First Sunday After Epiphany & Feast of the Holy Family

First Sunday After Epiphany & Feast of the Holy Family

And it came to pass that after three days they found him in the Temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, hearing them and asking them questions (Luke 2:46)

Dear friends in Christ

Welcome to our weekly Sunday update. The liturgy for this Sunday (January 7, 2024), the first following the Epiphany of Our Lord on the preceding day, celebrates the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph as the model of virtue for all Christian households. The Infant Jesus made manifest to the world in the liturgy for one day has come of age among the elders in the Temple in the liturgy for the next. “And all that heard Him were astonished at his wisdom and His answers” (Luke 2:47).

In this update we share information about Sunday’s Mass and other Latin Masses scheduled during the week ahead.

First Sunday after the Epiphany - Feast of the Holy Family (January 7th)

The links provided below can be used to download printable copies of the Proper Prayers for the First Sunday after the Epiphany - Feast of the Holy Family with either English or Spanish translation. In addition, we offer a link to an article by Dr. Michael P. Foley on the Feast of the Holy Family, originally printed in the Christmas 2018 issue of The Latin Mass Magazine, reposted with permission by New Liturgical Movement.

Epiphany Home Blessing Kits

Both Saint Ann and Saint Thomas Aquinas parishes have Epiphany home blessing kits of blessed chalk, salt and accompanying prayers available in the narthex while quantities last. Epiphany water is available at the holy water fonts at both parishes. Please consider offering prayers of thanksgiving for Fathers Reid, Jones, and Codd, for blessing these efficacious sacramentals.

Calendar of Saints and Special Observances

Celebrations listed are those on the traditional liturgical calendar found in the Roman Missal of 1962.

  • Sunday, January 7th – First Sunday after Epiphany – Feast of the Holy Family
  • Monday, January 8th – Feria of Epiphany
  • Tuesday, January 9th – Feria of Epiphany
  • Wednesday, January 10th – Feria of Epiphany
  • Thursday, January 11th - Saint Hyginus, Pope and Martyr
  • Friday, January 12th – Feria of Epiphany
  • Saturday, January 13th – Commemoration of the Baptism of Our Lord Jesus Christ

Schedule of Latin Masses for Sunday, January 7th (First Sunday after the Epiphany - Feast of the Holy Family)

Charlotte Area Latin Masses

  • 11:30 a.m., Saint Thomas Aquinas (Potluck after Mass)
  • 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., Our Lady of Grace (Greensboro)
  • 1:00 p.m., Saint Elizabeth of the Hill Country (Boone)
  • 4:00 p.m., Sacred Heart (Salisbury)

Note: With the recently announced changes of Latin Mass offerings in the Diocese of Charlotte, the 1st Sunday Latin Mass at Sacred Heart in Salisbury is to be the last celebration in the Extraordinary Form at that venue.

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) (The Epiphany blessing of water, chalk, and salt will follow Mass.)

Last Scheduled Latin Mass in Salisbury - Sunday January 7, 4pm

As noted above, this Sunday will be the last scheduled Latin Mass on first Sundays at Sacred Heart parish in Salisbury. Mass will be at 4pm and will be a Missa Cantata offered by Fr. Michael Carlson. Afterwards there will be a potluck in Brincefield Hall. All are welcome. To learn more visit the Salisbury Latin Mass Community.


First Sunday Potluck at St. Thomas Aquinas

After this Sunday's 11:30 a.m. Latin Mass at Saint Thomas Aquinas parish, there will be a potluck and fellowship. Please sign up and bring a dish, dessert, or drink to share. Sign up here.

Schedule of Weekday Latin Masses

Wednesday, January 10th (Feria of Epiphany)

  • 6:00 p.m., Saint Ann

Thursday, January 11th (Saint Hyginus, Pope and Martyr)

  • 7:00 p.m., Saint Thomas Aquinas

Friday, January 12th (Feria of Epiphany)

  • 7:00 a.m., Saint Ann

March for Life Charlotte – Latin Mass for the Unborn

The March for Life Charlotte will occur this Friday, January 12. Attendees can assemble at the parking lot across from the Diocese of Charlotte’s Pastoral Center (1123 South Church Street) starting at 11am. The march begins at 12 noon, and a rally will occur at the corner of Trade and Tryon Streets. The regularly scheduled 7 a.m. Latin Mass at Saint Ann parish that morning will be offered for the unborn and the end to abortion, and is listed as part of the event. To learn more or if one has questions please contact marchforlifecharlotte@fidei.email or visit: https://www.marchforlifecharlotte.com/

