A little while, and now you shall not see me; and again a little while,
and you shall see me: because I go to the Father (John 16:16).
Dear Friends in Christ,
Welcome to our weekly Sunday update. This Sunday (April 21, 2024) is the Third Sunday after Easter. The Gospel reading for this Sunday presents a notable example of the way in which Jesus could sometimes baffle even His closest followers. “A little while,” he tells them, “and now you shall not see me: and again a little while, and you shall see me: because I go to the Father” (John 16:16). The bewildered disciples speculate among themselves about what this might mean but can make no sense of it. Knowing what is in their minds, Jesus says, “Amen, amen, I say to you, that you shall lament and weep, but the world shall rejoice: and you shall be made sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy” (John 16:20).
Our Lord spoke these words on the night of His betrayal and arrest, knowing that He was to die on the following day but would rise from the dead on the third day. His disciples could hardly be expected to understand what was about to happen: Jesus told them so that later they would remember and rejoice in the truth of that which He foretold. “So also you now indeed have sorrow: but I will see you again and your heart shall rejoice. And your joy no man shall take from you” (John 16:22).
That same joy is ours in this season of Easter, knowing already the outcome of those events observed and endured by the followers of Our Lord nearly two thousand years ago: He is risen! Alleluia! He is risen in truth!
Calendar of Saints and Special Observances
Celebrations are those listed in the Roman Missal of 1962 or on the calendar posted by Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary at fsspolgs.org.
Day, Date - Feast (Class)
Sunday, April 21 - Third Sunday after Easter (II)
Monday, April 22 - SS. Soter & Caius, Popes & Martyrs (III)
Tuesday, April 23 - Feria and St. Georgius, Martyr (IV)
Wednesday, April 24 - St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen, Martyr (III)
Thursday, April 25 - St. Mark, Evangelist and The Great Litanies (II)
Friday, April 26 - SS. Cletus and Marcellinus, Popes & Martyrs (III)
Saturday, April 27 - St. Peter Canisius, Doctor (III)
Third Sunday after Easter
The links provided below can be used to download printable copies of the Proper Prayers of the Mass in the Extraordinary Form for the Third Sunday after Easter with either English or Spanish translation. The English version includes an excerpt from “Exclamations of the Soul to God, 6” by St. Teresa de Jesús, the great Spanish mystic who initiated the Discalced Carmelite reform. In addition, we offer a link to an essay on “The Third Sunday after Easter” by Gregory DiPippo for New Liturgical Movement.
Latin Mass Schedule: Third Sunday after Easter (April 21st)
Charlotte Area Latin Masses
Other Diocese of Charlotte Latin Masses
Diocese of Charleston Latin Masses
Latin Mass Schedule: Weekdays
Charlotte Area Latin Masses
Other Diocese of Charlotte Latin Masses
Diocese of Charleston Latin Masses
Note: As a reminder, travelers may wish to contact parish offices to confirm Mass times, since local schedules are sometimes subject to change without public notice.
Announcements
Rogation Mass: The regularly scheduled Latin Mass at St. Thomas Aquinas on Thursday, April 25th, at 7:00 p.m. will be a special Rogation Mass. The 25th of April has traditionally been observed as the major rogation on the Roman Calendar, a day of penitential sacrifice and prayers of petition rooted in the agricultural cycle and linked to the spring planting of crops. Rogare is a Latin verb that can be translated to ask, beg or request. In the Ordinary of the Mass it is usually translated as beseech – as when the celebrant prays, following the consecration of the eucharistic elements, Supplices te rogámus, omnípotens Deus (“We most humbly beseech Thee, almighty God”). Historically, the prayers of petition associated with the major rogation have focused on the need for favorable weather conditions and protection against calamitous events. The minor rogations are made on the three days (Monday-Wednesday) immediately preceding the Feast of the Ascension. For an informative article on the subject, see Mathew Plese’s Forgotten Customs of Rogation Days on onepeterfive.com.
