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Last Sunday After Pentecost (Advent & Christmas Schedule)

Laudetur Iesus Christus! Today, the last (or 24th) Sunday after Pentecost, is when the Church focuses on the end of the world, as the liturgical year is also symbolic of the history of the Church.  As custom, Dr. Mike Foley has a reflection for this Sunday and notes how this Sunday prepares us for Advent season, which in its own way, prepares us for Christ’s 2nd coming. We should also note, today’s feast day of the Presentation of the Blessed Mother (suppressed when falls on a Sunday) also prepares us for Advent, as it marks the one of the beginnings of the Incarnation history (see our Presentation section below): Dr. Foley’s reflection:  http://www.newliturgicalmovement.org/2020/11/the-stirring-collect-for-last-sunday.html

  • St. Thomas Aquinas: 11:30am Sunday High Mass
  • St. Ann: 12:30pm Sunday High Mass

Thanksgiving scheduling note: Due to Thanksgiving Holiday, the Thursday Nov. 25 7pm St. Thomas Aquinas Latin Mass is canceled.

Advent and Christmas Schedule

Parishes are now starting to publish the Advent and Christmas schedules and we are pleased to post the announced Latin Masses (or schedule changes) on our website: https://charlottelatinmass.org/mass-times/

Mr. David Carter Receives Minor Orders

It is with great joy that we share that FSSP seminarian Mr. David Carter, formerly a member of our community and St. Ann parish received minor orders yesterday at Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary in Denton, Nebraska. The seminary is operated by the Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP), and exclusively follows the Traditional Latin Mass, and as such, Mr. Carter received minor orders in the Traditional Rite. Please keep Mr. Carter in your prayers.

To watch the rich Pontifical ceremony visit here: https://youtu.be/I1AOlwsdKms  (The video concludes about halfway through the Mass/Offertory)

What are Minor and Major Orders? – For those new to the Traditional Latin Mass, there are differences in seminary formation, offices, and ordinations between the Traditional Rite and Novus Ordo. In the Traditional Rite, seminarians can receive “minor” orders such as porter, lector, exorcist, acolyte and subdeacon. Major orders would be deacon, and priesthood. Sadly, these minor orders were abolished or supressed by Pope Paul VI in 1973, and now only available to seminarians attending Traditional Latin Mass seminaries. To learn more visit: https://www.ncregister.com/blog/what-were-the-minor-orders-and-why-do-they-matter

 CCHD – Morally Problematic 2nd Collection

Today in some parishes, there will be a 2nd collection for the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD), which is administered by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and has been found to be given money occasionally to morally problematic organizations that promote abortion or  revolutionary causes. Thankfully the more liturgically traditional parishes are not participating in this collection, but other parishes might. Know before you give. To learn more about the problems you can view at the Carolina Pro-Life Action Network’s website (a Catholic pro-life group here): https://www.prolifecharlotte.org/cchd-2021/

December 4 (8am – 3pm): Kolbe Center & Pamela Acker Presentation at St. John the Baptist, Tryon

We are pleased to share that St. John the Baptist parish in Tryon (2 hours west of Charlotte) will be hosting the Kolbe Center for the Study of Creation, which advocates for the traditional doctrine of creation, presents a Catholic perspective on origins, and examines the problems with the theory of evolution, and why it is incompatible with the teachings of the Church and early Church fathers.  Evolutionism in its current form of modernism has had a terrible effect on the faith, and particularly the liturgy. Hugh Owen and Pamela Acker will be giving presentations. Additionally, as a bonus, Ms. Acker will also be giving a talk on her book Vaccination: A Catholic Perspective, which will take a close look at the COVID-19 vaccines and why they are problematic.  The day begins with an optional 6:00am Rorate Mass, followed by a breakfast, and presentations from 8am – 3pm. There is no cost, but a freewill offering may be taken. To learn more see the attached flyer. (CLMC co-sponsored the Kolbe Center in 2019)

All Souls Novena November 1 – 30 (now extended until November 30th!):The faithful 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. See details on our website: https://charlottelatinmass.org/events/all-souls-novena/

Bishop Jugis Decision on Traditionis Custodes: From the pulpit last week, Fr. Reid announced that Bishop Jugis has given him and Fr. Jones authorization to continue offering the Latin Mass as is, along with major feast days and solemnities, weddings, funerals. However, no new regular Latin Masses may be added to the schedule. We presume this framework also applies to other parishes in the diocese. A letter to the faithful may be coming in the future. The CLMC will continue to monitor this situation. One thing is certain – regardless of what happens, the Latin Mass is the future. 

