Celebration of First Christmas Mass in La Florida

In October 1539, Hernando de Soto, along with his band of some 600 soldiers and 12 Catholic priests, set up a winter encampment among the Apalachee natives in what would eventually become the city of Tallahassee.  It was here that the Spanish celebrated the first Christmas Mass in what would become the United States.  These events occurred some 26 years prior to the founding of St. Augustine on the Atlantic coast.

As a part of the celebration of Florida's 500th anniversary, an event commemorating the First Christmas Mass will be held at Mission San Luis in Tallahassee on January 5-6, 2013.  The event includes historic lectures, re-enactments, food, vendors, and arts and crafts.  More importantly, Bishop Gregory Parkes will celebrate Mass in the mission church at noon on January 6.  A complete schedule for the two day event is available at the Mission San Luis website here.

Other Links of Interest:
MSNBC Web Article: No Snow for First Christmas
Visit Florida Viva 500 - Florida Tourism Website (Statewide Events)
Viva La Florida - State of Florida Official 500th Anniversary Website 
Florida Living History - Re-enactors based in St. Augustine
De Soto Site Wikipedia Link (Photo of Historic Marker near Myers Park)

Advent Gathering - December 8, 2012

The time draws near for our annual Lay Dominican Advent Social!

DATE: Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, December 8, 2012

LOCATION: Good Shepherd Parish, Tallahassee, Florida

TIME: 9AM

Events for the day include mass (Holy Day of Obligation) at 9AM and vows of Total Consecration in the chapel (after mass). The social will begin immediately after vows.  Family and friends are welcome to attend.  Please RSVP no later than December 1, 2012 to Br. Matthew Anthony Bartolome at 850-766-5928 or leesox@rocketmail.com

Traditional Latin Mass - On Sundays!

Traditional Latin Masses (1962 Missal) have been scheduled for: 

Sunday, November 4th, 2012 at 9 AM

Sunday, December 2nd, 2012 at 9 AM 

These masses will be celebrated at Saint Thomas the Apostle Catholic Parish (27 North Shadow St, off US Highway 90) in Quincy.  Father Nicholas Schumm will be presiding. These Masses will mark the beginning of regularly-scheduled Traditional Latin Masses held in the Eastern side of the Diocese.   

Remember to set your clocks. The November 4th mass is the day we all "fall back" out of Daylight Savings into Standard time. 

For more information, contact Stephen Mozier at (850) 443-1887 or stephenmozier@aol.com

See my previous posting on this blog for general Latin Mass information.






 

Official Prayer - Year of Faith October 11th, 2012 to November 24th, 2013

    The Nicene Creed

 http://www.annusfidei.va/content/novaevangelizatio/en/annus-fidei/preghiera.html

I BELIEVE IN ONE GOD, THE FATHER ALMIGHTY, MAKER OF HEAVEN AND EARTH, OF ALL THINGS VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE.

I BELIEVE IN ONE LORD JESUS CHRIST,
THE ONLY BEGOTTEN SON OF GOD,
BORN OF THE FATHER BEFORE ALL AGES.
GOD FROM GOD, LIGHT FROM LIGHT,
TRUE GOD FROM TRUE GOD,
BEGOTTEN, NOT MADE, CONSUBSTANTIAL
WITH THE FATHER;
THROUGH HIM ALL THINGS WERE MADE.
FOR US MEN AND FOR OUR SALVATION
HE CAME DOWN FROM HEAVEN,
AND BY THE HOLY SPIRIT WAS INCARNATE
OF THE VIRGIN MARY,
AND BECAME MAN.
FOR OUR SAKE HE WAS CRUCIFIED
UNDER PONTIUS PILATE,
HE SUFFERED DEATH AND WAS BURIED,
AND ROSE AGAIN ON THE THIRD DAY
IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE SCRIPTURES.
HE ASCENDED INTO HEAVEN
AND IS SEATED AT THE RIGHT HAND OF THE FATHER.
HE WILL COME AGAIN IN GLORY
TO JUDGE THE LIVING AND THE DEAD
AND HIS KINGDOM WILL HAVE NO END.

I BELIEVE IN THE HOLY SPIRIT,
THE LORD, THE GIVER OF LIFE,
WHO PROCEEDS FROM THE FATHER AND THE SON,
WHO WITH THE FATHER AND THE SON
IS ADORED AND GLORIFIED,
WHO HAS SPOKEN THROUGH THE PROPHETS.

I BELIEVE IN ONE, HOLY, CATHOLIC,
AND APOSTOLIC CHURCH.
I CONFESS ONE BAPTISM FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS
AND I LOOK FORWARD TO THE RESURRECTION
OF THE DEAD AND THE LIFE OF THE WORLD TO COME.