Special Camp for Young Men
This coming May 12-17, Jason Craig and Craig Taffaro, both Latin Mass attendees at Saint John the Baptist in Tryon, will be conducting a special camp for young men (18 or older) called Camp Capable. The tagline for the camp is “Be Competent. Be Contemplative.” Inspired by Saint Benedict’s “Ora et labora” and a desire to offer an alternative to the prevailing artificiality of the electronic media-and-technology-driven culture, they have organized the weeklong camp for young men to help them enter into the formative discipline of real work with real men, through which they can develop real competency. Additionally, they will be praying the traditional Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the morning and at night, and plans call for attendance at a Traditional Latin Mass at Saint John the Baptist at least one day during the week. To learn more and to register, please visit Camp Capable.
Holy Face Devotions
Prayers of Reparation to the Holy Face of Jesus are offered each week at the following churches on the indicated days:
Latin Mass and Liturgical News
Saints and Special Celebrations
St. Mark the Evangelist, author of the second of the four canonical Gospels, is first mentioned in the history of the early Church in connection with the miraculous escape of Peter from prison following the martyrdom of James, the first of the Apostles to give his life for the Faith. Around 44 A.D. Herod Agrippa ordered the slaying of “James, the brother of John, with the sword. And seeing that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to take up Peter also” (Acts 12:2-3). Because he had to put off the execution of Peter until after the celebration of the Pasch, Herod had him put in chains and imprisoned under heavy guard. On the night before the Apostle was to be put to death an angel of the Lord appeared to Peter. Having freed him from his chains, the angel led Peter from his place of confinement past sleeping guards and through the gate of the city which opened to let them pass. When he realized he was actually free, and not asleep and dreaming, Peter made his way “to the house of Mary the mother of John, who was surnamed Mark, where many were gathered together and praying” (Acts 12:12). John Mark may not have been present, as he was sent around this time with Barnabas and Saul from Antioch to Jerusalem to bring needed relief to the disciples there. “And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem, having fulfilled their ministry, taking with them John who was surnamed Mark” (Acts 12:25).
John Mark was subsequently the cause of a rift between Saul (now Paul) and Barnabas when Paul suggested they revisit the places where they had planted the seed of belief in Jesus Christ in order to see how the new communities of believers were getting along. Mark and Barnabas were closely related, and Barnabas wanted to include John Mark in the planned tour of cities previously visited; but Paul objected because the younger man had left them at Pamphylia during their first journey in order to return to Jerusalem. The outcome of this disagreement was that Barnabas and Paul went their separate ways for a time, Barnabas taking Mark with him to Cyprus, while Paul recruited Silas to accompany him on his travels through Syria and Cilicia. Eventually, all were reconciled and came to be closely associated in the work of the early Church, as indicated by various references to both Barnabas and Mark in the letters of St. Paul. Writing to Timothy shortly before his martyrdom at Rome in 67 A.D., Paul said, “Only Luke is with me. Take Mark and bring him with thee: for he is profitable to me for the ministry” (2 Tim. 4:11).
Mark also became even more closely associated with St. Peter who spoke of him as his son in the penultimate line of his first letter: “The church that is in Babylon [i.e., Rome], elected together with you, saluteth you. And so doth my son, Mark” (1 Pet. 5:13). St. Jerome included Mark in his seminal biographical work about the early leaders of the Church, De Viris Illustribus (“On Illustrious Men”), noting the close relationship between Peter and his younger associate. According to St. Jerome, Mark was Peter’s interpreter and wrote his Gospel at the request of the Christians at Rome in order to pass on what he had heard Peter tell of the life, death, resurrection and ascension into Heaven of Jesus Christ. Mark took his Gospel to Egypt and established the Church at Alexandria, becoming the first bishop of that great city.