Latin Mass & Traditional News

  • The Mythical Thanksgiving Indult by Pope Pius XII: As we approach the Thanksgiving Day holiday, we share with you a magnificent piece penned last year by Sharon Kabel, who examined the mysterious legend of the Friday-After-Thanksgiving Indult, supposedly granted by Pope Pius XII to allow American Catholics to eat meat on the day after Thanksgiving. It should be stated this is a moot point now since the 1983 Code of Canon Law and the US Bishops Conference has sadly allowed a “substitution” for Friday abstinence.  Anyhow, for traditionalists, this is an occasionally debated topic each Thanksgiving and Sharon does good research to find out the truth: http://www.newliturgicalmovement.org/2020/11/on-mythical-pius-xii-thanksgiving.html
  • The Feasts of Christendom: History, Theology, and Customs of the Principal Feasts of the Catholic Church: As the CLMC has noted over the years, much of the traditions, customs, and culture found in the Catholic faith and Christendom were rooted in the Latin Mass’ well-ordered liturgical feast days and seasons. Learning them and practicing them prayer life, with family, or more publicly with parish community, is a first step towards restoring Catholic culture. Therefore we are pleased then to share a book review by our friend Dr. Peter Kwasniewski who discovered a new book on the feasts of Christendom by Dr. Phillip Campbell. To read more visit: https://www.newliturgicalmovement.org/2021/11/new-book-feasts-of-christendom-history.html#.YZnKULpOmHt
  • Reflections on the Church and America’s New Religions: Recently, an Archbishop addressed a group in Spain in which he warned about the dangers posed by corporations, government, media, etc. in establishing a “global civilization”. One may be tempted to think this is a new letter by Archbishop Viganò. However, it is not so. The Archbishop who authored this address may be surprising – it is none other than Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles, and the head of the U.S Conference of Catholic Bishops. Granted his talk is mixed with some modern references to social justice and controversial topics from Rome, but nonetheless, it shows that a few more bishops may be slowly (ever slowly) beginning to understand that something sinister is going on with COVID, the cancel culture, and the Great Reset’s “new normal”.  As an aside, to his credit, a few years ago, His Excellency did invite the Fraternity of St. Peter to establish a full Latin Mass parish in the archdiocese. Here is an excerpt from his November 4 address:

“An elite leadership class has risen in our countries that has little interest in religion and no real attachments to the nations they live in or to local traditions or cultures. This group, which is in charge in corporations, governments, universities, the media, and in the cultural and professional establishments, wants to establish what we might call a global civilization, built on a consumer economy and guided by science, technology, humanitarian values, and technocratic ideas about organizing society.”

https://archbishopgomez.org/blog/reflections-on-the-church-and-americas-new-religions

CLMC note: It is a good reminder to consider keep praying for our bishops – especially in light of their abandoning the fight over the Eucharist last week.

Thanksgiving: Catholic Origins

On the feast of Martinmas (November 11), we shared a few articles which discussed the European-Catholic origins of the American Thanksgiving, which was modeled after the feast of St. Martin (Martinmas) and was sort of an end of the harvest commemoration. That is likely where the pilgrims developed the idea of an American thanksgiving. With the American Thanksgiving upon us this week, we wanted to provide some Catholic background on the topic, both liturgically and historically. We re-share the Martinmas articles and some additional ones:

While, as we note above, the American Thanksgiving holiday was organized by protestants, the first true Thanksgiving was actually Catholic in origin, and held 50 years earlier in newly discovered San Augustine, Florida in 1565 by Spanish explorers. Their priest offered Mass (TLM of course) – the first on American soil, and then held a feast. Here are a few articles that explain the origins:

Feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary – November 21

The Presentation of the Blessed Mother (November 21), is often an overlooked Marian feast day. It was, as Dom Prosper Gueranger noted, instituted later in the Latin Church’s history (locally the 14th century and universally in the 16th century). With Mary’s “sojourn” beginning in the Old Testament times, this feast helps us in a sense helps us to prepare for end of the Old Covenant, and prepares us, via Advent next weekend, for the Incarnation, which was at that point in history was only a few years away. Dom Gueranger’s reflection: https://sensusfidelium.us/the-liturgical-year-dom-prosper-gueranger/november/november-21-the-presentation-of-the-blessed-virgin-mary/

The first Thanksgiving Mass celebrated in America was a Traditional Latin Mass. What Mass are you attending on Sunday?