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Christ the King 2021 (All Saints/All Souls)

Laudetur Iesus Christus! Today is the solemn feast of Christ the King, an important day for the Church and the CLMC, that celebrates not only Christ’s Kingship in heaven, but also His reign over all the nations and societies on earth today.  There is also a tradition to organize a Eucharistic Procession to process the King of Kings through the streets, and both parishes in Charlotte will do so today. The feast occurs on the last Sunday in October in the Traditional Rite and is fitting to fall the day prior to All Saints, as the feast day also symbolizes the Church Militant, while All Saints and All Souls focus on the Church Triumphant in Heaven, and the Church Suffering in Purgatory, respectively. As custom, Dr. Mike Foley provides commentary on the prayers Sunday’s Mass: http://www.newliturgicalmovement.org/2020/10/the-orations-of-feast-of-christ-king.html

Sunday October 31– Feast of Christ the King

  • 11:30am High Mass, St. Thomas Aquinas: High Mass followed by a Eucharistic Procession
  • 12:30pm High Mass, St. Ann and Special Eucharistic Procession to Holy Trinity Middle School: St. Ann will offer a Latin Mass followed by a special Eucharistic Procession. God willing, Father will process the Blessed Sacrament all the way up to Holy Trinity Middle School and back to St. Ann. The procession will take 40-45 minutes and conclude with the indulgence prayers (see below).

History of the Feast of Christ the King

The feast day was established by Pope Pius XI in his 1925 encyclical Quas Primas, which was written to address the growing revolutions against the Church – particularly in Mexico, and is the celebration of an important Catholic doctrine which emphasizes Christ’s kingship over each nation, and how each nation (and city) must explicitly acknowledge Christ’s kingship and His teachings.  Bishop Athanasius Schneider visited us 4 years ago and gave a talk on this doctrine. Below are some additional links of the feast day:

All Saints & All Souls Schedule (November 1 & 2)

Feast of All Saints – Monday November 1

  • 7:00am (Low) – St. Ann parish, Charlotte (this is the only diocesan Latin Mass in Charlotte)
  • 12 noon (Low) – Prince of Peace, Taylors, SC (2 hours SW of Charlotte)
  • 6:00pm (Low) – St. Elizabeth of the Hill Country, Boone, NC (2 hours NW of Charlotte)
  • 6:30pm (Low or High) – St. John the Baptist, Tryon, NC (2 hours west of Charlotte)

Feast of All Souls – Tuesday November 2

  • 8:00am (Low) – St. Jude, Sapphire, NC (Fr. Barone’s parish, 3 hours west of Charlotte)
  • 8:30am (Low) – St. John the Baptist, Tryon, NC (2 hours west of Charlotte)
  • 10:00am (Low) AND 11:00am (Low) – St. Elizabeth of the Hill Country, Boone, NC (2 hours NW of Charlotte). The 2 Masses are back to back.
  • 12 noon (Low) – Prince of Peace, Taylors, SC (2 hours SW of Charlotte)
  • 6:00pm (High) – St. Ann Parish, Charlotte (this is the only diocesan Latin Mass in Charlotte)
  • 7:00pm (High)  – Prince of Peace, Taylors, SC (2 hours SW of Charlotte)
  • 7:00pm (Low or High) – Our Lady of Grace, Greensboro, NC (90 minutes NE of Charlotte)

All Souls Novena November 1 – 30 (now extended until November 30th!):Monday November 1 (All Saints day) begins the annual All Souls novena where you can obtain a plenary indulgence for a poor soul in purgatory each day from November 1- 30 by visiting a cemetery, praying for the dead, attending Mass, and receiving Holy Communion.  The Vatican has now extended this all the way through November 30. You can also obtain a separate plenary indulgence on All Souls Day November 2nd by offering prayers in a Church (Our Father & Creed).  See details on our website: https://charlottelatinmass.org/events/all-souls-novena/

REMINDER: Dr. Peter Kwasniewski Presentation, Saturday November 6, 7pm (6pm book signing):  The CLMC and St. Thomas Aquinas parish will be hosting Dr. Peter Kwasniewski for a special lecture on Saturday evening November 6 at 7pm in Aquinas Hall (1400 Suther Road, Charlotte).  Dr. Kwasniewski is noted author, lecturer, and composer, who will be speaking on the topic, “Given a Choice, Why Should I Consistently Attend the Traditional Latin Mass?” A meet & greet/book signing will take place from 6-7pm (there will be no dinner). An RSVP is appreciated for headcount purposes. To RSVP you can reply to this e-mail or e-mail us at: info(at)charlottelatinmass.org A flyer is attached.

