Laudetur Iesus Christus! Sunday is Sexagesima Sunday, where we now are within roughly 60 days of Easter, and 10 days from the beginning of Lent.  As this is the second Sunday of the pre-Lent season of Septuagesima, we share two articles, one Dr. Mike Foley’s commentary on Sunday’s Collect, and secondly, his essay on the forgotten season of Septuagesima. We note in the first article, he also provides a brief explanation of the station churches in Rome that one may read about in the traditional liturgical books. We also include a 3^rd link to Dom Gueranger.

• The Pauline Collect of Sexagesima Sunday: http://www.newliturgicalmovement.org/2021/02/the-pauline-collect-of-sexagesima-sunday.html
• Septuagesima: The Time that the Land Forgot: http://www.newliturgicalmovement.org/2021/02/septuagesima-time-that-land-forgot.html
• Dom Prosper Gueranger on Septuagesima Season: https://sensusfidelium.us/the-liturgical-year-dom-prosper-gueranger/season-of-septuagesima/

Ash Wednesday Latin Masses

We are pleased to share there will be 4 Latin Masses thus far in our diocese on Ash Wednesday. Although there is only a morning Mass in Charlotte, there are later Masses outside of the area.

• St. Ann parish, Charlotte: 7:00pm Low
• Our Lady of Grace, Greensboro, 12:15pm Low (Check parish website for any signup requirements, if any)
• St. Elizabeth of the Hill Country, Boone, 6:00pm, Low
• St. John the Baptist, Tryon, 6:30pm, Low

REMINDER: Lenten Spiritual Enrollment (9 days left!)

The traditional Carmelite Hermits of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel in Fairfield, PA are again offering a special Lenten spiritual enrollment which you can begin to participate in today. The Hermits will be offering 40 Masses, 40 days of praying the Divine Office (and other daily prayers), and 40 days of fasting and penance all for the intention of your family or other enrolled loved ones.  This is an amazing spiritual gift. Here is the link to the enrollment form: http://www.ednmc.org/

Please make an offering of alms along with this enrollment.  Your generous financial sacrifice will bear all the more fruit for your intentions.

Modernism vs. Traditional Catholicism: The COVID-19 Vaccine (Part II)

Last September, we shared a post about the traditional Church understanding of obedience to authority vs. modernism’s hyper-obedience (absolute obedience). Sadly, this has manifested itself in a tragic way over the COVID-19 vaccine, with many Church leaders (and laity) robotically following “inadequate” Vatican moral guidance related to abortion linked vaccines. We began to address this a few weeks ago by sharing Fr. Chad Ripperger’s (traditional theologian and exorcist) views on the immorality of abortion linked vaccines, as well as Bishop Athanasius Schneider:
https://charlottelatinmass.org/2021/01/17/2nd-sunday-after-epiphany/

The chorus continues to grow. Today, we are pleased to share that Archbishop Viganò has courageously addressed this matter of obedience and the Church’s scandalous endorsement of abortion-linked vaccines, more than anyone else thus far. He makes some excellent points – especially on priests who blindly follow orders (especially wrong ones) simply because they came from “authority”. He explains how clergy authority has limits and the Vatican’s statement on abortion-linked vaccines (particularly the COVID-19 one) is based on poor (i.e. modern) philosophy. We encourage you to read the entire article (and read again). Here are some excerpts:
https://remnantnewspaper.com/web/index.php/articles/item/5259-open-letter-to-confused-priests-vigano-on-obedience-resistance-francis-and-vaccines

Scripture urges us to be obedient, moderating our obedience with patience and a spirit of penance, but it does not exhort us absolutely to obey orders that are intrinsically evil simply because the one who issues the orders to us holds authority.

I agree with you about the assessments of the objective immorality of the so-called vaccine against Covid-19, due to the use of material derived from aborted fetuses. I likewise agree with the absolute inadequacy – scientific, as well as philosophical and doctrinal – of the document promulgated by the CDF [Congregation of Doctrine and Faith], whose Prefect merely supinely executes more-than-questionable orders imparted from on high: the obedience of these reprobates is emblematic, in these situations, because it knows how to casually ignore the authority of God and the Church in the name of a courtly subservience to the authoritarianism of the immediate superior.

