11701 Maplewood Road,
Chardon, Ohio 44024-8482

Dear Fr. Stalla,

     Yesterday evening I attended the 5 P.M. vigil Mass at St. Mary's wherein you were the celebrant. I am not a parishioner but attend Mass at your parish once or twice a year when in the area. First, I would like to commend you on having such a moving and beautiful Holy Mass. You seem to be a wonderful priest that our diocese is quite fortunate to have. Thank you for answering the call and becoming a priest! You are in my prayers. The remainder of this letter may seem to be an oxymoron based on what I just said, but I assure you, it is not.

     During your otherwise excellent Homily, you mentioned (almost in passing) the Enneagram and where you placed on it - a procrastinator. Fortunately, you did not recommend that Catholics participate in the Enneagram. I have done a considerable amount of research on the Enneagram and have found that it has occult roots. There is no question that it is part of the New Age practices, is contrary to Catholic teachings and should be avoided. Merely mentioning this during your Homily will be accepted as an endorsement by many whom heard you and will be a temptation to look into it.

     "The Enneagram originates in contemporary Sufism, Sufism being an offshoot of Islam. Contemporary Sufism, which claims 40 million adherents, has become a mix of pantheism, magic and rationalism with a belief in telepathy, teleportation, foreknowledge, transmigration of souls and a denial of a personal God. The man primarily responsible for transmitting the Enneagram into the West was George Ivanovitch Gurdjieff, an Armenian occultist who lived in Russia from 1877 to 1947. For Gurdjieff, the Enneagram had secret powers not particularly allied to personality typology. He believed all knowledge can be included in the Enneagram and with the help of the Enneagram it can be interpreted."¹

     "For example, on the cover of the Hurley-Dobson book, What's My Type? readers are enticed to use the Enneagram in order to: Identify the secret promise of your personality type; Break out of your self-defeating patterns; and Transform your weaknesses into unimagined strengths. The more you read about it, the more it begins to resemble a college-educated horoscope; and that is not compatible with Catholic doctrine or practice. The more one runs into claims of an 'upward spiral of self-transformation,' the further we seem to be away from Christianity and the more we get involved in Neoplatonism and Gnosticism. As a tool for Spiritual Direction, it seems to me most deficient, even dangerous. The Enneagram is really built on a theology (?)-perhaps ideology-of self-renewal and self-regeneration that is a far cry from (perhaps contradiction of) the Gospel teaching (read John 12:24 here)."² Does not the above quotations seem to conflict with Holy Scripture? "Let there not be found among you anyone who immolates his son or daughter in the fire, nor a fortune-teller, soothsayer, charmer, diviner, or caster of spells, nor one who consults ghosts and spirits or seeks oracles from the dead. Anyone who does such things is an abomination to the Lord, and because of such abominations The Lord, your God, is driving these nations out of your way."³

     If the Internet is available to you, there is a website that has several excellent articles written by Catholic priests and laity about the dangers of the Enneagram. The site is www.petersnet.net. I get the site through the Yahoo search engine. The first choice in the menu will be Petersnet: Home. Click this choice. At the top of the page is a search mode. Type in Enneagram and 'Go' and it will take you to a list of articles.

     During Mass I observed one prohibited abuse occur. A lady (presume her to be an Extraordinary Minister of the Eucharist) went up to the altar and poured the Precious Blood into the chalices that would be used by the EME's to distribute to the faithful present. This is not a permitted function of a lay minister. The lay Eucharistic ministers should not be in the sanctuary until the point where the priest receives Holy Communion. "37. As the Angus Dei or Lamb of God is begun, the bishop or priest alone, or with the assistance of the deacon, and if necessary of concelebrating priests, breaks the Eucharistic bread. Other empty chalices and ciboria or patens are then brought to the altar if this is necessary. The deacon or priest places the consecrated bread in several ciboria or patens and, if necessary, pours the Precious Blood into enough additional chalices as are required for the distribution of Holy Communion. If it is not possible to accomplish this distribution in a reasonable time, the celebrant may call upon the assistance of other deacons or concelebrating priests. 38. If extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion are required by pastoral need, they approach the altar as the priest receives Communion. After the priest has concluded his own Communion, he distributes Communion to the extraordinary ministers, assisted by the deacon, and then hands the sacred vessels to them for distribution of Holy Communion to the people."⁴ These rubrics became effective, according to the USCCB, on 04/07/02, which was a year and four months ago. "Nevertheless, the priest must remember that he is the servant of the Sacred Liturgy and that he himself is not permitted, on his own initiative, to add, to remove, or to change anything in the celebration of Mass."⁵ "These ministers (EME's) should not approach the altar before the priest has received communion, etc."⁶ "In all that pertains to Communion under both kinds, the Norms for the Distribution and Reception of Holy Communion under Both Kinds in the Dioceses of the United States of America are to be followed."⁷

     Father, our Catholic Church is a church organized and regulated by Canon Law. Obedience to Canon Law is not an option, it is a mandate. Regarding what I quoted you from the General Instructions of the Roman Missal: "#1 The liturgical books approved by competent authority are to be faithfully observed in the celebration of the sacraments; therefore no one on personal authority may add, remove or change anything in them."⁸

     I hope that you accept my letter as constructive criticism and follow through with the appropriate corrective steps.

     Sincerely in Christ,

     Ronald Smith