Friends in Christ,
Welcome to our weekly Sunday update. This Sunday is the Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost. The Gospel reading for the Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost tells how Jesus healed a man afflicted by dropsy, a painful and potentially debilitating condition characterized by the excessive collection of fluid in bodily tissues. The nature of the ailment is of secondary importance; the significance of the event is to be found in two details regarding its setting: (1) The miracle was performed on the sabbath day, in defiance of the Mosaic Law, out of compassion for the sufferer. (2) It was done in the presence of notable religious figures who were bound to disapprove of what Jesus did. The Gospel reading tells us, “Jesus went into the house of one of the chief of the Pharisees, on the sabbath day to eat bread,” adding rather ominously, “that they watched him” (Luke 14:1). They were waiting for Him to do what He did – heal a man as an act of charity – so that they could condemn Him once again for violating the sabbath.
Calendar of Special Observances
Celebrations are those listed in the Roman Missal of 1962.
DAY, DATE – FEAST (CLASS)
Sunday, September 28 – Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost (II)
Monday, September 29 – The Dedication of St. Michael the Archangel (I)
Tuesday, September 30 – St. Jerome, Priest, Confessor and Doctor (III)
Wednesday, October 1 – St. Remigius, Bishop and Confessor (IV)
Thursday, October 2 – Holy Guardian Angels (III) – Jesus Christ the High Priest (III)
Friday, October 3 – St. Therese of the Child Jesus, Virgin (III) – Sacred Heart of Jesus (III)
Saturday, October 4 – St. Francis of Assisi, Confessor (III) – Immaculate Heart of Mary (III)
Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost
The links provided below can be used to download printable copies of the Proper Prayers for the Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost with English or Spanish translation, followed by commentary by Dr. Michael P. Foley.
Latin Mass Schedule: Sunday September 28
Charlotte Area Latin Masses
Other Diocese of Charlotte Latin Masses
Note: Beginning Sunday October 5, Diocese of Charlotte Latin Masses will only be offered at the Latin Mass chapel in Mooresville (757 Oakridge Farm Road, Mooresville, NC). A schedule will be provided once announced by the Diocese of Charlotte.
These changes only affect Latin Masses in the Diocese of Charlotte.
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 29 - October 2)
Monday September 29: Feast of the Dedication of Saint Michael the Archangel (Michaelmas)
Wednesday October 1: Feria (Commemoration of Saint Remigius)
Thursday October 2: The Holy Guardian Angels
Note: Beginning Friday October 3, the new Diocese of Charlotte norms regarding the Latin Mass go into effect. Latin Masses will only be offered on Sundays and Holy Days at the Latin Mass Chapel in Mooresville (757 Oakridge Farm Road, Mooresville, NC). Latin Masses – including daily Latin Masses – at parishes are discontinued.
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.
Sunday September 28 Potluck/Feast Celebrations
**New Book** The Cassock: Sign of Christ, Sign of Contradiction, by Fr. Lawrence Carney (with Cardinal Burke’s Forward)
Slaying Dragons Press will be releasing an excellent new book on the cassock, authored by Fr. Lawrence Carney, the Holy Face priest (who visited St. Thomas Aquinas parish a few years ago). The Cassock: Sign of Christ, Sign of Contradiction examines the powerful witness of the cassock and its impact on both the priest and faithful. It also shares the examples of Blessed Rolando Rivi and the Claretian Martyrs of Barbastro who wore the cassock even to martyrdom. Cardinal Raymond Burke wrote the book's forward and it’s being published by Slaying Dragons Press, run by St. Thomas Aquinas parishioner and local writer Charles Fraune. To pre-order your copy, click here.
Announcements
Blessing of Saint Michael Relic Stone after 12:30 p.m. Sunday Mass – Immediately after the 12:30 p.m. Sunday Latin Mass at Saint Ann, Father will bless each attendee with the relic stone of Saint Michael the Archangel, whose feast day is Monday. Please come to the altar rails after Mass.
Support a New Children’s Book on Praying the Rosary – The author of a new “Pray & Play” book designed to help young children learn the Rosary has launched a Kickstarter fundraiser to help publish the book. The author, Shelbie Lopez, grew up attending the Traditional Latin Mass and uses the traditional methods of St. John Bosco to teach little children the Rosary while also helping make the family Rosary (with young children) more possible. To learn more and help support the publishing of this book, please click here.
