Friends in Christ,
Welcome to our weekly Sunday update. This Sunday is the Fourth Sunday after Easter. Even in this season of joy, there is an element of sadness; as the Gospel reading recalls for us the farewell discourse delivered by Our Lord to His disciples at the Last Supper: But I told you not these things from the beginning, because I was with you. And now I go to him that sent me, and none of you asketh me: Whither goest thou? But because I have spoken these things to you, sorrow hath filled your heart (John 16:5-6). Saddened by the news that Jesus is to leave them, the disciples do not know where He is going and perhaps are afraid to ask.
Sorrow was shortly to be followed by the shock of actual loss when the Master they had loved and served unquestioningly is arrested, tried, convicted, tortured and finally put to death. The abyss between the living and the dead of which He had once spoken in a parable now lies between Jesus Himself and those who had believed in Him.
And then, beyond belief, He returns, having risen from the dead. But even the joy His followers experience upon learning of His return is tempered by a sobering awareness of the change in their relations with the One who was dead but lives again. He has not come back to pick up where things left off. When Mary Magdalen sees him at the site of the empty tomb, she might have embraced Him had He not told her: Do not touch me: for I am not yet ascended to my Father (John 20:17).
If He later allowed Thomas to touch Him, it was only to rebuke him for his lack of faith. After making physical contact with the wounds of the Risen Christ, Thomas explicitly acknowledged the momentous change in relations brought about by the Resurrection when he said, “My Lord and My God” (John 21:28).
The final separation was yet to come with the Ascension of the Risen Lord into Heaven. Afterward the disciples would withdraw into the upper room to pray and await the promised Paraclete who was to comfort them even as they lingered in sorrow at having been left behind. And they would remember what Jesus had said in bidding them farewell: But when he, the Spirit of truth is come, he will teach you all truth. . . . And the things that are to come, he shall shew you (John 16:13).
Calendar of Special Observances
Celebrations are those listed in the Roman Missal of 1962.
DAY, DATE – FEAST (CLASS)
Sunday, May 3 – Fourth Sunday after Easter (II)
Monday, May 4 – St. Monica, Widow (III)
Tuesday, May 5 – St. Pius V, Pope and Confessor (III)
Wednesday, May 6 – Feria of Paschaltide (IV)
Thursday, May 7 – St. Stanislaus, Bishop and Martyr (III) – Jesus Christ the High Priest (III)
Friday, May 8 – Feria of Paschaltide (IV)
Saturday, May 9 – St. Gregory of Nazianzus, Bishop, Confessor, and Doctor of the Church (III)
Fourth Sunday after Easter
The links provided below can be used to download printable copies of the Proper Prayers for the Fourth Sunday after Easter with English or Spanish translation, followed by commentary by Dr. Michael P. Foley.
Traditional Latin Mass Schedule
Diocese of Charlotte Sunday Masses
Chapel of the Little Flower (757 Oakridge Farm Road, Mooresville, NC)
Note: Only Sunday Latin Masses and Holy Days are offered at the Chapel. This is the only Diocese of Charlotte location which offers the Traditional Latin Mass.
Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face, the Little Flower, pray for us!
Diocese of Raleigh Sunday Masses
Diocese of Charleston Sunday Masses
Diocese of Charleston Daily Traditional Latin Masses
As a reminder, travelers are urged to consult parish websites or offices for up-to-date information regarding possible changes in the schedule of Mass times.
Feast of Ascension - Thursday May 14 (as announced)
Chapel of the Little Flower Announcements
Mass Intentions for Sunday
Sunday May 3, 10:00 a.m. - Intentions of James Nobers requested by the family
Saint Peter of Verona Palms Available This Weekend
This past Wednesday, April 29th, was the Feast of Saint Peter of Verona (also known as Saint Peter Martyr), a 13th century Dominican martyr and there is a custom for the blessing of palms on his feast day. The traditional belief is that the palms, when buried on one’s property, can help protect against natural disasters.
For those who did not pick up palms in prior years, this Sunday there will be limited quantities of blessed palms available for the faithful at the Chapel of the Little Flower (courtesy of Saint Ann parish).
To learn more about the great Dominican saint celebrated in this custom please consult the following articles:
Donations for the Chapel of the Little Flower
To donate to the Chapel of the Little Flower, please make out a check to “St. Ann Catholic Church” and carefully earmark it for “Latin Mass” or “Chapel of the Little Flower”. It can be mailed to the parish (3635 Park Road, Charlotte, NC 28209). To donate online, please visit the parish’s “Chapel of the Little Flower” online donation portal at this link.
Lost and Found
The Chapel has a growing collection of items left behind after Mass. If one is missing a missal, book, or other item, please see the table in the cry room.
