Prince of Darkness by J. F. Powers
"Prince of Darkness" is a satirical short story by J. F. Powers that explores the life of Father Ernest Burner, an ambitious yet spiritually vacant priest. The narrative unfolds over a single day, revealing Burner's deep-seated resentment and disillusionment with his clerical responsibilities. Despite his outward appearance as a clergyman, he engages in blasphemous behavior and exhibits traits associated with the seven deadly sins, such as pride, gluttony, and envy. Burner's interactions with parishioners and fellow priests highlight his lack of genuine spiritual connection and his focus on mundane concerns, such as obtaining a parish and securing personal comfort.
Throughout the story, Burner's character is shaped by a series of encounters that underscore his failures and cynicism, particularly in his dismissive confessional practices and a critical meeting with the archbishop. The title "Prince of Darkness" serves as a metaphor for his moral and spiritual blindness, as he struggles with his ambitions against the backdrop of a faith that he ultimately does not embody. Powers’ narrative invites readers to reflect on themes of authenticity in religious life, ambition, and the consequences of a hollow spiritual existence.
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Prince of Darkness by J. F. Powers
First published: 1946
Type of plot: Satire
Time of work: The early 1940's during World War II
Locale: A town in the American Midwest
Principal Characters:
Father Ernest Burner , age forty-three, a priest long overdue for a routine promotionThomas Nash Tracy , a high-powered insurance salesperson and "Big Catholic Layman"Father Quinlan , a newly ordained priest who crosses himself sloppily enough to be a monsignorFather Keefe , Quinlan's friend, also newly ordainedThe dean , Burner's cold superior at St. Patrick's churchFather Ed Desmond , Burner's friend, currently being treated in a hospital for alcoholismThe archbishop , an ascetic intellectual who tests and judges Burner
The Story
The story's title, "Prince of Darkness," alludes to the devil. Father Ernest Burner is an ambitious but unsuccessful priest who lacks a spiritual vocation. He goes through the empty motions of his clerical duties during the morning, noon, and night of one day, but still craves a parish of his own. Fat, sweaty, and impatient, he stares with malignant eyes, seethes with resentment, and is crudely blasphemous. He uses his Roman collar as a putting ring in golf and deposits a burnt match in a holy-water font.
Dwelling in his private hell, Burner is surrounded by infernal associations. He finds red-hot believers a devilish nuisance, demolishes the perfect rose window of a grapefruit, operates on the principle of discord, constantly smokes, shuns the light, rigs up a darkroom, gropes blindly in the shadows, applies a cloven foot to the gas pedal, and garrotes his image of St. Christopher. The dean, his superior, referred to Burner (because of this darkroom) as the "Prince of Darkness," and the name caught on in the diocese.
Burner's conversation with Tracy, who is trying to sell him an insurance policy, reveals that he has little spiritual reserve on which to draw in old age. He seeks mundane security in the immediate future rather than eternal salvation in the next world. Burner's talk with the young priests, Quinlan and Keefe, exposes his gluttony and obesity, his lack of literary taste, his cynical skepticism, and his indifference to a mother in the parish who wants to add a star for her son, who is away at war, in the "servicemen's flag" in the church.
In the afternoon, Burner hopes to take a flying lesson (his idea of heaven) but is earthbound by the rain. He fantasizes about becoming a flying Junker and quotes Hermann Göring's philistine dictum: "When I hear the word culture, I reach for my gun." Scheming for ways to acquire a parish, even a rural one, he orders a smoking hamburger at a drive-in restaurant. He then recalls his examination of a child who was about to be confirmed. He asked her to name the seven deadly sins, unaware that he embodies all of them. He feels pride toward his parishioners and the archbishop; covetousness for insurance money; lust when he hears the clicking of high heels; anger when quarreling with his fellow priests; envy toward the rapidly promoted young vicar general; sloth in preparing sermons and hearing confessions; and (though the child is reluctant to mention this manifest sin for fear of offending Burner) gluttony during his greedy meals.
Burner toys with the idea of dying for the faith but wisely rejects the notion of becoming an army chaplain in order to advance his career. He remembers his humiliation when a Catholic magazine printed "circular" for "secular" in one of his awkwardly written articles and earned for his fat self the degrading nickname of "circular priest." His visit to the alcoholic Father Desmond, who is recuperating in a hospital, provides a warning of what happens to worldly priests with no true calling.
At night, while inattentively hearing confessions in the cathedral, Burner summarily dismisses a young woman who has married outside the faith and practiced birth control. His harsh, bullying manner fails to satisfy the spiritual famine of the sinners who come to him for comfort. His interview with the archbishop, which Burner hopes will satisfy his long-nourished ambitions, provides an ironic parallel to his dialogue in the confessional as well as a subtle instruction in the pitfalls of piety.
The archbishop gives him a series of minor tests and Burner clumsily fails all of them. He chooses the hard rather than the soft chair, denies his friendship with Father Desmond (as Peter denied Christ), is ignorant of the writings of Saint Bernard, lacks musical appreciation, refuses a glass of wine and a cigarette, acknowledges that there has never been a Saint Ernest (though he previously ironically imagined prayers to Saint Ernest Burner, Help of Golfers), and foolishly believes it important to kiss the archbishop's ring.
As Burner leaves the cathedral, he can scarcely see the cross on the dome. He disobeys the archbishop's explicit orders, prematurely opens the letter concerning his new appointment, and is shocked to discover that he will be an assistant at yet another parish.
Bibliography
Evans, Fallon, comp. J. F. Powers. St. Louis: Herder, 1968.
Gussow, Mel. "J. F. Powers, 81, Dies." The New York Times, June 17, 1999, p. C23.
Hagopian, John V. J. F. Powers. New York: Twayne, 1968.
Long, J. V. "Clerical Character(s)." Commonweal, May 8, 1998, 11-14.
McInerny, Ralph. "The Darkness of J. F. Powers." Crisis, March, 1989, 44-46.
Merton, Thomas. "Morte D'Urban: Two Celebrations." Worship 36 (November, 1962): 645-650.
Meyers, Jeffrey. "J. F. Powers: Uncollected Stories, Essays and Interviews, 1943-1979." Bulletin of Bibliography 44 (March, 1987): 38-39.
Powers, Katherine A. "Reflections of J. F. Powers: Author, Father, Clear-Eyed Observer." The Boston Globe, July 18, 1999, p. K4.
Preston, Thomas R. "Christian Folly in the Fiction of J. F. Powers." Critique: Studies in Modern Fiction 16, no. 2 (1974): 91-107.