This morning I went to the site. It is only a few miles from where I live, and I went there to pray. The scene was much as you would expect after such a tragedy. Camera crews lined the streets, their vans parked shoulder to shoulder. In front of the church, hundreds of bouquets and stuffed animals had been laid down in tribute. Many people had gathered there to pray, their faces wet with tears, their grief heavy and visible.

On the side of the building, I noticed the half dozen narrow windows the shooter had fired from. They were now boarded up, each one covered with chalk writing. Around the back of the church, where the shooter’s life had ended, another set of windows was sealed with boards. There, a single bouquet had been left, though I do not know by whom or why. Two women who appeared to be a couple were writing gun control messages on the boards. Unlike those mourning in the front, they did not seem weighed down by sorrow. Part of me wished there were more care in how messages were allowed at the site.

Not long after, I saw the priest. I have known him for thirteen years, since my kindergarten days, when he was serving at a different school parish. Unlike many priests today who lean liberal, he is deeply conservative and outspoken on issues like abortion and LGBT matters. Earlier, I spoke with a woman there who said she was glad to finally have a priest unafraid to take such stands. He has only been here three months, but it is clear he has already made an impression.

When I spoke with him briefly, he seemed worn but steady. He told me he has been busy visiting victims at the hospital. He had not seen the shooter during the chaos, but he did see the body afterward. I asked him how I should pray, and his response was simple: “Pray as the Holy Spirit leads you.”