Second Sunday after Pentecost

Friends in Christ,

Welcome to our weekly Sunday update. This Sunday is the Second Sunday after Pentecost. It follows by three days the Feast of Corpus Christi celebrated, according to the traditional Roman Calendar of 1962, on the Thursday following Trinity Sunday. The bishops of the United States allow, as an alternative, celebration of the External Solemnity of Corpus Christi on the Sunday following the feast day. In the Gospel reading for the Second Sunday after Pentecost we hear the parable of the great feast to which many notables are invited but do not come. Jesus shares this parable while seated at supper in the house of a leading Pharisee. Once again, He makes His listeners the object of His parabolic message: In this case, the Pharisees and lawyers who are too preoccupied with the details of their own legalistic pursuits to acknowledge the presence of the Word of God Himself in their midst. They have been invited to the heavenly banquet, but they will not come. The places they were to occupy will be filled by those they consider unworthy, signified by “the poor, and the feeble, and the blind, and the lame” (Luke 14:21).



Calendar of Special Observances

Celebrations are those listed in the Roman Missal of 1962.

DAY, DATE – FEAST (CLASS)

Sunday, June 22 – Second Sunday after Pentecost (II)

Monday, June 23 – Vigil of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist (II)

Tuesday, June 24 – The Nativity of St. John the Baptist (I)

Wednesday, June 25 – St. William, Abbot (III)

Thursday, June 26 – Ss. John and Paul, Martyrs (III)

Friday, June 27 – Sacred Heart of Jesus (I)

Saturday, June 28 – Vigil of Ss. Peter and Paul, Apostles (II)


Second Sunday after Pentecost

The links provided below can be used to download printable copies of the Proper Prayers for the Second Sunday after Pentecost with English or Spanish translation, followed by commentary by Dr. Michael P. Foley. One last link can be used to download a printable copy of the Proper Prayers for the External Celebration of the Feast of Corpus Christi with English translation.



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 (June 23 - June 28)

Charlotte Area Latin Masses

  • Saint Ann – Wednesday, 6:00 p.m.

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

  • Saint Ann – Friday, 7:00 a.m.

  • Saint Ann – 4th Saturday Respect Life Latin Mass, 8:00 a.m. (followed by prayers at the Planned Parenthood abortion facility)

Other Diocese of Charlotte Latin Masses

  • Our Lady of the Mountains (Highlands) – Thursday, 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) – No daily Mass this summer (starting June 2)

Note: Note: The summer Mass schedule for Prince of Peace parish went into effect Monday June 2nd and according to the bulletin there are no daily Latin Masses at Prince of Peace Monday-Saturday this summer.

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.


June and Early July Feasts

The following are announced Latin Masses for the traditional Feasts of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist (Tuesday June 24) and the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (Friday June 27). If more Masses are scheduled, we will include them in future updates.

Tuesday June 24 (Nativity of Saint John the Baptist)

  • Saint John the Baptist (Tryon) – 8:30 a.m. (Missa Cantata)

Friday June 27 (Feast of the Sacred Heart)

  • Saint Ann – 7:00 a.m

  • Saint John the Baptist (Tryon) – 8:30 a.m.

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

Tuesday July 1 (Feast of the Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ)

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

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


Announcements

Prayers for the new Diocese of Charlotte Priests – Please pray for the six new priests of the Diocese of Charlotte who were ordained last weekend. [Bishop Martin ordains six priests for Diocese of Charlotte]

Reminder: No Latin Mass meeting scheduled on June 24 – As a reminder the June 24 meeting about the Latin Mass chapel in Mooresville was postponed per the June 5, 2025 Catholic News Herald article.

Bishop grants request to pause restrictions on Latin Mass until Vatican’s October deadline

Let us continue to pray for our bishop and priests, entrusting them to Our Lady's care and protection. Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!

Daily Holy Face Chaplet for Sacred Liturgy (perpetual novena) – 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.

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, 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)

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

Saints Peter and Paul have been honored on the same date, June 29th, since at least as early as the fourth century; that is, for so long that it is no longer possible to say exactly how the combined feast came about. There is evidence that in the early age of Christianity there was a popular belief that the two had been made martyrs on the same day or date. There are many such cases on the Roman Calendar: For example, Saints John and Paul, Martyrs, are honored together on June 26th, the date both were slain at Rome during the persecution of Julian the Apostate (361-363). But the exact dates on which the saints honored together on June 29th were made martyrs remains unknown, and Peter certainly went to his death before Paul.

