Ash Wednesday
ASH WEDNESDAY
CONFESSION
5.10 - 5.45PM
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HOLY MASS with IMPOSITION OF ASHES
6.00PM
"Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return."
THE DISCIPLINES OF LENT
"During Lent, the Church asks us to surrender ourselves to prayer and to the reading of Scripture, to fasting and to giving alms. The fasting that all do together on Fridays is but a sign of the daily Lenten discipline of individuals and households: fasting for certain periods of time, fasting from certain foods, but also fasting from other things and activities. Likewise, the giving of alms is some effort to share this world equally—not only through the distribution of money, but through the sharing of our time and talents...
...Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are obligatory days of fasting and abstinence for Catholics. In addition, Fridays during Lent are obligatory days of abstinence.
For members of the Latin Catholic Church, the norms on fasting are obligatory from age 18 until age 59. When fasting, a person is permitted to eat one full meal. Two smaller meals may also be taken, but not to equal a full meal. The norms concerning abstinence from meat are binding upon members of the Latin Catholic Church from age 14 onwards.
If possible, the fast on Good Friday is continued until the Easter Vigil (on HolySaturday night) as the "paschal fast" to honor the suffering and death of the Lord Jesus, and to prepare ourselves to share more fully and to celebrate more readily his Resurrection."
There is much more information and many Lenten resources available from the USCCB here!
“For all of us, then, the season of Lent in this Jubilee Year is a favourable time to overcome our existential alienation by listening to God’s word and by practising the works of mercy. In the corporal works of mercy we touch the flesh of Christ in our brothers and sisters who need to be fed, clothed, sheltered, visited; in the spiritual works of mercy – counsel, instruction, forgiveness, admonishment and prayer – we touch more directly our own sinfulness. The corporal and spiritual works of mercy must never be separated. By touching the flesh of the crucified Jesus in the suffering, sinners can receive the gift of realizing that they too are poor and in need. By taking this path, the ‘proud’, the ‘powerful’ and the ‘wealthy’ spoken of in the Magnificat can also be embraced and undeservedly loved by the crucified Lord who died and rose for them. This love alone is the answer to that yearning for infinite happiness and love that we think we can satisfy with the idols of knowledge, power and riches. Yet the danger always remains that by a constant refusal to open the doors of their hearts to Christ who knocks on them in the poor, the proud, rich and powerful will end up condemning themselves and plunging into the eternal abyss of solitude which is Hell. The pointed words of Abraham apply to them and to all of us: ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them’ (Lk 16:29). Such attentive listening will best prepare us to celebrate the final victory over sin and death of the Bridegroom, now risen, who desires to purify his Betrothed in expectation of his coming.
Let us not waste this season of Lent, so favourable a time for conversion! We ask this through the maternal intercession of the Virgin Mary, who, encountering the greatness of God’s mercy freely bestowed upon her, was the first to acknowledge her lowliness (cf. Lk 1:48) and to call herself the Lord’s humble servant (cf. Lk 1:38).
—Pope Francis”
This week's Corpus Christi newsletter!
Quinquagesima Sunday (2/7): Mass Propers
Click here to read Collect and Lessons for this Sunday, Quinquagesima, 7 February 2016.
"Quinquagesima"
Christina Rossetti
Love is alone the worthy law of love:
All other laws have presupposed a taint:
Love is the law from kindled saint to saint,
From lamb to lamb, from dove to answering dove.
Love is the motive of all things that move
Harmonious by free will without constraint:
Love learns and teaches: love shall man acquaint
With all he lacks, which all his lack is love.
Because Love is the fountain, I discern
The stream as love: for what but love should flow
From fountain Love? not bitter from the sweet!
I ignorant, have I laid claim to know?
Oh, teach me, Love, such knowledge as is meet
For one to know who is fain to love and learn.
Fr Pius Pietrzyk, O.P. at Corpus Christi this Sunday!
Great news! Fr Pius Pietrzyk, O.P. will be concelebrating Mass with Fr Allen and preaching this Sunday, 31 January. Fr Pius is a Dominican friar of the Province of St. Joseph, currently completing doctoral studies in canon law in Rome.
Fr Pius is in Charleston in his capacity as a board member of the Legal Services Corporation. The Legal Services Corporation provides civil legal aid for low-income Americans and is headed by a bipartisan board of directors whose 11 members are appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. Fr. Pius has served on the board since 2010.
Dominicans have in many ways been friends and encouragers of the Ordinariate since its foundation. Furthermore, the Dominicans are celebrating the Order's 800th anniversary this year. Fr Pius' presence is a wonderful privilege for us - so come to Mass, and invite a friend!