Father Jones’ Contact Info
If one has questions about the Chapel of the Little Flower, that are not related to one’s parish, please email Father Jones directly at: tlmchapel@rcdoc.org
Visiting the Chapel of the Little Flower
If you haven’t attended Mass at the Chapel of the Little Flower yet, you are welcome to join us in Eastertide. Seating is adequate at both Masses, and there is plenty of parking; a cry room; open space outside for the kids after Mass. Bulletins from Saint Ann and Saint Thomas Aquinas parishes are usually available.
General Announcements
First Sunday Food & Fellowship Potluck at Saint Thomas Aquinas – This Sunday (May 3) will be the monthly Sunday Food and Fellowship at Saint Thomas Aquinas from 1:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. If you attend Mass at the Chapel, you can always drop by after Mass.
LiveMass.net – Want to watch a Latin Mass online? The Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter (FSSP) has a broadcast apostolate which streams its Latin Masses across the world at various times of the day. To view visit: https://www.livemass.net/
Support Saint Ann and Saint Thomas Parishes – Our parishes remain the anchor of our spiritual and community lives and continue to promote the sacred traditions, devotions, speakers and catechesis important for the spiritual growth of ourselves and our families. They also need our continued financial support (and occasional visits!). Both parishes would appreciate our continued generosity.
Prayer Request: Healing of Tony Reitz
Rosary for the Traditional Latin Mass – A Rosary is offered for the restoration of the Traditional Latin Mass in the church on Sundays after the 11:30 a.m. Novus Ordo Mass at Saint Thomas Aquinas Church.
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.
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 links below and consider praying this daily for the Holy Father as he leads the Church. PDF copies can 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).
Traditional Latin Mass and Liturgical News
Saints and Special Observances
Saints and Special Observances will not be published this week but we hope to resume it for our next weekend update.
Closing Commentary
We close with a commentary excerpted from The Liturgical Year of Dom Prosper Guéranger, OSB, and provide a link to the full text of the entry for the Fourth Sunday after Easter below.
Fourth Sunday After Easter
Our Jesus has organized his Church, and confided to his Apostles the sacred deposit of the truths which are to form the object of our faith. We must now follow him in another work, of equal importance to the world, and to which he gives his divine attention during these forty days: it is the institution of the Sacraments. It is not enough that we believe; we must, moreover, be made just, that is, we must bear upon us the likeness of God’s holiness; we must receive, we must have incorporated within us, that great fruit of the Redemption, which is called Grace; that thus being made living members of our divine Head, we may be made joint-heirs with him of the Kingdom of heaven. Now, it is by means of the Sacraments, that Jesus is to produce in us this wondrous work of our justification; he applies to us the merits of his Incarnation and Sacrifice but he applies them by certain means, which he himself, in his power and wisdom, has instituted.
Being the sovereign Master of his own gifts, he can select what means he pleases whereby to convey Grace to us; all we have to do is to conform to his wishes. Thus, each of the Sacraments is a law; so that it is in vain that we hope for a Sacrament to produce its effects, unless we fulfill the conditions specified by our Redeemer. And here, at once, we cannot but admire that infinite goodness, which has so mercifully blended two such widely distinct operations in one and the same act—namely, on the one side, the humble submission of man and, on the other, the munificent generosity of God.
We were showing, a few days back, how the Church, though a spiritual society, is also visible and exterior, because man, for whose sake the Church was formed, is a being composed of body and soul. When instituting the Sacraments, our Lord assigned to each an essential rite; and this rite is outward and sensible. He made the Flesh, which he had united to his Divine Person, become the instrument of our salvation by his Passion and Death on the Cross; he redeemed us by shedding his Blood for us:—so is it in the Sacraments; he follows the same mysterious plan, taking physical things as his auxiliaries in effecting the work of our justification. He raises them to a supernatural state, and makes them the faithful and all-powerful conductors of his grace, even to the most intimate depths of our soul. It is the continuation of the mystery of the Incarnation, the object of which is to raise us, by visible things, to the knowledge of things invisible. Thus is broken the pride of Satan; he despised man because he is not purely a spirit, but is spirit and matter unitedly; and he refused to pay adoration to the Word made Flesh.
Moreover, the Sacraments, being visible signs, are an additional bond of union between the members of the Church: we say additional, because these members have the two other strong links of union—submission to Peter and to the Pastors sent by him, and profession of the same faith. The Holy Ghost tells us, in the Sacred Volume, that a threefold cord is not easily broken. Now we have such a one; and it keeps us in the glorious unity of the Church—Hierarchy, Dogma, and Sacraments, all contribute to make us One Body. Everywhere, from north to south, and from east to west, the Sacraments testify to the fraternity that exists among us; by them, we know each other, no matter in what part of the globe we may be, and by the same we are known by heretics and infidels. These divine Sacraments are the same in every country, how much soever the liturgical formulæ of their administration may differ; they are the same in the graces they produce, they are the same in the signs whereby grace is produced, in a word, they are the same in all the essentials. [Fourth Sunday after Easter]
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We wish our readers a blessed Eastertide. Christus Resurréxit! Resurréxit Vere!