Laudetur Iesus Christus! Sunday is the traditional feast of the Holy Family, which occurs on the first Sunday after Epiphany. Dr. Mike Foley has an informative article on why the placement of this feast day after Epiphany is the most fitting time to meditate on the Holy Family:

Both in content and in placement, the Feast of the Holy Family in the 1962 calendar captures all of the aforementioned meanings and purposes of the devotion.

In content, the Mass gives us various glimpses into the life of the Holy Family, including their hidden life of “teaching and admonishing one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual canticles” (Epistle), the Finding in the Temple (Gospel), and the Presentation (Offertory). The Mass’s proper prayers, on the other hand, join with the Office hymns and readings to depict the Holy Family as an exemplum of domestic life and a powerful intercessor for all families.

In placement, by falling on the Sunday after Epiphany the Feast has just the right distance from Christmas. It is far enough away to allow the faithful to take in the early life of the Holy Family: Christ’s birth (December 25), the Flight into Egypt (December 28), the Presentation in the Temple (Sunday after Christmas), the Circumcision (January 1), the Holy Nam[ing] (January 2), and the visit of the Magi (January 6). These foundational events of the Holy Family set the stage for, and enable us to enter into imaginatively, their quiet years together in Nazareth.

On the other hand, the feast is not too far away from Christmas. It takes place before the Commemoration of the Baptism of our Lord (January 13) and the liturgical proclamation of the wedding of Cana (Second Sunday after Epiphany), biblical events that take place after the death of Saint Joseph.

• The Feast of the Holy Family: https://www.newliturgicalmovement.org/2022/01/the-feast-of-holy-family.html

Epiphany Blessing kits: We want to thank everyone for attending the Epiphany related liturgies, and especially Fr. Reid for offering and arranging the Epiphany Masses and blessing last week. Please keep him in your Mass intentions today. We also may still have some Epiphany home blessing kits at the CLMC table this Sunday while quantities last. St. Mark parish in Huntersville may also have them in the Kerin Center lobby. Both parishes have Epiphany Holy Water while quantities last.

Mass Change – Wednesday January 12: In the Friday Five, Fr. Reid announced St. Ann will not be offering a 6pm Latin Mass this Wednesday January 12^th due to the diocese’s 50^th anniversary Mass (which will be Novus Ordo). However, Father has kindly agreed to offer a special 7am Latin Mass earlier Wednesday morning.

Feast of the Baptism of Our Lord Jesus Christ – Thursday January 13, 7pm (St. Thomas Aquinas parish): The Christmas season continues this Thursday as we celebrate the feast of Our Lord’s Baptism (described in brief in Dr. Foley’s above linked article) with a 7pm High Mass at St. Thomas Aquinas parish. This was also known as the Octave Day of Epiphany.

Latin Mass & Traditional News

• New Intro Latin Online Courses from Veterum Sapientia Institute: The Latin & Greek language institute, Veterum Sapientia Institute, co-founded by Fr. Barone, and Dr. Nancy Llewellyn (Belmont Abbey College/St. Joseph’s Seminary), is pleased to announce its winter quarter online classes which include an introduction to Latin, taught by Dr. Greg DiPippo (of the New Liturgical Movement website which we often reference in our e-mails). Other courses include intermediate levels, and an introduction to Greek. To learn more details and sign up please visit: www.VeterumSapientia.org and see the link here: https://charlottelatinmass.files.wordpress.com/2022/01/2022-winter-flyer-final.pdf

• Catholic writer Phil Lawler now attends the Traditional Latin Mass: Recently, we featured an insightful article by conservative Catholic writer, Phil Lawler, who observed that it is 70% of the Novus Ordo attendees who deny the validity of the Vatican II Mass (not traditionalists). This week, in an another important article, Mr. Lawler has now announced he is now attending the Traditional Latin Mass regularly. Over the years the CLMC has written about distinctions between the faithful Novus Ordo attendees (e.g. conservatives) and Latin Mass attendees (traditionalists). Now, in this new environment of COVID protocols and Traditionis Custodes, we are seeing conservative Catholics abandon the Novus Ordo and embrace the Traditional Latin Mass. This is helping to break a logjam as modernism can best be fought when the faithful Catholics are on the same battlefront and not scattered in different sectors. We welcome all those faithful Novus Ordo attendees, (or even Protestants) who are making the move the Traditional Latin Mass and pray others will also discover the richness and treasure the Latin Mass offers. Mr. Lawler explains why in this article: https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/backward-logic-traditionis-custodes/

• Vaccines: Bishop Athanasius Schneider Presents the Catholic Position: The Remnant has just released an October interview from Bishop Athanasius Schneider which he presents the traditional Catholic position on the abortion-linked COVID-19 vaccines: https://remnantnewspaper.com/web/index.php/articles/item/5781-vaccines-bishop-athanasius-schneider-presents-the-catholic-position

Don’t Stop Celebrating: After Christmas Day, Christmas continues (Part III)

As the CLMC and others have noted, contrary to the pagan world, the Christmas season only began on December 25 and runs through February 2^nd. Here we share a few new articles on the Christmas season, which continues in this Epiphany season:

• How Different Are the Pre-1955, 1962, and 1969 Calendars Around Christmas and Epiphany? (2022 Edition): One helpful article is the latest from Dr. Peter Kwasniewski who compares the 2022 Christmastide calendar between the Traditional Latin Mass and Novus Ordo to show the differences over the next few weeks. He also adds the Pre-1955 Latin Mass calendar to the comparison as many traditionalists (lay and clergy) are becoming convinced that the Pre-1955 Latin Mass missal and calendar is even far more rich and beautiful than the 1962 version which we currently use for Latin Mass (For our new readers, in 1955 the Vatican “reformed” the Latin Mass calendar and sadly removed many Octaves, several vigils, and significantly reduced or minimized the Latin Easter Triduum. This unfortunate work was sort of a “test run” for the major “reforms” done to the Mass and calendar after Vatican II.). https://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2022/01/how-different-are-pre-1955-1962-and.html
• The Highly Beautiful Collect of the Epiphany: Dr. Mike Foley also provides a helpful reflection from the Collect of Epiphany: https://www.newliturgicalmovement.org/2022/01/the-highly-beautiful-collect-of-epiphany.html#.Ydp79FlOmHu
• Basking in the glow of Epiphany: The wedding feast at Cana: This is a 2018 article from Dr. Peter Kwasniewski on the wedding at Cana which is fitting for this Christmas season: https://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2018/01/basking-in-glow-of-epiphany-wedding.html
• Don’t Stop Celebrating Christmas: After Christmas Day, Christmas Continues: We also re-share Dr. Peter Kwasniewski’s excellent article on celebrating Christmas until February 2nd: https://www.lifesitenews.com/blogs/dont-stop-celebrating-after-christmas-day-christmas-continues-2/

Sunday is the traditional feast of the Holy Family, appropriately placed after Epiphany. What Mass are you taking your family to Sunday?