AMEN.

Lay Dominicans del Espíritu Santo

Rites of Admission, Temporary and Final Promises

September 8^th, 2012

Feast of the Nativity

of The Blessed Virgin Mary

New Members of the Order of Preachers

Lay Dominicans del Espíritu Santo

Mrs. Maureen Antworth, O.P.

Mr. Lee Bowersox, O.P.

New Candidates

Mrs. Carol Cline

Mr. William Cowdrey

Mr. Rick Danner

Queenship of Mary

Queenship of Mary

August 22nd, 2012

The Queenship of Mary is a Marian feast day in the liturgical calendar of the Roman Catholic Church, created by Pope Pius XII. On 11 October 1954, the Pontiff pronounced the new feast in his encyclical Ad caeli reginam. The feast was celebrated on May 31, the last day of the Marian month. In 1969, Pope Paul VI moved the feast day to August 22.

http://www.catholictradition.org/Mary/queenship-mary.htm
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/pius_xii/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-xii_enc_11101954_ad-caeli-reginam_en.html

 

From Pope PiusXII - Ad caeli reginam

51. By this Encyclical Letter We are instituting a feast so that all may recognize more clearly and venerate more devoutly the merciful and maternal sway of the Mother of God. We are convinced that this feast will help to preserve, strengthen and prolong that peace among nations which daily is almost destroyed by recurring crises. Is she not a rainbow in the clouds reaching towards God, the pledge of a covenant of peace?[62] "Look upon the rainbow, and bless Him that made it; surely it is beautiful in its brightness. It encompasses the heaven about with the circle of its glory, the hands of the Most High have displayed it."[63] Whoever, therefore, reverences the Queen of heaven and earth - and let no one consider himself exempt from this tribute of a grateful and loving soul - let him invoke the most effective of Queens, the Mediatrix of peace; let him respect and preserve peace, which is not wickedness unpunished nor freedom without restraint, but a well-ordered harmony under the rule of the will of God; to its safeguarding and growth the gentle urgings and commands of the Virgin Mary impel us.

A Pilgrimage - 2012

For the most part, when I have thought of pilgrimage, Rome or Jerusalem or Lourdes have come to mind.  Being residents of the New World, our opportunities are certainly more limited, but not unavailable.  I found some very interesting places worthy of pilgrimage on my journey this summer that are not out of reach for the average traveller.

I recently returned from our family vacation which, as always, included a pilgrimage of sorts to one or more of the temples of baseball - in this case, Louisville, Cleveland and Pittsburgh.  While the Louisville Slugger Factory Museum did provide a shrine for lumber used by baseball legends, and the Indians and Pirates both won (possibly a miracle in itself) - we found more than just baseball on this journey.

Enroute to Louisville, we stopped at the Shrine of Most Blessed Sacrament in Hanceville, Alabama.  This place is probably best known for being the home of founder Mother Angelica and the EWTN daily mass broadcasts.  It is run by the Poor Claires of Perpetual Adoration.  It is a very lovely church, and the grounds also have a Lourdes grotto.

Our next stop was at the Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani in Trappist, Kentucky.  This Trappist community was the home of Thomas Merton and remains an active religious community.  It is the motherhouse of the Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Conyers, Georgia.  Unfortunately, my schedule prevented my participation in a liturgy with the brothers - I will have to get back!  A mass for the intentions of the Lay Dominicans del Espiritu Santo was offered on June 28 at Gethsemani.

Chaplets for the Louisville Dominican Priests

On Father's Day, we attended mass at the Church of St. Louis Bertrand in Louisville.   This church is staffed by Domincans from the Province of St. Joseph (Eastern USA).  It was quite a treat to get Dominican preaching on Father's Day!  (travel note: I encourage you to check the Dominican provincial websites for church locations - that is how I found St. Louis Bretrand).  On behalf of our Lay Dominican group, I presented the Dominican priests with the chaplets we had prayed over at our last meeting.

Just west of Pittsburgh, we visited the Franciscan University at Steubenville, Ohio.  The campus was bustling with activity as a priests/deacons/seminarian conference was in progress.  I even ran into a Domincan brother from the House of Studies in Washington, DC.  The campus is quite beautiful.  In addition to the campus chapel, there are also a number of "prayer-worthy" sites, including a re-creation of the chapel where St. Francis founded his order - more information here. 

