Third Sunday after Epiphany

Dear Friends in Christ,

Welcome to our weekly Sunday update. This Sunday (January 26, 2025) is the Third Sunday after Epiphany. In the Gospel reading for this Sunday, we hear the words of the centurion that we repeat almost verbatim just before Communion at every Mass: “Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldst enter under my roof: but only say the word, and my servant shall be healed” (Matthew 8:8b). Jesus marveled at the faith of this Roman soldier: “Amen I say to you, I have not found so great faith in Israel. . . .” Then He issued a prophetic warning to the children of Israel: “And I say to you that many shall come from the east and the west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven: but the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into the exterior darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Let us pray that we will not be found without faith but, like the centurion, when we say, “Lord, I am not worthy . . .” be found to merit the salvific care of Our Lord Jesus Christ by our unquestioning belief in Him.


Calendar of Special Observances

Celebrations are those listed in the Roman Missal of 1962.

DAY, DATE – FEAST (CLASS)

Sunday, January 26 – Third Sunday after Epiphany (II)

Monday, January 27 – St. John Chrysostom, Bishop, Confessor & Doctor of the Church (III)

Tuesday, January 28 – St. Peter Nolasco, Confessor (III)

Wednesday, January 29 – St. Francis de Sales, Bishop, Confessor & Doctor of the Church (III)

Thursday, January 30 – St. Martina, Virgin & Martyr (III)

Friday, January 31 – St. John Bosco, Confessor (III)

Saturday, February 1 – St. Ignatius, Bishop & Martyr (III) – Immaculate Heart of Mary (III)

Note: The Feast of St. Polycarp, Bishop and Martyr (III), is celebrated on January 26th in most years but is displaced by the Third Sunday after Epiphany this year.


Third Sunday after Epiphany

The links provided below can be used to download printable copies of the Proper Prayers for the Third Sunday after Epiphany with English or Spanish translation. The English translation includes a commentary by St. Alphonsus Liguori, C.Ss.R. (1696-1787). In addition, we offer a link to Dr. Michael P. Foley’s essay on the symbolic admixture of water and wine during the Eucharistic celebration: “The Deus qui humanae substantiae,” the most recent contribution to his Lost in Translation series published by New Liturgical Movement.


Latin Mass Schedule: Third Sunday after Epiphany (January 26, 2025)

Charlotte Area Latin Masses

  • 11:30 a.m., Saint Thomas Aquinas

  • 12:30 p.m., Saint Ann

Other Diocese of Charlotte Latin Masses

  • 8:30 a.m., Saint John the Baptist (Tryon)

  • 9:00 a.m., Our Lady of the Angels (Marion)

  • 1:00 p.m., Church of the Epiphany (Blowing Rock)

  • 1:30 p.m., Our Lady of Grace (Greensboro)

Diocese of Charleston Latin Masses

  • 12:00 p.m., Prince of Peace (Taylors SC)

  • 1:00 p.m., Our Lady of the Lake (Chapin SC)

Note: Travelers are urged to consult parish websites or offices for up-to-date information regarding possible changes in the regular schedule of Sunday Mass times.


Latin Mass Schedule: Weekdays (January 27-February 1)

Charlotte Area Latin Masses

  • Saint Ann – Wednesday, 6:00 p.m.

  • Saint Thomas Aquinas – Thursday, 7:00 p.m.

  • Saint Ann – Friday, 7:00 a.m.

  • Saint Thomas Aquinas – Saturday, 10:00 a.m. (First Saturday Mass & blessing of religious items after Mass)

Other Diocese of Charlotte Latin Masses

  • Our Lady of the Mountains (Highlands) – Tuesday, 9:30 a.m.

  • Saint John the Baptist (Tryon) – Friday, 8:30 a.m.

  • Church of the Epiphany (Blowing Rock) – Friday, 9:30 a.m.

  • Saint John the Baptist (Tryon)--Saturday, 8:30 a.m. (First Saturday Mass)

  • Church of the Epiphany (Blowing Rock) – Saturday, 10:00 a.m. (First Saturday Mass)

Diocese of Charleston Latin Masses

  • Prince of Peace (Taylors SC) – Monday-Friday, 12:00 p.m.