REMINDER – Vaccine Mandates Petition: If you haven’t seen the petition encouraging Bishop Jugis to speak out against vaccine mandates, you can view/sign it here: https://www.ipetitions.com/petition/bishop-jugis-condemn-forced-vaccinations

Juventutem Event for Young Adults –  Saturday November 6, 11am:  Juventutem, the young adults group (18-35) centered around the Traditional Latin Mass is sponsoring a tour of St. Joseph College Seminary next Saturday November 6th at 11am. The address is 22 Arctus Ave, Mt. Holly, NC. Please park along the driveway. Open to young adults, single or married.  For questions see their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/JuventutemCLT/

Fr. Jones to lead prayers at Belmont Abbey Cemetery – Sunday November 7, 3pm: On Sunday November 7 at 3pm, the CLMC and St. Ann Home School Ministry is co-sponsoring the annual prayers at Belmont Abbey Cemetery after the Sunday Latin Mass.  Fr. Jones will lead us in prayers at 3pm as part of the annual novena. Additionally, after the prayers, we will have “soul cakes” (doughnuts). Attendees are invited to bring their own soul cakes or treats as well.  Water, coffee, and napkins will be provided.

Latin Mass and Traditional News

  • 2022 Latin Mass Calendars Are Here: The Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP) is now selling the 2022 Latin Mass calendar. If you’re new to Latin Mass and want to follow the feast days of the year (which differ from the English/Novus Ordo calendar), this calendar is a great help: https://fraternitypublications.com/product/2022-liturgical-calendar/
  • Inaugural Catholic Homesteading Conference at St. Joseph’s Farm, Saturday November 13, 8am (all day): St. Joseph’s Farm, operated by Jason Craig, a Latin Mass parishioner at St. John the Baptist in Tryon (and CLMC friend) is co-organizing the inaugural Catholic Homesteading Conference where attendees will learn the basics of cows, slaughtering and butchering, gardening, beekeeping, candle making, etc. Space is limited. The cost for attending the all-day conference/workshop is $150 for the first family member, $50 for additional members of the household. To register click here: https://www.cognitoforms.com/Fraternus/StJosephsFarmCatholicHomesteadingConference?v2 (As noted many times before there deep connection between the land, seasons, agriculture, and the Traditional Latin Mass)
  • Abp. Viganò warns US bishops about COVID jab: The Great Reset wants ‘billions of chronically ill people’: We are pleased to report that His Excellency Archbishop Viganò has written a letter to the head of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, and all U.S. bishops, including Bishop Jugis, warning them that current scientific data examining the abortion-linked COVID-19 “vaccines” does not justify the “moral permissibility” opinion given by Church leaders last December, who used certain scientific assumptions to reach this opinion. In short, taking the COVID-19 inoculation, as the CLMC and others have long noted based on traditional theology, is morally problematic for various reasons as the Archbishop notes: https://www.lifesitenews.com/opinion/abp-vigano-the-catholic-church-has-a-duty-to-resist-deadly-covid-jab-agenda-of-the-globalist-elite/
  • Should Laity Pray the Breviary or the Rosary?: As a warm up to Saturday’s talk, we share another great piece by Dr. Kwasniewski on which is more important to pray, the Divine Office (traditional one) or the Rosary. For our new readers, the Traditional Latin Mass has its own breviary or Divine Office, that is connected to this Mass. It has little connection to the modern “Liturgy of the Hours” which was invented in the 1960s and does not deserve commentary here. https://onepeterfive.com/should-laity-pray-the-breviary-or-the-rosary/

Cardinal Burke Speaks – Canon 915

After a near death experience with COVID, Cardinal Raymond Burke, in a miraculous way, has returned from death’s door and penned perhaps one of the most important writings of his priesthood and of the Church in America in modern times. He writes eloquently about the need to withhold Holy Communion to those public officials who support abortion, and his experience in defending this teaching.  Of note, he shares a powerful and tragic example of the damage these pro-abortion Catholics have done:

First, in the Spring of 2004, while I was in Washington, D.C., for pro-life activities, I met privately for forty-five minutes with one of the highest-placed officials in the federal government, a non-Catholic Christian who manifested great respect for the Catholic Church. In the course of our conversation, he asked me whether, in view of the serious health difficulties of Pope Saint John Paul II, the election of a new Pope could mean a change in the Church’s teaching regarding procured abortion. I expressed some surprise at his question, explaining that the Church can never change its teaching on the intrinsic evil of procured abortion because it is a precept of the natural law, the law written by God on every human heart. He responded that he asked the question because he had concluded that the Church’s teaching in the matter could not be that firm, since he could name for me 80 or more Catholics in the Senate and House of Representatives, who regularly support pro-abortion legislation.

