Second Sunday after Epiphany

January 18, 2026

Friends in Christ,

Welcome to our weekly Sunday update. This Sunday is the Second Sunday after Epiphany. Last Sunday the Gospel provided a glimpse of the Child Jesus, on the verge of manhood, in the setting of the Holy Family. In this Sunday’s Gospel, He is a mature adult of perhaps 30 years, accompanying His Blessed Mother to a wedding in Cana of Galilee. His foster father, Joseph, is not mentioned and is presumably already deceased. Mary has learned much about her son, and his unique capabilities, in the years since he mystified her by remaining alone in Jerusalem when His parents headed back to Nazareth. Now, when the wine has run out at the wedding feast, she turns to Jesus and says, “They have no wine.” Jesus, having attracted a number of followers since His baptism by John, has begun to emerge from His hidden life in the Holy Family. He responds to his mother with unfamiliar formality, “Woman, what is that to thee and to me? My hour is not yet come.” But she, overruling his reluctance, asserts her parental prerogative for perhaps the last time. “Whatsoever he shall say to you,” she tells the waiters, “do ye.”


Calendar of Special Observances

Celebrations are those listed in the Roman Missal of 1962.

DAY, DATE – FEAST (CLASS)

Sunday, January 18 – Second Sunday after Epiphany (II)

Monday, January 19 – Feria (IV) – Commemoration of Ss. Marius, Martha, Audifax and Abachum, Martyrs – Commemoration of St. Canute, King and Martyr

Tuesday, January 20 – Ss. Fabian, Pope and Sebastian, Martyrs (III)

Wednesday, January 21 – St. Agnes, Virgin and Martyr (III)

Thursday, January 22 – Ss. Vincent and Anastasius, Martyrs (III)

Friday, January 23 – St. Raymond de Peñafort, Confessor (III) – Commemoration of St. Emerentiana, Virgin and Martyr

Saturday, January 24 – St. Timothy, Bishop and Martyr (III)


Second Sunday after Epiphany

The links provided below can be used to download printable copies of the Proper Prayers for the Second Sunday after Epiphany. A link to Dr. Michael P. Foley’s New Liturgical Movement commentary is also provided.


Traditional Latin Mass Schedule

Diocese of Charlotte Sunday Masses

Chapel of the Little Flower (757 Oakridge Farm Road, Mooresville, NC)

  • 10:00 a.m. (Low)
  • 12:00 p.m. (Sung)
  • Chaplain: Fr. Brandon Jones
  • Chapel related questions? Email Father at: tlmchapel(at)rcdoc.org

Note: Only Sunday Latin Masses and Holy Days are offered at the Chapel. This is the only Diocese of Charlotte location which offers the Traditional Latin Mass.

Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face, the Little Flower, pray for us!


Diocese of Raleigh Sunday Masses

  • 1:00 p.m., Sacred Heart (Dunn, NC)
  • 4:30 p.m. - First Sunday, Holy Name Cathedral (Raleigh, NC)
  • For additional locations and Masses please see our Mass Times webpage


Diocese of Charleston Sunday Masses

  • 12:00 p.m., Prince of Peace (Taylors SC)
  • 1:00 p.m., Our Lady of the Lake (Chapin SC)
  • 12:00 p.m., Sacred Heart (Charleston SC)
  • 5:30 p.m., Stella Maris (Sullivans Island, SC)


Diocese of Charleston Daily Traditional Latin Masses

  • Prince of Peace (Taylors SC) – Monday-Friday, 12:00 p.m.
  • Prince of Peace (Taylors SC) – Saturday, 8:00 a.m.
  • For additional locations and Masses please see our Mass Times webpage

Cancellation Note: Per the parish bulletin, no Latin Mass will be offered at Prince of Peace Church on Monday January 12 thru Wednesday January 14.

As a reminder, travelers are urged to consult parish websites or offices for up-to-date information regarding possible changes in the schedule of Mass times.


Chapel of the Little Flower Announcements


Mass Intentions for Sunday

Sunday January 18 - Consoli Family by the Consoli Family

Lost and Found

The Chapel has a growing collection of items left behind after Mass. If one is missing a missal, book, or other item, please see an usher or volunteer to check the Lost and Found.

Father Jones’ Contact Info

If one has questions about the Chapel of the Little Flower, that are not related to one’s parish, please email Father Jones directly at: tlmchapel(at)rcdoc.org

Parish Bulletins Now Available at the Chapel

To help Chapel attendees/visitors stay connected with their parishes, the Chapel is providing Sunday bulletins from Saint Ann and Saint Thomas Aquinas parishes.