Father Reid’s Homily on Gratitude and Hope – In case you missed it, we share Father Reid’s helpful homily from this past Sunday on where things go from here and how to respond spiritually. [PDF Download] [September 21 ~ 15th Sunday after Pentecost]
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. The pilgrimage 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:
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
St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face (The Little Flower), Virgin and Doctor of the Church, was probably the most widely venerated saint of the 20th century. Pope Pius X called her “the greatest saint of modern times.” She is known as St. Thérèse de Lisieux because she lived in the Carmel at Lisieux in Normandy from shortly after her 15th birthday until her death at the age of 24. Near the beginning of her autobiography, she called herself la petite fleur cueillie par Jésus (“the little flower picked by Jesus”); her frequent resort to this metaphor in speaking of herself is the reason she became known as “the Little Flower” throughout the world. Almost unknown to the world at the time of her death in 1897, her fame and popularity increased with astonishing rapidity following publication of her autobiography the ensuing year. Entitled simply Histoire d’une âme (Story of a Soul), the book recounts her spiritual journey from the innocence of childhood in a profoundly devout Catholic family to the difficulties she encountered as a cloistered Carmelite nun facing the approach of death.
Unlike her namesake, St. Teresa of Avila, the sixteenth century foundress of the Discalced Carmelite movement, Thérèse did not compose numerous works of deep theological significance that would stand as classics of Catholic literature for centuries. But her one book, the simple and straightforward story of her own soul, spoke to the spiritual hunger of people at the turn of the twentieth century with the unadorned eloquence of one whose love of Our Lord knew no limits. Her idea of achieving sanctity and getting to Heaven by means of a “little way” struck a responsive chord in the hearts and minds of her readers, and the Little Flower came to be known and loved by millions who found hope and new meaning in their own lives in the concept of the Little Way.
Pope Pius X opened the process which would lead to her canonization by a decree dated June 10, 1914. As she had been dead less than 17 years, the requirement for a 50-year interval between death and beatification had to be waived. She was beatified on April 29, 1923, and canonized by Pope Pius XI on May 17, 1925, less than 28 years after her death. She was canonized exactly five years and one day after her heroine, Jeanne d’Arc, was named a saint; and the two have since been venerated as co-patronesses of the French nation. A century after the death of St. Thérèse, Pope John Paul II completed the honors by naming her a Doctor of the Church in his apostolic letter, Divini Amoris Scientia (The Science of Divine Love) issued on October 19, 1997.
We have scarcely touched on the actual facts of the brief, but eventful, life lived by St. Thérèse de Lisieux; but these may be found in her autobiography and other readily available sources. Still, we can hardly bring this consideration of the saint to a close without first noting a few biographical highlights.
St. Thérèse de Lisieux was born in Alençon on January 2, 1873, and was given the name, Marie-Francoise-Thérèse Martin. Her father, Louis Martin, was a jeweler and watchmaker. Her mother, Marie-Azélie Guérin, was a lacemaker who established her own business at the age of 22. Louis and Zélie had both aspired to a life in religion but had been frustrated in their attempts to gain admission to religious orders. At the time of their marriage, they intended to forego marital relations, but a priest encouraged them to embrace the vocation God had given them. They went on to produce nine children, five of whom survived childhood. Louis and Zélie had five daughters, and all five became nuns. The oldest was Marie, born in 1860, who lived until 1940. The others were Pauline (1861-1951), Léonie (1863-1941), Céline (1869-1959), and Thérèse (1873-1897). Marie, Pauline, Céline and Thérèse were all Carmelites in Lisieux; Léonie was a Visitandine sister at Caen. Louis and Zélie were canonized in 2015, becoming the first spouses to be named saints as a couple.
Marie-Azélie Martin died in 1877 when her youngest daughter was only four years old. Thérèse was profoundly affected by her mother’s death; and, by her own account, for the next ten years she was extremely shy and withdrawn. Shortly after his wife’s death, Louis sold her lacemaking business and moved the family from Alençon to Lisieux where Zélie’s brother, Isidore Guérin, lived with his wife and two daughters. The family took up residence in a large house with a spacious garden, on a hill overlooking the city, called Les Buissonnets. Pauline took on the responsibility of raising her youngest sister. The two were particularly close, and Thérèse always regarded Pauline as her second mother. She felt that she had lost her mother again when Pauline entered into the cloistered life of the Carmel at Lisieux. The prioress, Mother Marie Gonzague, sought to console the nine-year-old girl by writing her a letter in which she called her “my little daughter Thérèse of the Child Jesus.” Thérèse would take on that name when she entered the Carmel herself and found a third mother in the saintly Marie Gonzague.