Saint Peter was executed during the reign of the Emperor Nero, around the year 64 A.D., crucified upside-down at his own request in order to forego the distinction of being put to death in the same way as Our Lord. Numerous sources – including Origen, Eusebius, Clement of Rome, Ignatius and Irenaeus – attest to the fact that Peter was executed on Vatican Hill and buried there. St. Peter’s Basilica was later constructed, between the years 1506 and 1615, above the site of the saint’s interment and a memorial that had been erected there.

Saint Paul went to his own death about three years after Saint Peter, probably sometime in the last year or two of Nero’s reign (54-68 A.D.) Saint Jerome gave credence to the legend that Peter and Paul were martyred on the same day when he wrote in De Viris Illustribus that “in the fourteenth year of Nero on the same day with Peter, [Paul] was beheaded at Rome for Christ’s sake and was buried in the Ostian way. . . .” Paul was not subjected to the ignominy of crucifixion because he was a Roman citizen entitled to a quicker and less shameful means of dispatch. He was buried outside the walls of Rome on land owned by a Christian woman named Lucina. Constantine the Great built the first church on the site in the fourth century; his successors added onto it. Today, the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls, constructed in the 19th century, stands on the site of Saint Paul’s burial.

Saints Peter and Paul are jointly celebrated on June 29th not because they were martyred on the same day but because they represent the twin pillars on which the Church established by Our Lord has stood for two thousand years. Next to Jesus Himself, Peter is the most important figure in the four canonical Gospels. Among the first called to be an Apostle, he was also named the Rock upon which the Church of Our Lord was to be founded. He was present at the Transfiguration and in the Garden of Gethsemane, and he walked with Jesus along the shore of the Sea of Galilee after the Resurrection and was told to “feed My sheep.” The first dozen chapters of the Acts of the Apostles are primarily concerned with his efforts to build up the Church following the Ascension of Our Lord. He was the author of two canonical letters included in the New Testament and is believed to have been the primary source for material contained in the Gospel According to Saint Mark. As the first Bishop of Rome, Saint Peter has been the model for every Pope since selected to fill the shoes of the fisherman.

If Saint Peter was the great leader of the Church, Saint Paul has always been considered its great thinker. He is the acknowledged author of half the books included in the New Testament. The theology of Christianity is rooted in the epistles Paul wrote to the various churches he established and to those who assisted him in his missionary work. Called by Christ Himself, he became the greatest of converts; his conversion on the road to Damascus was a seminal moment in the history of the Church. The majority of chapters in the Acts of the Apostles (13 through 28) are devoted to the story of his travels around the known world, bringing the Good News of Christ Crucified to the people of all nations. It is safe to say that but for the labors of Saint Paul there would be no universal Catholic Church. The hardships that he endured laid the groundwork for everything that came after.

Saints Peter and Paul were each called by Jesus Himself to serve as His preeminent Apostles and to give their lives for the establishment of His Church. Their combined efforts made Christianity a reality, and that is why we honor them together on their shared feast day of June 29th.


Closing Commentary

In closing, we commend to our readers the following superlative commentary from The Liturgical Year of Dom Prosper Guéranger, OSB, “On Holy Communion, During the Time After Pentecost.” We present the first part of the commentary (Before Communion) here, reserving the second part (After Communion) for our next issue. For those wishing to read the entire commentary at once, we provide a link to the online text below.



On Holy Communion, During the Time After Pentecost

If, in the early stages of the Liturgical Year, in Advent, at Christmas, and during the periods of Septuagesima and Lent, when there was question of nothing beyond a preparation for the divine Mysteries which wrought our salvation,—if, in the name of holy Church, we then invited the Faithful to have recourse to the Sacrament of our Lord’s Body, as being the heavenly nourishment that would support them in the glorious career on which they had entered: now, that the work is done, that they have risen again with their Redeemer, that they have followed him, by their desires and their hopes, even to the very summit of heaven; now, that the Holy Ghost has come down upon this earth, that he might complete within them the work of their union with God;—surely, nothing could profit them more, than that they nourish themselves, and even more frequently than before, with the Bread of Life, which came from heaven, that he might give Life to the World.