Mass intentions for the Chapel of the Little Flower

Mass intentions have now been filled through February and new Masses are currently unavailable. The Mass intentions book will be reopened sometime in February for the Spring Masses.

Visiting the Chapel of the Little Flower

If you haven’t attended Mass at the Chapel of the Little Flower yet, you are welcome to join us during Epiphanytide. Seating is adequate at both Masses, and there is plenty of parking; a cry room; open space outside for the kids after Mass.



General Announcements

Thursday January 22 - National Day of Prayer for Legal Protection of the Unborn – The US Bishops have declared this Thursday (the anniversary of the Roe vs. Wade decision which legalized abortion) to be a day of prayer and penance. [Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of the Unborn]

Fr. Ripperger to Offer Lenten Mission at Saint Thomas Aquinas (March 6-7) – Saint Thomas Aquinas parish is blessed to welcome back Fr. Chad Ripperger, SMD, a priest and exorcist with the Society of the Most Sorrowful Mother (the Doloran Fathers), to offer a Lenten Parish Mission in March. Father will offer the mission on Friday March 6 at 7:00 p.m. and Saturday March 7 at 7:00 p.m. Please note: As noted last year, the conference is geared toward adults, and would not be appropriate for younger children. Childcare will be offered. Registration is required. To register click here.

New Book Announcement: Meditations on the Litany of Humility – Local publisher Sensus Fidelium Press has released an enriching new book on the Litany of Humility according to the writings of the saints. Meditations on the Litany of Humility: From the Examples of the Saints unpacks this important litany through the examples and words of the saints themselves who practiced this foundational virtue. Sensus Fidelium Press and Sensus Fidelium, are run by local parishioner, Steve Cunningham. To order your copy, click here.

Help Thy Neighbor – For those looking to help those struggling financially this time of year, Fr. Reid announced a link to the parish’s Help Thy Neighbor program, which helps families in need. To give, one can either write a check to St. Ann with "Help Thy Neighbor" in the memo line, or donate at the parish’s online link.

The FSSP 30-Day Novena to Our Lady thru February 11th – A thirty-day novena is underway in preparation for the renewal of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter’s (FSSP) consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in February. The novena consists of a daily Rosary and Memorare and concludes February 11 (Our Lady of Lourdes). Saint Ann parish has two parishioners at the FSSP’s seminary in Nebraska. Please consider praying this novena. To learn more click here.

Support Our Parishes – Father Reid noted that Saint Ann parish will bear much of the financial costs of keeping the Chapel of the Little Flower open and encourages our continued generosity (and our occasional visits!). Parishioners from other parishes should continue to support their own parish.

Rosary for the Traditional Latin Mass – A Rosary is offered for the restoration of the Traditional Latin Mass in the church on Sundays after the 11:30 a.m. Novus Ordo Mass at Saint Thomas Aquinas Church.

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.

Cardinal Burke’s Prayer for Pope Leo XIV – His Eminence Cardinal Raymond Burke has released a prayer for Pope Leo XIV. Please see the prayer at the links below and consider praying this daily for the Holy Father as he leads the Church. 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. Mass)
  • St. Michael the Archangel (Gastonia) – Tuesday, 8:30 a.m. (following 8:00 a.m. 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. 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 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).


Traditional Latin Mass and Liturgical News

  • Two Medieval Hymns for Epiphany by Greg DiPippo, New Liturgical Movement (January 12, 2026). [Two Medieval Hymns]
  • Pope Leo XIV proclaims Franciscan Jubilee Year by Almudena Martínez-Bordiú, EWTN News (January 12, 2026). [Franciscan Jubilee Year]
  • The Custom of Dust Coverings (Vesperale) for Altars by John Paul Sonnen, Liturgical Arts Journal (January 9, 2026). [Vesperale for Altars]
  • Ahead of Consistory, Priest Urges New Canonical Structure to Resolve Latin Mass Standoff by Solène Tadié, Catholic News Agency (January 7, 2026). [New Canonical Structure]
  • The Three Epiphanies of Our Lord (Feast of the Epiphany) by Dom Prosper Guéranger, The Liturgical Year. [Feast of the Epiphany]


Saints and Special Observances

The Saints of Christmastide (January 14 – February 1). After the Baptism of Our Lord on January 13th, the Christmas season moves into its final phase, focusing – in the days remaining before The Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary on February 2nd – on the saints of the Christmas season: the men and women whose lives, works, and virtues lead us back to the crib in Bethlehem, as Dom Prosper Guéranger notes when examining the first of these saints, Hilary of Poitiers (whose feast was celebrated on January 14 and whom we wrote about in last Sunday’s update). Guéranger writes:

After having consecrated the joyous Octave of the Epiphany to the glory of the Emmanuel who was manifested to the earth, the Church—incessantly occupied with the Divine Child and his august Mother during the whole time from Christmas Day to that whereon Mary will bring Jesus to the Temple, there to be offered to God as the law prescribes—the Church, we say, has on her Calendar of this portion of the year the names of many glorious Saints who shine like so many stars on the path which leads us from the joys of the Nativity of our Lord to the sacred mystery of our Lady’s Purification.

