Fourth Sunday after Easter

May 17, 2025

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 18 – Fourth Sunday after Easter (II)

Monday, May 19 – St. Peter Celestine, Pope and Confessor (III) – Commemoration of St. Pudentiana, Virgin

Tuesday, May 20 – St. Bernardino of Sienna, Confessor (III)

Wednesday, May 21 – Feria of Paschaltide (IV)

Thursday, May 22 – Feria of Paschaltide (IV)

Friday, May 23 – Feria of Paschaltide (IV)

Saturday, May 24 – Feria of Paschaltide (IV) – Our Lady on Saturday (IV)


Fourth Sunday after Easter

The links provided below can be used to download printable copies of the Proper Prayers for Fourth Sunday after Easter with English or Spanish translation, followed by commentary by Dr. Michael P. Foley.


Latin Mass Schedule: Sundays

Charlotte Area Latin Masses

  • 11:30 a.m., Saint Thomas Aquinas

  • 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., Church of the Epiphany (Blowing Rock)

  • 1:30 p.m., Our Lady of Grace (Greensboro)

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)

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 (May 19 - May 24)

Charlotte Area Latin Masses

  • Saint Ann – Wednesday, 6:00 p.m.

  • Saint Thomas Aquinas – Thursday, 7:00 p.m.

  • Saint Ann – Friday, 7:00 a.m.

  • Saint Ann - 4th Saturday Respect Life Latin Mass, 8:00 a.m. (followed by prayers at the abortion facility)

Other Diocese of Charlotte Latin Masses

  • Our Lady of the Mountains (Highlands) – Tuesday, 9:30 a.m.

  • Saint John the Baptist (Tryon) – Friday, 8:30 a.m.

  • Church of the Epiphany (Blowing Rock) – Friday, 9:30 a.m.

Diocese of Charleston Latin Masses

  • Prince of Peace (Taylors SC) – Monday-Friday, 12:00 p.m.

  • Prince of Peace (Taylors SC) – Saturday 8:00 a.m.

Note: 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.


Ascension Thursday: Thursday May 29

The following are announced Latin Masses for Ascension Thursday. If more Masses are scheduled, we will include them in future updates.

  • Saint Ann, 7:00 p.m.

  • Saint Thomas Aquinas, 7:00 p.m.

  • Saint John the Baptist (Tryon), 6:30 p.m.

  • Our Lady of Grace (Greensboro), 6:30 p.m.

  • Our Lady of the Lake (Chapin SC), 6:30 p.m.


Announcements

Third Sunday Coffee and Doughnuts at Saint Ann – Saint Ann Parish will be offering coffee and doughnuts after all Masses this Sunday, including the 12:30 p.m. Latin Mass.

Habemus Papam! – Prayer for Pope Leo XIV

O GOD , the Shepherd and Ruler of all the faithful, graciously look upon Thy servant Leo whom Thou hast been pleased to appoint pastor over Thy Church: grant, we beseech Thee, that by both word and example he may edify those over whom he is set, and together with the flock committed to his care, may attain to eternal life. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen. – Collect Prayer for the Pope (1962)

No First Saturday Latin Mass on June 7 – There will not be a First Saturday Latin Mass at Saint Thomas Aquinas on June 7th due to diaconate ordinations that day. Please pray for those seminarians set to be ordained that morning.


Holy Face Devotions

Prayers of Reparation to the Holy Face of Jesus are offered each week at the following churches on the indicated days:

  • St. James (Concord) – Monday, 10-10:30 a.m. (in the cry room)

  • St. Mark – Tuesday, 5:30 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, 8:30 a.m. (following 8:00 a.m. Novus Ordo Mass)

  • St. Vincent de Paul – Tuesday, 8:40 a.m.