Saint Bede, the great historian of the early Church, writing in the eighth century, says that after leading the Christian community at Alexandria for twenty years, Mark was seized by hostile members of the local populace who bound him and dragged him over rough stones before committing him to prison. He was comforted by the visit of an angel and especially by an apparition of Our Lord before being called to his heavenly reward in the eighth year of the reign of the Emperor Nero (c. 68 A.D.).
Mark’s book is the shortest of the four Gospels and perhaps the most accessible due to its concision and clarity. Unlike the first Gospel, that of St. Matthew, the Gospel of St. Mark was clearly composed not in Hebrew or Aramaic but in Greek. Its text certainly served as an important source in the composition of the third Gospel, that of Luke. Written in Rome, it was intended for a non-Jewish audience, as it is frequently at pains to explain the customs of the Jewish people.
The Feast of St. Mark, Evangelist is celebrated annually on the 25th day of April.
Closing Commentary
We close with a commentary from Dom Prosper Guéranger about the ancient Feast of the Patronage of St. Joseph (once commemorated during the third week of Easter) and excerpted from his monumental The Liturgical Year, adding the hope that our readers will assist the cause for his canonization with their prayers. A link to the full text of the commentary follows the excerpt.
Third Sunday After Easter: The Patronage of St. Joseph
The Easter mysteries are superseded today by a special subject, which is offered for our consideration. The holy Church invites us to spend this Sunday in honoring the Spouse of Mary, the Foster-Father of the Son of God. And yet, as we offered him the yearly tribute of our devotion on the 19th of March, it is not, properly speaking, his Feast that we are to celebrate today. It is a solemn expression of gratitude offered to Joseph, the Protector of the Faithful, the refuge and support of all that invoke him with confidence. The innumerable favors he has bestowed upon the world entitle him to this additional homage. With a view to her children’s interests, the Church would, on this day, excite their confidence in this powerful and ever ready helper.
Devotion to St. Joseph was reserved for these latter times. Though based on the Gospel, it was not to be developed in the early ages of the Church. It is not that the Faithful were, in any way, checked from showing honor to him who had been called to take so important a part in the mystery of the Incarnation; but Divine Providence had its hidden reasons for retarding the Liturgical homage to be paid, each year, to the Spouse of Mary. As on other occasions, so here also; the East preceded the West in the special cultus of St. Joseph: but in the 15th Century, the whole Latin Church adopted it, and, since that time, it has gradually gained the affections of the Faithful. We have treated upon the glories of St. Joseph, on the 19th of March; the present Feast has its own special object, which we will at once proceed to explain.
The goodness of God and our Redeemer’s fidelity to his promises have ever kept pace with the necessities of the world; so that, in every age, appropriate and special aid has been given to the world for its maintaining the supernatural life. An uninterrupted succession of seasonable grace has been the result of this merciful dispensation, and each generation has had given to it a special motive for confidence in its Redeemer. Dating from the 13th century, when, as the Church herself assures us, the world began to grow cold—each epoch has had thrown open to it a new source of graces. First of all came the Feast of the Most Blessed Sacrament, with its successive developments of Processions, Expositions, Benedictions and the Forty Hours. After this followed the devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus (of which St. Bernardine of Sienna was the chief propagator), and that of Via Crucis or Stations of the Cross, with its wonderful fruit of compunction. The practice of frequent Communion was revived in the 16th century, owing principally to the influence of St. Ignatius and the Society founded by him. In the 17th was promulgated the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which was firmly established in the following century. In the 19th, devotion to the Holy Mother of God has made such progress as to form one of the leading supernatural characteristics of the period. The Rosary and Scapular, which had been handed down to us in previous ages, have regained their place in the affections of the people; Pilgrimages to the Sanctuaries of the Mother of God, which had been interrupted by the influence of Jansenism and rationalism, have been removed; the Archconfraternity of the Sacred Heart of Mary has spread throughout the whole world; numerous miracles have been wrought in reward for the fervent faith of individuals; in a word, our present century has witnessed the triumph of the Immaculate Conception—a triumph which had been looked forward to for many previous ages.