  • Prince of Peace (Taylors SC) – Saturday 8:00 a.m.

Note: Travelers are advised to contact parish offices to confirm weekday and Saturday Mass times, since local schedules are sometimes subject to change without notice, especially on or around holidays, holy days of obligation and other special feast days.


Announcements

Epiphany kits, chalk, and salt available at Saint Ann after 12:30 p.m. Latin Mass – If you missed the recent Epiphany blessings, the Carolina Traditional Liturgy Society has limited supplies of blessed chalk and salt, as well as individual Epiphany water bottles, available for pickup. Please stop by our information table at Saint Ann after the 12:30 p.m. Sunday Latin Mass while supplies last. Additionally, as a reminder, Saint Ann and Saint Thomas Aquinas (and a few other parishes) also have Epiphany water available at their Holy Water fonts in the narthex while quantities last.

Saint Thomas Aquinas Welcomes Nobertine Father Sebastian Walshe – Fr. Sebastian Walshe, O.Praem will celebrate all Masses at Saint Thomas Aquinas this Sunday (January 26th), concluding three days of presentations centered around family life and the Eucharist.

Who are the Norbertines? The Norbertines are a community of monks founded by St. Norbert in France over 900 years ago. Fr. Walshe is from Saint Michael’s Norbertine Abbey in Orange County, California. The priests of Saint Michael’s Abbey have a variety of apostolic pursuits: teaching, crafts, scholarship, art and sacred music among others. Some of the Norbertines also offer Latin Masses in the churches of Southern California. If you are interested in learning more about the Norbertines of St. Michael’s Abbey, watch the videos available via the following links: [What is an Abbey?] [California’s Newest Abbey, Defying the Odds].

Fr. Ripperger to Offer Lenten Mission at Saint Thomas Aquinas (March 7-8) – Saint Thomas Aquinas Parish is blessed to welcome back Fr. Chad Ripperger, SMD, to conduct its Lenten Parish Mission on Friday, March 7th, and Saturday, March 8th, at 7:00 p.m. each night. Fr. Ripperger is a former member of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter who became an exorcist and founded the Society of the Most Sorrowful Mother (the Doloran Fathers). Please note: The mission will be oriented to adults, and will not be appropriate for young children. Registration is required and is currently open to Saint Thomas Aquinas parishioners. After Friday, January 31st, others will be enabled to register. The registration form is available at the following location: Lenten Mission Registration.

Sunday February 2 (Candlemas): Candle Blessing & Potluck Announcement – Sunday February 2nd, the Feast of Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is the 40th day of Christmas and marks the conclusion of the Christmas season. It is also known as the Feast of the Presentation, commemorating the first presentation of the Light of Christ in the Temple at Jerusalem. As such, there is traditionally a blessing of candles before Mass.


Blessing of Candles

The following parishes have announced a blessing of candles during the Latin Mass on Sunday February 2.

  • Saint Thomas Aquinas, 11:30 a.m. (blessing and procession)
  • Saint Ann, 12:30 p.m. (Mass will be by candlelight)
  • Saint John the Baptist, *8:30 a.m. (*blessing of candles at 8:00 a.m. followed by a procession)
  • Church of the Epiphany (Blowing Rock), 1:00 p.m.
  • Our Lady of Grace (Greensboro), 1:30 p.m. (blessing of candles followed by a small procession before Mass)
  • Prince of Peace (Taylors SC), 12:00 p.m. (place candles in basket by altar rails before Mass begins)
  • Our Lady of the Lake (Chapin SC), 1:00 p.m.

Note: Candles are typically blessed in a ritual before Mass begins. 

All are welcome to bring their beeswax candles to be blessed.

If one is looking to order 100% beeswax candles, please visit Ambrosian Candles, a Catholic family-run business.


Sunday February 2: Close-of-Christmas Potluck at Saint Ann

To celebrate the final day of the Christmas season, the Carolina Traditional Liturgy Society will host a potluck in the plaza after the 12:30 p.m. Saint Ann Latin Mass on Sunday February 2. All are welcome to bring a dish or desert to share.

Saint Thomas Aquinas will also hosts its monthly 1st Sunday potluck after the 11:30 a.m. Latin Mass on Sunday February 2.


