We enter a new liturgical season and a new liturgical year. The season of Advent is marked by many distinct features. The most prominent are the use of the color purple and the Advent wreath. The four candles of the wreath represent the four Sundays of the season. Three of the candles are purple and one of them is rose / pink. This pink candle is for the third Sunday of Advent commonly called Gaudete Sunday. It is called Gaudete (which means rejoice) because that is the Latin text for the entrance antiphon. The first two weeks of the Advent season focus more on anticipation- found in the scriptures (the prophets), for Christ’s birth (and our commemoration of it), and for Christ’s return and final judgement. The fourth Sunday’s readings tend to focus on Mary & Joseph and the events leading up to Christ’s birth. In some Christian traditions, the candles and weeks are associated with the words hope, peace, joy, and love respectively. The characteristics do generally fit with the season and the associated Sundays, but this is not an official part of Catholic tradition and liturgical practice.

This Sunday we celebrate one of the biggest Solemnities of the Church year: The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe—more commonly referred to, and still known by most, as Christ the King. This is especially familiar to us Lexingtonians because of our cathedral’s title. And I’m thankful we can abbreviate it as CTK rather than OLJCKU! READ MORE

Throughout the year we celebrate many different types of Masses. These include Feasts, Memorials, Solemnities, and the Sundays of the Liturgical Year such as those in Ordinary Time, Lent, Advent, and Easter. However, when you look inside the Roman Missal—the book from which the priest celebrates Mass—you’ll find many other types of Masses as well. When we say the priest “says Mass from the Roman Missal,” this includes several parts: the orations (prayers such as the Collect and Prayer over the Offerings), the antiphons (if they are not sung), the Preface, blessings, and especially the Eucharistic Prayers. There are only a handful of Eucharistic Prayers—four main ones, plus several others for special occasions such as reconciliation or particular needs. The orations and other texts include well over a hundred options that vary according to the celebration. In this article, we’ll look more closely at some of these additional categories. READ MORE

This weekend we normally would be celebrating the 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time. But we aren’t. We are celebrating the Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica. Why? Because the Roman Catholic Church always celebrates this feast on November 9—and this year it falls on a Sunday. This is one of the “major feast days” of the year, and it outranks Sundays in Ordinary Time. But why celebrate a church most of us have never visited—and maybe never heard of? READ MORE

Welcome to the newest members of the MQHR Parish Pastoral Council (PPC), Holly Jo Johnson, Evan Crane, Otto Piechowski, and Becky Estep. The PPC meets monthly and assists Father Miguel as he carries out the vision of the parish mission and goals and objectives related to it. If you would like to be considered to serve on the council, please contact Liz Thompson, chair, at [email protected]. Special Thanks to Linda Frazer, Jeff Terhune and Johnna Knox whose terms expired in the past year, for their dedication and service on the council.