Laudetur Iesus Christus and blessed feast of St. Valentine the martyr! As draw closer to Lent, we wanted to remind everyone about this wonderful annual opportunity for almsgiving that will benefit your friends and family. Our friends, the Carmelites Hermits of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel in Fairfield, PA, who offer the traditional liturgy exclusively (Carmelite Rite), are offering 40 days of Traditional Masses and 40 days of prayers and sacrifices for the following intentions:

• Spiritual renewal in the Church
• Sanctification of souls
• Healing of families and individuals
• Reversion of fallen-away Catholics
• Conversion of sinners who are far from God
• Protection for the Traditional Latin Mass

Knowing that many have family members away from the Sacraments and the Church or difficult situations in their lives, the Carmelites wanted to extend to all the opportunity to enroll their families, friends, clergy, or anyone in need of the graces from these many Masses and spiritual sacrifices.  We can also suggest you may also wish to include the in your enrollment the protection of the Traditional Latin Mass, the priests that offer it, and the bishops who can safeguard it.

The deadline is Tuesday February 21 to enroll.

Please consider making an offering of alms along with this enrollment.  Your generous financial sacrifice will bear all the more fruit for your intentions. (The Hermits completely subsist on donations).

To enroll visit: https://www.edcarm.org/lenten-enrollment/ (deadline is Tuesday February 21)

To learn more visit: https://vimeo.com/665845244

Lastly, today, St. Valentine’s feast day, is a day which commemorates a priest who was martyred for his defense of Christ. Some critics question whether St. Valentine was even real, but a simple visit to Whitefriar Carmelite Church in Dublin would dispel those doubts as one can see the chest containing his relics:  http://www.whitefriarstreetchurch.ie/index.php/the-church/shrines/saint-valentine  See also Dom Gueranger’s entry for his feast: https://fsspatl.com/liturgical-year/525-sanctoral-cycle/february/3074-february-14-st-valentine-priest-and-martyr

Laudetur Iesus Christus! Sunday is Sexagesima Sunday, where we now are within roughly 60 days of Easter, and 11 days from the beginning of Lent. Today there is the Fatima talk at 2pm (St. Thomas Aquinas parish) and today also begins the important Holy Face novena which concludes on Shrove Tuesday (please see details below).

As this is the second Sunday of this pre-Lent season of Septuagesima, we share two articles, one commentary on Sunday’s Collect, and secondly, an essay on the forgotten season of Septuagesima, which is a three-week period to begin preparing for Lent, and easing in penances.  The first article also provides a brief explanation of the stational churches in Rome which are tied to a specific day during liturgical seasons such as this or Lent – one may come across them in the daily missals.

• The Pauline Collect of Sexagesima Sunday: http://www.newliturgicalmovement.org/2021/02/the-pauline-collect-of-sexagesima-sunday.html 
• Septuagesima: The Time that the Land Forgot: http://www.newliturgicalmovement.org/2021/02/septuagesima-time-that-land-forgot.html
• Dom Prosper Gueranger on Septuagesima Season: https://fsspatl.com/liturgical-year/448-temporal-cycle/season-of-septuagesima/3441-saturday-before-septuagesima-sunday

Latin Masses This Week

• Wednesday February 15, 6pm – St. Ann parish (Feria day – no feast day)
• Thursday February 16, 7pm – St. Thomas Aquinas parish (Feria)
• Friday February 17, 7am (St. Ann) & 12:30pm (St. Mark) (Feria)

TODAY: Fatima Talk Sunday February 12 at 2pm (St. Thomas Aquinas)

St. Thomas Aquinas parish is hosting a special Fatima seminar featuring David Rodriguez of the Fatima Center, and Charles Fraune, author of Slaying Dragons, and St. Thomas Aquinas Latin Mass attendee. Both will be giving talks on the importance of the Fatima message and it will take place in Aquinas Hall after the Latin Mass at 2pm on Sunday February 12. All are invited to attend. Please see linked flyer for schedule and details.

Ash Wednesday February 22 – Latin Mass Schedule (as announced)

• 7am – St. Ann (the 6pm Mass will not be a Latin Mass) – this 7am TLM will likely be the only diocesan Latin Mass in the Charlotte area
• 10am – Our Lady of the Lake, Chapin, SC (2 hours south of Charlotte)
• 12 noon – Prince of Peace, Taylors, SC (2 hours southwest of Charlotte)
• 6pm – St. Elizabeth of the Hill Country, Boone, NC (2 hours northwest of Charlotte)

If more Latin Masses are announced we will share them.

Bring in Old Palms: St. Ann parish has a basket in the narthex for old palms where you can drop off your old palms from last year (they will be used for ashes on Ash Wednesday)

Rules for Fasting & Abstinence: 1962 vs. Current Discipline: https://mcusercontent.com/61eba0fda529907fc1dacf176/files/ee1ae3df-d987-4f22-920f-7d5deaebced0/Rules_for_Fasting.pdf

UPDATE: St. Thomas Aquinas Lenten Mission with the FSSP: February 27 – March 1, 7pm (Masses & Talk Added)

St. Thomas Aquinas parish is inviting Fr. Joseph Portzer, FSSP, a Fraternity of St. Peter priest, for the Lenten mission in two weeks (he also gave the Advent retreat).  The schedule will feature a mission talk at 7pm each evening as well as Confessions prior at 6pm.

Additionally, Fr. Portzer will offer and preach at the Sunday February 26, 11:30am Latin Mass; a talk to parents at 6:30pm that evening; and the Thursday March 2^nd, 7pm Latin Mass.

We can’t express enough the blessing of having this mission and encourage everyone to take advantage of this wonderful event. Please see flyer at bottom of the page.  

Pre-Mission Talk

• Sunday February 26 – 11:30am Latin Mass (offered by Fr. Portzer with sermon)
• Talk for parents – Sunday February 26 at 6:30pm

Mission

• Monday February 27 – 6pm Confessions, 7pm Mission talk
• Tuesday February 28 – 6pm Confessions, 7pm Mission talk
• Wednesday March 1 – 6pm Confessions,7pm Mission talk.

Post-Mission Latin Mass

• Thursday March 2 – 7pm Latin Mass (offered by Fr. Portzer with sermon)

For those new to the Latin Mass, the Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP) is a congregation of priests who offer the Latin Mass exclusively and staff chapels and parishes throughout North America and the world. Two members of our community and St. Ann parish are enrolled in the FSSP seminary in Nebraska. We are grateful St. Thomas Aquinas parish for offering this timely mission.

Community News

Holy Face Devotions

• St Mark – Mondays 5-5:45pm (NEW TIME for JANUARY)
• 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?

BEGINS TODAY Holy Face Novena – Sunday February 12 – 20

On the topic of the Holy Face devotion, there is a novena to the Holy Face of Jesus that begins today Sunday February 12 and ends on Monday February 20, the day before Shrove Tuesday (e.g. the day prior to Ash Wednesday), and a day traditionally dedicated to offering reparation to the Holy Face.  The novena is attached, but you can also view it here: https://www.martinians.org/novena-to-the-holy-face (CLMC note: with continued threats against the Latin Mass, this can only be a helpful novena to begin today)

Latin Mass & Traditional News

• Feast of St Valentine – February 14: Contrary to secular thought, St. Valentine’s Day is a day which commemorates a priest who was martyred for his defense of Christ. Some critics question whether St. Valentine was even real, but a simple visit to Whitefriar Carmelite Church in Dublin and one can see the chest containing his relics:  http://www.whitefriarstreetchurch.ie/index.php/the-church/shrines/saint-valentine  See also Dom Gueranger’s entry for his feast: https://fsspatl.com/liturgical-year/525-sanctoral-cycle/february/3074-february-14-st-valentine-priest-and-martyr

• Another Bishop Stands With Latin Mass Community: Last Sunday in Columbus, Ohio, Bishop Earl Fernandes visited the Traditional Latin Mass parish, St. Leo the Great Oratory, staffed by priests of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest, a traditional order of Latin Mass priests, to support the Latin Mass faithful: https://remnantnewspaper.com/web/index.php/fetzen-fliegen/item/6378-another-bishop-stands-with-latin-mass-community

• Handbook of Moral Theology: This Lent, if one is looking to do some deeper reading about the Catholic faith, the Fraternity of St. Peter is recommending a republished 1921 book on moral theology by Fr. Dominic Prümmer: https://fraternitypublications.com/product/handbook-of-moral-theology/

