Friends in Christ,
Welcome to our weekly Sunday update. This Sunday is the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, the joyous feast commemorating the discovery of the True Cross in Jerusalem by St. Helena in 326 A.D., the dedication of the great basilica of the Holy Sepulchre built by Constantine in 335 A.D., and the restoration of the True Cross to Jerusalem in 629 A.D. after its seizure by the Persians. (It also marks the 18th anniversary of the implementation of Pope Benedict’s Latin Mass Motu Proprio, Summorum Pontificum.) This triumphal feast is of such importance that, falling on a Sunday this year, it supersedes the Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost, which is reduced to a commemoration.
The Gospel reading for this Sunday focuses on Our Lord’s discourse to the Jews after entering Jerusalem on the Sunday before His crucifixion (Palm Sunday), in which He discusses His forthcoming death in the twelfth chapter of Saint John’s gospel, “Now is the judgment of the world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all things to myself. (Now this he said signifying what death he should die.)” (John 12:31-36). When questioned by the Jews about how could Christ abide forever if the Son of Man must be lifted up (crucified), He reminds them that He is the Light of the World and for them to walk in the Light while He is still with them.
Calendar of Saints and Special Observances
Celebrations are those listed in the Roman Missal of 1962.
DAY, DATE – FEAST (CLASS)
Sunday, September 14 – The Exaltation of the Holy Cross (II) – Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Monday, September 15 – Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary (II) – Commemoration of St. Nicomedes, Martyr
Tuesday, September 16 – Ss. Cornelius, Pope and Cyprian, Bishop, Martyrs (III) – St. Euphemia, Virgin and Martyr, and Ss Lucia and Geminianus, Martyrs
Wednesday, September 17 – The Stigmata of St. Francis (IV)
Thursday, September 18 – St. Joseph of Cupertino, Confessor (III)
Friday, September 19 – St. Januarius, Bishop, and Companions, Martyrs (IV)
Saturday, September 20 – St. Eustache and Companions (IV) – Our Lady on Saturday (IV)
Feast of The Exaltation of the Holy Cross
The links provided below can be used to download printable copies of the Proper Prayers for the The Exaltation of the Holy Cross with English or Spanish translation. Below are also the Proper Prayers for the Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost (commemorated this Sunday), followed by commentary by Dr. Michael P. Foley.
Latin Mass Schedule: Sundays
Charlotte Area Latin Masses
Other Diocese of Charlotte Latin Masses
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 15 - September 20)
Charlotte Area Latin Masses
Other Diocese of Charlotte Latin Masses
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.
Special Latin Masses (September 29 - October 2)
The following are announced Latin Masses scheduled in the Diocese of Charlotte before the new norms take effect after October 2. Should additional Latin Masses be announced we will include them in future updates.
Monday September 29: Feast of the Dedication of Saint Michael the Archangel (Michaelmas)
Wednesday October 1: Feria (Commemoration of St. Regimus)
Thursday October 2: The Holy Guardian Angels
Announcements
Free Copies of Benedictus This Weekend – If you are new to Latin Mass or just looking to deepen your understanding of the Mass, its daily lectionary, and liturgical calendar, we can hardly recommend enough Benedictus. Similar to the Magnificat publication, (for the Novus Ordo Mass), Benedictus is subscription-based “missalette” published monthly by Sophia Institute Press, which includes the full daily Traditional Latin Masses readings and Propers for the month - both in English and in Latin.
Free copies are available this weekend – while supplies last - at the Latin Mass info table at Saint Ann parish. Stop by to check it out. To learn more about Benedictus, click here.
SAVE THE DATE: Sunday September 28, 12:30 p.m. Saint Ann – Michaelmas Feast Celebration. The Carolina Traditional Liturgy Society is organizing a feast celebration after the Saint Ann 12:30 p.m. Sunday Latin Mass on September 28 for the Feast of the Dedication of Saint Michael the Archangel, which occurs the next day. All are invited. Please bring a dish, or dessert to share (no signup necessary).
Latin Mass Reception: Sunday September 28 at Our Lady of Grace Parish (Greensboro) – the Latin Mass Community at Our Lady of Grace will be hosting a reception in the Parish Life Center after the last scheduled Sunday Latin Mass (1:30 p.m.), on Sunday September 28. Please bring a dish, dessert or drink to share.
Father Reid’s Homily on Suffering and Charity – We share Father Reid excellent and instructive homily for the Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost regarding suffering and charity in light of the times and circumstances we are living in today, particularly about the Latin Mass. We encourage all readers who may have missed it to review the text version at this link.
