adored me and wanted to make me feel better by any means necessary... Absolutely any means, including some less moral ones, which I refused. Well, I think I'll start my day with a private Mass in the Basilica of Santa Maria sopra Minerva, which will be granted to me.
As I began the service, I felt that lost sense of solemnity and that peace which made me who I was, and I realized I was beginning to emerge from my crisis of faith—an existential crisis that had never been so strong before and, I hope, will never be so severe again.