Me before waddling back to the car

When I visited the Strip District in Pittsburgh, I expected to get a Primanti Brothers sandwich and waddle my way back to my vehicle.  I did not expect to find a Blessed John Paul II connection.  On the northern end of the Strip is the Church of Stanislaus Kostka.  This church was visited by then Cardinal Wotija in 1969 - for the full story visit the website here.  Like Chicago and Cleveland, Pittsburgh has a vibrant Polish community - the perogi's and cabbage rolls around the corner from St. Stanislaus were great!  A site I did not discover until it was too late to visit is St. Anthony's Chapel  The chapel contains 5,000 relics and I am sure it is worth a visit.  Be warned, it is only open in the afternoons on Saturday-Thursday, so if you are there on a Friday you'll be out of luck like me!

With the exception of the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament, all of these places are relatively close together.  I never thought I would find such places of faith and devotion on this trip.  I guess you never know unless you really look.

Yes, we all need to really look - and look close.  As the Fortnight for Freedom reaches its climax today, my recent voyage illustrates what can be accomplished by people of faith in a free society.  None of these places were constructed by a government program.  For the most part, they were made by people of faith banding together for a common purpose to glorify Our Lord and Savior.  It is the Body of Christ in action.  We are that Body in action.   

Keep the Faith - Pray for Freedom.

Amen.

Urgent Request for Prayer

A Fortnight for Freedom

In particular, we recommend to our brother bishops that we focus "all the energies the Catholic community can muster" in a special way this coming summer. As pastors of the flock, our privileged task is to lead the Christian faithful in prayer.

Both our civil year and liturgical year point us on various occasions to our heritage of freedom. This year, we propose a special "fortnight for freedom," in which bishops in their own dioceses might arrange special events to highlight the importance of defending our first freedom. Our Catholic institutions also could be encouraged to do the same, especially in cooperation with other Christians, Jews, people of other faiths, and indeed, all who wish to defend our most cherished freedom.

We suggest that the fourteen days from June 21—the vigil of the Feasts of St. John Fisher and St. Thomas More—to July 4, Independence Day, be dedicated to this "fortnight for freedom"—a great hymn of prayer for our country. Our liturgical calendar celebrates a series of great martyrs who remained faithful in the face of persecution by political power—St. John Fisher and St. Thomas More, St. John the Baptist, SS. Peter and Paul, and the First Martyrs of the Church of Rome. Culminating on Independence Day, this special period of prayer, study, catechesis, and public action would emphasize both our Christian and American heritage of liberty. Dioceses and parishes around the country could choose a date in that period for special events that would constitute a great national campaign of teaching and witness for religious liberty.

In addition to this summer's observance, we also urge that the Solemnity of Christ the King—a feast born out of resistance to totalitarian incursions against religious liberty—be a day specifically employed by bishops and priests to preach about religious liberty, both here and abroad.

To all our fellow Catholics, we urge an intensification of your prayers and fasting for a new birth of freedom in our beloved country. We invite you to join us in an urgent prayer for religious liberty.

Almighty God, Father of all nations,
For freedom you have set us free in Christ Jesus (Gal 5:1).
We praise and bless you for the gift of religious liberty,
the foundation of human rights, justice, and the common good.
Grant to our leaders the wisdom to protect and promote our liberties;
By your grace may we have the courage to defend them, for ourselves and for all those who live in this blessed land.
We ask this through the intercession of Mary Immaculate, our patroness,
and in the name of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
with whom you live and reign, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

See entire article:

http://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/religious-liberty/our-first-most-cherished-liberty.cfm

Deo Gratias! Traditional Latin Mass - April 30, 2012

At the request of Archbishop Thomas Wenski, the Traditional Latin (Tridentine) Mass is returning to the Tallahassee area.  Through the efforts of local coordinator Stephen Mozier, the first mass will be held at St. Thomas the Apostle Parish in Quincy, FL on Monday, April 30, 2012 at 7 PM (directions below).  Father Hector R.G. Perez, STD will be presiding.  Initial plans are for a monthly Sunday mass in Quincy, with more frequent masses if attendance and participation merit.  If you are interested in more information or to be added to his mailing list, please contact Stephen Mozier e-mail here.

Directions:

St. Thomas the Apostle Parish

27 North Shadow Street

Quincy, FL

 

View Larger Map

 April 30 is also the feast day of our Dominican predecessor, Pope St. Pius V.  As is very appropriate for the re-establishment of a Traditional Latin Mass here, Pope St. Pius V is most famous for promulgating the 1570 Roman Missal which came to be known as the Tridentine Missal.  He also established the Feast of Our Lady of Victory (later Our Lady of the Rosary) in thanks for the victory of the Catholic fleet over the Turks at Lepanto.

 St. Pius V, Ora Pro Nobis!