And firstly, there comes before us, on the very morrow of the day consecrated to the Baptism of Jesus, the faithful and courageous Hilary—the pride of the Churches of Gaul and the worthy associate of Athanasius and Eusebius of Vercelli in the battle fought for the Divinity of our Emmanuel.

Scarcely were the cruel persecution of paganism over when there commenced the fierce contest with Arianism, which had sworn to deprive of the glory and honors of his divinity that Jesus, who had conquered, by his Martyrs, over the violence and craft of the Roman Emperors. The Church had won her liberty by shedding her blood, and it was not likely that she would be less courageous on the new battlefield into which she was driven. Many were the Martyrs that were put to death by her new enemies—Christian, though heretical, Princes: it was for the Divinity of our Lord, who had mercifully appeared on the earth in the weakness of human flesh, that they shed their blood.

Thus did the holy bishop, Hilary of Poitiers, receive the honors of the Church’s love for his having so courageously, and even at the peril of his life, fought in defense of the great Mystery. Another of his glories is that he was one of the most intrepid champions of that principle which cannot be compromised without the vitality and very existence of the Church being endangered—the principle of that Church’s Liberty. A few days ago we were celebrating the Feast of our holy Martyr St. Thomas of Canterbury; today we have the Feast of the glorious Confessor whose example enlightened and encouraged him in the great struggle.

The Apostles and the Saints were strong in the battle against flesh and blood, only because they were detached from earthly goods, and were convinced that the true riches of a Christian and a Bishop consist in the humility and poverty of the Crib, and that the only victorious power is in the imitation of the simplicity and the weakness of the Child that is born unto us. They relished the lessons of the School of Bethlehem; hence, no promise of honors, of riches, or even of peace, could make them swerve from the principles of the Gospel. [January 14 – Feast of Saint Hilary, Bishop, Confessor, & Doctor of the Church]


Closing Commentary

Letting Dom Guéranger be our “tour guide” through the Christmas and Epiphany seasons, we close with one of his beautiful writings on the joy of Christmas. We believe his writings are seen in their fullest flower during the Advent and Christmas season; we hope our readers will agree after reading the following this excerpt from The Liturgical Year:


The Joy of Christmas

But our Mother, the Church, does not only offer to the Infant God the tribute of her profound adoration. The mystery of Emmanuel, that is, of God with us, is to her a source of singular joy. Look at her sublime Canticles for this holy Season, and you will find the two sentiments admirably blended - her deep reverence for her God, and her glad joy at his Birth. Joy! did not the very Angels come down and urge her to it? She therefore studies to imitate the blithe Shepherds, who ran for joy to Bethlehem [St Luke ii 16], and the glad Magi, who were well-nigh out of themselves with delight when, on quitting Jerusalem, the star again appeared and led them to the Cave where the Child was [St Matt. ii 10]. Joy at Christmas is a Christian instinct, which originated those many Carols, which, like so many other beautiful traditions of the ages of Faith, are unfortunately dying out amongst us; but which Rome still encourages, gladly welcoming each year those rude musicians, the Pifferari, who come down from the Apennines, and make the streets of the Eternal City re-echo with their shrill melodies.

This is not the season for sighing or for weeping. For unto us a Child is born! [Isa. ix 6]. He for whom we have been so long waiting is come; and he is come to dwell among us [St John i 14]. Great, indeed, and long was our suspense; so much the more let us love our possessing him. The day will too soon come when this Child, now born to us, will be the Man of Sorrows [Isa. liii 3], and then we will compassionate him; but at present we must rejoice and be glad at his coming and sing round his Crib with the Angels. Heaven sends us a present of its own joy: we need joy, and forty days are not too many for us to get it well into our hearts. The Scripture tells us that a secure mind is like a continual feast [Prov. xv 15], and a secure mind can only be where there is peace; now it is Peace which these blessed days bring to the earth; Peace, say the Angels, to men of good will! [Practice During Christmas]

~

To Our Readers and All Friends of the Latin Mass: May you be abundantly blessed by God in this joyous season of Christmas.