Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost
Dear Friends in Christ,
Welcome to our weekly Sunday update. This Sunday is the Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost. The liturgy for this Sunday focuses on the importance of prayer and petition for our needs. In the Gospel for this Sunday, our Blessed Lord “groaned” to heaven to heal the deaf and dumb man (Mark 7:31-37), which, as St. Gregory the Great teaches, is to “teach us to groan to heaven to Him who reigns in heaven, that He may open our ears by the gift of the Holy Ghost, and by saliva from His mouth, that is, by the knowledge of His divine word, may loose our tongue, that it may be able to preach the truth.”
The St. Andrew Daily Missal (1945) notes the method of healing in this Gospel also mirrors the Rite of Baptism, where the priest places salt in the child’s mouth “and by the Holy Spirit, commands the unclean spirit to withdraw from the baptized person. Then he (the priest) takes a little saliva and touches the ears and the nostrils of the child with it, saying like our Lord: “Ephpheta”, open your heart to the things of faith…and the soul rises to a new life.”
Feast of the Beheading of Saint John the Baptist
Separately, this Friday, August 29th, also marks our annual remembrance of the Beheading of John the Baptist. There are many martyrs on the traditional Roman Calendar but none more prominent than the Precursor who came, “ . . . preaching in the desert of Judea. And saying: Do penance: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this is he that was spoken of by Isaias the prophet . . .” (Matthew 3:1-3).
John’s words were echoed by Jesus at the very outset of Our Lord’s ministry: “From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say: Do penance, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17). John spoke out boldly against the corruption and immorality of his time and lost his head in consequence. Forerunner of the Messiah, he was also the model for all the martyrs who would come later. Like him, there are many today – too many, sadly, even in our own country – persecuted and imprisoned for expressing their faith. Let us pray for them especially on Friday as we celebrate the martyrdom of John the Baptist.
Calendar of Special Observances
Celebrations are those listed in the Roman Missal of 1962.
DAY, DATE – FEAST (CLASS)
Sunday, August 24 – Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost (II) – Commemoration of St. Bartholomew, Apostle
Monday, August 25 – St. Louis IX, King and Confessor (III)
Tuesday, August 26 – St. Zephyrinus, Pope and Martyr (IV)
Wednesday, August 27 – St. Joseph Calasanctius, Confessor (III)
Thursday, August 28 – St. Augustine, Bishop, Confessor and Doctor (III) – Commemoration of St. Hermes, Martyr
Friday, August 29 – The Beheading of St. John the Baptist (III) – Commemoration of St. Sabina, Martyr
Saturday, August 30 – St. Rose of Lima, Virgin (III) – Commemoration of Ss. Felix and Audactus, Martyrs
Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost
The links provided below can be used to download printable copies of the Proper Prayers for the Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost with English or Spanish translation, followed by commentary by Dr. Michael P. Foley.
Latin Mass Schedule: Sundays
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)
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 (August 25 - August 30)
Charlotte Area Latin Masses
Saint Ann – Wednesday, 6:00 p.m.
Saint Thomas Aquinas – Thursday, 7:00 p.m. (veneration of the relic of Saint Augustine after Mass)
Saint Ann – Friday, 7:00 a.m.
Other Diocese of Charlotte Latin Masses
Our Lady of the Mountains (Highlands) – Wednesday, 12:00 p.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.
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.
**IMPORTANT: Ongoing Novena to Saint Augustine August 19 - 27**
Saint Thomas Aquinas parish is inviting everyone to join in a novena to Saint Augustine, the 4th century bishop and doctor of the Church, whose feast day is August 28. The intentions are for Pope Leo XIV, Bishop Martin, and the priests of the Diocese of Charlotte. We encourage all the faithful to participate in this ongoing novena which concludes this Wednesday August 27.
The prayer text can be found below or downloaded as a PDF (click here).
