Candlemas, Feb 2

Friday, Feb 2, 2018, is Candlemas Day, also known as the Feast of the Presentation of Our Blessed Lord and the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary. As announced in the previous post, there is an organized effort to encourage Catholics to say a special Rosary for the Purification of the Church and the triumph of Our Lord. What a special day to pray and hear Mass, a very Solemn and Pious celebration of Holy Mass, for possibly the most important intention we could ever have in these malicious times!

Mass Times:

6pm High Mass
Immaculate Conception
   Blessing of Candles and Procession

6:30pm Solemn Mass
St. Stephen
   Blessing of Candles and Procession

Rosary to the Interior, For the Purification of the Church

An important event is being promoted for February 2, Candlemas Day, also known as the Presentation of Our Lord and Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Full details can be found at Rosary to the Interior.

On February 2, 2018, which is the day celebrating the double Feast of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple and the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary (also called Candlemas), there will occur throughout the  United States the gathering of faithful in their parish churches  to pray the Rosary for the intention of the Purification of the Church, and the Triumph of the Light of Christ over all sin and error.

And also...

The Church has now been penetrated by a darkness greater than at any time in its history – not only the darkness of sexual sins and other moral “filth”, but that which consists of every conceivable form of error masking itself as truth, and of darkness masquerading as light. The task of unmasking these “thoughts”, and thus paving the way to the Triumph of the Truth of Christ, has been entrusted to Mary. Most specifically, it has been entrusted to Our Lady of the Rosary.

Daily we see the evil in the world. Daily we pray for an end to these evils. Daily we see them increase.....

We are at a point in the history of the Church in which none of the normal apostolates which sustain the life of the Church – catechesis, proper intellectual formation, all sorts of organizations in defense of faith and morals, apologetics, etc. seem to possess the power to resist and defeat the enemy, who is always encroaching and making progress against what appear to be even our best defenses (including the rosary). We pray the rosary “against” Islamic jihad, secularism, abortion, and all those forces and institutions which wage war against all that we hold sacred (including Marriage and the Family), and we pray the rosary “for” an end to these things. And yet they continue to advance, seemingly at a geometrically increasing pace. We must ask why.

Ummmmm....yeah....why?....

The answer consists in that truth which has been succinctly expressed in a great many ways by such Popes as Pius IX, Leo XIII, and Pope Pius X: namely, that only the Catholic Church possesses the light and the power to build, nourish, and protect Christian civilization. And, tragically, this power and light has now been weakened and dimmed to a point that the Church has largely been reduced to the status of a minor character and victim upon the world stage. The salt has lost its savour, the light is hidden, the bride befouled. And what is most debilitating about this interior pollution, both within our individual selves and the Church as a whole, is that it is self-perpetuating and increasingly blinding. The more compromised with the world we become, the greater becomes the hidden guilt which causes us to be obsessed with the enemy without, rather than doing what is necessary to restore the light within.

Bingo!

Go to the website and read the full posting. Forward it to others.

Solemn Mass, Baptism of Our Lord

This coming Saturday, January 13, 2018, is the observation of the baptism of Our Blessed Lord. Immaculate Conception will offer Solemn Mass at 12 noon, following the Confirmation class at the parish. (In case you didn't know, Bishop Perez is celebrating the traditional form of the Rite of Confirmation in the diocese this year.)

Please keep all those who will be Confirmed in your prayers.

Epiphany, January 6, Masses

Saturday, January 6, is the Feast of the Epiphany. 

Masses:

8am Low Mass
Immaculate Conception

9:30am Solemn High
St. Stephen
-includes chanting of Kalends and blessing of Chalk for home blessings

12pm Solemn High
Immaculate Conception
-includes chanting of Kalends and blessing of Chalk for home blessings

A good explanation of the Epiphany chalk tradition can be found on One Peter Five.

 Here is the domestic liturgy:

Prayer:On entering the home,Leader(Priest, if present, or father of the family) : Peace be to this house.
All: And to all who dwell herein.
All: From the east came the Magi to Bethlehem to adore the Lord; and opening their treasures they offered precious gifts: gold for the great King, incense for the true God, and myrrh in symbol of His burial.
All Pray: The Magnificat. During the Magnificat, the room is sprinkled with holy water and incensed. After this is completed,All: From the east came the Magi to Bethlehem to adore the Lord; and opening their treasures they offered precious gifts: gold for the great King, incense for the true God, and myrrh in symbol of His burial.
Leader: Our Father. . .
And lead us not into temptation
All: But deliver us from evil.
Leader: All they from Saba shall come
All: Bringing gold and frankincense.
Leader: O Lord, hear my prayer.
All: And let my cry come to You.
Leader: Let us pray. O God, who by the guidance of a star didst on this day manifest Thine only-begotten Son to the Gentiles, mercifully grant that we who know Thee by faith may also attain the vision of Thy glorious majesty. Through Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
Leader: Be enlightened, be enlightened, O Jerusalem, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee—Jesus Christ born of the Virgin Mary.
All: And the Gentiles shall walk in thy light and kings in the splendor of thy rising, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon thee.
Leader: Let us pray.
Bless, + O Lord God almighty, this home, that in it there may be health, purity, the strength of victory, humility, goodness and mercy, the fulfillment of Thy law, the thanksgiving to God the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. And may this blessing remain upon this home and upon all who dwell herein. Through Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
After the prayers of the blessing are recited, each room of the home is sprinkled with Epiphany water and incensed. The initials of the Magi are inscribed upon the doors with the blessed chalk. (The initials, C, M, B, can also be interpreted as the Latin phrase “Christus mansionem benedicat” which means “Christ bless this house”.)Example: 20 + C + M + B + 18