Third Sunday of Lent

March 22, 2025

Friends in Christ,

Welcome to our weekly Sunday update. In the Gospel for the Third Sunday of Lent (March 23rd, 2025) Jesus invokes the image of a kingdom divided against itself to refute those who accuse him of casting out devils “by Beelzebub, the prince of devils.” The metaphor recalls the fate of Babel, where men sought to build a city that would reach up to Heaven but were confounded by God who fragmented their speech and sent them off into different lands. There is no limit to the languages of men or the divisions that may arise among them, but the word of God remains indivisible. At the end of this week’s Gospel reading, a woman calls out to Jesus, “Blessed is the womb that bore thee.” But he said: Yea rather, blessed are they who hear the word of God, and keep it (Luke 11:28).


Calendar of Special Observances

Celebrations are those listed in the Roman Missal of 1962.

DAY, DATE – FEAST (CLASS)

Sunday, March 23 – Third Sunday of Lent (I)

Monday, March 24 – Feria of Lent (III) – Commemoration of St. Gabriel the Archangel

Tuesday, March 25 – Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (I) – Feria of Lent

Wednesday, March 26 – Feria of Lent (III)

Thursday, March 27 – Feria of Lent (III) – Commemoration of St. John Damascene, Confessor

Friday, March 28 – Feria of Lent (III) – Commemoration of St. John Capistran, Confessor

Saturday, March 29 – Feria of Lent (III)



Third Sunday of Lent

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



Latin Mass Schedule: Third Sunday of Lent (March 23, 2025)

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 (March 24 - March 29)

For Feast of the Annunciation Masses on March 25, see separate announcement below.

Charlotte Area Latin Masses

  • Saint Ann – Wednesday, 6:00 p.m. (Parish mission talk after Mass)

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

  • Saint Ann – Friday, 7:00 a.m.

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.


Feast of the Annunciation: Tuesday March 25

Tuesday March 25

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

  • Prince of Peace (Taylors SC) – 12 noon (Low)

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

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


Prayers for the Holy Father

The U.S. Bishops Conference is asking for prayers for Pope Francis during his illness and has published the prayer below, which can also be found at this link. [Prayers for Pope Francis]

~

O God, shepherd and ruler of all the faithful, look favorably on your servant Francis, whom you have set at the head of your Church as her shepherd;

Grant, we pray, that by word and example he may be of service to those over whom he presides so that, together with the flock entrusted to his care, he may come to everlasting life.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.


Saint Joseph Altar Thanks – We thank everyone who participated and helped with the Saint Joseph's altar including those who brought dishes as well as other table items, including donations for the poor. We especially thank Father Reid for blessing the food and other table items. Saint Joseph, pray for us!


Announcements

Speak Up For The Latin Mass: Discipleship Parish Survey – Every week we pray for the preservation of the Latin Mass. Now, we are being asked directly to voice our spiritual needs.

As promised, Bishop Martin has sent out surveys to help shape the future of parish life in the Diocese of Charlotte to answer the question "How well are our clergy & ministries meeting your spiritual needs?" This is a critical opportunity to ensure that your spiritual needs—which include access to the Latin Mass—are acknowledged, met, and planned for. We have been blessed to have the Latin Mass in this diocese for years now. If the Latin Mass is important to you and your family, your response is essential.

The survey takes just a few minutes to complete, but the impact could last for years.

Please take a few minutes to complete the survey for your registered parish or mission. The window for participation is limited—please do not wait.

[Saint Ann] [Saint Thomas Aquinas] [Our Lady of Grace] [Saint John the Baptist] [Church of the Epiphany] [Our Lady of the Angels] [Our Lady of the Mountains]

If your parish is not listed you can find it at this link.

