Laudetur Iesus Christus! Sunday is the Tenth Sunday after Pentecost, and the Church moves on from last Sunday’s meditation on the destruction of the Temple to now unveiling herself to all the nations with the new sacrifice offer by Christ, as Dom Prosper Gueranger writes in his book, The Liturgical Year:
The considerateness wherewith the Church had, so far, treated the Synagogue, would henceforward be unmeaning. As the beautiful queen and bride, she is now at full liberty to show herself to all the nations, subdue their wild instincts by the power of the Spirit, unify them in Christ Jesus, and put them by faith into the substantial, though not visible, possession of those eternal realities which had been foreshadowed by the Law of types and figures.
1st Sunday Latin Mass at Sacred Heart parish – Sunday August 1st
This Sunday is also 1st Sunday, and there will be a 3pm Low Mass offered by Fr. Noah Carter at Sacred Heart parish in Salisbury. Confessions will be offered at 2:15pm. For more information visit: www.salisburylmc.org
Feast of the Transfiguration
Friday is an important (though overlooked) feast day of Our Lord, the Transfiguration, when Our Lord’s countenance was transfigured on Mt. Tabor with Ss. Peter, James, and John. The diocesan Masses for this day in Charlotte metro will be 7:00am at St. Ann, and 12:30pm at St. Mark.
Upcoming August Feast Days
- Today August 1: Feast of the Holy Maccabees (see below)
- Monday August 9: Vigil of St. Lawrence the Martyr (traditionally a day of fasting/partial abstinence before a big feast day)
- Tuesday August 10: Feast of St. Lawrence the Martyr
- Saturday August 14: Vigil of the Assumption (traditionally a day of fasting/partial abstinence before the feast day)
- Sunday August 15: Feast of the Assumption
Novena Prayer to St. Philomena Begins Tomorrow (Monday August 2 – 10: Feast day August 11)
Our community has found much favor and intercession with St. Philomena. Although she was removed (perhaps unjustly) from the calendar in 1960, her feast day remains next week August 11. We invite you to join us in a novena in thanksgiving for her intercession and continued favors (prayer also attached):
Hail, O illustrious St. Philomena, who shed so courageously your blood for Christ! I bless the Lord for all the graces He has bestowed upon thee during thy life, and especially at thy death. I praise and glorify Him for the honor and power with which He has crowned thee, and I beg thee to obtain for me from God the graces I ask through thy intercession. Amen.
(for PDF of prayer, click here)
FSSP Day of Recollection for Men and Women (Raleigh) – August 21-22
A lay group near Raleigh has invited the Fraternity of St. Peter, a religious order that offers the Latin Mass exclusively, to visit and offer a day of recollection for both men and women. See attached flyer.
- Saturday August 21: 11am Traditional Latin Mass; 12:30pm lunch; 1:30pm women’s recollection; 2:45pm Confessions; 4pm men’s recollection
- Sunday August 22: 2pm intro talk on the Traditional Latin Mass; 2:15pm Solemn High Mass; 4pm fellowship dinner
- Location: St. Catherine of Sienna Parish, Wake Forest, NC (northeast of Raleigh) 520 West Holding Avenue, Wake Forest, North Carolina 27587
It will feature Fr. Zachary Akers, FSSP (whom some may recall visited us at St. Ann parish four years ago this month).