Saturday September 20, 7:30 p.m., Concert of Sacred Choral Music benefiting Saint Thomas Aquinas Church – Please mark your calendars for an important sacred music event at Saint Thomas Aquinas parish. The event will feature sacred choral music provided by the Saint Thomas Aquinas Adult and Children's choirs. It will offer traditional sacred music - some in Latin - and will feature special guests, St. Joseph College Seminary Quartet: Fr. Matthew Kauth (violin); Fr. Brian Becker (cello); Seminarian Matthew Sie (clarinet) and Fr. Kolbe Murrey (violin).
A wine and cheese dessert reception will follow. The event benefits the parish’s capital campaign project. If you’ve spiritually benefited from the sacred music at Saint Thomas, this event may be of great interest to you. See event flyer below.
Holy Hidden Highways Substack – A new Substack page by Saint Ann parishioner Rachel Shrader has just been created. The site (paid subscription) will feature articles on her travels around the Catholic world including visiting churches and traditional parishes. Although the topics will not be exclusively related to the Latin Mass, Ms. Shrader has previously written for the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP) newsletter and the Substack topics may be of interest to readers. The site is: https://holyhiddenhighways.substack.com/
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.
St. Michael’s Lent (now thru September 29) – As you may have read in the Catholic News Herald (or seen the posters in parishes) several faithful across the diocese are participating in an ancient penitential practice called St. Michael’s Lent, currently promoted by a group, Exodus 90 and anciently practiced by St. Francis of Assisi. It began August 15 (Assumption) and continues for 40 days ahead of the Feast of St. Michael on September 29. For those who feel called to amplify their prayers or penances for the Latin Mass this season, please click here to learn how to participate.
National Latin Mass Pilgrimage – Saturday October 11, Washington, D.C. 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 consider praying this daily for the Holy Father as he leads the Church.
PDF copies of the prayer 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).
Latin Mass and Liturgical News
Saints and Special Observances
The Commemoration of the Stigmata of St. Francis, Confessor is celebrated annually on the 17th of September in accordance with the traditional liturgical calendar of the Church. What follows is an excerpt from Chapter XIII (“Of the Stigmata”) of St. Bonaventure’s biography, The Life of Saint Francis of Assisi. Those wishing to read the complete text, in which the many miracles associated with the stigmata are described, can make use of the following link to download a copy of E. Gurney Salter’s English translation posted online by e-Catholic 2000: The Life Of St. Francis Of Assisi by St. Bonaventure.
The Life of Saint Francis of Assisi
Saint Bonaventure
Translated by E. Gurney Salter: 1904 by E.P. Dutton, New York, US.
Chapter XIII OF THE SACRED STIGMATA
1. It was the custom of that angelic man, Francis, never to be slothful in good, but rather, like the heavenly spirits on Jacob’s ladder, to be ever ascending toward God, or stooping toward his neighbour. For he had learnt so wisely to apportion the time granted unto him for merit that one part thereof he would spend in labouring for the profit of his neighbours, the other he would devote unto the peaceful ecstasies of contemplation. Wherefore, when according unto the demands of time and place he had stooped to secure the salvation of others, he would leave behind the disturbances of throngs, and seek a hidden solitude and a place for silence, wherein, giving himself up more freely unto the Lord, he might brush off any dust that was clinging unto him from his converse with men. Accordingly, two years before he yielded his spirit unto heaven, the divine counsel leading him, he was brought after many and varied toils unto an high mountain apart, that is called Mount Alverna. When, according unto his wont he began to keep a Lent there, fasting, in honour of Saint Michael Archangel, he was filled unto overflowing, and as never before, with the sweetness o£ heavenly contemplation, and was kindled with a yet more burning flame of heavenly longings, and began to feel the gifts of the divine bestowal heaped upon him. He was borne into the heights, not like a curious examiner of the divine majesty that is weighed down by the glory thereof, but even as a faithful and wise servant, searching out the will of God, unto Whom it was ever his fervent and chief desire to conform himself in every way.
2.
Thus by the divine oracle it was instilled into his mind that by
opening of the Book of the Gospels it should be revealed unto him of
Christ what would be most pleasing unto God in him and from him.