From our first entrance into the new season, which we are now passing through, holy Church has, by the great Feast of Corpus Christi, brought us face to face with the august Mystery, which is both the Sacrifice whereby God receives the honor due to him, and the Sacrament containing within himself the nourishment of our souls. We have now a clearer understanding of the unspeakable gift, which our Savior vouchsafed to bestow upon us, the night before his Passion. We now see more plainly the nature and greatness of the homage which earth gives to its Creator, by the ceaseless offering of the holy Sacrifice of the Mass. We now know, so much better than formerly, what that deifying relation is, which is made to exist between God and the soul, by means of the participation of the Sacred Host. The Holy Ghost has shed his light upon all these truths; he has opened out of us the very depths of the mystery shown to us from the outset, the mystery, that is, of the Emmanuel, or God with us. Now that we are so fully initiated into the whole of God’s work, we the better understand that great text of the Gospel, which says: The Word was made Flesh, and dwelt among us. We grasp the meaning more completely; we can give it a more literal, and equally faithful, translation, and say: the Word was made Flesh, and took up his dwelling within us.

All this has increased in the Christian the desire of assisting at the Holy Sacrifice. He says to himself, as did the Patriarch of old: “Truly, the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not; my faith was sound, but I did not perceive, as I do now, the immensity of what our Lord did at his Last Supper.” In the same way, having now a clearer knowledge of the union, which is brought about, even in this present world, between God and the soul that is nourished with the living Bread, whereby that soul is transformed into its Creator,—having this clearer knowledge, the Christian longs more ardently than ever for the enjoyment of that Lord, who, even during this mortal life, gives us, by means of the Eucharistic Bread, not only a foretaste, but the very reality, of that which awaits us in heaven. We may truly assert, that the keeping up of that state, which we have already described in the Third Chapter, and which is the state both of the Church herself and of the faithful soul, during this period of the Liturgical Year, is the joint work of the Holy Ghost, who abides within us, and of the Eucharistic gift, in which the Son of God ceases not to act for the preservation, increase, and development of the divine life, which he came to bring us, and of which he thus speaks: I am come, that they may have life, and may have it more abundantly.

We will here, as in the preceding Volumes, give Acts which may serve as preparation for holy Communion during this Season of the Year. There are souls that feel the want of some such assistance as this; and, for the same reason, we will add a form of Thanksgiving for after Communion.


Before Communion


Act of Faith

Now that I am about to unite myself to thee in the mystery of thy love, I must first profess that I believe it to be truly thyself, O my God, thy body, thy soul, thy divinity, that thou art going to give me. The first duty thou askest of me, now that thou art coming to me, is the act of my Faith in this deep mystery; I make it; and my understanding is happy at thus bowing itself down before thy sovereign word. Thou, O Jesus, art the Truth; and when presenting to thy disciples the bread changed in to thy Body, thou saidst to them: This is my Body! I believe thy word; I adore the living Bread, come down from heaven to give life to the world. The grace of the Holy Ghost, whom thou hast sent me, enables me to relish this marvel of thy all-powerful love. This love of thine was not satisfied with uniting thee to the human nature, which thou assumedst in Mary’s womb; it would, moreover, prepare for each one of us, by means of the heavenly food of thy sacred flesh, a real and mysterious union with thee, which none but thou could have planned, none but thou could have achieved. For its accomplishment, thou first demandedst, as thou hadst all right to do, that we should have an unlimited confidence in the truth of thy word. When thou wast upon the Cross, thy divinity was veiled from view; in the sacred Host, thy very humanity is hid from our eyes; but, I believe, O my God, both thy divinity and humanity present under the cloud which shrouds them from all mortal sight. I have been taught by thine Apostle, O light inaccessible, that it is by faith alone that we can approach thee, while we are in this present life. I believe, then, O Lord! but help thou mine unbelief.


Act of Humility

Taught, as I have been, by thy words, O my God, I know, and with a certainty which my reason and my senses could never have given me, that, in a few moments, I shall be in closest union with thine infinite Majesty. Thou hast said it: He that eateth my Flesh, abideth in me, and I in him! My whole being thrills at these words. I, a sinner, all marked with the sores of my iniquities, and still fighting with passions but half subdued, I am to abide in thee! And thou, that art infinite Being and infinite Holiness, thou art coming to abide in me, in me who am but nothingness and sin! At such a tiding as this, what else can I, than cry out, with the Centurion of thy Gospel: Lord! I am not worthy that thou shouldst enter under my roof! And yet, I hear thee saying, also, these other words: Unless ye eat the Flesh of the Son of Man, ye shall not have life in you. This life I would have, O Jesus! And didst thou not come, didst thou not work all thy mysteries, in order that we might have life, and more and more of that life? I have no desire to shun it. What, then, can I do, but take shelter in the depths of humility, think of mine own vileness, be mindful of the fuel of sin that exists within me, and acknowledge the infinite distance there is between myself and thee, O my Redeemer and my Judge? I know that then thou wilt have pity on my misery, and wilt say but one word, and my soul shall be healed. Say, I beseech thee, that word, which is to comfort my heart. Till thou sayst it, I dare not raise up mine eyes towards thine altar; I can but tremble at the approach of that moment, when a poor creature, like myself, is to be united with its Creator, from whose eyes nought is hid, and who judges even our justices.