• The Irish Fighting Spirit Parts II and III (The fight for the Latin Mass): A few weeks ago we shared the first part of a series about how the Irish fought for the Traditional Latin Mass against King Henry VIII’s government when it tried to impose protestant worship on Ireland. We are pleased to share the remaining two parts: Part II (https://onepeterfive.com/irish-fight-latin-mass-part-2/) and Part III (https://onepeterfive.com/irish-fighting-spirit/)

• KC Chiefs Superstar Defends Latin Mass: In the secular world Sunday is Superbowl Sunday. However, one player in Sunday’s game is not only a Catholic, but a Latin Mass devotee who also serves at Mass: Kansas City Chiefs kicker, Harrison Butker. We share an article by the Remnant about Mr. Butker’s love of the Mass of Ages: https://remnantnewspaper.com/web/index.php/headline-news-around-the-world/item/6368-kc-chiefs-superstar-defends-latin-mass
  
  
• Appeal for Prayers and Penances for the Liberty of the Traditional Mass in Lent: With Lent coming and continued threats against the Latin Mass, the leading international Latin Mass organization, Una Voce (One Voice), is asking Catholics to apply their Lenten prayers and penances for the protection of the Latin Mass: https://www.newliturgicalmovement.org/2023/02/appeal-for-prayers-and-penances-for.html#.Y-h-ma3MKHs

Carmelites Lenten Offering: 40 days of Latin Masses, Prayers and Fasting For your Intentions

As we approach Lent next week, we wanted to re-share with you a wonderful annual opportunity for almsgiving that will benefit your friends and family. Our friends, the Carmelites Hermits of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel in Fairfield, PA, who offer the traditional liturgy exclusively (Carmelite Rite), are offering 40 days of Traditional Masses and 40 days of prayers and sacrifices for the following intentions:

• Spiritual renewal in the Church
• Sanctification of souls
• Healing of families and individuals
• Reversion of fallen-away Catholics
• Conversion of sinners who are far from God
• Protection of the Traditional Latin Mass

Knowing that many have family members away from the Sacraments and the Church or difficult situations in their lives, the Carmelites wanted to extend to all the opportunity to enroll their families, friends, clergy, or anyone in need of the graces from these many Masses and spiritual sacrifices. 

As Una Voce encourages (see earlier article above) we also invite everyone to include in one’s enrollment the protection of the Traditional Latin Mass, specifically the priests that offer it, and the bishops who can safeguard it.

Please consider making an offering of alms along with this enrollment.  Your generous financial sacrifice will bear all the more fruit for your intentions. (The Hermits completely subsist on donations).

• To enroll visit: https://www.edcarm.org/lenten-enrollment/ (deadline is Tuesday February 21)
• To learn more visit: https://vimeo.com/665845244

What Mass are you attending Sunday?

Laudetur Iesus Christus! This Sunday while the secular world focuses on a naturalistic event that will draw close to 70,000 people, another event will occur this Sunday at St. Thomas Aquinas parish examining a series of supernatural events which culminated in a miracle witnessed by 70,000 people and even reported in the Masonic secular newspaper at the time.

That supernatural event was Fatima, when the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to three shepherd children at Cova da Iria (Fatima), Portugal in 1917 to deliver a prophetic message about the future of the Church, the world, and the need for prayer and reparation. These apparitions concluded with the miracle of the sun on October 13, 1917, which was witnessed by 70,000 people. While that event occurred over 105 years ago, the late Pope Benedict XVI cautioned the Church in 2010 when he said, “We would be mistaken to think that Fatima’s prophetic mission is complete.”

With that mission ongoing, this Sunday February 12, at 2pm (after the 11:30am Latin Mass), St. Thomas Aquinas is hosting a talk entitled “Fatima: Why the time is now!” with David Rodriguez (Fatima Center) and St. Thomas Aquinas parishioner and author Charles Fraune.

“At a time when the human family was ready to sacrifice all that was most sacred on the altar of the petty and selfish interests of nations, races, ideologies, groups and individuals, our Blessed Mother came from heaven, offering to implant in the hearts of all those who trust in her the Love of God burning in her own heart. At that time it was only to three children, yet the example of their lives spread and multiplied, especially as a result of the travels of the Pilgrim Virgin, in countless groups throughout the world dedicated to the cause of fraternal solidarity.” – Sermon, Pope Benedict XVI, May 13, 2010, Fatima Portugal.

For more details please see the parish website: https://www.stacharlotte.com/

Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us.

Laudetur Iesus Christus! Sunday begins the three week pre-Lent season of Septuagesima, which roughly means 70 days before Easter. We will have more on this season below, but as custom, we share a commentary on the Collect for Sunday’s Latin Mass: https://www.newliturgicalmovement.org/2021/01/the-exilic-collect-of-septuagesima.html#.YgiKJJZOmHs To learn more visit:https://www.fisheaters.com/customsseptuagesima1.html

Blessing of Bread Sunday February 5 – St. Ann parish

Sunday is also the feast of St. Agatha and the CLMC and St. Ann parish will be organizing a blessing of bread after the 12:30pm Latin Mass at St. Ann parish.  There is an ancient tradition to bless bread on her feast day, and Father will bless anyone’s bread with a traditional Latin blessing after Mass. Everyone is welcome to bring bread to be blessed – we will have a table available for bread blessing in the plaza. This will also occur at St. Thomas Aquinas (see below).

First Sunday Potluck at St. Thomas Aquinas

There will be a potluck and blessing of bread (see above) after the 11:30am Sunday Latin Mass at St. Thomas Aquinas parish. Please bring a dish or desert to share.

First Sunday in Salisbury

Sacred Heart parish in Salisbury will offer its 1^st Sunday Latin Mass at 4pm. Mass is offered by Fr. Putnam and Confessions will be offered 30 minutes prior to Mass. Afterwards a potluck will be held in the Brincefield Hall. Please bring a dish or dessert to share. For more information please contact the Salisbury Latin Mass Community: www.salisburylmc.org

Latin Masses This Week

• Wednesday February 8, 6pm St. Ann – feast of St. John of Martha
• Thursday February 9, 7pm St. Thomas Aquinas – feast of St. Cyril of Alexandria, bishop
• Friday February 10, 7am (St. Ann) & 12:30pm (St. Mark) – St. Scholastica

Fatima Seminar – Fatima: Why The Time Is Now! – Next Sunday February 12, 2pm

St. Thomas Aquinas parish is hosting a special Fatima seminar featuring David Rodriguez of the Fatima Center, and Charles Fraune, author of Slaying Dragons, and St. Thomas Aquinas Latin Mass attendee. Both will be giving talks on the importance of the Fatima message and it will take place in Aquinas Hall after the Latin Mass at 2pm on Sunday February 12. All are invited to attend. Please see this flyer for schedule and details.

St. Thomas Aquinas Lenten Mission with the FSSP: February 27 – March 1, 7pm

As Septuagesima begins, the Church, through the Traditional Rite, now begins to focus on the coming season of Lent. With that focus, we are pleased to announce that St. Thomas Aquinas parish will again be inviting a Fraternity of St. Peter priest, Fr. Joseph Portzer, FSSP, for a mission – this time for Lent (he also gave the Advent retreat).  The schedule will feature a mission talk at 7pm as well as Confessions prior at 6pm each evening. We can’t express enough the blessing of having this mission and encourage everyone to take advantage of this wonderful event. Please see this flyer for details.  

• Monday February 27 – 6pm Confessions, 7pm talk
• Tuesday February 28 – 6pm Confessions, 7pm talk
• Wednesday March 1 – 6pm Confessions,7pm mission talk.

For those new to the Latin Mass, the Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP) is a congregation of priests who offer the Latin Mass exclusively and staff chapels and parishes throughout North America and the world. Two members of our community and St. Ann parish are enrolled in the FSSP seminary in Nebraska. We are grateful St. Thomas Aquinas parish for offering this timely mission.

Community News

Holy Face Devotions

• St Mark – Mondays 5-5:45pm (NEW TIME for JANUARY)
• 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?

First Saturday in Boone

Although first Saturday is past, we did want to share with our readers that St. Elizabeth of the Hill Country in Boone, NC (2 hours northwest of Charlotte) offers a series of first Saturday events beginning with 10am Latin Mass, followed by a Rosary, meditation, and also a potluck at 11:30am.