Novena to St. Augustine
Begin on August 19 to complete on August 27, the Vigil of the Feast of St. Augustine
Intentions: Pope Leo XIV, Bishop Martin, and Diocese of Charlotte Priests
Opening Prayer: O holy Saint Augustine, who has famously declared that “Our hearts were made for Thee, O Lord, and they are restless until they rest in Thee,” aid us in our search for Our Lord that through your intercession we may be granted the wisdom to determine the purpose God has planned for us. Pray that we be blessed with the courage to follow God’s will even at times when we do not understand. Ask Our Lord to lead us to a life worthy of His love, that we may one day share the riches of His kingdom. Petition Our Lord and Savior to ease the burden of our problems and grant our special intention, and we will honor you all of our days.
Glorious St. Augustine, you are renowned in the Christian world for your kindness, compassion, and powerful intercession. Emboldened by this, we humbly come before you to invoke your aid in asking for God’s all-powerful assistance to see us through our most pressing concern.
Glorious Saint Augustine, we boldly ask for your intercession confident in your boundless wisdom and compassion. May this devotion lead us to a life dedicated to the fulfilling the will of God, that we may one day be deemed worthy of sharing His Kingdom with you and all the saints for all eternity.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be…
St. Augustine, pray for us!
Closing Prayer:
Breathe in me, O Holy Spirit, that my thoughts may all be holy. Act in
me, O Holy Spirit, that my work, too, may be holy. Draw my heart, O Holy
Spirit, that I love but what is holy. Strengthen me, O Holy Spirit, to
defend all that is holy. Guard me, then, O Holy Spirit, that I always
may be holy. Amen.
Announcements
Sunday Coffee and Doughnuts at Saint Ann – Saint Ann Parish will be offering coffee and doughnuts after all Masses this Sunday August 24, including the 12:30 p.m. Latin Mass.
No First Saturday Masses September 6 in Diocese of Charlotte –
Due to the Diocese of Charlotte’s Eucharistic Congress on Saturday
September 6, there will no First Saturday Masses in the diocese, so to allow the laity and clergy to attend the Congress. To attend Eucharistic Congress please see the schedule and events at this link.
**New Book** The Most Powerful Saints in Exorcisms: What Exorcists Want You to Know – Sophia Institute Press has just released an intriguing new book which details how specific saints have assisted in formal exorcisms and how these saints can assist us in our daily spiritual challenges. The book, The Most Powerful Saints in Exorcisms, was written right here in North Carolina by two Catholic local authors, Charles Fraune and Patrick O’Hearn. To learn more or purchase your copy, visit Sophia Institute Press at this link.
Saint Augustine: First patron saint of America?
While the U.S. Bishops in 1846 declared Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception as the official patroness of the United States, the first “unofficial” patron saint of America may in fact be Saint Augustine.
460 years ago this week, Spanish General Pedro Menéndez de Avilés was nearing the end of his voyage to establish a permanent settlement and Catholic mission in La Florida, the Spanish-claimed land which originally included present day Florida as well as most of the east coast of present day United States including the Carolinas.
It was on August 28, 1565 - the Feast of Saint Augustine - that Menéndez sighted land, that of today's northeastern Florida; and when he made landfall 11 days later, Menéndez named the settlement after Saint Augustine.
Today San Augustine, Florida remains the oldest city in the United States and the Feast of Saint Augustine marks the beginning of the Catholic Church’s permanent presence in today’s United States. It is also home to America’s first parish, the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Augustine, established in 1565.
To learn more about the Catholic history of Saint Augustine please visit the Shrine of Our Lady of La Leche and Mission Nombre de Dios in San Augustine, Florida.
St. Michael’s Lent (now thru September 29) – As you may have read in the Catholic News Herald (or seen the posters in parishes) several faithful across the diocese are participating in an ancient penitential practice called St. Michael’s Lent, currently promoted by a group, Exodus 90 and anciently practiced by St. Francis of Assisi. It began August 15 (Assumption) and continues for 40 days ahead of the Feast of St. Michael on September 29. For those who feel called to amplify their prayers or penances for the Latin Mass this season, please click here to learn how to participate.
Daily Holy Face Chaplet for Sacred Liturgy (perpetual novena) – For the preservation of the Traditional Latin Mass, it has been recommended to all friends of the sacred liturgy in the diocese to consider continually praying the powerful Holy Face chaplet, under the banner of Our Lady of the Holy Name. To pray the chaplet, please see this link.