(Wherefore, having first prayed very devoutly, he took the holy Book of
the Gospels from the altar, and made it be opened, in the name of the
Holy Trinity, by his companion, a man devoted unto God, and holy. As in
the threefold opening of the Book, the Lord’s Passion was each time
discovered, Francis, full of the Spirit of God, verily understood that,
like as he had imitated Christ in the deeds of his life, so it behoved
him to be made like unto Him in the trials and sufferings of His Passion
before that he should depart from this world. And, albeit by reason of
the great austerity of his past life, and continual sustaining of the
Lord’s Cross, he was now frail in body, he was no whit afeared, but was
the more valorously inspired to endure a martyrdom. For in him the
all-powerful kindling of love of the good Jesu had increased into coals
of fire, which hath a most vehement flame, so that many waters could not
quench his love, so strong it was.
3. When, therefore, by seraphic glow of longing he had been uplifted
toward God, and by his sweet compassion had been transformed into the
likeness of Him Who of His exceeding love endured to be crucified,—on a
certain morning about the Feast of the Exaltation of Holy Cross, while
he was praying on the side of the mountain, he beheld a Seraph having
six wings, flaming and resplendent, coming down from the heights of
heaven. When in his flight most swift he had reached the space of air
nigh the man of God, there appeared betwixt the wings the Figure of a
Man crucified, having his hands and feet stretched forth in the shape of
a Cross, and fastened unto a Cross. Two wings were raised above His
head, twain were spread forth to fly, while twain hid His whole body.
Beholding this, Francis was mightily astonished, and joy, mingled with
sorrow, filled his heart. He rejoiced at the gracious aspect wherewith
he saw Christ, under the guise of the Seraph, regard him, but His
crucifixion pierced his soul with a sword of pitying grief. He marvelled
exceedingly at the appearance of a vision so unfathomable, knowing that
the infirmity of the Passion doth in no wise accord with the
immortality of a Seraphic spirit. At length he understood therefrom, the
Lord revealing it unto him, that this vision had been thus presented
unto his gaze by the divine providence, that the friend of Christ might
have foreknowledge that he was to be wholly transformed into the
likeness of Christ Crucified, not by martyrdom of body, but by
enkindling of heart. Accordingly, as the vision disappeared, it left in
his heart a wondrous glow, but on his flesh also it imprinted a no less
wondrous likeness of its tokens. For forthwith there began to appear in
his hands and feet the marks of the nails, even as he had just beheld
them in that Figure of the Crucified. For his hands and feet seemed to
be pierced through the midst with nails, the heads of the nails shewing
in the palms of the hands, and upper side of the feet, and their points
shewing on the other side; the heads of the nails were round and black
in the hands and feet, while the points were long, bent, and as it were
turned back, being formed, of the flesh itself, and protruding
therefrom. The right side, moreover, was—as if it had been pierced by a
lance—seamed with a ruddy scar, wherefrom ofttimes welled the sacred
blood, staining his habit and breeches.
4. Now the servant of
Christ perceived that the stigmata thus manifestly imprinted on his
flesh could not be hidden from his intimate friends; nevertheless,
fearing to make public the holy secret of the Lord, he was set in a
great strife of questioning, to wit, whether he should tell that which
he had seen, or should keep it silent. Wherefore he called some of the
Brethren, and, speaking unto them in general terms, set before them his
doubt, and asked their counsel. Then one of the Brethren, Illuminato by
name, and illuminated by grace, perceiving that he had beheld some
marvellous things, inasmuch as that he seemed almost stricken dumb with
amaze, said unto the holy man: “Brother, thou knowest that at times the
divine secrets are shewn unto thee, not only for thine own sake, but for
the sake of others also. Wherefore, meseemeth thou wouldst have reason
to fear lest thou shouldst be judged guilty of hiding thy talent, didst
thou keep hidden that which thou hast received, which same would be
profitable unto many.” At this speech, the holy man was moved, so that,
albeit at other times he was wont to say “ My secret to me,” he did then
with much fear narrate in order the vision aforesaid, adding that He
who had appeared unto him had said some words the which, so long as he
lived, he would never reveal unto any man. Verily we must believe that
those utterances of that holy Seraph marvellously appearing on the Cross
were so secret that perchance it was not lawful for a man to utter
them.
