Friends in Christ,
Welcome to our weekly Sunday update. This Sunday is the Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost. In the Gospel reading for the day, Jesus is confronted by “a certain lawyer [who] stood up, tempting Him, and saying: Master, what must I do to possess eternal life?” Jesus responds by asking what he had learned from the Law, and the man is ready with the right answer: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart . . . and thy neighbor as thyself.” But, harboring a narrow interpretation of the obligation to love others, he asks, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus responds by sharing His famous parable of the Good Samaritan in which a priest and a Levite – men obligated by religious vocation and social standing to care for others – display a notable lack of charity. It is left to a foreigner of dubious religious belief and practice to exert the love necessary to aid the wounded man. Jesus asks, “Which of these three . . . was neighbor to him that fell among robbers?” The lawyer can only answer, “He that showed mercy to him.” “Go,” says Our Lord, “and do thou in like manner.”
Calendar of Special Observances
Celebrations are those listed in the Roman Missal of 1962.
DAY, DATE – FEAST (CLASS)
Sunday, August 31 – Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost (II)
Monday, September 1 – The Twelve Holy Brothers, Martyrs (III) – St. Giles, Confessor
Tuesday, September 2 – St. Stephen of Hungary, King and Confessor (III)
Wednesday, September 3 – St. Pius X, Pope & Confessor (III)
Thursday, September 4 – Jesus Christ the High Priest (III) – Feria (IV)
Friday, September 5 – St. Lawrence Justinian, Bishop and Confessor (III) – Sacred Heart of Jesus (III)
Saturday, September 6 – Immaculate Heart of Mary (III) – Our Lady on Saturday (IV)
Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost
The links provided below can be used to download printable copies of the Proper Prayers for the Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost with English or Spanish translation, followed by commentary by Dr. Michael P. Foley.
Latin Mass Schedule: Sundays
Charlotte Area Latin Masses
Other Diocese of Charlotte Latin Masses
Diocese of Charleston Latin Masses
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 (September 1 - September 6)
Charlotte Area Latin Masses
Other Diocese of Charlotte Latin Masses
Diocese of Charleston Latin Masses
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
**No First Saturday Masses September 6 in Diocese of Charlotte – Due to the Diocese of Charlotte’s Eucharistic Congress on Saturday September 6, there will not be any First Saturday Latin Masses in the diocese, so all the laity and clergy can attend the Congress. To attend Eucharistic Congress please see the schedule and events at this link.
Prayer Request: In your charity, please pray for the healing of Tony Reitz from a rapidly progressing Lymphoma. He is the brother-in-law of Amanda Banville who attends the Latin Mass at Our Lady of Grace. Pray also for Tony’s wife and young children.
SAVE THE DATE: Saturday September 20, 7:30 p.m., Concert of Sacred Choral Music benefiting Saint Thomas Aquinas Church – Please mark your calendars for an important sacred music event at Saint Thomas Aquinas parish. The event will feature sacred choral music provided by the Saint Thomas Aquinas Adult and Children's choirs. It will offer traditional sacred music - including Latin and will feature special guests, St. Joseph College Seminary Quartet: Fr. Matthew Kauth (violin); Fr. Brian Becker (cello); Seminarian Matthew Sie (clarinet) and Fr. Kolbe Murrey (violin).
A wine and cheese dessert reception will follow. The event benefits the parish’s capital campaign project. If you’ve spiritually benefited from the sacred music at Saint Thomas, this event may be of great interest to you. See event flyer below.
Holy Hidden Highways Substack – A new Substack page by Saint Ann parishioner Rachel Shrader has just been created. The site (paid subscription) will feature articles on her travels around the Catholic world including visiting churches and traditional parishes. Although the topics will be not exclusively related to the Latin Mass, Ms. Shrader has previously written for the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP) newsletter and the Substack topics may be of interest to readers. The site is: https://holyhiddenhighways.substack.com/
St. Michael’s Lent (now thru September 29) – As you may have read in the Catholic News Herald (or seen the posters in parishes) several faithful across the diocese are participating in an ancient penitential practice called St. Michael’s Lent, currently promoted by a group, Exodus 90 and anciently practiced by St. Francis of Assisi. It began August 15 (Assumption) and continues for 40 days ahead of the Feast of St. Michael on September 29. For those who feel called to amplify their prayers or penances for the Latin Mass this season, please click here to learn how to participate.
Daily Holy Face Chaplet for Sacred Liturgy (perpetual novena) – For the preservation of the Traditional Latin Mass, it has been recommended to all friends of the sacred liturgy in the diocese to consider continually praying the powerful Holy Face chaplet, under the banner of Our Lady of the Holy Name. To pray the chaplet, please see this link.