National Latin Mass Pilgrimage – Saturday October 11, Washington, D.C. Begins at the Cathedral of Saint Thomas More in Arlington and concludes at the Cathedral of Saint Matthew in Washington D.C. To learn more click on this link.
Cardinal Burke’s Prayer for Pope Leo XIV – His Eminence Cardinal Raymond Burke has released a prayer for Pope Leo XIV. Please consider praying this daily for the Holy Father as he leads the Church.
Prayer for Pope Leo XIV: Vicar of Christ on Earth and Shepherd of the Universal Church
O Holy Virgin Mary, Mother of the Lord of Heaven and of Earth, Our Lady of Guadalupe, guide and protect the Roman Pontiff, Pope Leo XIV. Through your intercession, may he receive in abundance the grace of the Successor of Saint Peter: the perpetual and visible source and foundation of the unity of our Bishops and of all our brothers and sisters in the Mystical Body of your Divine Son. Unite Pope Leo’s heart to your Immaculate Heart, leading him to rest his heart ever more securely in the glorious-pierced Heart of Jesus, so that he may confirm us in the Catholic faith, in the worship of God in spirit and truth, and in a good and holy Christian life.
In the tumult of the present time, keep Pope Leo securely within the hollow of your mantle, in the crossing of your arms, protecting him from Satan, the Father of Lies, and from every evil spirit. Implore Our Lord to grant him, in particular, the wisdom and courage to be a true Shepherd of the Church throughout the world. With you, I place all my trust in Christ, the Good Shepherd, Who alone is our help and salvation. Amen.
Heart of Jesus, formed by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mother, have mercy upon us!
Our Lady of Guadalupe, Queen of the Apostles, pray for us!
Saints Peter and Paul, pray for us!
Pope Saint Leo the Great, pray for us!
PDF copies can be accessed at these links: [English] [Español] [Latin]
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, 10:00 a.m. & 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, at 6:45 p.m. after Mass in the Youth Room
St. John the Baptist (Tryon) - First Saturday, 9:30 a.m. (after 8:30 a.m Latin Mass)
League of St. Martin Monthly Meeting in Gastonia – The League of St. Martin is a Holy Face apostolate that meets monthly to pray the Chaplet of the Holy Face of Jesus. For additional information regarding the League contact ericpieper@me.com for additional information.
**NEW** League of St. Martin Monthly Meeting in Clemmons – The League of St. Martin apostolate is meeting monthly to pray the Chaplet of the Holy Face of Jesus. They meet each 3rd Friday at 6:00 p.m. at Holy Family Church in Clemmons (near Winston-Salem). For additional information regarding the League in Clemmons contact: Amanda Ratledge (amandamratledge@gmail.com) or Danielle Parent (danielleparent@proton.me)
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
The Communicantes by Dr. Michael P. Foley, New Liturgical Movement (August 15, 2025). [The Communicantes]
Pope urges moral theologians to take St Alphonsus as their model by Christopher Wells, Vatican News Service (August 20, 2025). [St. Alphonsus]
What Now by Bishop Erik Varden (Norway), Life Illuminated (July 24, 2025). [What Now]
The Blessing of Flowers and Herbs on the Assumption by Greg DiPippo, New Liturgical Movement (August 18, 2025). [Blessing of Flowers and Herbs]
Vatican Approves New Patron Saints for Entire Arabian Peninsula (Re-institutes Ember Days) by Andrés Henríquez, Catholic News Agency (August 20, 2025). [New Patrons Saints for Arabian Peninsula]
Eucharistic Procession down Bayou Teche, Louisiana (Images), Rorate Caeli (August 17, 2025). [Eucharistic Procession down Bayou Teche]
Cardinal Burke on Why the Young are Returning to the Latin Mass, Prayerful Posse (August 8, 2025). [Cardinal Burke Interview]
Charlotte Couple’s Rare Collection Opens at Mint Museum, Catholic News Herald (July 29, 2025). [Rare Collection Opens at Mint Museum]
Saints and Special Observances
Saint Louis IX, King and Confessor, was born in 1215, became King of France at the age of 12 and was very piously brought up by his mother, queen Blanche, who taught him to wish rather to die than to commit a mortal sin. He liked to be called Louis of Poissy, the place where he had been baptized, to show that his title of Christian was his most glorious title of nobility.
