Dear Friends in Christ,
We are just mere hours away from the day when the “Word was made flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). In this abbreviated update we share the Latin Mass schedule for tomorrow, Feast of the Nativity (December 25), and for the rest of Christmastide. Please note there are several daily Mass cancellations this week. Also below are liturgical notes and commentary about the Feast of the Nativity.
Mass of the Nativity at Midnight
The links provided below can be used to download printable copies of the Proper Prayers for the Nativity of Our Lord – First Mass at Midnight. Both English and Spanish translations are provided for each liturgical celebration. In addition, we offer links to Dr. Michael P. Foley’s New Liturgical Movement commentary on “The Three Nativities of the Three Christmas Masses” from his Lost in Translation series.
Christmastide Latin Mass Schedule (as announced)
The
following schedule lists special Latin Masses and related changes for
the season of Christmastide. Additional Masses or schedule changes that
may be announced will be posted in future newsletters or mid-week
bulletins. The full list can also be found on the Carolina Traditional Liturgy Society website.
Wednesday December 25
12:00 a.m., Saint Ann, The Nativity of Our Lord: First Mass at Midnight (No 6:00 p.m. Latin Mass this day)
12:00 a.m., Saint Thomas Aquinas, The Nativity of Our Lord: First Mass at Midnight (this will be the only Latin Mass at Saint Thomas Aquinas this day)
12:00 a.m., Church of the Epiphany (Blowing Rock), The Nativity of Our Lord: First Mass at Midnight
12:00 a.m., Saint John the Baptist (Tryon), The Nativity of Our Lord: First Mass at Midnight
11:00 a.m., Our Lady of Grace (Greensboro)
1:00 p.m., Our Lady of the Lake (Chapin SC)
Thursday December 26
7:00 p.m., Saint Thomas Aquinas Latin Mass canceled
11:00 a.m., Saint John the Baptist (Tryon), High Mass
Friday, December 27
8:30 a.m., Saint John the Baptist (Tryon) Latin Mass canceled
9:30 a.m., Church of the Epiphany (Blowing Rock) Latin Mass canceled
Saturday, December 28
8:00 a.m., Saint Ann 4th Saturday Respect Life Mass canceled
Wednesday January 1
12:00 a.m., Our Lady of Grace (Greensboro), Octave-Day of the Nativity (Feast of the Circumcision) at Midnight
12:00 a.m., Church of the Epiphany (Blowing Rock), Octave-Day of the Nativity (Feast of the Circumcision) at Midnight
9:00 a.m., Saint Ann, Octave-Day of the Nativity (Feast of the Circumcision) (Confessions to follow until 11:30 a.m.)
6:00 p.m., Saint Ann, Latin Mass canceled
6:30 p.m., Saint John the Baptist (Tryon), Octave-Day of the Nativity (Feast of the Circumcision)
6:30 p.m., Our Lady of the Lake (Chapin SC), Octave-Day of the Nativity (Feast of the Circumcision)
Sunday January 5
12:30 p.m., Saint Ann, Annual Epiphany blessing of water, chalk and salt will occur immediately after regularly scheduled Sunday Mass
Monday January 6 (Feast of the Epiphany of Our Lord)
7:00 a.m., Saint Ann
6:00 p.m., Church of the Epiphany (Blowing Rock)
6:30 p.m., Our Lady of Grace (Greensboro)
6:30 p.m., Saint John the Baptist (Tryon), (Epiphany blessing will occur prior to Mass at 6:00 p.m.)
6:30 p.m., Our Lady of the Lake (Chapin SC), (Including blessing of salt, oils, and water)
Note: It is customary to bless water, chalk, and salt on or around the Vigil of the Epiphany. If more blessings are announced they will be added to the above list.
Christmas Prayers for Bishop Martin and Diocesan Priests – This week is probably (next to Holy Week) one of the busiest and often demanding times for our priests, deacons and bishop. Please keep them in your prayers and Mass intentions as they prepare for Christmas liturgies this week.
Prayers for Fr. Jones – Please also keep Fr. Jones in your prayers as he prepares for his new parish assignment as Administrator at St. Margaret Mary in Swannanoa in a few weeks. Fr. Jones has served at Saint Ann parish and offered the Latin Mass since arriving at Saint Ann in 2020. He will be greatly missed at Saint Ann parish.
Three Christmas Masses
The 1962 Roman Missal has three distinct Latin Masses for Christmas, which are Midnight, Dawn, and Day. Each Mass symbolizes a different aspect of the Nativity of Christ; together they form a triduum of Masses for this solemnity. Church law permits priests to offer three Masses on Christmas to commemorate the birth of Our Savior. Midnight Mass (Mass of the Angels) represents Christ’s Incarnation into the dark world at midnight on December 25, 1 B.C. The dawn Mass (Mass of the Shepherds) focuses on the birth of Christ being spiritually born in our souls, while the Mass of the Day (Mass of the Kings) emphasizes the unending love that Christ had for us, when he came through His Incarnation.
The Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter (FSSP) provides a brief explanation of these three Masses in a prior Christmastide article. For a deeper look into the three Christmas Masses, we share a 1920 article from Dominica, The Three Masses of Christmas.
The Three Universal “Peaces”
Our Blessed Lord, at His Incarnation, entered the world at the time of the great Pax Romana (Roman Peace) when the world was at peace throughout the entire Roman Empire. As custom, we share a wonderful article by Fr. William Rock, FSSP, describing the Roman Peace, the special “peace doors” in Rome which indicated peace, and this peace’s impact for those living under the Roman Empire’s jurisdiction: Christmas Eve Prime: The Whole World at Peace.
While the Pax Romana was the most important peace to date, there are actually a total of three periods of history when there was (or will be) universal peace. The first universal peace was after the Great Deluge (Noe’s flood) when all mankind was destroyed and only eight members of the human race survived after the waters subsided. The second peace was the Pax Romana. The third peace, still to come, will be at the end of time when the Antichrist will be defeated. We let the great liturgist, Dom Prosper Guéranger (quoting Saint Bonaventure), masterfully describe these three instances of peace (or three silences) in Feast of St. Ambrose – December 7:
Let us consider that last visible preparation for the coming of the Messias: a universal peace. The din of war is silenced, and the entire world is intent in expectation. ‘There are three silences to be considered,’ says St. Bonaventure, in one of his sermons for Advent; ‘the first in the days of Noah, after the deluge had destroyed all sinners; the second, in the days of Cæsar Augustus, when all nations were subjected to the empire; the third will be at the death of Antichrist, when the Jews shall be converted.’
O Jesus! Prince of peace, Thou wiliest that the world shall be in peace, when Thou art coming down to dwell in it. Thou didst foretell this by the psalmist, Thy ancestor in the flesh, who, speaking of Thee, said: ‘He shall make wars to cease even to the end of the earth, He shall destroy the bow, and break the weapons; and the shield He shall bum in the fire.’[3] And why is this, O Jesus? It is, that hearts which Thou art to visit must be silent and attentive. It is that before Thou enterest a soul, Thou troublest it in Thy great mercy, as the world was troubled and agitated before the universal peace; then Thou bringest peace into that soul, and Thou takest possession of her.
Oh! come quickly, dear Lord, subdue our rebellious senses, bring low the haughtiness of our spirit, crucify our flesh, rouse our hearts from their sleep: and then may Thy entrance into our souls be a feast-day of triumph, as when a conqueror enters a city which he has taken after a long siege. Sweet Jesus, Prince of peace! give us peace; fix Thy kingdom so firmly in our hearts, that Thou mayst reign in us forever.
Gentile Prophecies of the Birth of Christ
It was not just the Old Testament prophets such as Isaiah who gave testimony that God would send mankind a redeemer. On at least two occasions, Dom Prosper Guéranger noted that a few of the Gentile writers and philosophers predicted that a redeemer of the world would come, and through a virgin birth:
The expression of the same universal expectation and desire is found also among the Gentiles. The Sibyls kept up the hope in the heart of the people; and in Rome itself we find the Poet Virgil repeating in one of his poems the oracles they had pronounced. ‘The last age,' says he, ‘foretold by the Cumean Sibyl, is at hand; a new and glorious era is coming: a new race is being sent down to earth from heaven. At the birth of this Child, the iron age will cease, and one of gold will rise upon the whole world.... No remnants of our crimes will be left, and their removal will free the earth from its never ending fear.' (Virgil, Eclog. IV)
If we are unwilling to accept, as did St Augustine and so many other holy Fathers, these Sibylline oracles as the expression of the ancient traditions—we have pagan philosophers and historians, such as Cicero, Tacitus, and Suetonius, testifying that in their times the world was in expectation of a Deliverer; that this Deliverer would come, not only from the East, but from Judea; and that a Kingdom was on the point of being established which would include the entire world. The Third Day within the Octave of the Epiphany
Additionally, Guéranger writes during the Octave of the Immaculate Conception:
It was by this mystery that was fulfilled the prophecy of Isaias: Behold, a Virgin shall conceive and bear a Son; (Isaiah 7:14) and that of Jeremias: The Lord hath created a new thing upon the earth; a Woman shall compass a Man. (Jeremiah 31:22) The Gentiles themselves had received the tradition of these prophecies. Thus, in the old Pagan Carnutum (Chartres), there was an altar dedicated “To the Virgin that was to bring forth a Son” (Virgini Parituræ); and while modern rationalism, with its ignorant skepticism, was affecting to throw a doubt on this fact of history, the researches of science were discovering that Carnutum was far from being the only city of the West, which had such an altar. Fifth Day Within the Octave of the Immaculate Conception
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To Our Readers and All Friends of the Latin Mass: May you be abundantly blessed by God in this upcoming joyous season of Christmas.
~ Carolina Traditional Liturgy Society
www.carolinaliturgy.org