5. Now after that the true love of Christ had transformed His lover into
the same image, and after that he had spent forty days in solitude, as
he had determined, when the Feast of Saint Michael Archangel came, this
angelic man, Francis, descended from the mountain, bearing with him the
likeness of the Crucified, engraven, not on tables of stone or of wood,
by the craftsman’s hand, but written on his members of flesh by the
finger of the Living God. And forasmuch as it is good to keep close the
secret of a King, the man that shared this so royal secret did ever hide
those sacred signs as best he might. Howbeit, since it pertaineth unto
God to reveal the great things that He doth for His glory, the Lord
Himself, Who had imprinted those seals upon him in secret, wrought
divers miracles openly by means thereof, that the hidden and wondrous
power of those stigmata might be demonstrated by the well-known fame of
the signs that followed.
[The Life Of St. Francis Of Assisi by St. Bonaventure]
Closing Commentary
We offer, in closing, an excerpt from the commentary of Dom Prosper Guéranger, OSB, on “September 14 – The Exaltation of the Holy Cross,” followed by a link to the full text of the commentary from The Liturgical Year.
September 14 – The Exaltation of the Holy Cross
“Through thee the precious Cross is honored and worshiped throughout the world.” Thus did St. Cyril of Alexandria apostrophize our Lady on the morrow of that great day, which saw her divine maternity vindicated at Ephesus. Eternal Wisdom has willed that the Octave of Mary’s birth should be honored by the celebration of this Feast of the triumph of the holy Cross. The Cross indeed is the standard of God’s armies, whereof Mary is the Queen; it is by the Cross that she crushes the serpent’s head, and wins so many victories over error, and over the enemies of the Christian name.
By this sign thou shalt conquer. Satan had been suffered to try his strength against the Church by persecution and tortures; but his time was drawing to an end. By the edict of Sardica, which emancipated the Christians, Galerius, when about to die, acknowledged the powerlessness of hell. Now was the time for Christ to take the offensive, and for his Cross to prevail. Towards the close of the year 311, a Roman army lay at the foot of the Alps, preparing to pass from Gaul into Italy. Constantine, its commander, thought only of revenging himself for an injury received from Maxentius, his political rival; but his soldiers, as unsuspecting as their chief, already belonged henceforward to the Lord of hosts. The Son of the Most High, having become, as Son of Mary, king of this world, was about to reveal himself to his first lieutenant, and at the time to discover to his first army the standard that was to go before it. Above the legions, in a cloudless sky, the Cross, proscribed for three long centuries, suddenly shone forth; all eyes beheld it, making the Western sun, as it were, its footstool, and surrounded with these words in characters of fire: In hoc vince: by this be thou conqueror! A few months later, the 27th of October 312, all the idols of Rome stood aghast to behold, approaching along the Flaminian Way, beyond the Bridge Milvius, the Labarum with its sacred monogram, now become the standard of the imperial armies. On the morrow was fought the decisive battle, which opened the gates of the Eternal City to Christ, the only God, the everlasting King.
“Hail, O Cross, formidable to all enemies, bulwark of the Church, strength of princes; hail in thy triumph! The sacred Wood still lay hidden in the earth, yet it appeared in the heavens announcing victory; and an emperor, become Christian, raised it up from the bowels of the earth.” Thus sang the Greek Church yesterday, in preparation for the joys of today; for the East, which has not our peculiar Feast of the 3rd of May, celebrates on this one solemnity both the overthrow of idolatry by the sign of salvation revealed to Constantine and his army, and the discovery of the holy Cross a few years later in the cistern of Golgotha.
But another celebration, the memory of which is fixed by the Menology on the 13th of September, was added in the year 335 to the happy recollections of this day; namely, the dedication of the basilicas raised by Constantine on Mount Calvary and over the holy Sepulcher, after the precious discoveries made by his mother St. Helena. In the very same century that witnessed all these events, a pious pilgrim, thought to be St. Silvia, sister of Rufinus the minister of Theodosius and Arcadius, attested that the anniversary of this dedication was celebrated with the same solemnity as Easter and the Epiphany. There was an immense concourse of Bishops, clerics, monks, and seculars of both sexes, from every province; and the reason, she says, is that the Cross was found on this day; which motive had led to the choice of the same day for the primitive consecration, so that the two joys might be united in one.
Through not being aware of the nearness of the dedication of the Anastasia, or Church of the Resurrection, to the feast of the holy Cross, many have misunderstood the discourse pronounced on this feast by Sophronius, the holy patriarch of Jerusalem. “It is the feast of the Cross; who would not exult? It is the triumph of the Resurrection; who would not be full of joy? Formerly, the Cross led to the Resurrection; now it is the Resurrection that introduces us to the Cross. Resurrection and Cross: trophies of our salvation!” [September 14 Exaltation of the Holy Cross]