Assiduous in attending the offices of the Church, he ordered them to be solemnly celebrated in his palace where every day he heard two Masses. At midnight he rose for Matins and began his royal day with the office of Prime. He introduced into his chapel the custom of genuflecting at the words in the Creed: Et homo factus est, and of bowing down humbly at the passage in the Passion when Jesus expires. Both these pious practices were adopted by the Church. But never did his piety hinder him from devoting to the affairs of the kingdom the greater part of his time.
Having recovered from a serious illness he made a vow to undertake a crusade to reconquer Jerusalem. At first victorious, he fell at last into the hands of the Saracens (Muslims). Restored to freedom, he remained five years in the East helping the Christians. On his return to France, he made many pious foundations and built the Sainte Chapelle, as a precious reliquary for the holy crown of thorns and the important particle of the true Cross which Baldwin II, Emperor of Constantinople, had presented to him. Most austere himself, he was most charitable to others, and used to say: “It is more meet for a king to ruin himself in alms for God’s sake than in pomp and vain glory.”
As a servant of Christ, he continually wore the cross to show that his vow remained unaccomplished. He undertook in 1270 another crusade, but an epidemic decimated his army near Tunis and struck him down. With his arms crossed and lying on a bed of ashes, he gave up his soul to God in 1270, at the same hour that Christ died on the cross. He was heard to repeat the day before his death: “We shall go to Jerusalem.” It was in reality to heavenly Jerusalem, conquered by his patience in the midst of his adversities, where he was to reign with the King of Kings.
“O God, who didst remove blessed Louis, Thy confessor, from an earthly throne to the glory of Thy heavenly kingdom; grant, we beseech Three, through his merits and prayers, that we may be permitted to share in the kingdom of Jesus Christ, Thy Son, the King of Kings.” – Collect from Louismas, August 25.
The Feast of Saint Louis IX, King and Confessor, is celebrated on August 25.
(Source: Liturgical notes for Feast of St. Louis, Saint Andrew Daily Missal, 1945)
Patron Saint
Among others, Saint Louis is the patron of architecture, France, construction workers, difficult marriages, distillers, parents of large families, prisoners, the sick, stone masons, and locally in the United States, the patron of the Archdioceses of New Orleans and Saint Louis.
It is only a suggestion, but with Christians continually in peril in the Middle East, Saint Louis may also be an intercessor for the protection of Christians in the Holy Land, especially during this time of conflict.
Festival of Saint Louis
Each August, in the Missouri city that bears his name, an annual festival of Saint Louis is celebrated by local Catholics. It originated as a response to the anti-Catholic vandalism occurring in that city (and others) during the summer of 2020. Whereby Catholics came and prayed the Rosary in front of the statue of Saint Louis IX on Art Hill for the intentions of an end to the violence. Now in its fifth year, the festival has grown and now includes a multi-day traditional liturgical schedule including the public chanting of the traditional Divine Office for Feast of Saint Louis and concluding with Solemn High Mass at the Oratory of Saints Gregory and Augustine. To learn more click here.
Closing Commentary
Determined not to overlook the author of Confessions and The City of God in the week of his feast, we offer, in closing, an excerpt from the commentary of Dom Prosper Guéranger, OSB, on the feast of St. Augustine, Bishop and Doctor of the Church, followed by a link to the full text.
August 28 – St. Augustine, Bishop and Doctor of the Church
Today Augustine, the greatest and the humblest of the Doctors, is hailed by heaven, where his conversion caused greater joy than that of any other sinner; and celebrated by the Church, who is enlightened by his writings as to the power, the value, and the gratuitousness of divine grace.