Latin Mass & Traditional News

• Highlands church meets ‘audacious goal’: Many of you may remember when Fr. Barone was at St. Ann parish and offered the Latin Mass regularly. Now he is pastor of Our Lady of the Mountains in Highlands (3 hours west of Charlotte) and is embarking on a magnificent endeavor to build a new church – in the Baroque style.  Not only that, but the fundraising campaign has broken diocesan records in reaching its initial goal in record time, in a single campaign. Quoting the diocese’s development director, Jim Kelly, the article notes (emphasis ours):
  
  “Over the past 35 years, our office has assisted parishes and schools with more than 270 capital campaigns. Our Lady of the Mountains has raised more than the other 270 campaigns, and no other church in our diocese’s history has ever raised that much in a single campaign. Congratulations to Father Barone, their campaign leaders and their parishioners for their extraordinary results.”
  
  Article: https://catholicnewsherald.com/88-news/fp/8953-highlands-church-meets-audacious-goal
  To see videos and images of the project visit the parish’s website: https://olmhighlands.com/capital-campaign

CLMC comment: Extraordinary might be the key word to describe this project.

• The Great Pat Buchanan Signs Off: Conservative political commentator and former White House advisor to Presidents Nixon and Reagan, Patrick Buchanan, has announced his retirement from writing.  While he is known for his political writings and his campaigns for president, he is also a regular attendee and defender of the Traditional Latin Mass, and was often seen at Sunday Latin Mass at Old St. Mary’s in Washington, DC (when it was offered there). There is also a local Catholic connection to Buchanan: during his famous 1992 convention speech on the culture wars, Mary Potter Summa, of the noted Catholic family here in Charlotte, introduced him to the convention floor. Crisis Magazine has a write up on Buchanan’s retirement: https://www.crisismagazine.com/editors-desk/the-great-pat-buchanan-signs-off and we share Buchanan’s praise of Pope Benedict’s Summorum Pontificum, which provided greater access to the Latin Mass, when it was released in July 2007: https://buchanan.org/blog/pjb-a-triumph-for-traditionalists-798

• The Character of God Refutes Theistic Evolution: Among certain Catholic circles, there is a mistaken belief in an unproven scientific theory called theistic evolution. The general premise is that God did not create the world in six literal days as the Word of God stated in Genesis, but that God supposedly allowed the universe to form over millions (or billions) of years, and molecules eventually coalesced to form the basic building blocks of life, which over long periods of time eventually formed living creatures, some of which eventually evolved to apes, and then to man, which the latter was supposedly given a soul.  Despite the many Church teachings over 2,000 years condemning such theories, some Catholics, however, still believe it to be true. Thankfully Dr. Kevin Mark, of the Kolbe Center for the Study of Creation (which the CLMC co-sponsored their visit in 2019), has written an excellent essay affirming the traditional doctrine of creation, and examining how theistic evolution goes against the character of God: https://www.kolbecenter.org/the-character-of-god-refutes-theistic-evolution/

• On Singing Gregorian Chant Artfully (Part 2): Dr. Peter Kwasniewski, who the CLMC hosted in September, penned the second installment on how to sign Gregorian chant (part 1 is here): https://onepeterfive.com/on-singing-gregorian-chant-artfully-part-2/

• Bishop Schneider in Lebanon: His Excellency Bishop Athanasius Schneider, who visited the CLMC and St. Ann in 2017, has recently given a new interview during his Christmastide trip to Lebanon. He offers encouraging words defending the Latin Mass and its attendees against the restrictions from Rome, which we share:
  
  “End this discrimination of these Catholics, this is a huge injustice, and to treat them as second class Catholics. This is and will remain as a grave injustice on the part of the Pope, of the Holy See, against faithful devout Catholics who love the Pope, who pray for the Pope, and for the bishops. They are not schismatics. They are true daughters and sons of the Church.”
  
  https://remnantnewspaper.com/web/index.php/fetzen-fliegen/item/6373-bishop-schneider-in-lebanon-the-interview

The Season of Septuagesima

For those new to the Traditional Latin Mass, a pre-Lent season may sound foreign as it does not exist in the Novus Ordo. Yet as the great 19^th century Benedictine liturgist, Dom Prosper Gueranger writes in The Liturgical Year, a pre-Lent season is absolutely necessary to prepare for one of the principal seasons of the year, Lent. We share some reflections of this season beginning with the suspension of the Alleluia which occurs on the Saturday prior to Septuagesima (e.g. yesterday), and provides a subtle transition between Christmastide and Lent:

Suspension of the Alleluia

Our holy mother the Church knows how necessary it is for her to rouse our hearts from their lethargy, and give them an active tendency towards the things of God. On this day, the eve of Septuagesima, she uses a powerful means for infusing her own spirit into the minds of her children. She takes the song of heaven away from us: she forbids our further uttering that Alleluia, which is so dear to us, as giving us a fellowship with the choirs of angels, who are forever repeating it. How is it that we poor mortals, sinners, and exiles on earth, have dared to become so familiar with this hymn of a better land? It is true, our Emmanuel, who established peace between God and men, brought it us from heaven on the glad night of His Birth; and we have had the courage to repeat it after the angels, and shall chant it with renewed enthusiasm when we reach our Easter. But to sing the Alleluia worthily, we must have our hearts set on the country whence it came. It is not a mere word, nor a profane unmeaning melody; it is the song that recalls the land we are banished from, it is the sweet sigh of the soul longing to be at home.

https://fsspatl.com/liturgical-year/448-temporal-cycle/season-of-septuagesima/3441-saturday-before-septuagesima-sunday

Septuagesima Sunday

Gueranger continues with a helpful explanation of today which begins this preparatory season of penance and prayer.

The Season of Septuagesima comprises the three weeks immediately preceding Lent. It forms one of the principal divisions of the Liturgical Year, and is itself divided into three parts, each part corresponding to a week: the first is called Septuagesima; the second, Sexagesima; the third, Quinquagesima.

All three are named from their numerical reference to Lent, which, in the language of the Church, is called Quadragesima, — that is, Forty, — because the great Feast of Easter is prepared for by the holy exercises of Forty Days. The words Quinquagesima, Sexagesima, and Septuagesima, tell us of the same great Solemnity as looming in the distance, and as being the great object towards which the Church would have us now begin to turn all our thoughts, and desires, and devotion.

Now, the Feast of Easter must be prepared for by a forty-days’ recollectedness and penance. Those forty-days are one of the principal Seasons of the Liturgical Year, and one of the most powerful means employed by the Church for exciting in the hearts of her children the spirit of their Christian Vocation. It is of the utmost importance, that such a Season of grace should produce its work in our souls, — the renovation of the whole spiritual life. The Church, therefore, has instituted a preparation for the holy time of Lent. She gives us the three weeks of Septuagesima, during which she withdraws us, as much as may be, from the noisy distractions of the world, in order that our hearts may be the more readily impressed by the solemn warning she is to give us, at the commencement of Lent, by marking our foreheads with ashes.

https://fsspatl.com/liturgical-year/500-commentary-on-the-seasons/septuagesima/3628-chapter-1-the-history-of-septuagesima

Septuagesima Season has begun, to prepare us for Lent. What Mass are you attending Sunday?

Laudetur Iesus Christus! Tomorrow is the feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary, otherwise known as Candlemas. This day marks the end of the 40 day Christmas season and for those attending St. Thomas Aquinas parish tomorrow, it will feature a blessing of candles and a candlelight procession followed by Latin Mass (St. Ann will bless candles before 7am Novus Ordo Mass tomorrow morning – see below). We provide a special commentary on the prayers of Mass today by Dr. Mike Foley: https://www.newliturgicalmovement.org/2022/02/the-purifying-orations-of-candlemas.html#.Yfoun_hOmHs

We also provide a quote by Dom Prosper Gueranger from today’s reflection in The Liturgical Year:

At length, the Holy Family enters Jerusalem. The name of this holy City signifies Vision of Peace; and Jesus comes to bring her Peace. Let us consider the names of the three places in which our Redeemer began, continued, and ended his life on earth. He is conceived at Nazareth, which signifies a Flower; and Jesus is, as he tells us in the Canticle, the Flower of the field and the Lily of the valley, by whose fragrance we are refreshed. He is born at Bethlehem, the House of Bread; for he is the nourishment of our souls. He dies on the Cross in Jerusalem, and by his Blood he restores peace between heaven and earth, peace between men, peace within our own souls; and on this day of his Mother’s Purification, we shall find him giving us the pledge of this peace.

