Dear Friends of the Charlotte Latin Mass Community,
Laudetur Iesus Christus!  
We would like to start today by renewing our recommendation of the publication, Benedictus, the Traditional Mass Companion, published by Sophia Institute Press with propers for daily & Sunday Latin Mass.  This publication uses translations from the Latin-English missal of Fr. Francis Xavier Lasance (1937).  If you aren’t currently a subscriber and are in need of a missal, we recommend it (individual subscription is ~$5 per month).  Current subscribers may have noticed the wonderful Lenten greeting written by the publisher in the opening pages of the February edition: “Wishing our readers a most purgative and fruitful journey in the desert of these forty days with Our Lord…”.

1. Ember Days of Lent:  This week is the Ember Days of Lent.  What are Ember Days?  Ember Days are three days (Wednesday, Friday and Saturday) that are set apart in each of the four seasons (Spring, Summer, Autumn, & Winter) for fasting, abstinence and prayer. The Church tied the Ember Days to the seasonal cycles of farming and harvesting, to render thanks to God for the gifts of Creation and to ask His help in using them well.  Here is a good article from Fish Eaters on Ember Day traditions.

2. Charlotte Latin Mass Schedule for the Coming Week:

Note:  Pontifical Sung Mass with Bishop Fellay:  Sunday, February 25th: As previously announced, there will be a Pontifical Sung Mass offered by Bishop Bernard Fellay (SSPX) at St. Anthony of Padua (SSPX). The schedule is as follows:
— 10:00a: Pontifical Sung Mass
— 11:45a: Reception for Bishop Fellay
— 12:30p: Talk by Bishop Fellay   
For more information, email: SaintAnthonyCommunications@gmail.com.
** Nota Bene:  Article by Father Z:  What Makes a Mass ‘Pontifical’ 

Questions we have received regarding the upcoming Pontifical Mass:
Q1.      Is this Mass properly called a “Pontifical Mass”?  Firstly, note that our CLMC email group is run by volunteer laymen.  We do our best to use accurate terms, but we do not claim any authority.  One can consider our wording to be informal and unofficial.

We have received answers to this question from liturgical academics; and even they differ slightly.  If we didn’t live in an era of liturgical chaos the most proper Pontifical liturgy would be a full Solemn Pontifical Mass attended by an assistant priest, deacon, and subdeacon.  The Mass with His Excellency, Bishop Fellay, will technically be a private Mass with sung propers offered by a bishop in a private chapel, where there may not be sufficient space for all the appropriate ministers and servers needed for a Solemn Pontifical Mass.  As such, we are loosely referring to this as a Pontifical Mass.  If any of this is incorrect… Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa!

Q2.      Should one genuflect when Bishop Fellay processes?  No.  Our understanding is that it is only proper to genuflect to one’s ordinary, which in our case is Bishop Jugis.  Bishops of the SSPX are not ordinaries, they have no territorial jurisdiction.

For more information, please direct questions to: saintanthonycommunications@gmail.com.

3. Traditional Lenten Mission: Friday, March 1st to Sunday, March 3rd: Traditional Lenten Mission: Father Alphonsus Maria Krutsinger, CSsR, will be preaching a traditional Redemptorist Lenten Mission at St. Anthony of Padua (SSPX) to assist with Lenten spiritual observances. The schedule is as follows:

Friday, March 1st – First Friday
—   6:00 pm Confessions
—   6:30 pm Opening Ceremony
—   6:45 pm Mass with Sermon 1: Salvation
—   8:00 pm Sermon 2: How to Make a Good Confession

Saturday, March 2nd  – First Saturday
—   9:00 am General Confessions
—   9:30 am Commandments 1-3
—   10:00 am Devotions in honor of St. Gerard Majella for mothers and children
—   10:30 am Mass with Sermon 3: Hell
—   11:30 am Commandments 4 – 6, & 9
—   12:00 pm Potluck
—   1:00 pm Commandments 7- 8; Sermon 4: Mercy of God
—   2:00 pm Rosary and General Confessions
—   3:00 pm Sermon 5: Resolutions; Devotions to Our Mother of Perpetual Help
— 4:00 pm Holy Hour and General Confessions (until finished)

Sunday, March 3rd – Third Sunday of Lent
—   7:30 am Confessions
—   8:00 am Mass with Sermon 6: Devotion to Mary
—   9:15 am Confessions
—   10:00 am Mass with Sermon 6: Devotion to Mary; 
— Following Mass: Benediction and Closing Ceremony of Mission

For more information, email: SaintAnthonyCommunications@gmail.com.

Wishing our readers a most purgative and fruitful journey in the desert of these forty days with Our Lord. (Words taken from the February edition of Benedictus)

Charlotte Latin Mass Community