The loss of Pauline to religion gave rise to an alarming nervous condition which left Thérèse subject to continuous tremors and unable to communicate with those around her. She recovered after gazing at a statue of the Virgin Mary placed in her room. On May 13, 1883, she reported that she had seen the Virgin smile her; but when she told the Carmelite sisters at Marie’s request, she was met with so many questions that she lost faith in her own vision. Three years later, Marie entered the convent, renewing the sense of loss which had overshadowed her sister’s life ever since the death of their mother. On Christmas Eve in 1886, two months after Marie’s departure, Thérèse had a sudden and unexpected intuition of the love of God in “Jesus, who saw fit to make Himself a child out of love for me.” The sadness and bitterness that had plagued her for a decade dissipated in an instant. Thérèse resolved to give her life to Christ and was consumed by the desire to become a Carmelite and to follow her sisters, Pauline and Marie, into the cloister. As she was only fourteen, her wish to be admitted immediately was understandably refused.
In November of the following year, Louis Martin took Thérèse and Céline on a diocesan pilgrimage to Rome. When the pilgrims had an audience with Pope Leo XIII they were warned not to speak to the Holy Father; but Thérèse, defying the order, fell to her knees before the pope and begged him to let her join the Carmelite order without further delay. While her plea was not answered immediately, it did not fall on deaf ears; and five months later, on April 9, 1888, she entered the convent where she would spend the rest of her life. Her long-held desire to be a missionary ended with her entrance to Carmel; instead, she devoted herself to prayer on behalf of missionaries, priests and especially sinners in need of conversion.
In 1893 Pauline was elected prioress of the convent and, as “Mother Agnes,” appointed Thérèse assistant to the novice mistress. Stricken by tuberculosis on Easter weekend in 1896, Thérèse suffered more than even she thought possible before finally succumbing to the disease on September 30, 1897, after saying, “My God, I love you!” She was buried on October 4th in the Carmelite section of the municipal cemetery in Lisieux, but in 1923 her body was returned to the convent for permanent entombment prior to her beatification.
Closing Commentary
We offer, in closing, an excerpt from the commentary of Dom Prosper Guéranger, OSB, on Monday’s feast. “September 29 – Dedication of Saint Michael the Archangel,” followed by a link to the full text of the commentary from The Liturgical Year.
September 29 – Dedication of Saint Michael the Archangel
The glorious Archangel appears today at the head of the heavenly army: There was a great battle in heaven, Michael and his angels fought with the dragon, and the dragon fought and his angels. In the sixth century, the dedication of the churches of St. Michael on Monte Gargano and in the Roman Circus increased the celebrity of this day, which had however been long before consecrated by Rome to the memory of all the heavenly Virtues.
The east commemorates on the sixth of September an apparition of the victorious Prince at Chone (ancient Collossæ) in Phrygia; while the eighth of November is the solemnity of the angels, corresponding to our feast of today, and bearing the title: “Synaxis of Saint Michael prince of the heavenly host, and of the other spiritual Powers.” Although the term synaxis is usually applied only to religious assemblies here on earth, we are informed that in this instance it also signifies the gathering of the faithful angels at the cry of their chief, and their union eternally sealed by their victory.
God alone is simple with that unchangeable productive simplicity, which is absolute perfection excluding the possibility of progress; He is pure Act, in whom substance, power, and operation are one thing. The angel, though entirely independent of matter, is yet subject to the natural weakness necessary to a created being; he is not absolutely simple, for in him action is distinct from power, and power of essence. How much greater is the weakness of man’s composite nature, unable to carry on the operations of the intellect without the aid of the senses!
“Compared with ours,” says one of the most enlightened brethren of the angelic doctor, “how calm and how luminous is the knowledge of pure spirits! They are not doomed to the intricate discoursings of our reason, which runs after the truth, composes and analyzes, and laboriously draws conclusions from premises. They instantaneously apprehend the whole compass of primary truths. Their intuition is so prompt, so lively, so penetrating, that it is impossible for them to be surprised, as we are, into error. If they deceive themselves, it must be of their own will. The perfection of their will is equal to the perfection of their intellect. They know not what it is to be disturbed by the violence of appetites. Their love is without emotion; and their hatred of evil is as calm and as wisely tempered as their love. A will so free can know no perplexity as to its aims, no inconstancy in its resolutions. Whereas with us long and anxious meditation is necessary before we make a decision, it is the property of the angels to determine by a single act the object of their choice. God proposed to them, as He does to us, infinite beatitude in the vision of His own Essence; and to fit them for so great an end, He endowed them with grace at the same time as He gave them being. In one instant they said Yes or No; in one instant they freely and deliberately decided their own fate.” [September 29 -- Dedication of St. Michael the Archangel]