I have only attended one Traditional Latin Mass myself.  For those, like myself, who need some education, here are some links to help you along.  (WARNING: if you Google or otherwise search for internet information, there are many spurious and heretical sites out there filled with misinformation. Use caution!)
SanctaMissa.org  -  Excellent place to start with several video tutorials
Una Voce America (Resources)   -   List of links with other resources
Latin Liturgy Association   -   FAQs and HTML text of the Latin Liturgy

Hope to see you in Quincy!

Oratio pro Missa Latine Celbranda

Official Prayer of the Latin Liturgy Association

Oremus.
 O mundi Regnator, qui te omni lingua hominum angelorumque laudari vluisti; tribue, quaesumus, ut etiam in diebus nostris sacrificium dilecti Filii tui immaculatum assidue lingua Romana in oratoriis gentis nostrae omniumque permultis tibi offeratur a populo ad te toto corde converso: per Christum Dominum nostrum. 
Amen.


Let us pray.
O Master of the Universe, who have willed that you be praised in every tongue of men and angels, grant that in our day too the perfect sacrifice of your beloved Son may continue to be offered  to you in the tongue of the Romans in many churches of our land and every land by a people who have turned to you with all their heart; this we ask through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

An Opportunity For Prayer & Action

March 2012

Breaking the Spiral Of Silence The current administration’s effort to force religious institutions to adopt practices that violate their conscience is perhaps the biggest threat to religious liberty in our nation’s history. It should spur every serious Christian into action. We don’t want you to be just the signer of a petition; we need you to be actively engaged in this battle. Here’s how: We’ve prepared a powerful DVD, “Breaking the Spiral of Silence,” with interviews and appeals by a broad spectrum of Christian leaders; Sammy Rodriguez, Harry Jackson, Eric Metaxas, Robby George, Timothy George, and I. We are setting aside April 28 for the first showing of this video across the country. And we’re asking you to be an ambassador, to sign up now to receive the DVD and to premiere it in your home or church to as many friends as you can assemble. Will you please join us? The DVD will equip you and your friends to articulate the reasons why religious freedom, the sanctity of life, and traditional marriage are so important--not just from the standpoint of our Christian faith but for the right ordering of society. We need nothing less than a movement of Christians organizing across America. Here’s what you can do now: · Hold a Breaking the Spiral of Silence event in your home or church (host fee is $24.95 for churches, $9.95 for homes). Register at www.breakingthespiralofsilence.com. Urge each person who attends to get it for their friends · Brief others on these issues. Use every occasion to talk about it in the coming months. This issue is not going to go away. We will either beat back the administration’s mandate or religious freedom will be undermined. There’s no in-between. · Recruit active Christians to network in this movement. As a host you will receive one-page briefs on life, marriage, and religious liberty for your church or home gathering, along with tools to help you engage your community. When people watch the DVD in your home or church, ask them to sign the Manhattan Declaration. We will follow up and get them involved. This is the way movements are fueled. If you show the video to ten people and equip them to defend these issues, they in turn can take your DVD or purchase another one and show it to their friends. Groups of ten can very rapidly multiply and impact the whole country. We are never going to be able to get a fair shake in the national media. Politicians are dodging the issue. We can win this fight, but we have to create strong public pressure. Now that people are beginning to understand this is a fight for religious liberty, the polls are turning our way. So we need you to be more than a name on a petition; we need you to be an activist, an ambassador. Please sign up. It is vital we defend religious freedom—along with the sanctity of life and traditional marriage. These three foundational principles are the foundations of a healthy society, and of the freedoms we enjoy. Please reply today. Register at www.breakingthespiralofsilence.com. Yours in His Service, Charles W. Colson The Manhattan Declaration is a non-partisan statement of conscience in defense of human life, traditional marriage and religious freedom.

Reconciliation

25 MARCH 2012. Today's celebration of the fifth Sunday of Lent provides us an opportunity to experience a glimpse into the the humanity of Christ in the same way that we often suffer--He was troubled--and in a number of ways provides an opportunity to consider the gift of the sacrament of reconciliation.

In today's Gospel reading from the Gospel of Saint John, we hear that Jesus is "troubled" because He knows the time for His passion and death is at hand, so that He may rise from the dead, but His human self--as we all do--wants to avoid pain and hurt. Listen to Christ's words from the mass today:

Some Greeks who had come to worship at the Passover Feast
came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee,
and asked him, "Sir, we would like to see Jesus."
Philip went and told Andrew;
then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus.
Jesus answered them,
"The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.
Amen, amen, I say to you,
unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies,
it remains just a grain of wheat;
but if it dies, it produces much fruit.
Whoever loves his life loses it,
and whoever hates his life in this world
will preserve it for eternal life.
Whoever serves me must follow me,
and where I am, there also will my servant be.
The Father will honor whoever serves me.

