On the last day of the year 2015, St. Margaret Mary’s had a Low Mass in the Extraordinary Form for the 7th day in the Octave of Christmas, which was followed by a sung Te Deum and concluded with a Benediction. See more photos here. The Traditional Latin Mass Society of San Francisco wishes everyone a Blessed and Holy Year of Mercy 2016!
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
On Monday, January 11, 2016, I will begin teaching at St. Patrick’s Seminary. I am teaching “Theology of the Sacraments: Introduction, Baptism, Confirmation.” My course will meet on every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday until the middle of May. I am writing to ask a very specific spiritual favor. Would you be willing to pray the Holy Rosary for the fruitfulness of my apostolate at the seminary, on each and every day that I am teaching there? That means that you would be committing to praying the rosary on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for this specific intention from the middle of January until the middle of May of this year. The Christian apostolate depends primarily on prayer and sacrifice as its soul. Please consider helping the formation of future priests in their knowledge and love of the sacraments.
Fr. Joseph Previtali
Assistant Chaplain
Last Sunday (Sunday in the Octave of Christmas) we revisited the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter’s (FSSP) Latin Mass community of St. Stephen the First Martyr Parish in Sacramento, CA. Here are some photos taken from the High Mass that was celebrated by Fr. Ashley Perry, Parochial Vicar. If you ever get to visit the parish, be sure to also check out their wonderful bookstore; located by the entrance of the courtyard leading to the church. One can find an abundant treasure of rosaries, missals, bibles, assorted Catholic books, First Holy Communion gifts, and a whole lot more!
Photo: Christmas Day High Mass at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Oratory (San Jose, CA). View photo album here.
From the Desk of the Oratory Chaplain, Canon Raphael Ueda:
The old year is coming to a close and the new year, A.D. 2016, will begin very soon. The term A.D. stands for Anno Domini, a Latin phrase meaning “in the year of the Lord” which is often translated “in the year of Our Lord”. At Christmas, we celebrate the birth of Jesus. With His coming, the Old Covenant came to an end, and the New Covenant, the new time of salvation, arrived. So we see the end of the old and the beginning of the new. Thus it is that the season of Christmas brings with it both a sense of closure as well as a sense of expectation. It is a time to look back with gratitude and to look forward with anticipation. By the grace of God we made it through 2015 together, and now we look ahead to 2016, which will begin very soon. May the breath of the Holy Ghost refresh and renew our hearts during this holy season and throughout the coming year.
The three Masses of Christmas celebrate the threefold Nativity of Christ: from the Father, in His Divinity, from all eternity; from His Virgin Mother, in His humanity, 2,016 years ago; and by grace, in our hearts, in the present moment. This latter birth of Christ is celebrated especially at the Mass at Dawn because His birth in our hearts is the dawn of our salvation, and when He is born in our hearts His Light begins to shine therein.
Christ is born in our hearts principally through baptism, and when we have sinned after baptism, through the sacrament of penance. In baptism we are reborn in Him and His life is born in us. There are three types of baptism: of water (the sacrament), of desire (moral baptism caused by exercise of graced reason), and of blood (death for Christ). Of these, the baptism of blood is most perfect because it most clearly signifies His Saving Death. Christ is most clearly born in the heart of one who sheds his blood for Him.
Here is the sermon for the Christmas Midnight Mass (December 25, 2015), given by the Rev. Canon Olivier Meney, Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest, at St. Margaret Mary’s Church in Oakland, California, USA.
Christmas is finally here! Folks, remember that Christmas season has just started – it’s not just a one-day event as observed by the secular society. Traditional custom presents Christmas as a 40-day season; which ends on February 2, the Feast of the Presentation of our Lord. Photos from the Christmas Midnight Mass at St. Margaret Mary’s is now available for viewing here!
We have had recent requests for sermons (particularly given by traditional priests) to be posted on our blog; and to the extent of which we can, we hope to be able to put this out more often. Here is the sermon for the 4th Sunday of Advent (December 20, 2015), given by the Rev. Canon Olivier Meney, Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest, at St. Margaret Mary’s Church in Oakland, California, USA.
Caesar Augustus thought he was really something special. He was the second Roman emperor – probably the greatest of them all – and he had consolidated his territory such that the whole world enjoyed the “Pax Romana,” with the cessation of all hostilities. Such was his success that he even called himself a god and blasphemously appropriated to himself divine worship. Thus, he saw fit to take a census, to count the number of men under his pretended divine rule.
At his word, the whole world began scurrying across the globe to be counted, each to his own town. Dom Prosper Gueranger makes the beautiful point that the emperor gave this command, and all these millions of people began moving about, solely in order that one married couple, soon expecting their first child, would travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem. Such is the mystery of Divine Providence, which guides and directs all the affairs of history, ordering all things strongly and gently.
Today is “Gaudete Sunday,” so named from the first word of the Introit for the Mass for the Third Sunday of Advent, which is taken from St. Paul’s command to the Philippians and to us: “Rejoice in the Lord always! I say it again: Rejoice! …The Lord is near!” This is the most honored Sunday of Advent, as its station Mass is assigned to St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican.
Today our pace quickens as we run towards the Lord, Who is running even faster to us. We sense that He is near, that soon He will be born for us in the stable of Bethlehem, that soon He will come to judge the living and the dead. We rejoice at this sense of His nearness and beg Him to prepare in our hearts the way for His Coming.
Our joy at Jesus’s nearness is signified by the use of rose vestments. Today is one of only two days in the whole Church year in which we use this liturgical color. (The other day is “Laetare Sunday,” the Fourth Sunday of Lent, which reminds us that Easter is near.) The focus of our Advent preparation shifts today from the remote task of repentance and rejection of sin to the proximate task of looking forward to the Lord’s Birth. Our attention gradually shifts from the figure of John the Baptist to the beautiful countenance of Our Blessed Mother, heavy with child, expectant of His miraculous Virgin Birth.
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