Saint Ann Parish Lenten Mission – Saint Ann parish will host a Lenten mission Sunday March 23 - Wednesday March 26 featuring Fr. Basil Cole, OP (who spoke at Saint Thomas a few months ago). The mission will feature talks each night at 7:00 p.m. (the same talks will be offered each weekday morning at 10:30 a.m.). The last night of the mission, there will be the regular 6:00 p.m. Latin Mass followed by the talk.

Prayers for Seminarian David Carter – Please pray for Mr. David Carter, Saint Ann parishioner who is a seminarian with the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter (FSSP) and will be ordained to the diaconate on Saturday April 5 in Nebraska.  Fr. Reid will be present for his ordination as well. 

Videos of Father Ripperger’s Parish Mission Talks – Sensus Fidelium has published Fr. Ripperger’s Lenten mission talks at Saint Thomas Aquinas. [Talk 1 Friday Night] [Talk 2 Saturday Night] Also published is Father Ripperger’s concluding homily for the First Sunday of Lent. [Concluding Homily - 1st Sunday of Lent]

FSSP Saint John Bosco Camps – The Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter (FSSP) has announced an expansion and new name for their annual Saint John Bosco Camps (SJBC). The new name is Bosco Ministries and they will continue to host outdoor summer camps for boys (for various ages) organized and run by FSSP priests as well as seminarians from Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary. The camps are intended to help participants grow in faith and virtue while experiencing God’s grandeur in His creation. Additionally, they are hosting excursions for young adult men. They also acquired property in South Dakota to permanently host the camps. To learn more or to sign up, please read this announcement.

Young Adult Retreat by the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest – The Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest, a religious order which, like the FSSP, offers the Traditional Latin Mass exclusively and operates parishes in several dioceses, is also hosting their own youth and young adult retreats this year. [Youth Retreats] [Young Adults Sursum Corda Annual Retreat]

Fasting and Abstinence Disciplines During Lent – For those looking to practice the traditional Lenten disciplines in place prior to 1962, we share a helpful 2010 document from Mater Ecclesiae Latin Mass Chapel in Berlin, New Jersey, which explains the differences between the traditional Lenten rules for fasting and abstinence and the current rules. [Discipline of 1962 for Fast during Lent]

Consecration of those Governing to the Blessed Virgin Mary – Fr. Chad Ripperger has composed a prayer for our nation and government, Consecration of those Governing to the Blessed Virgin Mary, which may be found at the end of this update or downloaded here.



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 (Starting April 15), 5:15 p.m. in the Youth Room *NEW DATE*

  • 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

Feasts of Saint Gabriel the Archangel and Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary – As Monday (March 24) will be the Feast of Saint Gabriel the Archangel and Tuesday (March 25) will be the Feast of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we take this opportunity to pay homage to these two interconnected feasts by providing the following excerpts from the commentary of Dom Prosper Guéranger for the saints’ feast day taken from the abbot’s The Liturgical Year.


Saint Gabriel the Archangel (March 24)

So far in the Church’s calendar, we have not met with any feast in honor of the holy angels. Amidst the ineffable joys of Christmas night, we mingled our timid but glad voices with the hymns of these heavenly spirits, who sang around the crib of our Emmanuel. The very recollection brings joy to our hearts, saddened as they now are by penitential feelings and by the near approach of the mournful anniversary of our Jesus’ death. Let us, for a moment, interrupt our sadness, and keep the feast of the Archangel Gabriel. Later on, we shall have Michael, Raphael, and the countless host of the angel guardians; but today, the eve of the Annunciation, it is just that we should honor Gabriel. Tomorrow we shall see this heavenly ambassador of the blessed Trinity coming down to the Virgin of Nazareth; let us, therefore, recommend ourselves to him, and beseech him to teach us how to celebrate, in a becoming manner, the grand mystery of which he was the messenger.