Holy Face Devotions

Prayers of Reparation to the Holy Face of Jesus will be offered at the following churches during the coming week:

  • St. James (Concord) – Monday, 10-10:30 a.m. (in the cry room)
  • St. Mark – Monday, 5:00 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, 9:00 a.m.
  • Holy Spirit (Denver) – Tuesday, 10-11:00 a.m. (following the 9:15 a.m. Novus Ordo Mass)

Meal Assistance

Matthew and Katherine Gallegos, who attend the Saint Ann Latin Mass, recently welcomed their first child, Gabriela Noelle Gallegos. Please consider providing the blessing of a meal during this important period of recovery and transition: https://takethemameal.com/ZUHC4630

Steve and Meghann Cunningham, who also attend the Saint Ann Latin Mass, recently welcomed a new addition to their family and could use some help with meals in the weeks ahead. Please consider providing a meal for the Cunningham family at their Meal Train website: https://www.mealtrain.com/trains/lk59nw

Christmas Season Continues Through February 2nd

Contrary to the secular world’s calendar, the great Benedictine liturgist Dom Prosper Guéranger reminds us that the Christmas season has just begun and will continue for forty days until the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Mother on February 2nd:

We apply the name of Christmas to the forty days which begin with the Nativity of our Lord, December 25, and end with the Purification of the Blessed Virgin, February 2. It is a period which forms a distinct portion of the Liturgical Year, as distinct, by its own special spirit, from every other, as are Advent, Lent, Easter, or Pentecost. One same Mystery is celebrated and kept in view during the whole forty days.  Neither the Feasts of the Saints, which so abound during this Season; nor the time of Septuagesima, with its mournful Purple, which often begins before Christmastide is over, seem able to distract our Holy Mother the Church from the immense joy of which she received the good tidings from the Angels [St. Luke ii 10] on that glorious Night for which the world had been longing four thousand years. The Faithful will remember that the Liturgy commemorates this long expectation by the four penitential weeks of Advent.

The custom of celebrating the Solemnity of our Saviour’s Nativity by a feast or commemoration of forty days’ duration is founded on the holy Gospel itself; for it tells us that the Blessed Virgin Mary, after spending forty days in the contemplation of the Divine Fruit of her glorious Maternity, went to the Temple, there to fulfil, in most perfect humility, the ceremonies which the Law demanded of the daughters of Israel, when they became mothers.

The Feast of Mary’s Purification is, therefore, part of that of Jesus’ Birth; and the custom of keeping this holy and glorious period of forty days as one continued Festival has every appearance of being a very ancient one, at least in the Roman Church. [History of Christmas]

Latin Mass and Liturgical News

  • Customs of New Year’s Day and Twelfth Night: In another installment of customs and history surrounding feast days, Dr. Michael P. Foley offers a review of the traditions and origins of practices surrounding New Years day and the 12th day (January 5). [Customs of New Year’s Day and Twelfth Night]
  • Christmas in Rome: the Chapel of the Sacra Culla: As we progress further into the 40 days of Christmastide, we share an article by local writer and Latin Mass attendee, John Paul Sonnen, who takes us to a small basement chapel in Saint Mary Major Basilica in Rome, where a special Mass with the relic of the manager is offered each 25th day of the month, with permission to use the Midnight Mass of Christmas on those days, regardless of time of day or year. [Christmas in Rome: the Chapel of the Sacra Culla]
  • Saint Nicholas’ Church in Ancient Myra: If there is one saint after the Blessed Mother or Saint Joseph who figures prominently in the Advent and Christmas seasons (Catholic or secular) it is Saint Nicholas of Myra, and this article in the Liturgical Arts Journal provides a brief look at his church – which still stands in ancient Turkey. [Saint Nicholas’ Church in Ancient Myra]
  • The Three Nativities of the Three Christmas Masses: In our Christmas update, we shared about the three “Nativities” for the three distinct Masses of Christmas and we continue our reflection on this with an article by Dr. Foley examining the different prayers for these three Masses. [The Three Nativities of the Three Christmas Masses]
  • The Birthday of Saint Philomena is this Wednesday January 10 (feast day is August 11). Although no longer on the traditional calendar, her birthday (and feast day) is still celebrated across the Church each year. Her shrine is in Mugnano, Italy and shares more details on the life of this Wonderworker. [Sanctuary of Saint Philomena]
  • Dom Gueranger: A Monk at the Heart of the Church is a newly translated English edition of Dom Guy Marie Oury’s biography of the first abbot of Solesmes, available from Our Lady of Clear Creek Abbey (translation by Dom Philip Anderson, abbot of Clear Creek Abbey). [Dom Gueranger: A Monk at the Heart of the Church]

