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Quinquagesima Sunday and First Saturday Mass

Laudetur Iesus Christus! Sunday is Quinquagesima Sunday, or roughly 50 days before Easter. It is the Sunday prior to the beginning of Lent. As custom, Dr. Mike Foley provides more background on this mini-liturgical season and the reflection on Sunday’s Collect: http://www.newliturgicalmovement.org/2021/02/the-shrovish-collect-of-quinquagesima.html

** Special 1st Saturday Latin Mass at 5:30 AM – St. Thomas Aquinas **

Next Saturday March 5 is First Saturday, and the normal 10 am Latin Mass is canceled due to the daylong Catholic Men’s Conference at St. Thomas Aquinas parish. However, in a generous act of kindness toward the Latin Mass faithful, Fr. Codd is offering a special Low Mass at 5:30am so the faithful can make their 1st Saturday Fatima devotions. Indeed it is an early hour, but with Lent arriving, and need, now more than ever, for the consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, making a sacrifice to attend this Mass can help bear great fruit and graces.

  • 5:30am Low Mass
  • Saturday March 5
  • St. Thomas Aquinas Parish (1400 Suther Road, Charlotte)
  • (there will not be any blessing of religious objects on this Saturday)

Note: If you are concerned about events overseas, please consider practicing the 1st Saturday Fatima devotions as it is the best way to bring about a permanent peace. The message of Fatima is still very much relevant today and the errors of Russia (e.g. communism) still continue to plague the world.

Ash Wednesday Latin Masses/Distribution of Ashes

  • St. Ann parish, 7:00am
  • Our Lady of the Lake, Chapin, SC, 10:00am (1.5 hours south of Charlotte)
  • Our Lady of Grace, Greensboro, 12:15pm (1.5 hours north of Charlotte) (new time)
  • Prince of Peace, Taylors, SC, 12 noon (2 hours southwest of Charlotte)
  • St. Elizabeth of the Hill Country, Boone, NC, 6:00pm (2 hours northwest of Charlotte)
  • St. John the Baptist, Tryon, NC, 6:30pm (2 hours west of Charlotte)

Preparations and Guidelines for Lent (Fasting & Abstinence)

  • A Short Instruction On Fasting & Abstinence (including the difference between modern and traditional fasting rules): The Missionaries of St. John the Baptist, an order of Latin Mass priests in Kentucky, published a good guide on fasting and abstinence during Lent:

Click to access Rules_for_Fasting.pdf

REMINDER: Lenten Spiritual Enrollment – 40 Days of Latin Masses, prayers, and penance (3 days left!)

The traditional Carmelite Hermits of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel in Fairfield, PA are again offering a special Lenten spiritual enrollment which you can begin to participate in today. The Hermits will be offering 40 Masses, 40 days of praying the Divine Office (and other daily prayers), and 40 days of fasting and penance all for the intention of your family or other enrolled loved ones.  This is an amazing spiritual gift. Here is the link to the enrollment form: https://www.edcarm.org/lenten-enrollment/

Please make an offering of alms along with this enrollment.  Your generous financial sacrifice will bear all the more fruit for your intentions. Enrollment needs to be completed by this Tuesday March 1.

Annual CLMC Novena to St. Gregory the Great (March 3 – 11)

Thursday March 3rd begins our annual novena to St. Gregory the Great, the patron saint of the CLMC.  The novena, which is attached, consists of praying 1 Rosary daily for 9 days (March 3 – March 11), and at the end of each daily Rosary, offering this attached prayer to St. Gregory for our spiritual needs to be provided for (although progress has been made in prior years, much still remains to be fulfilled).  Please see the link below.  As we prayed in prior years, we again ask you to also consider including the following intentions:

Holy Face Apostolate at St. Mark – Mondays 2-3pm

Tuesday is Shrove Tuesday which is also the feast of the Holy Face.  The day prior, on Monday, St. Mark parish’s Holy Face apostolate will be offering prayers of reparation to the Holy Face of Jesus from 2-3pm in the church.  As background, in 1843, Sr. Mary of St. Peter, a Carmelite nun in the monastery in Tours, France, received a series of revelations from Jesus telling her that reparation for certain sins were an imperative, and that it was to be done through devotion to the Holy Face.  The primary purpose of this apostolate is to, by praying certain prayers, make reparation for the sins committed against the first three Commandments of the Lord: The denial of God by atheism (communism), blasphemy, and the profanation of Sundays and Holy Days. Devotion to the Holy Face has been referred to as the devotion for Jesus Crucified.  Attend as your schedule permits.

Learn more about the Holy Face devotion: https://sensusfidelium.com/2021/08/11/devotion-to-the-holy-face/

Latin Mass & Traditional News

  • Pictures of a Traditional Ordination in Brazil: While some are worried about future restrictions on the Latin Mass due to the December 2021 responsa, the Latin Mass itself continues onward, unabated.  Notably, we are pleased to share pictures of a Traditional Latin Mass ordination occurring in Brazil last month. The Pontifical Ordination Mass was offered by Brazilian Military Bishop Dom Fernando Guimarães, CSSR, who ordained one of men of the Institute of the Good Shephard (IBP) to the priesthood. IBP is another order of Latin Mass priests, similar to the Fraternity of St. Peter or Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest: https://www.newliturgicalmovement.org/2022/02/pictures-of-ibp-ordination-in-brazil.html#.YhsMRpZOmHs
  • Book Recommendation: Christian Social Principles – The Complete Guide to Catholic Social Teaching: If there is one aspect of the faith that has yet to be fully unpackaged in the Church, or even in Latin Mass circles today, it is the Church’s traditional social teachings and doctrine.  Rest assured, this is not “social justice” or any Marxist ideology, but the perennial teachings taught for 2,000 years. Sadly, much of it has been forgotten or abandoned in the last 70 years, but thankfully Sophia Press has just re-published a gem which covers many topics relevant today. This comes recommended thanks to Sensus Fidelium: Here is the description: https://www.sophiainstitute.com/products/item/christian-social-principles

Pope Francis Exempts FSSP from Traditiones Custodes Restrictions

Like rays of sunshine breaking forth from a cloudy day, the Latin Mass world is rejoicing over a decree issued on February 11 by Pope Francis, declaring that the Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP), the Latin Mass order of priests, is essentially exempt from the new Motu Proprio Traditiones Custodes, and has full rights to use the 1962 Missal anywhere it operates – including Rome. This was unexpected, and thanks should be attributed to Our Lady of Lourdes intercession whose feast day the decree was written, and whom the FSSP (and CLMC) was praying a novena to in this regard.

It is implied though unverified, that this decree would also apply to the other “Ecclesia Dei” institutes.  As background for our new readers, the FSSP, along with the Institute of Christ the King, Institute of Good Shephard, etc. are Latin Mass orders of priests that offer the Latin Mass exclusively, and staff parishes at the invitation of bishops throughout the world. They are called “Ecclesia Dei” institutes as they derive their juridical or legal standing in the Church from Pope St. John Paul II’s 1988 encyclical Ecclesia Dei, which created a structure for these societies to operate.

Here are some articles discussing the matter in more detail:

While the Latin Mass situation remains fluid, this certainly brings some stability and protection to the Latin Mass, where the FSSP priests offer the Mass.  Let us pray that the diocese of Charlotte will likewise see similar stability and protection in the days and months ahead.

As Fr. Chad Ripperger noted last September, the Traditional Latin Mass will never cease until Christ returns. What Mass are you attending on Sunday?