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Weekly Bulletin November 20, 2022
by Terrie Evans
On Sunday, November 20th we celebrate the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe also referred to as Feast of Christ the King. This feast was added to the liturgical calendar in 1925 by Pope Pius XII for the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church. In his encyclical, Quas Primas in response to the growing secularism (A system of thought that rejects any reference to god or religion). When Pope Pius XII instituted the Feast of Christ the King, he wanted to remind Christians that their allegiance was to their spiritual ruler in heaven as opposed to earthly supremacy claimed by dictators at that time. In 1926, Pope Pius XII gave his blessing for the establishment of the 1st church dedicated to Christ with the title of King. This young parish with 225 members, located in the Mount Lookout suburb of Cincinnati was operating out of a pharmacy in the Lin-Del Building. The new Pastor, Fr. Edward J. Quinn was a WWI Army Chaplain who used his Army Mass kit for the churches very 1st Mass. By May 1927, the Sanctuary and Church built by famed church architect, Edward J. Schulte (1890-1975) (also designed San Antonio Church and the only 20th century architect to design 4 cathedrals) was consecrated. The Cardinal Pacelli School was then established, named after Pope Pius XII (Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli).
At one time, the feast was honored on the last Sunday in the month of October but in 1969, Pope Paul VI moved the feast to a new date, the final Sunday of the liturgical year which then assigns it to the highest rank of solemnity. In the Catholic Church, the commencement of a new liturgical year starts on the First Sunday of Advent. The Feast of Christ the King has an eschatological dimension pointing to the end of time when the Kingdom of Jesus will be established in all its fullness to the ends of the earth. The Feast of Christ the King leads into Advent, with the Church anticipating Christ’s second coming. Our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, spoke of the power of Christ the King in this way: “It is not the power of the kings or the great people of the world; it is the divine power to give eternal life, to liberate from evil, to defeat the dominion of death. It is the power of Love that can draw good from evil, that can melt a hardened heart, bring peace amid the harshest conflict and kindle hope in the thickest darkness.” The liturgical color is white for the Mass on this feast, which is also observed by the Lutheran, Anglican, Moravian, Methodist, Nazarene, Reformed and United Protestant Churches.
On Monday, November 21st we honor the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary to recall the presentation of Mary in the Temple when she was three years old. This day marks the event when Mary’s parents, Joachim and Anne brought her to the Temple to consecrate her to God. Pope Sixtus V authorized this feast in 1585 for the entire Church after a reference to this event in the apocryphal (hidden) Book of James. In the East, this Feast honoring the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary can be traced as far back as the 8th Century and in the Eastern Orthodox Church, this is one of the twelve Great Feasts and one of the days when women named Mary (Mapia) and (Despoina) celebrate their name day. In the Roman Catholic Church, The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary celebrates that dedication of herself which Mary made to God from her very childhood under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The three feasts, the Birthday of Our Lady, the Holy Named of Mary, and her Presentation in the Temple correspond in the Marian cycle with the first three feasts of the cycle of feasts of Jesus, Christmas, the Holy Name of Jesus, and His presentation at the Temple. November 21st is also “Pro Orantibus Day” as a day of prayer for the cloistered religious for them to be “totally dedicated to God in prayer, silence, and concealment”.