Act of Contrition

Ever since that day whereon thy Spirit, O Lord, came down upon us, in order that he might the more deeply imprint upon our souls the divine mysteries thou wroughtest, from thy merciful Incarnation to thy glorious Ascension, thou vouchsafest to invite me more frequently to thy table. And I have learned, too, since that same coming, better than I knew before, how it behooves me to prepare myself, with all possible diligence, for each of thy visits. I have been renewing my faith, by accepting, with increased ardor, the truth of thy presence in the Sacrament of the Altar. As I see thy dread Majesty advancing towards me, I have professed, and with sincere humility, my utter nothingness, for I have acknowledged my extreme unworthiness;—but all this does not put me at rest. There is something beyond all this:—it is, that I am a sinner; I have offended Thee; I have rebelled against thee; I have turned thy very benefits into occasions of outrage against thee; to say it in all its enormity, I have caused thy death upon the Cross! The Holy Ghost, having vouchsafed to give me light, has taught me the malice of sin; he has given me to understand, more fully than formerly, how detestable have been my audacity and ingratitude. I have had revealed to me, by the grand Mysteries of the first portion of the Year, how much I cost thee on that Day, whereon Justice and Mercy united in the Sacrifice which saved mankind. The more thou hast heaped thy favors on me, O Lord, the more keenly do I feel the injury of my sins; and I beseech thee to bestow on me the signal grace, the grace which will ensure every other,—of keeping up within me the spirit of compunction and penance. I offer to thee, O my God, at this hour when thou art about to give thyself to me, I offer to thee the expression of my sorrow; and from my deepest soul, I say to thee those words of the Publican: Have mercy on me, O God, for I am a Sinner!


Act of Love

And now, O my Lord, permit me to turn my thoughts upon the happiness of a soul, to whom thou givest thyself in the Sacrament of thy love! As to that familiarity, into which thine ineffable goodness leads some souls, who approach thee without reflecting upon the greatness of thy majesty, oh! I shudder at such impertinence; and yet, I long to be united with thee; and, until thou art come into me, my soul panteth after thee. Thy Mysteries, which I have been celebrating with thy Church, have enkindled within me a fire which nothing can quench,—a fire to which thy divine Spirit delights to be ever adding heat. Thy delight, so thou hast told us, is to be with the children of men; and is it not true, also, that with such of the children of men as know thee, thy love is the very nourishment on which their own hearts live? In order to maintain them in this love which is their life, thou hast made thyself present in the sacred Host; thou givest them to live in thee, just as thou livest in them, as often as they eat of this Living Bread, which hath come down from heaven. This Charity, this Love, which hath been poured forth into our hearts by the Holy Ghost, is nourished at thy holy Table, O Lord! and there is it increased; for it is in the divine Sacrament, which thou institutedst the night before thy Passion, that we are united to thee. Love tends to be united with the object it loves; therefore do I, in spite of all the conviction of my unworthiness, long for the blissful moment of thy coming into me. Everything that thou hast done, my Lord, has been done to make me love thee? Thou hast loved me first; who will blame me, that my heart hungers for thee? Thou hadst pity, one day, on the people who had followed thee into the desert. I have compassion, thou saidst, on this multitude; and then, straightway, thou gavest them to eat as much as they would. Ah! Lord, my poor heart and flesh, long after thee; and thou alone canst satisfy the hunger which gnaws me, for thou art the Sovereign Good, thou art true Life; and it was that I might enjoy that Sovereign Good, and live that heavenly Life, that thou createdst me. There was a time, when this heart of mine was dull; darkness was upon me, and I could not see the light; but now that thy Mysteries have enlightened and regenerated me, I sigh after thee with all the earnestness of my soul. Come, then, Lord Jesus! Withhold thyself no longer from my soul, that awaits thy visit!

[On Holy Communion during the Time after Pentecost]