Consecration of those Governing to the Blessed Virgin Mary – Fr. Chad Ripperger has composed a prayer, Consecration of those Governing to the Blessed Virgin Mary, which may be found at the end of this update or downloaded here.


Holy Face Devotions

Prayers of Reparation to the Holy Face of Jesus are offered each week at the following churches on the indicated days:

  • St. James (Concord) – Monday, 10-10:30 a.m. (in the cry room)

  • St. Mark – Tuesday, 5:30 p.m.

  • St. Thomas Aquinas – Tuesday, 6:00 a.m.

  • St. Ann – Tuesday, 7:30 a.m. (following 7:00 a.m. Novus Ordo Mass)

  • St. Michael the Archangel (Gastonia) – Tuesday, 8:30 a.m. (following 8:00 a.m. Novus Ordo Mass)

  • St. Vincent de Paul – Tuesday, 8:40 a.m.

  • Holy Spirit (Denver) – Tuesday, 10-11:00 a.m. (following the 9:15 a.m. Novus Ordo Mass)

  • St. John the Baptist (Tryon) - First Saturday, 9:30 a.m. (after 8:30 a.m Latin Mass)

Note: Days and times may be subject to change due to holidays.

“Jesus, Your ineffable image is the star which guides my steps. Ah, You know, Your sweet Face is for me Heaven on earth” (from Canticle to the Holy Face by Saint Thérèse de Lisieux, the 19th century Discalced Carmelite nun who took the name in religion, Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face).



Latin Mass and Liturgical News


Saints and Special Observances

Saint John Chrysostom, Bishop, Confessor and Doctor of the Church was born in Antioch in the year 347 but did not become a baptized Christian until he was more than 20 years old. However, his early training in rhetoric and classical Greek education helped to prepare him for his future career as a preacher of the Christian faith perhaps unequalled in the history of the Church. The surname by which he is known – a derivative of the Greek word chrysostomos, meaning “golden-mouthed” – came into common usage following his death as his reputation for eloquence spread from the Greek world throughout the West.

John’s father, a high-ranking officer in the Syrian army named Secundus, died when the future saint was only a boy; but his widow, Anthusa, saw to it that her only son got a good education. Libanius, the most renowned orator of his day and a fierce proponent of paganism, considered John his most promising pupil but lamented on his deathbed that he had been “stolen” by the Christians. Antioch was the second greatest city in the eastern Empire and a hotbed of religious controversy in the fourth century. While paganism was in decline, orthodox Christianity was continually challenged by the adherents of various heretical sects, including Manichaeanism, Gnosticism and Arianism. Moreover, the Catholic Church itself was riven by schism in the East, with some members supporting a bishop named Meletius and others a rival named Paulinus.

When he was about 20 years old, John met Bishop Meletius and was influenced by him to abandon his classical studies in order to devote himself to the study of Holy Scripture. After about three years, he was baptized and ordained a lector; but, feeling the need to purge his pagan past in order to better prepare himself to serve God, he left Antioch and joined a secluded ascetical society. The next four years of his life were devoted to prayer, manual labor, intensive assimilation of the Scriptural texts, and the composition of early works on ascetical subjects. Then, deciding to live as an anchorite, he took up residence in a cave; but the ensuing two years of rigorous seclusion so undermined his health that he was forced to return to Antioch and resume his duties as lector.

John was probably 30 years old when he rejoined the ecclesiastical community in Antioch. Three years later, Meletius ordained him deacon prior to his own departure for Constantinople, where he died while presiding over the Second Ecumenical Council. Meletius’s successor, Flavian, ordained Chrysostom to the priesthood in 386 when the future saint was nearly 40 years old. He would spend the next 12 years chiefly in the exercise of his considerable skill as a preacher. During this period, he initiated the practice of preparing commentaries on the liturgical readings which provided the subject matter for his sermons. The theological works he produced in these years established his reputation throughout the Christian world, earning him a place among the renowned in Saint Jerome’s De Viri Illustres in the year 392.