• February 2^nd – The Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary: https://fsspatl.com/liturgical-year/525-sanctoral-cycle/february/3065-february-2-the-purification-of-the-blessed-mary

Candlemas – Feast of the Purification Thursday February 2^nd

The 40 day Christmas season closes tomorrow, but not before the brilliant feast of Candles is celebrated, the 40^th day of Christmas.  Candlemas is known as the feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Leviticus 12:2-8), and candles were blessed on this day as a symbol of the Blessed Mother presenting the Light of the World (the Infant Jesus) to God in the Temple – hence it’s also called the feast of the Presentation.  Thus candles – representing the Light of Christ – are blessed on February 2nd. The next day, February 3^rd is the feast of St. Blaise, and the blessing of throats occurs with the candles blessed the day prior. Here are some of the Latin Masses for February 2nd:

• St. Ann, No Latin Mass. A traditional Latin blessing of Candles will occur before the 7am Novus Ordo Mass: Prior to the start of the 7am  Novus Ordo Mass, Fr. Jones will bless candles in the Traditional Rite. Please bring candles near the altar rails. Please arrive a few minutes early.
• St. Thomas Aquinas, 7pm – Latin Mass, blessing of candles and procession: Please bring candles to the table near the sanctuary to be blessed.
• St. Elizabeth of the Hill Country, Boone, NC – 9:30am Latin Mass, (100 miles northwest of Charlotte): Candle blessing at beginning of Mass.  
• Holy Cross, Kernersville, 7pm Latin Mass (90 miles north of Charlotte): Will include a blessing of candles.
• Prince of Peace, Taylors, SC – 7pm Latin Mass (100 miles southwest of Charlotte): Prince of Peace parish will offer a Latin Mass along with a blessing of candles. It is suggested to arrive 10-15 minutes early. Parish is located at 1209 Brushy Creek Road, Taylors, SC.  
• Our Lady of the Lake, Chapin, SC, – 6:30pm Latin Mass (100 miles south of Charlotte): Blessing of candles will take place at the beginning of Mass, followed by a procession. It will be offered at Our Lady of the Lake parish in Chapin, SC (195 Amicks Ferry Road, Chapin, SC)

Candle Instructions: Candles should be 51% beeswax or greater (no scented candles, etc.); packages should be opened and any plastic wrap should be removed to allow the candles to be blessed with Holy Water.

Customs of Candlemas

• To learn more about the traditions customs, and recipes for this feast day (including its influence on Groundhog Day), visit: https://www.fisheaters.com/customstimeafterepiphany3.html
• Dr Peter Kwasniewski compares the Latin candle blessing vs. the modern one: https://www.newliturgicalmovement.org/2021/02/a-comparison-of-old-and-new-blessing-of.html#.Yfos_fhOmHt

First Sunday in Salisbury

Lastly Sacred Heart parish in Salisbury will offer its 1^st Sunday Latin Mass at 4pm. Mass is offered by Fr. Putnam and Confessions will be offered 30 minutes prior to Mass. Afterwards a potluck will be held in the Brincefield Hall. Please bring a dish or dessert to share. For more information please contact the Salisbury Latin Mass Community at: www.salisburylmc.org

First Sunday Potluck at St. Thomas Aquinas

There will be a potluck after the 11:30am Sunday Latin Mass at St. Thomas Aquinas parish. Additionally, Fr. Codd will be offering a special blessing of breads in honor of St. Agatha – so please bring any breads you would like to have blessed.

Blessing of Bread Sunday February 5 – St. Ann parish

As noted above, Sunday is the feast day of St. Agatha and the CLMC and St. Ann parish will be organizing a blessing of bread after the 12:30pm Latin Mass at St. Ann parish.  There is an ancient tradition to bless bread on her feast day, and Father will bless bread with a traditional Latin blessing after Mass. Everyone is welcome to bring bread to be blessed – we will have a table available for bread blessing in the plaza.

The Labor of Bees

As noted above, it is appropriate to have 51% beeswax or greater candles blessed today as the 1962 Missal has a special prayer for blessing of beeswax candles only available on February 2^nd which specifically references the labor of bees in making the beeswax used for candles to be blessed. This prayer reads:

Holy Lord, Father almighty, everlasting God, who hast created all things out of nothing, and by Thy command hast caused this liquid to become perfect wax by the labour of bees…

Bees take on special meaning in the symbolism of the spiritual life, as the CLMC’s own Chris Lauer explained in his article, because they sacrifice themselves for others:

• On Candles and Sacrifice: https://liturgyguy.com/2017/01/31/on-candles-and-sacrifice/

Dom Prosper Gueranger expounds further in The Liturgical Year, on the other symbols of wax, bees, the candles:

The mystery of today’s ceremony has frequently been explained by liturgists, dating from the 7th century. According to St. Ivo of Chartres, the wax—which is formed from the juice of flowers by the bee (which has always been considered as the emblem of virginity)—signifies the virginal flesh of the Divine Infant, who diminished not, either by his conception or his birth, the spotless purity of his Blessed Mother. The same holy Bishop would have us see, in the flame of our Candle, a symbol of Jesus, who came to enlighten our darkness. St. Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury, speaking on the same mystery, bids us consider three things in the blessed Candle: the Wax, the Wick, and the Flame. The Wax, he says, which is the production of the virginal bee, is the Flesh of our Lord; the Wick, which is within, is his Soul; the Flame, which burns on the top, is his Divinity.

Lastly, in case you missed yesterday’s announcement about Saturday’s 1^st Saturday schedule change, and upcoming talks at St. Thomas Aquinas including one on Fatima, and the FSSP’s Lenten Mission, please see this update: https://charlottelatinmass.org/2023/01/31/st-thomas-aquinas-parish-fssp-lenten-mission-upcoming-talks/

Laudetur Iesus Christus! We thank everyone who joined us for the end-of-Christmas celebration on Sunday, and for the many who provided delicious dishes and treats. Moreover we thank the Cantate Domino Latin Choir for helping to close Christmas with their joyful and festive singing. We have a few upcoming seminars this coming month (in reverse order).

St. Thomas Aquinas Lenten Mission: February 27 – March 1, 7pm

As Christmas ends this week, the Church, through the Traditional Rite, now begins to focus on the coming season of Lent. With that focus, we are pleased to announce that St. Thomas Aquinas parish will again be inviting a Fraternity of St. Peter priest, Fr. Joseph Portzer, FSSP, for a mission – this time for Lent (he also gave the Advent retreat).  The schedule will feature a mission talk at 7pm as well as confessions prior at 6pm each evening. We can’t express enough the blessing of having this mission and encourage everyone to take advantage of this wonderful event.

The schedule is as follows:

• Monday February 27 – 6pm Confessions, 7pm talk
• Tuesday February 28 – 6pm Confessions, 7pm talk
• Wednesday March 1 – 6pm Confessions,7pm mission talk.  

For those new to the Latin Mass, the Fraternity of St Peter is a congregation of priests who offer the Latin Mass exclusively and staff chapels and parishes throughout North America and the world. Two members of our community and St. Ann parish are enrolled in the FSSP seminary in Nebraska. We are grateful St. Thomas Aquinas parish for offering this timely mission.

Fatima Seminar – Fatima: Why The Time Is Now! – Sunday February 12, 2pm

St. Thomas Aquinas parish is hosting a special Fatima seminar featuring David Rodriguez of the Fatima Center, and Charles Fraune, author of Slaying Dragons, and St. Thomas Aquinas Latin Mass attendee. Both will be giving talks on the importance of the Fatima message and it will take place in Aquinas Hall after the Latin Mass at 2pm on Sunday February 12. All are invited to attend. Please see link for event details.

Special 1^st Saturday Latin Mass Time of 8:30am this Weekend (Saturday February 4)

The first Saturday Latin Mass at St. Thomas Aquinas parish this Saturday February 4 will be at 8:30am (not 10am). The blessing of religious objects is canceled for this Saturday. This change is due to a 10am special talk on the Church’s teaching marriage given by convert and EWTN host David Anders.

Candlemas Thursday & First Sunday in Salisbury

As a reminder, St. Thomas Aquinas parish will be offering the Candlemas as the regular 7pm Latin Mass this Thursday February 2. It will also feature the Traditional blessing of candles and a candlelight procession – all part of the liturgy for the evening. If you have not been to a traditional Candlemas before, this would be an excellent opportunity to attend.

Lastly Sacred Heart parish in Salisbury will offer its 1^st Sunday Latin Mass at 4pm. Mass is offered by Fr. Putnam and Confessions will be offered 30 minutes prior to Mass. Afterwards a potluck will be held in the Brincefield Hall. Please bring a dish or dessert to share. For more information please contact the Salisbury Latin Mass Community at: www.salisburylmc.org

Laudetur Iesus Christus! Sunday is the fourth Sunday of Epiphany and this year, the last Sunday of the Christmas season. As custom, we share a commentary on this Sunday’s prayers for the Latin Mass: https://www.newliturgicalmovement.org/2022/01/the-stormy-orations-of-fourth-sunday.html

TODAY Sunday January 29 – Annual End of Christmas Potluck Celebration, 12:30pm St. Ann parish: After today’s 12:30pm Latin Mass, the CLMC will be hosting the annual end-of-Christmas potluck in the plaza with festive food, and a Christmas carol sung by the Cantate Domino Latin Girl’s choir.  Please consider bringing a dish or dessert to share.