But the CDF scrupulously avoids expressing itself even on the morality of experimentation on humans, admitted by the vaccine manufacturers themselves, who reserve the right to provide data on this mass experimentation only a few years from now, when it will be possible to understand whether the drug is effective and at the price of what permanent side-effects.

The answer comes to us from Catholic doctrine, which places very clear limits on the authority of Prelates and on the supreme authority of the Pope. In this case it seems evident to me that it is not the competence of the Holy See to express assessments which, due to the way in which they are presented and analyzed and also due to the obvious omissions they contain, cannot fall even minimally within the scope of matters that may be legitimately determined by the Magisterium.

The problem, on closer inspection, is logical and philosophical, even before it is theological or moral, because the terms of the quaestio are incomplete and erroneous, and the response too is erroneous and incomplete.(emphasis added)

For traditional Catholics, this type of poor modern theology and hyper-obedience is nothing new as Church leaders told us in the 1960s that there was a “crisis” and that the Traditional Latin Mass was “outlawed” along with the traditional customs, piety, spirituality, theology – to be replaced by a “new normal” of a new Mass and theology. We now know that was not true, but many Catholics suffered because many clergy followed this out of blind obedience – something that still plagues the Church today. Let us consider praying that more orthodox priests and bishops rediscover the beautiful richness of the Church’s traditional theology, philosophy, and critical thinking that accompanied the Mass of Ages.

Traditional Teaching on Tithing

Counsels on Tithing – by Fr. Chad Ripperger: As we noted in prior weeks, for those of us St. Ann parish, we are blessed to have the Latin Mass and some of the related customs and traditions (like Tuesday’s Candlemas & candle blessing). However, we are also aware that not all CLMC readers are St. Ann parishioners and that some parishes are still unnecessarily limiting their sacramental functions due to “COVID”. In short if your parish is embracing strange beliefs, actions (or medical treatments or liturgical innovations) that harm the faith – you can always tithe to traditional religious orders instead of your parish.  For those of you who attend such parishes, we share with you an excellent talk by theologian Fr. Chad Ripperger on the Church’s traditional teaching on tithing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZueaGsLUbk4

Latin Mass & Traditional News

• The Golden Legend on Candlemas & St. Blaise: The Fraternity of St. Peter had a nice reflection on Candlemas and St. Blaise’s feast day this week, taken from the Golden Legend, a fascinating 13^th century book by Blessed Jacobus de Varagine of readings on the saints: https://fssp.com/the-golden-legend-on-candlemas-and-st-blaise/

• One Mass, One People: Crisis Magazine has a good write up on how the Traditional Latin Mass is really the only liturgy that can unite people and cultures: https://www.crisismagazine.com/2021/one-mass-one-people/(A contribution to the Crisis article is Dr. Peter Kwasniewski’s June 2020 article on this topic)

• Archbishop Viganò on evaluating Vatican II: The Archbishop addresses claims of those who accuse traditionalists of being disobedient to the Church if they defend the Church’s traditions and ask questions about Vatican II: https://catholicfamilynews.com/blog/2021/02/04/4925/ (thanks to a reader who shared this)

• Burying the Alleluja 2021: There is a custom (which we have yet to organize locally) to bury the Allelujia the day prior to Septuagesima. It is a “literal” custom to bury a cloth or paper with the words Alleluja written on it that reflects the liturgy’s suppression of the “Alleluja” during Septuagesima and Lent. Here are some photos from a few parishes last week: http://www.newliturgicalmovement.org/2021/02/burying-alleluja-2021.html

• A Comparison of the Old and New Blessing of Candles on Candlemas: Dr. Peter Kwasniewski analyzes the differences between the traditional blessing of candles vs. the modern version: http://www.newliturgicalmovement.org/2021/02/a-comparison-of-old-and-new-blessing-of.html

Lastly, with Lent coming, attach a Lenten worksheet from the Missionaries of St. John the Baptist, a traditional order of priests in Kentucky who offer the Latin Mass exclusively.  Also the Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP) has published guides for the liturgy during Septuagesima and Lent that you can view it here: https://fssp.com/extraordinary-guides/