Since that wonderful, heavenly conversation at Ostia, God had completed his triumph in the son of Monica’s tears and of Ambrose’s holiness. Far away from the great cities where pleasure had seduced him, the former rhetorician now cared only to nourish his soul with the simplicity of the Scriptures, in silence and solitude. But grace, after breaking the double chain that bound his mind and his heart, was to have still greater dominion over him; the pontifical consecration was to consummate Augustine’s union with that divine Wisdom, whom alone he declared he loved “for her own sole sake, caring neither for rest nor life save on her account.” From his height, to which the divine mercy had raised him, let us hear him pouring out his heart:
“Too late have I loved thee, O beauty so ancient and yet so new! Too late have I loved thee! And behold thou wast within me, and I, having wandered out of myself, sought thee everywhere without … I questioned the earth, and she answered me: I am not the one thou seekest; and all the creatures of earth made the same reply. I questioned the sea and its abyss and all the living things therein, and they answered: We are not thy God; seek above us. I questioned the restless winds, and all the air with its inhabitants replied: Anaximenes is mistaken, I am not God. I questioned the sky, the sun, the moon, the stars, and they said: We are not the God whom thou seekest. And I said to all these things that stand without at the gates of my senses: Ye have all confessed concerning my God that ye are not he, tell me now something about him. And they all cried with one great voice: It is he that made us. I questioned them with my desires, and they answered by their beauty.—Let the air and the waters and the earth be silent! Let man keep silence in his own soul! Let him pass beyond his own thought; for beyond all language of man or of Angels, he, of whom creatures speak, makes himself heard; where signs and images and figurative visions cease, there Eternal Wisdom reveals herself … Thou didst call and cry so loud that my deaf ears could hear thee; thou didst shine so brightly that my blind eyes could see thee; thy fragrance exhilarated me and it is after thee that I aspire; having tasted thee I hunger and thirst; thou hadst touched me and thrilled me and I burn to be in thy peaceful rest. When I shall be united to thee with my whole being, then will my sorrows and labors cease.”
To the end of his life Augustine never ceased to fight for the truth against all the heresies then invented by the father of lies; in his ever repeated victories, we know not which to admire most: his knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, his powerful logic, or his eloquence. We see too that divine charity which, while inflexibly upholding every iota of God’s rights, is full of ineffable compassion for the unhappy beings who do not understand those rights.
“Let those be hard upon you who do not know what labor it is to reach the truth and turn away from error. Let those be hard upon you, who know not how rare a thing it is, and how much it costs, to overcome the false images of the senses and to dwell in peace of soul. Let those be hard upon you who know not with what difficulty man’s mental eye is healed so as to be able to gaze upon the Sun of justice; who know not through what sighs and groans one attains to some little knowledge of God. Let those finally be hard upon you who have never known seduction like that whereby you are destroyed … As for me, who have been tossed about by the vain imaginations of which my mind was in search, and who have shared your misery and so long deplored it, I could not by any means be harsh to you.”
These touching words were addressed to the disciples of Manes, who were hemmed in on all sides even by the laws of the pagan emperors. How fearful is the misery of our fallen race when the darkness of hell can overpower the loftiest intellects! Augustine, the formidable opponent of heresy, was for nine years previously the convinced disciple and ardent apostle of Manicheism. This heresy was a strange variety of Gnostic dualism, which, to explain the existence of evil, made a god of evil itself; and which owed its prolonged influence to the pleasure taken in it by Satan’s pride.
Augustine sustained also a prolonged though more local struggle against the Donatists, whose teaching was based on a principle as false as the fact from which it professed to originate. This fact, which on the petitions presented by the Donatists themselves was juridically proved to be false, was that Cæcilianus, primate of Africa in 311, had received episcopal consecration from a traditor, i.e. one who had delivered up the sacred Books in time of persecution. No one, argued the Donatists, could communicate with a sinner without himself ceasing to form part of the flock of Christ; therefore, as the bishops of the rest of the world had continued to communicate with Cæcilianus and his successors, the Donatists alone were now the Church. This groundless schism was established among most of the inhabitants of Roman Africa, with its four hundred and ten bishops, and its troops of Circumcellions ever ready to commit murders and violence upon the Catholics on the roads or in isolated houses. The greater part of our Saint’s time was occupied in trying to bring back these lost sheep. [St. Augustine Bishop and Doctor of the Church]
Cathedral Basilica of Saint Augustine (FL)
America's First Parish: Established 1565