Latin Masses This Week

• Wednesday February 1, 6pm – St. Ann parish, feast of St. Ignatius, bishop and martyr
• Thursday February 2, 7pm – St. Thomas Aquinas, feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary (See schedule below)
• Friday February 3, 7am (St. Ann) & 12:30pm (St. Mark) – feria and commemoration of St. Blaise (blessing of throats)
• Saturday February 4, ***8:30am*** – St. Thomas Aquinas, first Saturday and feast of St. Andrew Corsini, bishop (*** Special 8:30am Mass, no 10am Mass due to talk, no blessing – see below)

IMPORTANT – First Saturday Latin Schedule Change – Saturday February 4

The first Saturday Latin Mass at St. Thomas Aquinas parish will be at 8:30am on Saturday February 4 (not 10am). The blessing of religious objects is canceled for this Saturday. This change is due to a speaker the parish is hosting later in the morning.

Candlemas – Feast of the Purification, Thursday February 2^nd (40^th day of Christmas)

Candlemas, the 40^th and last day of Christmas, is also known as the feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and candles were blessed on this day as a symbol of the Blessed Mother presenting the Light of the World to God in the Temple.  The next day, the feast of St. Blaise (February 3), the candles blessed the day prior are used for the blessing of throats. Here are the announced events for February 2^nd:

• St. Ann: Blessing of candles before the 7am Novus Ordo Mass (no Latin Mass that day)
• St. Thomas Aquinas: 7pm Latin Mass including a blessing of candles and a candlelight procession. If you haven’t attended a traditional Candlemas before, the Mass at St. Thomas Aquinas will be well worth it. If you have candles to be blessed, please arrive early, and one can place their candles on a table in the church.
• Our Lady of the Lake, Chapin, SC, 6:30pm Latin Mass and procession (2 hours south of Charlotte)
• Note: Candles should be white/unbleached/natural, unscented and at least 51% or more beeswax.

Customs of Candlemas

• To learn more about the traditions customs, and recipes for this feast day (including its influence on Groundhog Day), visit: https://www.fisheaters.com/customstimeafterepiphany3.html
• We also wanted to share a special article that the CLMC’s Chris Lauer wrote a few years ago about the link between candles & sacrifice: https://liturgyguy.com/2017/01/31/on-candles-and-sacrifice/

Blessing of Bread – Sunday February 5: Next Sunday is the feast day of St. Agatha and the CLMC and St. Ann parish will be organizing a blessing of bread after the 12:30pm Latin Mass. There is an ancient tradition to bless bread on her feast day, and Father will bless bread with a traditional Latin blessing after Mass. Everyone is welcome to bring bread to be blessed – we will have a table available for bread blessing in the plaza.

Septuagesima season begins Sunday February 5: As a reminder, with Christmas/Epiphany season closing, the pre-lent season of Septuagesima will begin Sunday February 5.  This marks the 70-day period before Easter, and the 3 week reminder that Lent is soon coming and to begin preparing. To learn more visit:https://www.fisheaters.com/customsseptuagesima1.html

Holy Face Devotions

• St Mark – Mondays 5-5:45pm (NEW TIME for JANUARY)
• 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?

Don’t Stop Celebrating: After Christmas Day, Christmas Continues

Although the Christmas season ends in just a few days, the Church through her ancient liturgical calendar continues to celebrate the Christmas season by commemorating saints and blessed who had or reflected devotion to the Infant King. Dom Prosper Gueranger, the great Benedictine liturgist and author of the magnificent, The Liturgical Year, notes two of them over the past few days:

January 28 – Blessed Charlemagne: Gueranger lays out quite convincingly, that contrary to his detractors, Charlemagne, the great eighth century Frankish King and Holy Roman Emperor was indeed a man of virtue after his conversion, and was one of the greatest Kings of Christendom. Although his feast is only kept locally, Gueranger explains why Charles I is connected to Christmas: Charlemagne, then, has been selected by our Emmanuel himself to be the perfect type of a Christian Prince; and we Catholics should love to celebrate his glory during this Christmas season, during which is born among us the Divine Child, who is come to reign over all nations, and guide them in the path of holiness and justice. Jesus has come from heaven to be the model of Kings, as of the rest of men; and so far, no man has so closely imitated this divine model as “Charles the Victorious, the ever August, the Monarch crowned by God.” https://fsspatl.com/liturgical-year/506-sanctoral-cycle/january/3060-january-29-st-francis-of-sales-bishop

January 29 – St. Francis de Sales:  Of the many things St. Francis de Sales, the great bishop of Geneva (who converted 72,000 protestants back to the faith), was known for, was his devotion to Incarnation, the Infant Jesus. Gueranger shares a reflection St. Francis wrote a reflection about the Bethlehem shepherds to his friend St. Jane Frances de Chantel: “Returning home from celebrating these sacred mysteries, I rest awhile in thus sending you my Happy Christmas! for I dare say that the poor Shepherds took some little rest, after they had adored the Babe announced to them by the Angels. And as I thought of their sleep on that night, I said to myself: How sweetly must they not have slept, dreaming of the sacred melody wherewith the Angels told them the glad tidings, and of the dear Child and the Mother they had been to see!”   https://fsspatl.com/liturgical-year/506-sanctoral-cycle/january/3059-january-28-the-same-day-the-blessed-charlemagne-emperor

If one hasn’t yet read Dr. Peter Kwasniewski’s uplifting essay on keeping the 40 Days of Christmas, we highly recommend it and re-share it: https://www.lifesitenews.com/blogs/dont-stop-celebrating-after-christmas-day-christmas-continues-2/

Latin Mass & Traditional News

• Book Recommendation – Aquinas’s Lenten Meditations: With Lent approaching, the Fraternity of St. Peter’s bookstore (Fraternity Publications) is recommending a newly published book which features 40 days of Lenten reflections by St. Thomas Aquinas: https://fraternitypublications.com/product/aquinass-lenten-meditations/

• On Singing Gregorian Chant Artfully (Part 1): Dr. Peter Kwasniewski gives some helpful guidance for those seeking to learn Gregorian chant, or those choir directors seeking to implementing chant at their parish: https://onepeterfive.com/on-singing-gregorian-chant-artfully-part-1/

• Exemplaric Baptism: One of the feasts celebrated in this Epiphanytide is the Baptism of Our Lord Jesus Christ, which was celebrated on the octave of Epiphany, January 13. Fr. William Rock, FSSP, a priest of the Fraternity of St. Peter offers a reflection on baptism and a reminder to have gratitude for this most important gift of faith: https://fssp.com/exemplaric-baptism/

• The Irish Fight for the Latin Mass – Part 1: OnePeterFive has an intriguing introductory article on the Irish’s fight for the Latin Mass during the time of King Henry VIII, when he was suppressing the Catholic faith throughout England as well as Ireland. We will try to share Part II when it becomes available. Here is the first part: https://onepeterfive.com/irish-fight-latin-mass-part-1/
  
• This Real Exorcist is Revealing Details on Driving Out Satan: At Friday’s Latin Mass at St. Mark parish, Fr. Putnam preached on exorcism and mentioned exorcist Fr. Carlos Martins’ exorcist work. LifeSiteNews recently published an interview with him that can be found here: https://www.lifesitenews.com/episodes/this-real-exorcist-is-revealing-details-on-driving-out-satan/

St. John Chrysostom’s Advice on Threatening Storms

There is much to be seemingly worried today about the crisis in the Church – and even the fate of the Latin Mass. Yet what do the saints think about such times? We can only share the great and timely exhortation by the golden-mouthed doctor of the Church, St. John Chrysostom, whose feast day was this past Friday (January 27). We share a few excerpts from Dom Gueranger’s entry in his book, The Liturgical Year:  

‘Many are the waves, and threatening are the storms, which surround me; but I fear them not; for I am standing on the Rock. Let the sea roar; it cannot wash away the Rock: Let the billows mount as they will; they cannot sink the barque of our Lord Jesus Christ. And tell me, what would you have me fear? Death? To me, to live is Christ; and to die is gain. Exile? The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof.  Confiscation of my goods? We brought nothing into this world; and certainly we can carry nothing out. No—the evils of this world are contemptible, and its goods deserve but to be laughed at. I fear not poverty, I desire not riches; I neither fear to die, nor wish to live, save for your advantage. Your interest alone induces me to speak of these things, and to ask of you, by the love you bear me, to take courage…