Gabriel is one of the first of the angelic kingdom. He tells Zachary that he stands before the face of God. He is the angel of the Incarnation, because it is in this mystery, which apparently is so humble, that the power of God is principally manifested; and Gabriel signifies the strength of God. We find the Archangel preparing for this sublime office, even in the old Testament. First of all, he appeared to Daniel, after this prophet had had the vision of the Persian and Grecian empires; and such was the majesty of his person that Daniel fell on his face trembling. Shortly afterwards, he appeared again to the same prophet, telling him the exact time of the coming of the Messias: “Know thou and take notice: that from the going forth of the word to build up Jerusalem again, unto Christ the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks,” that is, sixty-nine weeks of years.

When the fullness of time had come, and heaven was about to send the last of the prophets, who, after preaching to men the approach of the Messias, is to show Him to the people, saying, “Behold the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of the world,” Gabriel descends from heaven to the temple of Jerusalem, and prophesies to Zachary the birth of John the Baptist, which was to be followed by that of Jesus Himself.

Six months later on, the holy Archangel again appears on the earth; and this time it is Nazareth that he visits. He brings the great message from heaven. Angel as he is, he reveres the humble Maid, whose name is Mary; he has been sent to her by the most high God, to offer her the immense honor of becoming the Mother of the eternal Word. It is Gabriel that receives the great Fiat, the consent of Mary; and when he quits this earth, he leaves it in possession of Him for whom it had been so long prayed in those words of Isaias: Drop down Dew, O ye heavens! [Feast of Saint Gabriel]


The Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (March 25)

This is a great day, not only to man, but even to God himself; for it is the anniversary of the most solemn event that time has ever witnessed. On this day, the Divine Word, by which the Father created the world, was made flesh in the womb of a Virgin, and dwelt among us. We must spend it in joy. While we adore the Son of God who humbled himself by thus becoming Man, let us give thanks to the Father, who so loved the world, as to give his Only Begotten Son; let us give thanks to the Holy Ghost, whose almighty power achieves the great mystery. We are in the very midst of Lent, and yet the ineffable joys of Christmas are upon us: our Emmanuel is conceived on this day, and nine months hence, will be born in Bethlehem, and the Angels will invite us to come and honor the sweet Babe.

During Septuagesima Week, we meditated upon the fall of our First Parents, and the triple sentence pronounced by God against the serpent, the woman, and Adam. Our hearts were filled with fear as we reflected on the divine malediction, the effects of which are to be felt by all generations, even to the end of the world. But, in the midst of the anathemas then pronounced against us, there was a promise made us by our God; it was a promise of salvation, and it enkindled hope within us. In pronouncing sentence against the serpent, God said, that his head should one day be crushed, and that, too, by a Woman.

The time has come for the fulfillment of this promise. The world has been in expectation for four thousand years; and the hope of its deliverance has been kept up, in spite of all its crimes. During this time, God has made use of miracles, prophecies, and types, as a renewal of the engagement he has entered into with mankind. The blood of the Messias has passed from Adam to Noah; from Shem to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; from David and Solomon to Joachim; and now it flows in the veins of Mary, Joachim’s Daughter. Mary is the Woman by whom is to be taken from our race the curse that lies upon it. God has decreed that she should be Immaculate; and, thereby, has set an irreconcilable enmity between her and the serpent. She, a daughter of Eve, is to repair all the injury done by her Mother’s fall; she is to raise up her sex from, the degradation into which it has been cast; she is to cooperate, directly and really, in the victory which the Son of God is about to gain over his and our enemy.

A tradition, which has come down from the Apostolic Ages, tell us that the great Mystery of the Incarnation was achieved on the twenty-fifth day of March. It was at the hour of midnight, when the most Holy Virgin was alone and absorbed in prayer, that the Archangel Gabriel appeared before her, and asked her, in the name of the Blessed Trinity, to consent to become the Mother of God. Let us assist, in spirit, at this wonderful interview between the Angel and the Virgin: and at the same time, let us think of that other interview, which took place between Eve and the serpent. A holy Bishop and Martyr of the 2nd century, Saint Ireneus—who had received the tradition from the very disciples of the Apostles—shows us that Nazareth is the counterpart of Eden.