The conversation in question was an eloquent testimonial to the grave scandal caused by such Catholic politicians. They have, in fact, contributed in a significant way to the consolidation of a culture of death in the United States, in which procured abortion is simply a fact of daily life. The Catholic Church’s witness to the beauty and goodness of human life, from its first moment of existence, and the truth of its inviolability has been grievously compromised to the point that non-Catholics believe that the Church has changed or will change what is, in fact, an unchangeable teaching.

Catholic Politicians and Non-Admittance to Holy Communion: https://www.cardinalburke.com/presentations/catholic-politicians

CLMC note: What if this “highest-placed” official, which His Eminence refers to, was none other than President George W. Bush, who despite his troubled presidency, publicly admired Catholics and the Church? What if he was discouraged from converting or at least privately practicing Catholic teachings during his presidency by all the lapsed Catholics in Congress? How different would his presidency been if he was Catholic, and accountable to a confessor? Perhaps it wasn’t President Bush but someone else of importance to our nation.  Sadly that alternative course of events never happened and instead America was led through many years of harmful neoconservative-liberal policies, many of which continue to this day under successive leaders, that harm families, lives, and souls.

However, returning to these pro-abortion Catholic politicians, a simple question to ask is: Where did these most of these pro-abortion Catholics learn to be “pro-abortion”? If their only weekly connection to the Catholic faith was Sunday Mass, could they have actually learned this heterodoxy at Mass? A Mass that permits communion on the hand, reduces the priest to an effeminate “presider” over a “meal”, a Mass, that is “man-centric” instead of “God-centered”, a Mass that features guitars, tambourines, pop music, liturgical dancing, omits important morally difficult scripture readings, and fails to preach on moral teachings?  While sinners and reprobates have existed at all times in the Church, including the High Middle Ages, how much has today’s manufactured liturgy of our times contributed to this problem of heterodoxy?

We note this only because today there is a popular movement/theory among conservative priests called “Reform of the Reform”. It’s goal is to clean up the liturgical excesses of the Novus Ordo Mass mentioned above, to make it reverent and restore sacredness by adding a little Latin to the vernacular Mass, introducing chant or reverent hymns, installing communion rails, and so forth. While this is a laudable theory, how effective and stable will this project actually be in practice, long term, since it is inherently subjective to the priest offering it and requires ideal external conditions (favorable bishop, long-time pastor, parish resources)? Will this actually result in the conversion of those 70% of Catholics who deny the real presence of the Eucharist (and many other teachings including abortion)? What is the final goal with the Reform of the Reform? A Latin Novus Ordo Mass, facing the tabernacle (ad orientem), with Gregorian Chant, at every Novus Ordo Mass in each parish? Is this realistically achievable?

The CLMC proposes another solution: Rather than expend precious and limited resources restoring parishes, dioceses or even seminaries on a mere novel liturgical experiment or theory, why not just go for the true and tried and begin carefully replacing Novus Ordo Masses with the Traditional Latin Mass? The Traditional Latin Mass attendees, as studies have shown, have a nearly 99% belief in the basic tents of the faith – including teachings against abortion. This is no accident. The Traditional Mass is practically unchangeable, has a 1,600+ year old track record of converting nations and peoples, and is not dependent on the priest’s preferences or external conditions for its reverence nor the subtle catechesis that flows from it. Even in the new Traditionis Custodes environment (which will be short-lived), there are ways to achieve this, as Christ still reigns over His Church.  While liturgy alone may not convert each individual, doing so across a parish or diocese does has the potential to reduce the overall number of pro-abortion, lapsed Catholics dramatically, and lead to the conversion of many more. Even if it had just a small chance to end abortion in our country, save souls, and restore the Social Reign of Christ the King, wouldn’t it be worth a try?

Today is the feast of Christ the King. What Mass are you attending today?