Now, devotion to Mary could never go on increasing as it has done without bringing with it a fervent devotion to St. Joseph. We cannot separate Mary and Joseph, were it only for their having such a close connection with the mystery of the Incarnation:—Mary, as being the Mother of the Son of God; and Joseph, as being guardian of the Virgin’s spotless honor, and Foster-Father of the Divine Babe. A special veneration for St. Joseph was the result of increased devotion to Mary. Nor is this reverence for Mary’s Spouse to be considered only as a just homage paid to his admirable prerogatives: it is, moreover, a fresh and exhaustless source of help to the world, for Joseph has been made our Protector by the Son of God himself. Hearken to the inspired words of the Church’s Liturgy: “Thou, O Joseph! art the delight of the Blessed, the sure hope of our life, and the pillar of the world!” Extraordinary as is this power, need we be surprised as its being given to a man like Joseph, whose connections with the Son of God on earth were so far above those of all other men? Jesus deigned to be subject to Joseph here below; now that he is in heaven, he would glorify the creature to whom he consigned the guardianship of his own childhood and his Mother’s honor. He has given him a power which is above our calculations. Hence it is that the Church invites us, on this day, to have recourse, with unreserved confidence, to this all-powerful Protector. The world we live in is filled with miseries which would make stronger hearts than ours quake with fear: but let us invoke St. Joseph with faith, and we shall be protected. In all our necessities, whether of soul or body—in all the trials and anxieties we may have to go through—let us have recourse to St. Joseph, and we shall not be disappointed. The king of Egypt said to his people, when they were suffering from famine: go to Joseph! the King of Heaven says the same to us: the faithful guardian of Mary has greater influence with God than Jacob’s son had with Pharaoh.
As usual, God revealed this new spiritual aid to a privileged soul, that she might be the instrument of its propagation. It was thus that were instituted several Feasts, such as those of Corpus Christi, and of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. In the 16th century, St. Teresa (whose Writings were to have a worldwide circulation) was instructed by heaven as to the efficacy of devotion to St. Joseph: she has spoken of it in the Life (written by herself) of Teresa of Jesus. When we remember that it was by the Carmelite Order (brought into the Western Church in the 13th century) that this devotion was established among us—we cannot be surprised that God should have chosen St. Teresa, who was the Reformer of that Order, to propagate the same devotion in this part of the world. The holy solitaries of Mount Carmel—devoted as they had been, for so many centuries, to the love of Mary—were not slow in feeling the connection that exists between the honor paid to the Mother of God and that which is due to her virginal Spouse. The more we understand St. Joseph’s office, the clearer will be our knowledge of the divine mystery of the Incarnation. As when the Son of God assumed our human nature, he would have a Mother; so also, would he give to this Mother a protector. Jesus, Mary and Joseph—these are the three whom the ineffable mystery is continually bringing before our minds.
The
words of St. Teresa are as follows: “I took for my patron and lord the
glorious St. Joseph, and recommended myself earnestly to him. I saw
clearly … that he rendered me greater services than I knew how to ask
for. I cannot call to mind that I have ever asked him at any time for
anything which he has not granted; and I am filled with amazement when I
consider the great favors which God hath given me through this blessed
Saint; the dangers from which he hath delivered me, both of body and
soul. To other Saints, our Lord seems to have given grace to succor men
in some special necessity; but to this glorious Saint, I know by
experience, to help us in all: and our Lord would have us understand
that, as he was himself subject to him upon earth—for St. Joseph having
the title of father, and being his guardian, could command him—so now in
heaven he performs all his petitions. I have asked others to recommend
themselves to St. Joseph, and they too know this by experience; and
there are many who are now of late devout to him, having had experience
of this truth.” [Third Sunday after Easter - Patronage of St. Joseph]
We wish our readers a blessed Eastertide. Christus Resurréxit! Resurréxit Vere!