  • Holy Spirit (Denver) – Tuesday, 10-11:00 a.m. (following the 9:15 a.m. Novus Ordo Mass)

  • Saint Elizabeth of the Hill Country (Boone) – Third Tuesday May 20, at 6:45 p.m. after Mass in the Youth Room **Special Time for May**

  • St. John the Baptist (Tryon) - First Saturday, 9:30 a.m. (after 8:30 a.m Latin Mass)

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

Saint Robert Bellarmine was born Roberto Bellarmino at Montepulciano, Italy, on October 4, 1542, a quarter-century after Martin Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses ignited the so-called Protestant Reformation. The Council of Trent, meeting in three sessions from 1545 to 1563, adopted the framework for the Counter-Reformation that Robert Bellarmine was to champion throughout his illustrious career.

Bellarmine was the third of ten children born to Vincenzo Bellarmino and Cinzia Cervini. His mother had a brother named Marcello who, after a distinguished career in service to the Church, was anointed Pope Marcellus II on April 10, 1555, only to die 22 days later. Inspired perhaps by his uncle’s example, Roberto discerned a religious vocation and expressed a desire to become a member of the Society of Jesus, a relatively new order founded by Ignatius of Loyola and his companions in 1540. Vincenzo Bellarmino, being opposed either to his son’s choice of vocation or to his desire to become a Jesuit, elicited from him a promise to wait one year. One year later, Roberto was still determined to pursue the course he had chosen, and the superior general of the Society was so impressed by the young man’s obvious potential that he counted the year of waiting as his novitiate and allowed him to make his profession of vows without further delay.

After studying philosophy for three years at the Roman College (now known as the Pontifical Gregorian University), Bellarmine studied theology at Padua, before going on to complete his studies at Louvain. Ordained at Louvain in 1570, he became the first Jesuit professor of theology there, teaching courses focused on the Catholic response to Martin Luther, John Calvin and the other leaders of the Protestant Reformation. Returning to the Roman College in 1576, he established a reputation over the next 11 years as one of the principal defenders of the Catholic Church and was called on by the Pope to serve on commissions charged with revising the Vulgate Bible and preparing a new edition of the Septuagint, for which he wrote the preface. The lectures he delivered while holding the chair of controversial theology at the Roman College led to the publication in 1586 of the first of three volumes of his Controversies, considered his most important work.

Called on by the Pope to assume diplomatic duties, Bellarmine proved to be an uncompromising defender of the interests of the Church, alienating powerful princes who blocked any chance that he would be considered papabile at a future date. Appointed rector of the Roman College in 1592, he was named provincial superior of the Jesuit Province of Naples in 1594, only to be summoned by Pope Clement VIII to serve as his theological advisor two years later. Contrary to his own wishes, the pope made him a cardinal on March 3, 1599; then, to his surprise, Clement appointed him Archbishop of Capua in 1602. When Paul V succeeded to the papacy in 1605, he asked Bellarmine to remain in Rome where he made use of him as a member of several Vatican commissions.

Ever adhering to the spiritual life prescribed by the Society of Jesus, Cardinal Bellarmine would make use of the 30-day retreats each year to write his works on spirituality. In 1597 and 1598 he published a Catechism in two versions that would be translated into 60 languages and serve as the official teaching of the Catholic Church for centuries. His later works written for the spiritual benefit of the faithful included, among others, The Mind’s Ascent to God by the Ladder of Created Things, The Art of Dying Well and The Seven Words on the Cross.

Cardinal Bellarmine’s request that he be allowed to retire was refused by both Paul V and his successor, Gregory XV. The latter subsequently relented, allowing the future saint to retire to the Jesuit novitiate of Sant’Andrea just days before his death on September 17, 1621, at the age of 78. The cause for his canonization was initiated in 1627 but did not reach its successful conclusion for three hundred years due to political considerations that included both the opposition of secular authorities and Bellarmine’s involvement in the ecclesiastical cases of the heretical apostate, Giordano Bruno, and the astronomer Galileo Galilei. Canonized on June 29, 1930, by Pope Pius XI, who proclaimed him to be one of the foremost figures in the history of the Church, Saint Robert Bellarmine was named a Doctor of the Universal Church the following year. His remains remain on display in his cardinal’s red robes in the Church of St. Ignatius, the chapel of the Roman College. His feast day is listed on the traditional Roman Calendar as the 13th of May.


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]


We wish our readers a blessed Eastertide. Christus Resurréxit! Resurréxit Vere!