‘…The devil no sooner saw that your City was tranquillized, than he plotted how he might disturb the Church. Thou wicked and most impious spirit! thou couldst not throw down the walls of a city; and thinkest thou thou canst make the Church fall? Does the Church consist of walls? The Church consists of the multitude of the faithful. Look at her pillars, and see how solid they are, fastened, not by iron, but by faith. Not only is the great multitude itself more vehement than fire, but even one single Christian would conquer thee. Hast thou forgotten the wounds thou receivedst from the martyrs? Oftentimes the combatant was a tender maiden: delicate as a flower, yet firmer than a rock…

‘…If thou wilt not believe his word, believe facts. How many tyrants have sought to crush the Church? They had their gridirons and fiery furnaces, and wild beasts, and swords—and all failed. Where are those enemies now? Buried and forgotten. And the Church? Brighter than the sun. All they had is now past; but her riches are immortal. If the Christians conquered when they were but few in number, canst thou hope to vanquish them, now that the whole earth is filled with the holy religion? Heaven and earth shall pass, but my words shall not pass. Wonder not at it; for the Church is dearer unto God than the very heavens. He took flesh not from heaven, but from his Church on earth; and heaven is for the Church, not the Church for heaven.

January 27 – St. John Chrysostom: https://fsspatl.com/liturgical-year/506-sanctoral-cycle/january/3057-january-27-st-john-chrysostom-bishop-and-doctor-of-the-church

CLMC comment: Buried and forgotten. These golden words should provide great encouragement in the face of such worries and anxieties about the crisis in the Church and her ability to overcome her adversaries.  St. John Chrysostom, pray for us!

What Mass are you attending Sunday?

Laudetur Iesus Christus! This Sunday January 29 after the 12:30pm St. Ann Latin Mass, the CLMC will host its annual end of Christmas celebration.

As one may recall, in the Traditional Rite, the Christmas season extends for 40 days until the feast of the Purification, Thursday February 2^nd. This Sunday will be the final Sunday of the Christmas season, and we will be closing it out with our annual Christmas potluck. Please consider bringing a dessert or dish to share. The event will be held in the plaza.

Most importantly, we are also especially pleased to announce that, as custom, the Cantate Domino Latin Choir (Latin girls’ choir) will again sing a Christmas carol (wassailing song) to close out this festive period. Please make plans to attend.

4th Saturday Latin Mass

Lastly, this Saturday 8am is the 4th Saturday Respect Life Mass at St. Ann parish and afterwards prayers at Planned Parenthood abortion facility (no Holy Hour in the church).

 

Laudetur Iesus Christus! Sunday is the third Sunday after Epiphany, and as custom we share a reflection on the prayers for Sunday’s Latin Mass: https://www.newliturgicalmovement.org/2021/01/the-secret-for-third-sunday-after.html#.YezdS_hOmHs

SAVE THE DATE: Next Sunday January 29 – Annual End of Christmas Potluck Celebration, 12:30pm St. Ann parish: Please save the date for next Sunday January 29, the fourth Sunday of Epiphany and the final Sunday of the Christmas season. As we do each year the CLMC will be organizing a potluck after the 12:30pm St. Ann Latin Mass in the plaza with festive food, and a Christmas carol.  Please consider bringing a dish or dessert to share.

Latin Masses This Week

• Wednesday January 25, 6pm – St. Ann, feast of St. Paul’s Conversion (Octave Day of Christian Unity)
• Thursday January 26, 7pm – St. Thomas Aquinas, feast of St. Polycarp
• Friday January 27, 7am (St. Ann) & 12:30pm (St. Mark), St. John Chrysostom
• Saturday January 28, 8am – St. Ann, Respect Life Latin Mass, St. Peter Nolasco (2^nd Commemoration of St. Agnes) (Followed by prayers at the abortion facility afterwards)

Candlemas – Feast of the Purification, Thursday February 2^nd (40^th day of Christmas)

Candlemas, the 40^th and last day of Christmas, is also known as the feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and candles were blessed on this day as a symbol of the Blessed Mother presenting the Light of the World to God in the Temple.  The next day, the feast of St. Blaise (February 3), the candles blessed the day prior are used for the blessing of throats. Here are the announced events for February 2^nd:

• St. Ann: Blessing of candles before the 7am Novus Ordo Mass (no Latin Mass that day)
• St. Thomas Aquinas: 7pm Latin Mass including a blessing of candles and a candlelight procession. If you haven’t attended a traditional Candlemas before, the Mass at St. Thomas Aquinas will be well worth it. If you have candles to be blessed, please arrive early, and one can place their candles on a table in the church.
• Our Lady of the Lake, Chapin, SC, 6:30pm Latin Mass and procession (2 hours south of Charlotte)
• Purchasing candles for February 2^nd: With Candlemas coming, if one wants to order 100% pure beeswax candles, Lux Candles operated by a Catholic family in South Dakota is a good choice. One has to place orders the old fashioned way – via telephone. http://www.luxcandlecompany.com/

IMPORTANT – First Saturday Latin Schedule Change – Saturday February 4

The first Saturday Latin Mass at St. Thomas Aquinas parish will be at 8:30am on Saturday February 4 (not 10am). The blessing of religious objects is canceled for this Saturday. This change is due to a speaker the parish is hosting later in the morning.

Don’t Stop Celebrating Christmas: After Christmas Day, Christmas

As we celebrate Epiphanytide, the Christmas season continues until February 2^nd – and we encourage our readers to learn how to keep the embers of the Christmas season burning for the next few weeks by reading this excellent 2019 article by Dr. Peter Kwasniewski: https://www.lifesitenews.com/blogs/dont-stop-celebrating-after-christmas-day-christmas-continues-2

Monday January 23 – Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children

The U.S. Bishops have declared tomorrow Monday January 23 a day of prayer and penance for the end abortion (transferred to Monday since January 22 falls on a Sunday this year): https://www.respectlife.org/january-22

Community News

Holy Face Devotions

• St Mark – Mondays 5-5:45pm (NEW TIME for JANUARY)
• 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 the Octave of Christian Unity: As noted at the conclusion of this update below, January 18 was the ancient feast of St. Peter’s Chair in Rome and the beginning of the Church Unity Octave, a time where the Church prayers that all separate sects will unite with Rome and become Catholic. The octave concludes on January 25, the feast of the conversion of St. Paul the Apostle. OnePeterFive has an helpful article on the lost customs of this 8-day period of prayer: https://onepeterfive.com/forgotten-customs-octave-christian-unity

• “Ad Orientem”: Why is the Mass Celebrated Facing East?: For Latin Mass newcomers, one of the most stark differences observed at the Latin Mass (besides Latin) is that the priest faces God when offering Mass, which is also known as facing liturgical east (ad orientem). Why does the priest face east or the tabernacle instead of the people? A Fraternity of St. Peter priest has a helpful article explaining this important liturgical orientation: https://fssp.com/ad-orientem-why-is-the-mass-celebrated-facing-east/

• R.I.P. Howard Walsh: The name Howard Walsh may not sound familiar to many Latin Mass attendees today, but the work he did helped restore the Traditional Latin Mass and the traditional faith that accompanies the liturgy. Specifically he founded Keep the Faith, an organization which publishes Latin Mass Magazine, which the CLMC has passed out at our tables over the years at St. Ann, St. Thomas Aquinas, as well as at many prior Eucharistic Congresses. During the more restrictive eras such as the 1980s, Keep the Faith was known for organizing Latin Mass conferences across the U.S. which helped introduce and catechize the next generation of faithful in the Traditional Rite. One can still find some of those talks at their website: https://keepthefaith.org/ Please consider praying for the repose of the soul of Mr. Walsh in one’s Latin Mass intentions this week. We share Michael Matt’s (The Remnant) eulogy and obituary of Mr. Walsh: https://remnantnewspaper.com/web/index.php/headline-news-around-the-world/item/6347-pioneer-of-the-latin-mass-movement-howard-walsh-rip

• 230 Years – Louis XVI, Saintly King, true Martyr: a Catholic going to death and His Last Will and Testament: Also noteworthy of mention is that Saturday was the 230^th anniversary of the death of King Louis XVI of France, who died at the hands of the French revolutionaries in 1793. Rorate Caeli blog has shared his last will and testament which demonstrates his pious faith: https://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2023/01/230-years-louis-xvi-saintly-king-true.html
  
