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1st Sunday of Lent

Laudetur Iesus Christus! Sunday is the 1st Sunday of Lent and as custom, Dr. Mike Foley has a reflection on Sunday’s Collect: http://www.newliturgicalmovement.org/2021/02/fasting-and-orations-of-first-sunday-of.html

Upcoming Latin Masses

Saturday February 27: St. Ann will offer a Respect Life Latin Mass (Low) Saturday February 27 at 8:00am, followed by a vigil at Planned Parenthood.

Sunday March 7 – Feast of St. Thomas Aquinas: St. Thomas Aquinas parish will be celebrating its patronal feast day at the 11:30am Sunday Latin Mass (in the Traditional calendar St. Thomas Aquinas’ feast day is March 7). Please join the parish for a sublime liturgical celebration.

New Confraternity of Fatima Forms  

We are pleased to share the formation of the Confraternity of Our Lady of Fatima, a group dedicated to living out the message of Fatima and for praying for the conversion of Russia and the triumph of the Immaculate Heart. This has been endorsed by Bishop Athanasius Schneider. For more information please see the following two links: https://knightsofcolumbuslatinmass.blogspot.com/2021/02/announcing-confraternity-of-our-lady-of.html or the Confraternity’s page: https://www.livefatima.io 

How to Become A Member:

Latin Mass & Traditional News

  • Vaccine expert answers critics, exposes horrific nature of abortion-tainted vaccine research: Pamela Acker, whom we co-sponsored at our 2019 Evolution and the Culture of Death conference, has penned another important piece on the growing links of abortion dismemberment and vaccines. She also provides an excellent quote from the Council of Trent:

The infidel, too, begs of God to cure his diseases and to heal his wounds, to deliver him from approaching or impending evils; but he places his principal hope of deliverance in the remedies provided by nature, or prepared by man.  He makes no scruple of using medicine no matter by whom prepared, no matter if accompanied by charms, spells or other diabolical arts, provided he can promise himself some hope of recovery.

Not so the Christian.  When visited by sickness, or other adversity, he flies to God as his supreme refuge and defense…

…Hence the Sacred Scriptures condemn the conduct of those who, confiding in the power of medicine, seek no assistance from God [2 Chron 16:12]. Nay more, those who regulate their lives by the laws of God, abstain from the use of all medicines which are not evidently intended by God to be medicinal; and, were there even a certain hope of recovery by using any other, they abstain from them as so many charms and diabolical artifices. [Emphasis added] – Council of Trent

https://www.lifesitenews.com/opinion/vaccine-expert-answers-critics-exposes-horrific-nature-of-abortion-tainted-vaccine-research

  • Spanish Carlism movement with Eduardo Ordoñez: Steve Cunningham of Sensus Fidelium just released what appears to be an interesting interview with Eduardo Ordoñez on the topic of the Carlist Movement in Spain – these are Spanish Catholics who have and continue to defend the traditional Catholic perspective on government and the Social Kingship of Christ, and the Catholic Spanish monarchy, which they argue is best suited to defend the rights of Christ and His Church. To learn more visit: https://youtu.be/VLWctPR88-g

Memoirs by Venerable Jozsef Cardinal Mindszenty

As the world worries about a possible Marxist or communist takeover of society, one book worth reading, if you can find it – especially during Lent – is the memoirs of Venerable Jozsef Cardinal Mindszenty. He was the tough anti-communist primate of Hungary, who was imprisoned first by the Nazis in World War II, and then by the invading communists for speaking out against their godless ideologies and atrocities. Mindszenty spent 8 years in prison where he was beaten and tortured. During the brief 1956 uprising against the Hungary’s communist government he escaped to the U.S. Embassy where he lived in asylum under the care of our government until 1971 when the Vatican during Pope Paul VI, shamefully forced him to leave the country so Rome could strike an agreement with the communist government. Among Cardinal Mindszenty’s many comments about communists, he noted two things which may resonate today:

  • The communists prohibited certain public religious ceremonies, and “in some areas mass meetings and travel were banned on the pretext that there was danger of epidemics.”
  • Cardinal Mindszenty also recommended the Hungarian bishops “not accept government subsidies that were to pay the salaries of the priests, and to trust the Hungarian people would not leave its priests without a pittance”. He told his brother bishops: “We may be poor, but we must remain independent. In an atheistic state a church that is not independent can only play the part of a slave.”

Sadly, the bishops didn’t listen, and under fear, signed an agreement leading to much harm to the Catholic faith in Hungary. We mention this because sadly many dioceses and parishes in our own time decided to accept government subsidies – including the Charlotte Diocese ($8 million) – from the U.S. government to pay staff salaries due to lost tithing money as the churches remained voluntarily closed (n.b. dioceses have received federal funds years prior to COVID).

While there were a lot of unknowns back in March/April, one cannot help to see the danger of parishes blindly accepting subsidies from a government which promotes immoral actions such abortion, sterilization, contraception, divorce, the HHS mandate, lockdowns, abortion-linked vaccines, and other attacks on the Church’s, liberty and Christ’s Kingship (regardless of who is president). It seems Cardinal Mindszenty raises a good point of whether dioceses that accept subsidies from a government might be reduced to “play the part of a slave”, and fail to fully preach on moral issues of our time due to the subsidies.

This is important to the Latin Mass and the traditions it promotes, as it could be possible that a government tries again to “cancel” a Latin Mass and related activities on the pretext of an “epidemic”, or some other excuse. Can a diocese stand up and reclaim the Church’s traditional stance against communism and socialism or will subsidies cause them to hesitate? Let us consider taking advantage of the Year of St. Joseph, and pray to him, the patron saint against socialism and communism for strength and fortitude for Church’s priests and bishops.

New 4 Volume Set of Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich’s Visions

Lastly, if you are a voracious reader and are looking for a last minute Lenten (or yearly) book series to begin, you may want to take a look at TAN Book’s recent publishing of all 4 volumes of Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich’s visions about the life of Christ, and other periods of the bible: https://tanbooks.com/catholic-tradition/church-history/the-life-of-jesus-christ-and-biblical-revelations-from-the-visions-of-blessed-anne-catherine-emmerich-hardbound-complete-set-of-4/