Fr. Franz's Last Latin Mass as Pastor

Dear Friends of the TLM,

As some of you already know, Rev. S. Michael Franz, pastor of St. Stephen Church, will enter into retirement on September 1, 2013.

Fr. Franz has been a terrific friend of the Traditional Latin Mass. On October 3rd, 2007, Fr. Franz celebrated the first TLM at his parish in over 40 years, and has continued to do so every Wednesday. Since Easter Sunday of 2008, Fr. Franz has welcomed High Mass and Fr. Bede to his parish every Sunday and on many Feast Days and Days of Obligation. St. Stephen, again, at the sincere welcoming of Fr. Franz, now has 4 Traditional Latin Masses during the week, and on every First Friday and First Saturday. Clearly, Fr. Franz has been a true friend of the TLM, and someone for whom the TLM faithful in Cleveland can be very thankful.

Wednesday, August 28, will be Fr. Franz's last celebration of the TLM as pastor of St. Stephen. Please consider assisting at this Mass, and thanking Father afterwards for his pastoral care to the TLM faithful.

Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

REMINDER:  Thursday, August 15, 2013, is an Holy Day of Obligation.

The beautiful words of St. John Damascene....

Today the spotless Virgin, untouched by earthly affections, and all heavenly in her thoughts, was not dissolved in earth, but truly entering heaven, dwells in the heavenly tabernacles. Who would be wrong to call her heaven, unless indeed he truly said that she is greater than heaven in surpassing dignity? The Lord and Creator of heaven, the Architect of all things beneath the earth and above, of creation, visible and invisible, Who is not circumvented by place (if that which surrounds things is rightly termed place), created Himself, without human co-operation, an Infant in her. He made her a rich treasure-house of His all-pervading and alone uncircumscribed Godhead, subsisting entirely in her without passion, remaining entire in His universality and Himself uncircumscribed. To-day the life-giving treasury and abyss of charity (I know not how to trust my lips to speak of it) is hidden in immortal death. She meets it without fear, who conceived death's destroyer, if indeed we may call her holy and vivifying departure by the name of death. For how could she, who brought life to all, be under the dominion of death ? But she obeys the law of her own Son, and inherits this chastisement as a daughter of the first Adam, since her Son, who is the life, did not refuse it. As the Mother of the living God, she goes through death to Him. For if God said: "Unless the first man put out his hand to take and taste of the tree of life, he shall live for ever," how shall she, who received the Life Himself, without beginning or end, or finite vicissitudes, not live for ever. 

"We pronounce, declare and define it to be a divinely revealed dogma: that the Immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul to heavenly glory." With these words, Pope Pius XII infallibly declared the Assumption of Mary, the Mother of God (theotokos), to be Catholic dogma in 1950. In this pronouncement, he was simply stating dogmatically what the Church, East and West, had believed for hundreds of years.

We are blessed in the Diocese of Cleveland to have the opportunity to celebrate this glorious feast with the Traditional Latin Mass. Immaculate Conception will offer Low Mass in the morning, at 7am, and both St. Stephen and Immaculate Conception will celebrate Solemn High Mass in the evening at 6:30pm.

Latin Mass Cancelled, 8/14, 8/22, St. Stephen's

A notice from Fr. Franz, pastor of St. Stephen's:  The regular, evening Latin Low Mass on Wed, 8/14 is cancelled, and the regular Thursday evening Latin Low Mass on 8/22 is also canceled.