  Catholics often remember King Louis XVI as a poor victim of the heinous and evil French Revolution (one of the most diabolical events/periods in history). However, as this Dominican priest notes below, we Americans should think of him in a deeper light. It was with the King’s aid and financing, that the French army and navy, assisted America in defeating the British at Yorktown in 1781 and helped win the country’s independence. That act of generosity essentially bankrupted France, and led to the chain of events that began the French Revolution and ultimately cost King Louis, and his devout Catholic wife, Marie Antoinette, their heads. As an act of gratitude one perhaps may wish to keep him and his wife in our Latin Mass intentions this weekend: See the Dominican article here: https://www.dominicanajournal.org/wp-content/files/old-journal-archive/vol15/no2/dominicanav15n2kinglouisxvibenefactoramericam.pdf

• Update on the Grand Altarpiece of the Church of the Fraternity of St Vincent Ferrer: Rorate Caeli blog also shares the beautiful progress of the commissioning of a new altarpiece for the Fraternity of St. Vincent Ferrer’s church. For those unfamiliar with this fraternity (not to be confused with the Fraternity of St. Peter/FSSP), they are a traditional French Dominican monastery which offers the traditional Dominican Rite Mass exclusively. This Mass is very similar to the Traditional Latin Mass but is for the exclusive use of Dominican priests. Sadly after Vatican II, the Dominicans discontinued this rite for the Novus Ordo. However, Dominican priests can still offer the traditional Dominican Rite, and in fact, St. Ann hosted a Dominican Rite Mass several years ago. With the Fraternity of St. Vincent Ferrer (FSVF), we share photos of their new altar piece which gives us great hope about the future of the Latin Mass despite the current era of restrictions: https://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2023/01/update-on-grand-altarpiece-of-church-of.html

• Pontifical Mass in Sulphur, Louisiana: We are pleased to share that a bishop in Louisiana recently visited a Latin Mass parish in his diocese and offered a Pontifical Mass for the feast of St. Thomas Beckett. The parish is staffed by priests of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest which offer the Traditional Latin Mass exclusively and operate parishes in the U.S. and across the world: https://www.institute-christ-king.org/1388-pontifical-mass-in-sulphur

January 18 – the Ancient feast of the Chair of St. Peter in Rome

This past Wednesday January 18 was listed as a feria day (no feast day), but in earlier eras, it was actually the feast of the Chair of St. Peter in Rome. This may cause a little confusion to some as February 22 is currently listed as the Chair of St. Peter, but in prior years, the latter February feast was to celebrate St. Peter’s first bishopric in Antioch (modern day Turkey). On January 18 however was celebrated the feast of St. Peter’s Chair in Rome – his Pontifical See.

• The Two Feasts of St Peter’s Chair by Greg DiPippo: https://www.newliturgicalmovement.org/2022/01/the-two-feasts-of-st-peters-chair.html#.Yezz4fhOmHt

With so much turmoil and problems in Rome today, it may be helpful (and edifying) to learn about Rome’s vocation as envisioned by God, for the Catholic Church, and how God used the infrastructure of Roman Empire to help establish his Church and evangelize the faith – once the mighty pagan empire was conquered (Apocalypse 18 & 19). Here is Dom Prosper Gueranger’s OSB reflection (in The Liturgical Year) which includes a wonderful sermon on Rome from St. Leo the Great:

“When Peter enters Rome, therefore, he comes to realize and explain the destinies of this Queen of Cities; he comes to promise her an Empire even greater than the one she possesses This new Empire is not to be founded by the sword, as was the first. Rome has been hitherto the proud mistress of nations; henceforth she is to be the Mother of the world by Charity; and though all peaceful, yet her Empire shall last to the end of time. Let us listen to St Leo the Great, describing to us in one of the finest of his Sermons, and in his own magnificent style, the humble yet all-eventful entrance of the Fisherman of Genesareth into the Capital of the Pagan world.

‘The good and just and omnipotent God, who never refused his mercy to the human race, and instructed all men in general in the knowledge of himself by his superabundant benefits, took pity, by a more hidden counsel and a deeper love, on the voluntary blindness of them that had gone astray, and on the wickedness which was growing in its proneness to evil; and sent therefore into the world his co-equal and co-eternal Word. The which Word being made Flesh did so unite the divine to the human nature, as that the deep debasement of the one was the highest uplifting of the other.

But that the effect of this unspeakable gift might be diffused throughout the entire world, the providence of God had been preparing the Roman Empire, which had so far extended its limits as to embrace in itself all the nations of the earth. For nothing could be better suited to the divine plan than the confederation of various kingdoms under one and the same Empire; and the preaching of the Gospel to the whole world would the more rapidly be effected by having the several nations united under the government of one common City.

But this City, ignoring the author of this her promotion, whilst mistress of almost every nation under the sun, was the slave of every nation’s errors; and prided herself on having a grand religion, because she had admitted every false doctrine. So that the faster the devil’s hold of her, the more admirable her deliverance by Christ.

For when the twelve Apostles, after receiving by the Holy Ghost the gift of tongues, divided among themselves the world they had to evangelize, the most blessed Peter, the Prince of the Apostolic order, was sent to the Capital of the Roman Empire, in order that the light of truth, which had been revealed for the salvation of all nations, might the more effectively flow from the head itself into the whole body of the world.

The fact was that there were in this City people belonging to every nation, and the rest of the world soon learnt whatever was taught at Rome. Here, therefore, were to be refuted the opinions of philosophy; here the follies of human wisdom to be exploded; here the worship of devils to be convicted of blasphemy; here the impiety of all the sacrifices to be first abolished; for it was here that an official superstition had systematized into one great whole the fragmentary errors of every other portion of the earth.’”

• January 18 – St. Peter’s Chair at Rome: https://fsspatl.com/liturgical-year/506-sanctoral-cycle/january/3044-january-18-st-peter-s-chair-at-rome

What Mass are you attending Sunday?

Laudetur Iesus Christus! Sunday is the second Sunday after Epiphany, which commemorates the third manifestation of Christ during Christmastide, which focuses on his first public miracle at the wedding at Cana.  As custom we provide commentary on the prayers of the Mass by Dr. Mike Foley: https://www.newliturgicalmovement.org/2021/01/the-orations-of-second-sunday-after.html#.YeNrlvhOmHt  (please also see our “Christmas Continues” section below for additional articles)

Epiphany Blessing Thanks: We thank everyone’s patience as St. Ann parish rescheduled the Epiphany blessing of water, chalk and salt. We were also blessed to have two priests, Frs. Jones and Reid and members of the St. Ann schola involved with the blessing that evening. We thank Frs. Reid, Jones, and St. Ann parish for offering this important blessing and please offer a few prayers for them this weekend. The Epiphany water will be in the narthex while quantities last, please bring your empty water bottles (St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Mark parishes also have quantities available as well)

Latin Masses This Week

• Wednesday January 18, 6pm – St. Ann, Feria (no feast day commemorated today)
• Thursday January 19, 7pm – St. Thomas Aquinas, Feria (no feast day) – This will be a Requiem Mass for the repose of the soul of Pope Benedict XVI
• Friday January 20, 7am (St. Ann) & 12:30pm (St. Mark), Ss. Fabian & Sebastian

Requiem Mass for Pope Benedict XVI – Thursday January 19, 7pm (St. Thomas Aquinas): As noted above, St. Thomas Aquinas parish will be offering this Thursday’s 7pm Latin Mass as a requiem for the repose of the soul of Pope Benedict XVI.

Save the Date: Sunday January 29 – Annual End of Christmas Potluck Celebration, 12:30pm St. Ann parish: Please save the date for Sunday January 29, the fourth Sunday of Epiphany and the final Sunday of the Christmas season. As we do each year the CLMC will be organizing a potluck after the 12:30pm St. Ann Latin Mass in the plaza with festive food, and a Christmas carol.  We will share more details in the weeks ahead.

Blessing of Candles – Thursday February 2^nd: The official close of the Christmas season occurs on Candlemas, the feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary (February 2nd), and as custom St. Ann parish will bless candles. Since there is no Latin Mass at St. Ann on Thursdays, parishioners will need to bring their candles before the 7am Novus Ordo Mass. Additionally, St. Thomas Aquinas will have a Latin Mass this evening. We will share more details as they become available.