Likely the presumptive successor to Flavian as bishop of Antioch, John Chrysostom was suddenly taken away from his native city to serve another. On the 27th of September in 397, Nectarius, Bishop of Constantinople, passed away; and a protracted battle ensued between rival factions seeking to determine who would succeed him. The bishopric remained unfilled for five months until the Emperor, Arcadius, ordered John Chrysostom brought to the capital. Spirited out of Antioch under cover, for fear of arousing the populace, John was taken to Constantinople and ordained bishop there on the 26th of February in 398. His ordination marked the beginning of the most demanding, and ultimately the most tumultuous, period of his life.

He began by reining in the self-indulgent clergy of his episcopal domain – something that had to be done before he could call on the inhabitants of the metropolis to amend their own lives. At the same time, he imposed a program of fiscal restraint on his own household, eliminating the expenditures on lavish entertainment that had made his predecessor popular with the wealthy and powerful. Chrysostom used the savings achieved by his economic measures to fund projects of lasting value for ordinary people, such as the construction of a new hospital.

Certain people in high places were unimpressed by the charitable works brought about by the bishop’s leaner and less lenient approach to ecclesiastical administration. Chief among them was the empress, Eudoxia, wife of Arcadius, who took personal offense at things Chrysostom said and wrote regarding the way Christians should live. When the bishop was called away from Constantinople on ecclesiastical business for a period of several months, dissidents took advantage of his absence to establish an organized opposition group with the empress at its center. This group included a number of disaffected bishops who felt themselves threatened by Chrysostom’s efforts to curb corruption in the episcopal ranks.

In 403 his enemies succeeded, with the consent of the emperor, in having John Chrysostom deposed by order of a trumped-up court and sent into exile. He returned to Constantinople when the empress, fearing she had offended Heaven, relented for a time; but regaining her nerve, Eudoxia prevailed on the emperor to send him into exile a second time. On June 24th in the year 404, a military detachment conducted Chrysostom out of the imperial capital. The soldiers took him to Cuscusus, a remote and rugged place on the border of Armenia vulnerable to attacks by barbarians. Three years later, a new order called for him to be transported to Pithyus, an even more remote location near the Caucasus. He was badly mistreated during the journey and, due to the rigorous conditions imposed on him and the physical abuse to which he was subjected, died at a place called Comana and was buried there. His last words were “Glory be to God for all things.”

The saint’s remains were exhumed on the 27th of January in 438 and returned with ceremonial honors to Constantinople for entombment in the Church of the Apostles. The empress, Eudoxia, had been buried there shortly after having the bishop sent into permanent exile.

Saint John Chrysostom’s legacy of writings includes 700 sermons, nearly 250 letters, and hundreds of biblical commentaries and theological discourses. Recognized as a monumental defender of Christian orthodoxy soon after his death, he has been venerated as a saint since the fifth century and was the sixth saint to be declared a Doctor of the Church. His feast day on the traditional liturgical calendar is January 27th, the date his remains were translated for final burial in the city where he had served as bishop.


Closing Commentary

In closing, we share a commentary extracted from The Liturgical Year of Dom Prosper Guéranger on “Third Sunday after Epiphany.” A link to the full text of the great liturgist’s commentary follows the extract.


Third Sunday after Epiphany

The human race was infected the leprosy of sin: the Son of God touches it by the mystery of the Incarnation, and restores it to health. But he requires that the sick man, now that he is healed, shall go and show himself to the Priest, and comply with the ceremonies prescribed by the law; and this to show that he allows a human priesthood to cooperate in the work of our salvation. The vocation of the Gentiles, of which the Magi were the first fruits, is again brought before us in the faith of the Centurion. A Roman Soldier, and millions like him, shall be reputed as true children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; while they who are the sons of this Patriarch according to the flesh, shall be cast out from the feast chamber into the gloom of blindness; and their punishment shall be given as a spectacle to the whole earth.

Let men, then, saved as he has been by the coming of the Emmanuel, sing a hymn of praise to the power of the God who has wrought our salvation by the strength of his almighty arm. Man had been sentenced to death; but now that he has God for a Brother, he shall not die: he will live: and could he spend his life better than in praising the works of this God that has saved him? [The Third Sunday after the Epiphany]


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To Our Readers and All Friends of the Latin Mass: May you be abundantly blessed by God in this joyous season of Christmas.