Saints and Special Celebrations

Saint Hyginus, Pope and Martyr, was the ninth Bishop of Rome, succeeding Saint Telesphorus, whose place on the Roman Calendar (January 5th) falls six days before that of his successor (January 11th). According to Eusebius, Telesphorus was installed as bishop during the reign of the Roman emperor, Hadrian, but died during the first year in office of his successor Antoninus Pius.

When Hadrian, after twenty-one years, paid the debt of nature, Antoninus called Pius succeeded to the Roman Empire. In his first year, Telesphorus departed this life in the eleventh year of his ministry, and Hyginus took over the office of Bishop of Rome. Irenaeus notes that Telesphorus died nobly as a martyr (The History of the Church IV. 5, 10).

Irenaeus says nothing in Adverses Haereses (Against Heresies) about the manner of death suffered by Hyginus, noting only that during his episcopacy the Gnostic heretics, Valentinus and Cerdo, were active in Rome. Nevertheless, Church tradition holds that his reign of less than four years as Pope ended in the year 142 when he forfeited his life for the sake of the Faith.

Hyginus was of Greek origin. Little is known of his life, but he has been credited with establishing the original hierarchy of the Church by fixing the order of ecclesiastical precedence. It is also believed that he instituted the practice of having godparents participate in the rite of baptism and that he was the first primate to require the consecration of churches.

When Hyginus died, his remains were interred on Vatican Hill, near the tomb of Saint Peter.

Closing Commentary

The Three Mysteries of Epiphany

According to Dom Guéranger, the Feast of Epiphany is among the cardinal feasts of the Church. With that, it carries its own liturgical season, with several (six) Sundays named after it, just like Easter and Pentecost. Before 1955, it also had its own octave. Additionally, Guéranger also notes there are 3 mysteries of Christ celebrated on this day:

The Feast of the Epiphany is the continuation of the mystery of Christmas; but it appears on the Calendar of the Church with its own special character. Its very name, which signifies Manifestation, implies that it celebrates the apparition of God to his creatures.

For several centuries, the Nativity of our Lord was kept on this day; and when, in the year 376, the decree of the Holy See obliged all Churches to keep the Nativity on the 25th December, as Rome did – the Sixth of January was not robbed of all its ancient glory. It was still to be called the Epiphany, and the Baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ was also commemorated on this same Feast, which Tradition had marked as the day on which that Baptism took place.

The Epiphany shares with the Feasts of Christmas, Easter, Ascension, and Pentecost, the honour of being called, in the Canon of the Mass, a Day most holy. It is also one of the cardinal Feasts, that is, one of those on which the arrangement of the Christian Year is based; for, as we have Sundays after Easter, and Sundays after Pentecost, so also we count six Sundays after the Epiphany.

The mystery of the Epiphany brings upon us three magnificent rays of the Sun of Justice, our Saviour. In the calendar of pagan Rome, this Sixth day of January was devoted to the celebration of a triple triumph of Augustus, the founder of the Roman Empire: but when Jesus, our Prince of peace, whose empire knows no limits, had secured victory to his Church by the blood of the Martyrs, then did this his Church decree that a triple triumph of the Immortal King should be substituted, in the Christian Calendar, for those other three triumphs which had been won by the adopted son of Cæsar.

The Sixth of January, therefore, restored the celebration of our Lord's Birth to the Twenty-Fifth of December; but in return, there were united in the one same Epiphany three manifestations of Jesus' glory: the mystery of the Magi coming from the East, under the guidance of a star, and adoring the Infant of Bethlehem as the divine King; the mystery of the Baptism of Christ, who, whilst standing in the waters of the Jordan, was proclaimed by the Eternal Father as Son of God; and thirdly, the mystery of the divine power of this same Jesus, when he changed the water into wine at the marriage-feast of Cana. [The Epiphany of Our Lord]

To Our Readers and All Friends of the Latin Mass:

May you be abundantly blessed by God in this joyous season of Christmas.

Carolina Traditional Liturgy Society

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