"I am troubled now. Yet what should I say?
'Father, save me from this hour?'
But it was for this purpose that I came to this hour.
Father, glorify your name."
Then a voice came from heaven,
"I have glorified it and will glorify it again."
The crowd there heard it and said it was thunder;
but others said, "An angel has spoken to him."
Jesus answered and said,
"This voice did not come for my sake but for yours.
Now is the time of judgment on this world;
now the ruler of this world will be driven out.
And when I am lifted up from the earth,
I will draw everyone to myself."
He said this indicating the kind of death he would die.

Jn 12:20-33 (NABRE). No less human than any of us are, but unlike us in every way: fully divine, Jesus knows that He has been sent to reconcile humanity to the Father and save us from sin. And, He knows that to do this He must suffer and die so that He may rise again.

Today we see that Christ is troubled. His humanity tells Him to run from the hurt and pain that lies ahead in His passion. But, being God and, thus, united with the Divine Will by His nature, He is perfectly obedient to the Father and submits Himself to the suffering of the passion and crucifixion.

Our reconciliation to the Father, has been bought for us by the most precious blood of our Lord spilled on the cross. How can we any less seek to reconcile ourselves in our every moment to Christ and His bride the Church?

We sin. This is certainly because we are human.

But, our humanity is not merely of a fallen nature--our humanity has been given to us in the image and likeness of God the Creator. In each of us we are united with the Divine, being created in His image, and in possessing an everlasting soul. This soul is the most precious part of each of us. It shares in the very nature of the Divine, being itself eternal. But, our humanity, imperfect as it is, requires reconciliation because we suffer from sin.

It is this sin that drew Christ to us. Consider the Last Supper. As Christ feels the anxiety of all that is about to come to pass, and as he knows that His Disciples are about to desert Him, deny Him, and betray Him, He still "yearns" to share that meal with them. Not in spite of their sin, but because of their sin. He seeks to reconcile them to Himself and reconcile all humanity, even as He is troubled in all that is about to come to pass.

What a wonderful love that Christ has! What a wonderful gift that the Church has given us, through the grace of God, to also be reconciled in our time today through the sacrament of reconciliation. As each of us attends faithfully to confession, we are absolved of our sin by Jesus Himself, in the person of the priest, and forgiven by the community of believers. How necessary. How beautiful.

Today, 25 March, is also the commemoration of the St. Dismas, the repentant thief crucified with our Lord. If only we could hear those words that Christ spoke to St. Dimas from the cross: "[T]oday you will be with me in Paradise." (Lk 23:43)

But, we do have the opportunity this day to reconcile ourselves and hear the words of Christ spoken to us in the person of a priest: "I absolve you of your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." How necessary. How beautiful.

Lenten Opportunity for Prayer & Action

Be doers of the word and not hearers only, deluding yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his own face in a mirror.

He sees himself, then goes off and promptly forgets what he looked like.

But the one who peers into the perfect law of freedom and perseveres, and is not a hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, such a one shall be blessed in what he does.

James Ch 1:22-25

http://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/religious-liberty/conscience-protection/index.cfm

https://www.stophhs.com/getinvolved/write-to-congress/

Novena to Blessed Mother - for defense of Liberty- United States

The Dominican Sisters of Nashville have invited us to participate in the 9 day Novena to our Blessed Mother for the sake of our county and our right to religious freedom. 

Here is the link to the Novena:
www.nashvilledominican.org/News/Latest_News 

and a link to a pdf file of the Novena:  
http://nashvilledominican.org/app/webroot/img/copyimg/files/novena_prayer_BVM.pdf 

Also, here is the most recent news from the USCCB:
http://usccb.org/issues-and-action/religious-liberty/conscience-protection/index.cfm

You are being urged by our Bishops to fill out the petition:
http://www.nchla.org/actiondisplay.asp?ID=292

Please join all Dominicans and all Catholics in this fight against evil.

Peace in Christ,
Michael Pearson, O.P.

Dominican Laity Advent Social 2011

Our Hostess Rosa dancing with Joseph. In the back: - Donna Woods O.P., Rick Danner (Inquirer)

Norma O'Meara O.P., Jo Ann Cotterman O.P.,

Bill O'Meara O.P.

Fred Salancy O.P., Julianne Salanacy,

Ann Salancy O.P., Joseph Salancy

Sherry Bowersox, Lee Bowersox (Candidate) & Family

Sarah Pearson, Bill Cowdrey (Inquirer),

Michael Pearson O.P., Aileen Cowdrey