Faithfully,
Fr Allen
Father Pius Pietrzyk, OP is a Priest of the Order of Preachers. He is currently engaged in academic studies at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (the Angelicum) and pastoral service at the Basilica of San Clemente in Rome, Italy. From 2008 to 2011, he served as the Parochial Vicar at St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Zanesville, Ohio. Father Pius has served as a Member of the Board of Directors of the Legal Services Corporation since 2010. During the summer of 2004, he was a pro bono attorney with Immigration Services of the Catholic Charities of New York. Previously, he was an Attorney with Sidley & Austin from 1997 to 2000. Father Pius received a B.A. from the University of Arizona, a J.D. from the University of Chicago, and an S.T.B./M.Div. and S.T.L from the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C.
Sexagesima Sunday: Mass Propers
Click here to view the Collect and Lessons (pdf) for this Sunday, 31 January 2016, "Sexagesima"
Septuagesima Sunday: Mass Propers
Click here to view the lessons & minor propers for Mass this Sunday (which, in the Ordinariates, is Septaugesima, the beginning of Pre-Lent or "Shrovetide").
Second Sunday after the Epiphany: Mass Leaflet
The Epiphany of Our Lord!
"As with gladness men of old did the guiding star behold;
as with joy they hailed its light, leading onward, beaming bright;
so, most gracious Lord, may we evermore be led to thee."
THE FEAST OF THE EPIPHANY
Wednesday, 6 January at 6PM
Low Mass with Hymns & Blessing of Chalk
King Cake and Refreshments to follow!
Epiphany Inscription Over the Doorway of the Home
20 + C + M + B + 16
For the glorious feast of the Epiphany of the Lord, it is an old and holy tradition to mark the doors of homes with blessed chalk. The letters have two meanings. They are the initials of the traditional names of the Three Magi: Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar. They also abbreviate the Latin words Christus mansionem benedicat: "May Christ bless the house.” The letters recall the day on which the inscription is made, as well as the purpose of blessing.
The crosses represent the protection of the Precious Blood of Christ, Whose Sacred Name we invoke, and also the holiness of the Three Magi sanctified by their adoration of the Infant Christ.
The inscription is made above the front door, so that all who enter and depart this year may enjoy God’s blessing. The month of January still bears the name of the Roman god Janus, the doorkeeper of heaven and protector of the beginning and end of things. This blessing “christens” the ancient Roman observance of the first month. The inscription is made of chalk, a product of clay, which recalls the human nature taken by the Adorable and Eternal Word of God in the womb of the Virgin Mary, by the power of the Holy Spirit.
(From Vultus Christi)
Solemnity of the Holy Family: Mass Propers
Introit Deus in loco sancto Ps. 68. 5,6,35,2
God in his holy habitation; it is he that maketh brethren to be of one mind in an house: He will give the dominion and preeminence unto his people. Ps. Let God arise, and let his enemies be scattered: let them also that hate him flee before him. Glory be… God in his…
The Collect of the Day
O Lord Jesus Christ, who by thy wondrous holiness didst adorn a human home, and by thy subjection to Mary and Joseph didst consecrate the order of earthly families: Grant that we, being enlightened nby the example of their life with thee in thy Holy Family, and assisted by their prayers, may at last be joined with them in thine eternal fellowship; who livest and reignest with the Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. R Amen.
The Lesson 1 Samuel 1.20-22, 24-28
The in due time Hannah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Samuel, for she said, “I have asked him of the Lord.” And the man Elka′nah and all his house went up to offer to the Lord the yearly sacrifice, and to pay his vow. But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, “As soon as the child is weaned, I will bring him, that he may appear in the presence of the Lord, and abide there for ever.” And when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour, and a skin of wine; and she brought him to the house of the Lordat Shiloh; and the child was young. Then they slew the bull, and they brought the child to Eli. And she said, “Oh, my lord! As you live, my lord, I am the woman who was standing here in your presence, praying to the Lord. For this child I prayed; and the Lordhas granted me my petition which I made to him. Therefore I have lent him to the Lord; as long as he lives, he is lent to the Lord.” And they worshiped the Lord there.
Gradual Unam pétii a Dómino Ps. 27.4
One thing have I desired of the Lord, which I will require, even that I may dwell in the house of the Lord. To behold the fair beauty of the Lord, and to visit his temple.
The Epistle Hebrews 5.5-10
Beloved: See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now; it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. All who keep his commandments abide in him, and he in them. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit which he has given us.
The Gospel St Luke 1.39-45
In those days, Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom; and when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it, but supposing him to be in the company they went a day’s journey, and they sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintances; and when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, seeking him. After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions; and all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. And when they saw him they were astonished; and his mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been looking for you anxiously.” And he said to them, “How is it that you sought me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” And they did not understand the saying which he spoke to them. And he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them; and his mother kept all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and man.
Offertory In te sperávi Ps. 31.16, 17
My hope hath been in thee, O Lord: I have said, Thou art my God, my time is in thy hand.
Communion Verse Fili, quid fecísti Luke 2.48-49
Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? Behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing. And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? Wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?