Midnight Mass (TV Mini Series)

Book III: Proverbs (2021)

Hamish Linklater: Father Paul

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Quotes 

• Father Paul : The conversion of Saul took place on the road to Damascus. Saul was a persecutor of Christians, an enemy of the Church, heading to Damascus to round up believers, take them prisoner. But as you know, as he neared Damascus, he saw a light so bright it knocked him to the ground. And he was blinded. And then Jesus spoke to him. Days later the scales fell from his eyes and Saul became a follower of Christ and then became the Apostle Paul. It was on this same road outside the city that Monsignor Pruitt, bewildered and confused, wandered from his tour group for the last time. They must not have noticed he was missing. First his failing mind didn't help him, and out he wandered, out into that desert. No, Monsignor... Lost, confused, lost in the world, lost in his mind, separated from his group, certain to de out there in that desert, on the road to Damascus, when a horrible sandstorm overtook him. There had been, recently, horrible storms in that area. He'd heard this. These astonishing storms, seismic storms. Storms that had, he'd heard, even unearthed ancient ruins in the desert, that churned the ground, stirred the earth, and pulled from it the mouths of structures and buildings from long ago. Ruins long sealed in the earth. And so as Monsignor Pruitt wandered, lost in the storm, the sand scratching his eyes, cutting into his face, he saw before him, there was a darkness in the dunes. Mouth of a cave, perhaps. A door to some ancient ruin. And his failing mind only sought shelter, so in he went, eagerly into the darkness of the thing. The cave-like entrance that had just opened up in front of him. Until all light went...

• Father Paul : Bless me, Lord, for I have sinned. No, that's not right. Bless me, Lord, for I am going to sin. Tomorrow morning, I'm going to introduce myself to the parish and lie to them about Monsignor John Pruitt. A lie directly, not a lie by omission. I won't tell them that John Pruitt was a lot sicker than they thought when they sent him on that trip. And he wandered from his tour group frequently. He spent hours lost in Jerusalem that first day, and that he was terrified. This wasn't a sort of odd senior moment. No, this was a man in the grips of dementia, more advanced than anyone in the parish had admitted even to themselves. A man who had... overstayed his allotted time on this Earth. I'm not gonna tell them any of that. I'll say he's recovering in a hospital on the mainland. That things may still go back to normal, that he may yet be the same as they remember. That he may yet be the man, the leader, the shepherd they have grown to love over so many years. I am going to tell them this lie for their benefit, so that when it starts, they'll be ready. For what's to come. For the miracles that are to come.

• Riley Flynn : Whole town's buzzin'. A miracle at St. Patrick's. You're gonna have every resident with a bum knee and a head cold in the pews. Wouldn't be surprised if you get a phone call from a reporter on the mainland. Might wanna do a human interest story on little Leeza's recovery, about the priest who healed her.

  Father Paul : This isn't about publicity. I'd turn that down. As Matthew says, you know, "If you give something to someone in need, don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing." And Dolly and Wade, you know, they're not looking to exploit their daughter or sensationalize anything. I just can't actually imagine that it'll summon that much interest outside of Crockett, and that's okay. It's for the best. The important thing is Leeza.

  Riley Flynn : Yeah. See, I'm a pretty rational guy, and you know that all our myths, our religions, come from natural occurrences that we can't explain. So I can pretty easily see my way through that.

  Father Paul : Good for you.

  Riley Flynn : I can wrap my head around a misdiagnosis. I looked. It happens. It's rare, but it does. So, like, her body could have been slowly healing this whole time. I can explain all of it. If I'm honest, it's all explainable.

  Father Paul : That sounds wonderful, frankly.

  Riley Flynn : Except one thing. You had to know. You had to know that she could walk. I mean, you went back up the stairs. You beckoned her. If she hadn't, what would've happened to you? What would this community have thought of you if she hadn't?

  Father Paul : Well, but she did.

  Riley Flynn : And you had to know that.

  Father Paul : Okay. What are you asking?

  Riley Flynn : I'm asking, how did you know that?

  Father Paul : I really don't have an answer that's gonna satisfy you. Not you. I mean, if I told somebody else that I could just feel it as she wheeled past me on that ramp, that I could almost see it, that I could almost hear her voice inside my head. I felt so connected to her at that moment. That might be good enough for someone, but not for you, is it, Riley Flynn?

  Riley Flynn : I suppose I'd want more.

  Father Paul : Yeah, and I'll always wish that I could give you more. But that's all I got.

• Father Paul : Darkness. It was darkness in those ruins. No light. Every step forward, a step into nothing. And the pain, pain, pain. Pain, yes. And then the fear was drained from his body. Drained from his body was all the fear, pain... It was just drained. Drained. Those eyes. Eyes and skin and hands, but also wings. A sense of great wings enfolding him, and his mind finally found the word. The word was unearthed by his fear like the tomb was unearthed by the storm. And the word was angel. Angel. And he was sore afraid. As a hand in the dark, a hand outstretched, stigmata, the wound of the Lord, and from the angel's wrist, the blood of life flowed, and a new word took shape. Drink. Drink. Take this, all of you, and drink from it. This is my blood. The blood of the new and everlasting covenant shed for you and for all so that sins may be forgiven. These words in the old man's old mind again and again and again and again as he drank. Monsignor John Pruitt woke the next morning. The storm had passed. The sun was coming in through the cave's entrance and he walked to it. He walked to it. And he raised a hand to shield him from the sun. His hand was young again. The decades washed away. Behind him, the entrance of the church, I thought it must have been a church. It was an ancient church hiding an angel behind me. An angel of the Lord, afraid of the light. Hiding in the shadows. And I bowed, and I wept. I knew the journey would be long. But I knew where this angel was needed, and so I'd travel and I'd wait, and the angel would catch up. I'd travel and wait in fear, Lord, fear that someone would discover it or that one night it wouldn't be there, it wouldn't fly to me. Uh, and when it did, I knew I'd have to hide it. And so I'd hid it in earth, and packed it with antiquities, and I'd leave the rest to God. Leave it to God that I might bring it safely home to the people who needed it most. And by Your grace, I did. And I knew all the while that I'd have to lie... Lie to the very people I'm here to save. To the dear souls of this island, so that we may bring them Your love and Your mercy and your miracles. So... Forgive me, Lord, for the small lies I must tell in Your service. Oh, my God. I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee, and I detest all my sins because I dread the loss of Heaven and the pains of Hell. But most of all because they offend Thee. Oh, my God, who are all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve with the help of Thy grace to confess all my sins, to do penance and to amend my life. Amen.