Community News

Holy Face Devotions

• St Mark – Mondays 5-5:45pm (NEW TIME for JANUARY)
• 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

• Fr. Chad Ripperger on the state of evil in 2023: Last week we shared an interview with traditional exorcist and theologian, Fr. Chad Ripperger (who will be visiting St. Thomas Aquinas parish on March 10 & 11) on the state of the Church. This week, we are pleased share his full talk given at a parish in Wisconsin which goes into greater detail on his opinion of what lies ahead: https://stmarypinebluff.com/sermons/fr-chad-ripperger-on-the-state-of-evil-in-2023/

• Serenade to Our Lady of Guadalupe: The Fraternity of St. Peter, a society of Latin Mass priests, operates a traditional seminary in Nebraska under the patroness of Our Lady of Guadalupe (of which two St. Ann parishioners are studying/discerning the priesthood). Each December 12, on the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, several seminarians serenade Our Lady with some beautiful chants and traditional Marian hymns: https://fssp.com/serenade-to-our-lady-of-guadalupe/

• Wisconsin bishop eliminates Latin Mass at parish churches: A bishop in Wisconsin has reportedly restricted all Latin Masses in his diocese to non-diocesan chapels, including Cardinal Burke’s Our Lady of Guadalupe Shrine, St. Mary’s Oratory (operated by priests of the Institute of Christ the King), and the Cor Jesu Oratory operated by the Institute of St. Joseph. Please continue to pray for the bishops: https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/wisconsin-bishop-eliminates-latin-mass-at-parish-churches/

CLMC comment: It appears, for the time being, that Latin Mass restrictions are being focused on diocesan priests and diocesan parishes.

• Gerhard Ludwig Müller: “Pope Francis’ clampdown on the Latin Mass was an imprudence”: Recently Cardinal Gerhard Mueller, for former head of the Congregation of Doctrine and Faith under Pope Benedict has becoming increasingly vocal with his concerns regarding decisions coming from Rome, and has recently called the Latin Mass restrictions, imprudent: https://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2023/01/gerhard-ludwig-muller-pope-francis.html

• Pope Benedict thought Pope Francis’ restriction of the Latin Mass was a ‘mistake’: Abp. Gänswein reveals: Archbishop Georg Gänswein, Pope Benedict XVI’s long time secretary, has released a book about his time serving Cardinal Ratzinger in the Vatican Curia, and later as Pope. Of interest, he shares Pope Benedict’s opinion that the Latin Mass restrictions were a “mistake”. Learn more here: https://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2023/01/rorate-exclusive-first-translation-of.html and here: https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/pope-benedict-thought-pope-francis-restriction-of-the-latin-mass-was-a-mistake-abp-ganswein-reveals/

• Midnight Mass from St. Thomas Aquinas: One of our readers shared an beautiful video by one of the attendees of the Christmas Midnight Latin Mass at St. Thomas Aquinas this past Christmas: https://youtu.be/a7Wp8bjP9uY

• Vatican II and the American Deep State: Once upon a time, when the Catholic Church was more fervent and orthodox, a powerful secular state decided that the Catholic Church threatened its hegemony and so it directed its intelligence agencies and corporate media organizations to wage a propaganda war against the Church to undermine her, and encourage her to abandon her teachings, specifically on Church and state. This traditional doctrine would instead be replaced with secularist ideals such as religious indifferentism, relativism, or freedom of religion, where the Church and her teaching were equal to heretical or pagan religious teachings. This government then found influential Catholic priests and intellectuals to be the mouthpiece for this new “teaching” and to advocate for these ideas at a recently planned Church council.
  
  Sadly, the above sentences were not fables, but according to this OnePeterFive article, this agenda appears to have happened in the mid-20^th century: https://onepeterfive.com/vatican-ii-american-deep-state/

CLMC comment: If this indeed occurred, what else could governments, intelligence agencies, and corporate media have done to influence or harm the Church, especially in the last 50 years? 

The Epiphany Afterglow – Don’t Stop Celebrating: After Christmas Day, Christmas Continues

Epiphanytide now continues into its second week. While the secular world has long forgotten the decorations, “songs”, and feasts of Christmas, and is going through a desolate, self-imposed winter fast (until the solemn “feast” of Superbowl Sunday), the Church, through the Traditional Latin Mass, is still in the midst of its Christmas season, which runs from December 25 – February 2^nd.  As noted above, today is the second Sunday in Epiphanytide, the extended Christmas season and this article from Dr. Peter Kwasniewski describes Sunday’s commemoration:

“The three great theophanies or divine manifestations honored in this season—namely, the visit of the Magi, the baptism in the Jordan, and the wedding of Cana—are given their full individual due, without haste, without unseemly compression or alternation. Indeed, there is a leisurely feel to this Epiphany season, a sense of time suspended. It is as if Holy Mother Church, like a mother watching her children grow up too fast, cannot quite resign herself to parting from the young Christ.

Epiphanytide is the afterglow of the revelation of Christ to the world, Christ who is the true Enlightenment against which the devil vainly (although at times with considerable temporary success) attempts to establish his substitutes—most especially the rationalist and liberal worldview under which Catholics have been living, and which they have slowly adopted, over the past several centuries, to the near extinction of their liturgical life.”

• Basking in the glow of Epiphany: The wedding feast at Cana: https://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2018/01/basking-in-glow-of-epiphany-wedding.html

The Baptism of Our Lord Jesus Christ/Octave Day of Epiphany

This past Friday January 13, was one of the major feasts of Christmastide – the Baptism Of Our Lord Jesus Christ, traditionally called the Octave Day of Epiphany (Prior to 1955, Epiphany had its own Octave or eight days of celebration) and we share a reflection by Dom Prosper Gueranger, the great Benedictine liturgist and author of The Liturgical Year, for the Baptism of Jesus/Octave of Epiphany: https://fsspatl.com/liturgical-year/447-temporal-cycle/season-of-christmas/epiphanytide/3426-january-13-the-octave-of-the-epiphany

When Does the Christmas Season End?

Additionally, there appears to be debate among some about whether Christmas season ends on January 13 or February 2. Thankfully, Greg DiPippo helped to clear this up a few years ago (spoiler alert: it ends on February 2nd): https://www.newliturgicalmovement.org/2018/01/when-does-christmas-season-end.html#.YeNtVvhOmHs

St. Hilary, Confessor and Bishop – January 14

As we move further into Christmastide, the Church introduces more feast days of saints in mid to late January who at first glance may seem to have no connection to Christmas. But as Dom Prosper Gueranger, the great Benedictine liturgist and author of The Liturgical Year, notes in his entry about the fourth century bishop St. Hilary of Poitiers, it has everything to do with Christmas, including his connection to St. Thomas Beckett’s feast (December 29) which occurs in the Christmas Octave:

“AFTER having consecrated the joyous Octave of the Epiphany to the glory of the Emmanuel who was manifested to the earth, the Church—incessantly occupied with the Divine Child and his august Mother, during the whole time from Christmas Day to that whereon Mary will bring Jesus to the Temple, there to be offered to God, as the law prescribes—the Church, we say, has on her Calendar of this portion of the year the names of many glorious Saints, who shine like so many stars on the path which leads us, from the joys of the Nativity of our Lord, to the sacred mystery of our Lady’s Purification.

And firstly there comes before us, on the very morrow of the day consecrated to the Baptism of Jesus, the faithful and courageous Hilary—the pride of the Churches of Gaul, and the worthy associate of Athanasius and Eusebius of Vercelli in the battle fought for the Divinity of our Emmanuel.

…A few days ago we were celebrating the Feast of our holy Martyr, St Thomas of Canterbury; today, we have the Feast of the glorious Confessor, whose example enlightened and encouraged him in the great struggle. Both Hilary and Thomas a Becket were obedient to the teaching left to the Pastors of the Church by the Apostles; who, when they were arraigned the first time before the authorities of this world, uttered this great maxim: We ought to obey God rather than men.[Acts 5:29]

The Apostles and the Saints were strong in the battle against flesh and blood, only because they were detached from earthly goods, and were convinced that the true riches of a Christian and a Bishop consist in the humility and poverty of the Crib, and that the only victorious power is in the imitation of the simplicity and the weakness of the Child that is born unto us. They relished the lessons of the School of Bethlehem; hence no promise of honours, of riches, or even of peace, could make them swerve from the principles of the Gospel.”

• January 14 – Feast of St. Hilary: https://fsspatl.com/liturgical-year/506-sanctoral-cycle/january/3037-jan-14-st-hilary-bishop-confessor-and-doctor-of-the-church

In the Traditional Latin Mass, the Christmas season continues in the afterglow of Epiphanytide. What Mass are you attending Sunday?