Latin Mass & Traditional (i.e. “True Church”) News
- Charlotte City Council to consider anti-Catholic non-discrimination ordinance this week: Tomorrow, Monday August 2nd Charlotte City Council will be considering a bill that would declare “gender identity” and “sexual orientation” as protected classes, and anyone or business (or St. Ann parish?) that declines to honor these ideologies could run afoul with the “law”. The CLMC has often lamented, thanks to modernism, the absence of the Catholic faith in the public square. Thankfully Fr. Peter Ascik (pastor of St. Mary’s in Shelby) is trying to reverse that in this ordinance debate. He is calling on Catholics to either attend the August 2nd or 9th meeting from 5-8pm (he will be at it tomorrow) or to express their opposition online to the City Council. To learn more, please visit the Catholic pro-life group, C-PLAN’s website for Fr. Ascik’s message and information: https://www.prolifecharlotte.org/charlottesogi-ordinance/
- August 15 – Worldwide Consecration to the Immaculate Heart by all TLM communities: There is a worldwide effort to have all Latin Mass faithful consecrate themselves to the Immaculate Heart of Mary on the feast of the Assumption Sunday August 15. Fr. Reid has kindly agreed to have this offered after the 12:30pm Mass. To learn more visit: https://onepeterfive.com/upcoming-event-worldwide-consecration-to-the-immaculate-heart-by-all-tlm-communities/ (The prayer is attached or can be found at this link)
- Traditionis Custodes vs. St John XXIII: Guest Article by Dr Nancy Llewellyn – Dr. Nancy Llewellyn who also teaches with the Veterum Sapientia Institute (co-founded with Fr. Barone), has penned an important piece examining the new Motu Proprio vs. Pope St. John XXIII’s 1962 encyclical on use of Latin (Veterum Sapientia): https://www.newliturgicalmovement.org/2021/07/traditionis-custodes-vs-st-john-xxiii.html
- It’s Time to Imitate Our Forefathers: Never Give Up!: Dr. Peter Kwasniewski writes an instructive and inspiring essay (Part I of II) on how younger traditionalists need to learn the history of the Latin Mass movement of the 1960 – 2007, and how the earlier generation of traditionalists fought an uphill battle to get the Latin Mass restored: https://onepeterfive.com/its-time-to-imitate-our-forefathers-never-give-up/
- Transitioning from a Time of Peace to a Time of Struggle (Part II): Dr. Kwasniewski continues his inspiring essay (above) in Part II by https://onepeterfive.com/transitioning-from-a-time-of-peace-to-a-time-of-struggle/
Feast of the Holy Maccabees – August 1st
Speaking of continuing the battle for liturgical restoration, the second commemoration of August 1st is another often overlooked feast day, that of the Holy Maccabees – the only Old Testament saints listed in the universal 1962 calendar (The Traditional Carmelites actually commemorate another Old Testament “saint”, the Prophet Elijah on July 20.) These seven holy Maccabee brothers were martyred defending the rights of God and for His public worship in a pagan culture. Their relics are buried in the same church that houses the chains of St. Peter. For more on the liturgical aspects of this feast day visit: http://www.newliturgicalmovement.org/2018/08/the-feast-of-holy-maccabees.html#.XyOweX57nwc
It’s also a good time to be thankful for the many of the modern day Maccabees in the Church (some, like Michael Davies, have passed on to their eternal reward) who in the dark/confusing liturgical days of the 1970s and 1980s defended, sacrificed and suffered for the Traditional Mass when most in the Church were opposed to it. Yet their perseverance through the years (1971 Agatha Christie indult, 1984 Quattuor Abhinc Annos indult, 1988 Ecclesiae Dei Motu Proprio, and 2007 Summorum Pontificum Motu Proprio), has enabled us to benefit from their sacrifices here in Charlotte each Sunday and on select weekdays, and have prepared us for any uphill battles in this new phase for the Latin Mass’s full restoration.
The Maccabean saints give us much to reflect on as a religious persecution is shadowing over many faithful today – both inside and outside the Church as we see in the Charlotte City Council’s ordinance above – and yet the actions of the Maccabees only help increase our faith. Here are some select commentaries on the Maccabees:
Dom Prosper Gueranger writes:
The sacred cause of which they were the champions, their strength of soul under the tortures, their sublime answers to the executioners, were so evidently the type reproduced by the later Martyrs, that the Fathers of the first centuries with one accord claimed for the Christian Church these heroes of the synagogue, who could have gained such courage from no other source than their faith in the Christ to come. For this reason they alone of all the holy persons of the ancient covenant have found a place on the Christian cycle; all the Martyrologies and Calendars of East and West attest the universality of their cultus, while its antiquity is such as to rival that of St. Peter’s chains in that same basilica of Eudoxia where their precious relics lie.
Their faith is also echoed in a sermon given by New York priest, Fr. Peter M. J. Stravinskas, Ph.D, S.T.D. in 2017:
First, we see how important it is to fight against assimilation into a pagan culture. Initially, the Jews of that time were subjected to a “soft” persecution, which offered them rewards for abandoning the traditions of their fathers (for example, circumcision and refusal to eat pork). When that didn’t work, “hard” persecution ensued. Don’t we find the same modus operandi today? How many would-be Catholic politicians have sold their Catholic souls for acceptability in a political party of death, which also promotes a vision of marriage inimical to both the natural law and divine revelation? How many Catholics work in offices and public service in this city yet are completely unknown as Catholics since their lifestyle blends in seamlessly with that of the secular culture (or anti-culture)? In effect, they are content to be crypto-Catholics, even though Our Lord commanded us: “What you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops” (Mt 10:27).
https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2017/08/01/lessons-from-the-holy-maccabees/
What Mass are you willing to defend this Sunday? Holy Maccabees, pray for us!
Charlotte Latin Mass Community 