In the garden of delights, there is a virgin and an angel; and a conversation takes place between them. At Nazareth, a virgin is also spoken to by an angel, and she answers him; but the angel of the earthly Paradise is a spirit of darkness, and he of Nazareth is a spirit of light. In both instances, it is the Angel that has the first word. Why, said the serpent to Eve, why hath God commanded you, that you should not eat of every tree of Paradise? His question implies impatience and a solicitation to evil; he has contempt for the frail creature to whom he addresses it, but he hates the image of God which is upon her.

See, on the other hand, the Angel of light; see with what composure and peacefulness he approaches the Virgin of Nazareth, the new Eve; and how respectfully he bows himself down before her: Hail full of grace! The Lord is with thee! Blessed art thou among women! Such language is evidently of heaven: none but an Angel could speak thus to Mary. [Feast of the Annunciation]



Closing Commentary

As we continue in the penitential season of Lent, we offer excerpts from the commentary by Dom Prospér Guéranger on the Third Sunday of Lent followed by a link to the full text.


Third Sunday of Lent

The holy Church gave us, as the subject of our meditation for the First Sunday of Lent, the Temptation which our Lord Jesus Christ deigned to suffer in the Desert. Her object was to enlighten us how to conquer them. Today, she wishes to complete her instruction on the power and stratagems of our invisible enemies; and for this, she reads to us a passage from the Gospel of St. Luke. During Lent, the Christian ought to repair the past, and provide for the future; but he can neither understand how it was he fell, nor defend himself against a relapse, unless he have correct ideas as to the nature of the dangers which have hitherto proved fatal, and are again threatening him. Hence, the ancient Liturgists would have us consider it as a proof of the maternal watchfulness of the Church that she should have again proposed such a subject to us. As we shall find, it is the basis of all today’s instructions.

Assuredly, we should be the blindest and most unhappy of men if—surrounded as we are by enemies who unceasingly seek to destroy us, and are so superior to us both in power and knowledge—we were seldom or never to think of the existence of these wicked spirits. And yet, such is really the case with innumerable Christians nowadays; for truths are diminished from among the children of men. So common, indeed, is this heedlessness and forgetfulness of a truth which the Holy Scriptures put before us in almost every page, that it is no rare thing to meet with persons who ridicule the idea of Devils being permitted to be on this earth of ours! They call it a prejudice, a popular superstition, of the Middle Ages! Of course they deny that it is a dogma of Faith. When they read the History of the Church or the Lives of the Saints, they have their own way of explaining whatever is there related on this subject. To hear them talk, one would suppose that they look on Satan as a mere abstract idea, to be taken as the personification of evil…

But if there be one Season of the Year more than another in which the Faithful ought to reflect upon what is taught us by both Faith and experience, as to the existence and workings of the wicked spirits—it is undoubtedly this of Lent, when it is our duty to consider what have been the causes of our past sins, what are the spiritual dangers we have to fear for the future, and what means we should have recourse to for preventing a relapse. Let us, then, hearken to the holy Gospel. Firstly, we are told that the devil had possessed a man, and that the effect produced by this possession was dumbness. Our Savior cast out the devil, and immediately the dumb man spoke. So that, the being possessed by the devil is not only a fact which testifies to God’s impenetrable justice; it is one which may produce physical effects upon them that are thus tried or punished. The casting out the devil restores the use of speech to him that had been possessed. We say nothing about the obstinate malice of Jesus’ enemies, who would have it that his power over the devils came from his being in league with the prince of devils;—all we would now do is to show that the wicked spirits are sometimes permitted to have power over the body, and to refute, by this passage from the Gospel, the rationalism of certain Christians. Let these learn, then, that the power of our spiritual enemies is an awful reality; and let them take heed not to lay themselves open to their worst attacks by persisting in the disdainful haughtiness of their Reason. [Third Sunday of Lent]