Laudetur Iesus Christus and blessed Feast of St. Joseph! While we are deprived of Masses and the Eucharist, we are not deprived of the Holy Faith!

As noted or expected, all of the St. Joseph’s day activities are closed including the St. Joseph’s Day Solemn Mass (presumably now a private Mass), and the Carolina Family Coalition kick-off (postponed), and other public events. St. Ann parish is however open for prayer during the day (as are other parishes) and will offer Confession today from 5:30-6:30pm and Saturday from 3-4pm.

Worldwide Rosary at today at 4pm: Today at 4pm Eastern, the Holy Father is asking for a worldwide Rosary for the virus outbreak – we invite everyone to join in.

St. Ann is considering recording a private Sunday Latin Mass (offered Saturday evening) and streaming it. If this is possible, we will share the link with you.  Speaking of St. Ann, we also want to ask for your prayers for Father Reid in thanksgiving for his support and fidelity in offering a Sunday Latin Mass this past weekend. He also gave a great homily on the situation:

https://www.stanncharlotte.org/march-15th-2020-fr-reid/ (note the Mass schedule mentioned in homily has changed)

Feast of St. Joseph

Reflections on St. Joseph: Taken from The Liturgical Year: https://sensusfidelium.us/the-liturgical-year-dom-prosper-gueranger/march/march-19-st-joseph-spouse-of-the-blessed-virgin/

St. Joseph table: Being the Feast of St. Joseph, we thought we would share the Catholic News Herald’s great article on the tradition of creating a St. Joseph table, an old Italian tradition to honor St. Joseph. You can read the article here: http://catholicnewsherald.com/144-news/local-header/5483-create-a-st-joseph-s-table

Year of St. Joseph: The Diocese has some great resources, prayers, and customs about St. Joseph which you can visit here: https://yearofstjoseph.org

St. Joseph & The Period of Peace: We also enclose a hopeful sermon by a Latin Mass priest in another diocese (in good standing with his Bishop) that discusses the times we live in and St. Joseph’s role. http://reginaprophetarum.org/audio/20200209-Saint-Joseph-Mission-Opening-Sermon-Patron-of-the-Age-of-Peace.mp3

Other items/news

40 Hours Devotion Friday – Sunday: The Cathedral is organizing a 40 Hour devotion beginning Friday 4pm (March 20) – ending Sunday 8am. It will end with a Eucharistic Procession around the Cathedral. Only 4 attendees are permitted inside during Adoration so if you would like to participate you have to sign up for a specific hour: https://www.stpatricks.org/forty-hours

54 Day National Rosary Novena thru May 1st:  C-PLAN, the local pro-life coalition is participating in a 54 Day Rosary novena for provision and protection during the virus outbreak. It was organized by Fr. Richard Heilman a Latin Mass priest in Pine Bluff, Wisconsin. It already started March 9, but since it ends May 1 (Feast of St. Joseph the Workman) you are invited to join in if you’d like: https://www.prolifecharlotte.org/54-day-rosary-novena-for-protection-provision/

Prayer for Holy Priests: Our priests and Bishop really need our prayers during this time and Sensus Fidelium has a wonderful prayer for priests we can all offer while watching Mass or making a Spiritual Communion: https://sensusfidelium.us/prayers-for-holy-priests-prayer-during-a-priests-communion/

Pray for Cardinal Kung’s canonization: As we mentioned last month, the underground Church in China has been hit hard by the coronavirus as many underground Catholics live in rural areas without access to adequate healthcare – they also suffer without Masses with the recent government crackdowns.  Since the country is being affected (like the Chinese) by both the virus and the lack of Masses, we want to introduce you to a new cause to pray for: Canonization of Cardinal Ignatius Kung, the Bishop of Shanghai who spent 30 years in prison for refusing allegiance to the communist government church. He was exiled to the United States in 1988 where offered the Traditional Latin Mass many times until his death from cancer 20 years ago this week (March 17, 2000). Cardinal Burke recently offered a Pontifical Requiem Mass for him in Connecticut. You can pray for his cause and learn more about him at the Cardinal Kung Foundation’s website: http://www.cardinalkungfoundation.org/pm/PMPrayerfortheIntercessionofCK.php

(N.B. – Cardinal Kung Foundation is also a great organization to support, and to request Masses intentions by underground Catholic priests in China: http://www.cardinalkungfoundation.org)