National Latin Mass Pilgrimage – Saturday October 11, Washington, D.C. Begins at the Cathedral of Saint Thomas More in Arlington and concludes at the Cathedral of Saint Matthew in Washington D.C. To learn more click on this link.
Cardinal Burke’s Prayer for Pope Leo XIV – His Eminence Cardinal Raymond Burke has released a prayer for Pope Leo XIV. Please see the prayer at the end of this update and consider praying this daily for the Holy Father as he leads the Church.
PDF copies can also be accessed at these links: [English] [Español] [Latin]
Holy Face Devotions
Prayers of Reparation to the Holy Face of Jesus are offered each week at the following churches on the indicated days:
Latin Mass and Liturgical News
Saints and Special Observances
St. Pius X, Pope and Confessor, occupied the Chair of St. Peter for 11 years from August 4, 1903, until his death on August 20, 1914. Born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto on June 2, 1835, the future pope was a native of Riese in the Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia, then a part of the Austrian Empire. He was the second of 10 children born to Giovanni Battista Sarto, a cobbler by trade who was also the village postman, and his wife, Margherita Sanson, who worked as a seamstress. The parents were poor but understood the value of a good education. With the help of the local pastor, they were able to arrange for young Giuseppe to attend the high school at Castelfranco, a larger town two miles away from Riese.
By the time he completed his secondary studies at Castelfranco, Giuseppe had discerned a call to the priesthood. With the help once again of the local pastor in Riese, he was able to secure a scholarship to attend the seminary at Padua. After completing his studies for the priesthood, he was ordained in the cathedral at Castelfranco on September 18, 1858. Giuseppe spent the next eight years serving as the curate at Tombolo, where he dedicated himself to serving the poor and established a night school for adults. He also provided instruction for the people of the parish in Gregorian chant. The pastor at Tombolo, Fr. Constantini, predicted of his young curate, “Some day or other he will wear the mitre, of that I am sure. After that – who knows?”
Fr. Sarto was appointed pastor of the parish at Salzano in July of 1867. He spent nine years there, sharing his clothes and other belongings with the poor of the parish, while striving to instruct his parishioners in the meaning of Christian doctrine. Throughout his career, he demonstrated an abiding interest in helping those who were poor in material terms or lacking in understanding of the spiritual treasure of their Faith. When he was appointed canon of the cathedral at Treviso and named chancellor of the diocese, he was also made spiritual director of the diocesan seminary. He also organized catechetical classes on Sundays for children who attended public schools.
The see of Mantua falling vacant in 1884, Pope Leo XIII selected Canon Sarto to be the new bishop. Confronted by the hostility of the secular authorities in the region, the diocese had been undermined by indifference and accommodation within its own ranks. Bishop Sarto set about reinvigorating the local seminary and reviving the faith of the young men studying for the priesthood by teaching there himself. He also promoted the establishment of the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (CCD) in every parish within the diocese as a means of providing religious instruction for children who attended public schools.
In 1893, Pope Leo XIII promoted Bishop Sarto again, making him a cardinal and appointing him Patriarch of Venice. Ten years later, the reigning Pontiff’s death on July 20, 1903, sparked the search for a worthy successor. During the conclave to elect a new Pope, the name of the Patriarch of Venice was hardly mentioned at first; but support for Sarto increased from ballot to ballot until he obtained the votes necessary to secure election. He is said to have responded by bowing his head, breaking into tears, and whispering, “Fiat voluntas tua!” Enthroned as head of the Vatican on August 19, 1903, the new pope took the name Pius X and set about “to restore all things in Christ” (Eph. 1:10).
Pope Pius began by pushing for reform of the seminaries, reasoning that good priests were needed to provide proper instruction for the laity. In an encyclical entitled Exhortation to the Catholic Clergy, he asserted that the restoration of “all things in Christ” could only be brought about by properly trained and well-disciplined priests. On the Teaching of Christian Doctrine conveyed his belief that the evils of the world were attributable to the prevailing lack of knowledge of God, ignorance that could only be overcome by priests conveying the truth of the Catholic faith in language that people could comprehend. A series of decrees on Holy Communion, issued in the years from 1905 to 1910, earned him the reputation of being the “Pope of the Eucharist.” One of the changes brought about by these decrees was the lowering of the age for first reception of the sacrament from twelve to seven. He also encouraged frequent reception of the Eucharist, reversing a long-standing policy of the Vatican.
Pope Pius X’s concern for the well-being of both the Church and society at large is made evident by the range of subjects he addressed in the documents he produced. On Catholic Social Action addressed the issue of workers’ rights, while the motu proprio “On the Restoration of Church Music” identified Gregorian Chant as the music most compatible with the beauty and sanctity of the Mass. At the same time, he welcomed new music of suitable quality and favored the adoption of what he considered long-overdue changes to the liturgy. Other achievements included the reform of the Breviary, establishment of the Biblical Institute for Scriptural Studies, and the development of the Code of Canon Law.
