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Laetare Sunday (4th Sunday of Lent)

Laudetur Iesus Christus! Sunday is the fourth Sunday of Lent, otherwise known Laetare Sunday, which in Latin means rejoice, and rose vestments are worn instead of violet, all to give the faithful encouragement that the joys of Easter and the resurrection are not far away. This is the midpoint of Lent, and as custom we provide commentary on the prayers for Sunday’s Mass: https://www.newliturgicalmovement.org/2021/03/the-consoling-collect-of-laetare-sunday.html#.Yj_c6zUpCHs

We also note that at St. Thomas Aquinas at this Sunday’s Latin Mass, Fr. Codd will be wearing the recently made Rose vestments, which some individuals from our community as well as others, helped contribute toward last year.

For more on the customs of Laetare Sunday visit: https://www.fisheaters.com/customslent7.html

Latin Mass This Week

  • Monday March 20 – Feast of St. Joseph (see note below)
  • Wednesday March 22, 6pm – St. Ann  (Feria of Lent, e.g. no feast day)
  • Thursday March 23, 7pm – St. Thomas Aquinas (Feria of Lent)
  • Friday March 24, 7am (St. Ann) & 12:30pm (St. Mark), (Feast of St. Gabriel the Archangel)
  • Saturday March 25, 8am – St. Ann, (4th Saturday Respect Life Mass and Feast of the Annunciation)

Feast of St. Joseph – March 20

The feast of St. Joseph normally falls on March 19, but since that is the 4th Sunday of Lent, it is transferred to Monday March 20. There are no Latin Masses in Charlotte this day, but we do share three other diocesan Latin Masses in the region.

  • 12 noon – Prince of Peace, 1209 Brushy Creek Road, Taylors, SC (2 hours southwest of Charlotte)
  • 6:30pm – Our Lady of the Lake, 195 Amicks Ferry Rd Chapin, SC (2 hours south of Charlotte)
  • 7pm – Our Lady of Grace, 2203 West Market Street, Greensboro, NC (1.5 hours north of Charlotte)

Below are a few recommended links about his life and devotion.

Community News

Holy Face Devotions

  • St Mark – Monday at 2pm (special time for Monday March 20 only)
  • St. Thomas Aquinas – Tuesdays 6am in the main church
  • St. Ann – Tuesdays 7:30am in the chapel after the Novus Ordo Mass (uses the booklet/chaplet which takes 15-20 minutes)
  • St Michael the Archangel, Gastonia – Tuesdays, 9am, Main Church
  • Holy Spirit, Denver – Tuesdays 10-11am after the Novus Ordo Mass
  • Don’t see your parish? Why not organize one?

Latin Mass & Traditional News

  • Forgotten Customs of St. Patrick’s Day: Friday March 17 was the feast of St. Patrick, the patronal feast for the diocese (at least the Cathedral). OnePeterFive has an interesting article on the lost traditions of St. Patrick’s day: https://onepeterfive.com/forgotten-customs-st-patricks-day/

The Glories of St. Joseph by Dom Prosper Gueranger, OSB

As the feast of St. Joseph is tomorrow, we close this update with the writings of the great Benedictine liturgist, Dom Prosper Gueranger, who in his book, The Liturgical Year, described the importance of St. Joseph in salvation history.

“The Son of God, when about to descend upon this earth to assume our human nature, would have a Mother; this Mother could not be other than the purest of Virgins, and her divine maternity was not to impair her incomparable virginity. Until such time as the Son of Mary were recognized as the Son of God, His Mother’s honour had need of a protector: some man, therefore, was to be called to the high dignity of being Mary’s spouse. This privileged mortal was Joseph, the most chaste of men.

Heaven designated him as being the only one worthy of such a treasure: the rod he held in his hand in the temple suddenly produced a flower, as though it were a literal fulfilment of the prophecy of Isaias: ‘There shall come forth a rod from the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise up out of his root.’[1] The rich pretenders to an alliance with Mary were set aside; and Joseph was espoused to the Virgin of the house of David, by a union which surpassed in love and purity everything the angels themselves had ever witnessed.

But he was not only chosen to the glory of having to protect the Mother of the Incarnate Word; he was also called to exercise an adopted paternity over the very Son of God. So long as the mysterious cloud was over the Saint of saints, men called Jesus the Son of Joseph and the carpenter’s Son. When our blessed Lady found the Child Jesus in the temple, in the midst of the doctors, she thus addressed Him: ‘Thy father and I have sought Thee sorrowing’;[2] and the holy evangelist adds that Jesus was subject to them, that is, that He was subject to Joseph as He was to Mary…

…We ask, what mortal can justly appreciate the glories of St. Joseph? To do so, he would have to understand the whole of that mystery, of which God made him the necessary instrument. What wonder, then, if this foster-father of the Son of God was prefigured in the old Testament, and that by one of the most glorious of the patriarchs? Let us listen to St. Bernard, who thus compares the two Josephs: ‘The first was sold by his brethren, out of envy, and was led into Egypt, thus prefiguring our Saviour’s being sold; the second Joseph, that he might avoid Herod’s envy, led Jesus into Egypt. The first was faithful to his master, and treated his wife with honour; the second, too, was the most chaste guardian of his bride, the Virgin Mother of his Lord. To the first was given the understanding and interpretation of dreams; to the second, the knowledge of, and participation in, the heavenly mysteries. The first laid up stores of corn, not for himself, but for all the people; the second received the living Bread that came down from heaven, and kept It both for himself and for the whole world.’[4]”

What Mass are you attending Sunday?