Dear Friends of the Charlotte Latin Mass Community (CLMC),

Laudetur Iesus Christus!  Today Monday April 29th is the Feast of St. Peter Martyr (or St. Peter of Verona), a 13th century Dominican Friar and a favorite saint of the CLMC.  A disciple of St. Dominic, Pope Gregory IX appointed St. Peter as a general inquisitor to combat the Manichean heresy, and St. Peter defended the faith across Italy through his preaching. He was martyred in 1252.  To learn more about the patron saint of inquisitors, visit: http://reginamag.com/saint-peter-of-verona-martyr/

In the Extraordinary Form, there is an ancient custom to honor St. Peter by having palm leaves blessed in his honor. Tradition holds that when these blessed palm leaves are made into crosses and buried in the four corners of one’s property, they are to guard against natural disasters.

While there is no Latin Mass on his feast day today, Fr. Reid has again generously agreed to bless St. Peter palms for us this year. This coming Sunday May 5, we will be handing out these “blessed palm kits” before and after the 12:30pm Latin Mass at St. Ann’s. Please stop by the Latin Mass table to pick them up while quantities last (note: If you received a kit in prior years, you don’t need to pick up a new kit – unless you moved, etc.).

Our thanks to Fr. Reid who blessed the palms today and to the generous families who prepared the palms.

Lastly, we leave you with a poem St. Thomas Aquinas composed about St. Peter Martyr.

Here silent is Christ’s Herald;
Here quenched, the People’s Light;
Here lies the martyred Champion
Who fought Faith’s holy fight.

The Voice the sheep heard gladly,
The light they loved to see
He fell beneath the weapons
Of graceless Cathari.

The Saviour crowns His Soldier;
His praise the people psalm.
The Faith he kept adorns him
With martyr’s fadeless palm.

His praise new marvels utter,
New light he spreads abroad
And now the whole wide city
Knows well the path to God.