But it is not for all of these achievements that Pope Pius X is best known and most admired. He was greatly honored in his own time for rejecting pomp and embracing poverty and for the humility and charity with which he emulated Our Lord throughout his life. But the source of his lasting greatness is to be found in his unrelenting defense of orthodox Catholicism. He gave definition to the Modernist movement and pinpointed Modernism as the greatest threat to the Church in the 20th century. His thoughts on the subject found their fullest expression in Pascendi Domenici Gregis, an encyclical of more than 21,000 words in which he concluded that Modernism was the “synthesis of all heresies.” (A link to the official Vatican post of this invaluable papal document is provided below.)
With the coming of the Great War in 1914, the 79-year-old pontiff speculated that God might spare him the horror of watching the world go up in flames. On August 20, 1914, the day that Germany invaded Belgium, Pope Pius X passed away peacefully, leaving a last testament that read, in part, “I was born poor, I lived poor, I die poor.” He was entombed in St. Peter’s Basilica, and the following lines were inscribed on his tomb:
Born poor and humble of heart,
Undaunted champion of the Catholic faith,
Zealous to restore all things in Christ,
Crowned a holy life with a holy death.
A number of astonishing miracles had been credited to him during his life, although he always sought to deflect attention from himself when things that were unexplainable occurred in his presence. Additional miracles were attributed to his intercession following his death. The official inquiry into his life and virtues got underway after the First World War, and the Cause for Canonization was initiated by Pope Pius XII during the Second World War. On June 3, 1951, he was declared by the Pope to be blessed, and on May 29, 1954, he was added to the roster of saints. His feast is observed by the Church each year on September 3rd, according to the traditional Roman Calendar. [Pascendi Dominici Gregis (September 8, 1907) | PIUS X]
Closing Commentary
In closing, we offer commentary on the Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost excerpted from The Liturgical Year of Dom Prosper Guéranger, OSB, followed by a link to the full text.
Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost
On this Sunday, which is their Twelfth of St. Matthew, the Greeks read, in the Mass, the episode of the young rich man who questions Jesus, given in the 19th of the Saint’s Gospel. In the West, it is the Gospel of the good Samaritan, which gives its name to this twelfth Sunday after Pentecost.
The Introit begins with that beautiful verse of the 69th Psalm: Come to mine assistance, O God! O Lord, make haste to help me! Cassian, in his tenth Conference has admirably drawn out the beauty of these words, and shows how they are appropriate for every circumstance of life, and how fully they respond to every sentiment of the Christian soul. Durandus applies this Introit’s being used in today’s liturgy to Job, because the Lessons for the Divine Office, which are taken from that Book of Scripture, are sometimes, though not often, the ones which coincide with this Sunday. Rupert looks on this Introit as the fitting prayer of the deaf and dumb man, whose cure was the subject of our reflections this day last week. He says: “The human race, in the person of our first parents, had become deaf to the commandments of God, and dumb in his praise; the first use he makes of his untied tongue is to call upon the God who had healed him.” The same words are the Church’s first address each morning to her Creator, and her opening of each of the canonical hours, both day and night…
…But who are those Kings spoken of in our Gospel, as uniting with the Prophets in the desire to see the things we see? To say nothing of those holy ones who thought less of the throne they sat on than of the divine Object of the world’s expectation—may we not say, with the holy Fathers, that they well deserved to be called kings, whom St. Paul describes as, by their faith, conquering kingdoms, vanquishing armies, stopping the mouths of lions, masters of the very elements, yea, what is more, masters of their own selves? Heedless of the mockeries, as well as that of the persecutions of the world that was not worthy to possess such men—these champions of the faith were seen wandering in the deserts, sheltering in dens and caves, and yet as happy as kings, because of a certain Object whom they intensely loved and longed to see, and yet whom they knew they were not to see, until after their deaths, and until tedious ages had run their long course.
We, then, who are their descendants—we for whom they were obliged to wait, in order to enjoy a share of those blessings which their sighs and vehement desires did so much to hasten—do we appreciate the immense favor bestowed on us by our Lord? We, whose virtue scarcely bears comparison with that of the fathers of our faith, and who, notwithstanding, by the descent of the Holy Spirit of love, have been put more enlightened than ever were the prophets, for, by that Holy Spirit, we have been put in possession of the mysteries which they only foretold—how is it that we are so sadly slow to feel the obligation we are under of responding, by holiness of life, and by an ardent and generous love, to the liberality of that God who has gratuitously called us, from darkness, to his admirable light? Having so great a cloud of witnesses over our heads, let us lay aside every weight and sin which surrounds us, and run, by patience, in the fight proposed to us. [Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost]