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Palm Sunday (6th Sunday of Lent)

Laudetur Iesus Christus! Today is the second Sunday of Passiontide, Palm Sunday. As custom, we share a helpful reflection on today’s Collect, which marks the beginning of the holiest week of the liturgical year: http://www.newliturgicalmovement.org/2021/03/the-collect-of-palm-sunday.html We also share some customs for the day:

1st Sunday Latin Masses in Salisbury and St. Thomas Aquinas Potluck

Sacred Heart parish in Salisbury will offer its 1st Sunday Latin Mass at 4pm. Mass is offered by Fr. Joseph Wasswa and Confessions will be offered prior to, and after, Mass. There will not be a social after Mass. For more information please contact the Salisbury Latin Mass Community at: www.salisburylmc.org

At St. Thomas Aquinas, there will be the monthly potluck after the 11:30am Latin Mass. Attendees are asked to bring a dish, desert or drink to share.

Latin Masses This Week & Easter Sunday

  • Wednesday – 6pm St. Ann parish (Feria of Holy Week, also known as Spy Wednesday)
  • Holy Week (Holy Thursday – Saturday): There will not be a Latin Easter Triduum at St. Ann or at St. Thomas Aquinas this year.
  • Easter Sunday: Normal Sunday Latin Mass schedule as announced. 11:30am (St. Thomas Aquinas) & 12:30pm (St. Ann)

Save the Date: Saturday April 22, 7pm (St. Thomas Aquinas) – Holy Face Presentation with Fr. Lawrence Carney: We are pleased to share that Fr. Lawrence Carney will be visiting St. Thomas Aquinas parish on Saturday April 22 at 7pm. Father is the head of the League of St. Martin, which promotes the Holy Face Devotion which we have shared much about. He offers the Latin Mass exclusively, is chaplain to the traditional Benedictines of Mary, Queen of the Apostles, in Gower, Missouri, and has recently published a book with TAN Books on the Holy Face devotion: https://tanbooks.com/products/books/tan-books/the-secret-of-the-holy-face/  To learn more about his work please visit: https://www.martinians.org/

Community News

Holy Face Devotions

  • St Mark – Mondays at 5pm
  • 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

  • New Shrine Dedicated to Blessed Karl of Austria: Yesterday, Saturday April 1, was the 101st anniversary of Blessed Karl’s passing into eternal life. He was the last reigning Catholic monarch in Europe and exiled to the Portuguese island of Madeira where he died. His body was found incorrupt and was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 2004. The CLMC has hosted many talks on him over the years, including one by Bishop Athanasius Schneider. We are pleased to share that a parish in Minnesota has just dedicated a new Shrine to Blessed Karl. The article was written by John Sonnen, who attends Latin Mass here locally: https://www.liturgicalartsjournal.com/2023/03/new-shrine-dedicated-to-blessed-karl-by.html (To learn more about Blessed Karl visit: https://www.emperorcharles.org/)
  • Book Recommendation: Frequent Confession by Fr. Benedict Bauer, OSB: The Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter’s bookstore is recommending a reprint of a book by the early 20th century spiritual writer, Dom Benedict Bauer, OSB, on Confession and how to derive more fruit out of this sacrament. To learn more visit: https://fraternitypublications.com/product/frequent-confession/
  • The Chapters of Passiontide: Last year, Fr. William Rock, FSSP, wrote an article on the little “chapter” readings contained in the Divine Office for this Passiontide season and which helps to call everyone to reparation for their sins: https://fssp.com/the-chapters-of-passiontide/:

Palm Sunday Reflection – Dom Prosper Gueranger, OSB

To close this update, we share the great 19th century liturgist, Dom Prosper Gueranger’s reflection for Palm Sunday, in his book, The Liturgical Year:

“Early in the morning of this day, Jesus sets out for Jerusalem, leaving Mary, his Mother, and the two sisters Martha and Mary Magdalene, and Lazarus, at Bethania. The Mother of Sorrows trembles at seeing her Son thus expose himself to danger, for his enemies are bent upon his destruction; but it is not Death, it is Triumph, that Jesus is to receive today in Jerusalem The Messias, before being nailed to the Cross, is to be proclaimed King by the people of the great City; the little children are to make her streets echo with their Hosannas to the Son of David; and this in presence of the soldiers of Rome’s Emperor, and of the High Priests and Pharisees—the first, standing under the banner of their Eagles; the second, dumb with rage.

The Prophet Zachary had foretold this Triumph which the Son of Man was to receive a few days before his Passion, and which had been prepared for him from all eternity. Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Sion! Shout for joy, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold thy King will come to thee; the Just and the Savior. He is poor, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt, the foal of an ass. Jesus, knowing That the hour was come for the fulfillment of this prophecy, singles out two from the rest of his Disciples, and bids them lead him to an ass and her colt, which they would find not far off. He had got to Bethphage, on Mount Olivet. The two Disciples lose no time in executing the order given them by their divine Master; and the ass and the colt are soon brought to the place where he stands.

The holy Fathers have explained to us the mystery of these two animals. The ass represents the Jewish people, which had been long under the yoke of the Law; the colt, upon which, as the Evangelist says, no man yet hath sat, is a figure of the Gentile world, which no one had ever yet brought into subjection. The future of these two people is to be decided in a few days hence: the Jews will be rejected for having refused to acknowledge Jesus as the Messias; the Gentiles will take their place, be adopted as God’s people, and become docile and faithful.

The Disciples spread their garments upon the colt; and our Savior, that the prophetic figure might be fulfilled, sat upon him, and advances towards Jerusalem. As soon as it was known that Jesus was near the City, the Holy Spirit worked in the hearts of those Jews who had come, from all parts, to celebrate the Feast of the Passover. They go out to meet our Lord, holding palm branches in their hands, and loudly proclaiming him to be King. They that had accompanied Jesus from Bethania join the enthusiastic crowd. While some spread their garments on the way, others cut down boughs from the Palm trees, and strewed them along the road. Hosanna is the triumphant cry, proclaiming to the whole city that Jesus, the Son of David, has made his entrance as her King.

Thus did God, in his power over men’s hearts, procure a triumph for his Son, and in the very City which, a few days after, was to clamor for his Blood. This day was one of glory to our Jesus, and the holy Church would have us renew, each year, the memory of this triumph of the Man-God. Shortly after the Birth of our Emmanuel, we saw the Magi coming from the extreme East, and looking in Jerusalem for the King of the Jews, to whom they intended offering their gifts and their adoration: but it is Jerusalem herself that now goes forth to meet this King. Each of these events is an acknowledgement of the Kingship of Jesus: the first, from the Gentiles; the second, from the Jews. Both were to pay him this regal homage before he suffered his Passion…

…Jesus begins his reign upon the earth this very day; and though the first Israel is soon to disclaim his rule, a new Israel, formed from the faithful few of the old, shall rise up in every nation of the earth, and become the Kingdom of Christ, a kingdom such as no mere earthly monarch ever coveted in his wildest fancies of ambition.”

Sunday is Palm Sunday when we greet Our Lord in His triumphant entry into Jerusalem. What Mass are you attending Sunday?