A Very Blessed Laetare Sunday...

A Time for Gratitude

On March 8, 2023 the Board of Directors of the Fraternal Society of St John the Apostle asked the following of its members and subscribers:

Please consider writing a testimonial about your love of the Mass at Epiphany of Our Lord Catholic Church or the Vetus Ordo (1962 Missal) in general, what it has meant to you and your families, as well as your love/appreciation of the Parish life at Epiphany of our Lord and what ministries or apostolates you participate in at the Parish.

It is recommended that you include pictures of you and your family attending Mass and/or participating in said ministries or apostolates.

On March 25, 2025, on the Feast of the Annunciation, the following was released by His Excellency Bishop Gregory Parkes and the Diocese of St Petersburg:

Most Reverend Gregory Parkes, Bishop of Saint Petersburg, announces the following change (publicly), effective July 1, 2025:

After careful study of Pope Francis’ motu proprio Traditionis Custodes and having prayerfully reflected on spiritual needs expressed by the faithful in the Diocese devoted to the Roman Rite celebrated according to the Roman Missal of 1962, the canonical status of Epiphany of Our Lord Catholic Church, in Tampa, Florida, will be converted from a parochial church to a diocesan shrine.

The newly established shrine will be known as the Epiphany of Our Lord Shrine. It will be a place of pilgrimage for those throughout the Diocese devoted to the liturgical fruits of the antecedent liturgy and the incarnational spirituality of the Epiphany when the Heavenly Father manifested through signs and wonders the newborn Christ as a light to the nations.

To ensure the Shrine’s devotional mission and purpose, Bishop Parkes has entrusted the pastoral care of the faithful who worship at the Shrine to the priests of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest (

https://institute-christ-king.org

). The Institute will propose clergy of their Society to Bishop Parkes to be appointed to staff the Shrine.

The process that led to this decision to establish Epiphany of Our Lord Shrine began with the request of parishioners of Epiphany of Our Lord Parish with the encouragement of their Pastor, Reverend Edwin Palka. The parishioners were seeking a way to conform to the wishes of the Holy Father for the antecedent liturgy and to ensure stability for the congregation worshiping, according to the 1962 Roman Missal. Thereafter, the Diocese of Saint Peterburg entered into conversations with the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest, an International Apostolic Society of Pontifical Right, which has successfully served in Dioceses around the United States.

These conversations concluded the Priests and Brothers of the Institute are best suited to provide pastoral care and foster the spiritual mission of the Shrine.

While the transition of Epiphany of Our Lord Church from a parochial church to a diocesan shrine will be effective July 1, 2025, the Institute’s priests will assume pastoral care of the Shrine as of September 1, 2025. In July and August, Father Palka will provide pastoral care of the Shrine before assuming a new assignment. After hearing from the Presbyteral Council, Bishop Parkes adjusted the parish boundaries of St Lawrence and Mary Help of Christians to assume the territory formerly belonging to Epiphany, so that the pastoral care of the faithful will be undertaken by the parish in which boundaries their residence is situated.

Two other communities in the Diocese of St. Petersburg celebrate the liturgy according to the 1962 Roman Missal in parochial churches: St. Anthony the Abbot, Brooksville, and St. Justin, Martyr, Seminole. Presently, these communities do so with an indult of the Apostolic See.

Bishop Parkes will continue to work with these communities to ensure the stability of pastoral care in conformity with Traditionis Custodes and with pastoral solicitude for the spiritual needs of the faithful.

For the past two years we at the Fraternal Society of St John the Apostle alongside other laypeople have prayed, strategized, and ultimately met with the Office of the Bishop as to how to preserve the Traditional Roman Rite in the Diocese of St Petersburg. The announcement above was an amazing answer to our prayers. Below is our commentary on what has transpired:

Bishop Parkes has done a courageous thing here. This allows the Traditional Roman Rite to carry on at a time when many other Dioceses around the world have lost their access to the Traditional Roman Rite. He needs to hear of our sincere gratitude.

Also, we can personally attest that both the Bishop and the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest have been incredibly gracious and accommodating to Fr. Palka and Fr. Mangiafico and desire their continued support.

We cannot stress enough that without this move, the Mass at Epiphany would have suffered the same fate as nearly every other Diocesan Mass around the world.

Please join us in showing appreciation to Canon Talarico and the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest (who are in massive demand around the world), our Bishop and our Pastor, Fr. Edwin Palka!

Of equal importance, please let this also be a lesson and guidepost to lay people around the world to NOT be disheartened by rumor, innuendo and fear, but rather to use Our Lord's incalculable Grace to take action and save the Church in their small way just as Venerable Fulton Sheen said we would!

This is the time of the Laity just as the Second Vatican Council called for in DECREE ON THE APOSTOLATE OF THE LAITY, APOSTOLICAM ACTUOSITATEM SOLEMNLY PROMULGATED BY HIS HOLINESS, POPE PAUL VI ON NOVEMBER 18, 1965.

Venerable Fulton Sheen, Ora Pro Nobis!

St Philip Neri, Ora Pro Nobis!

St Martin of Tours, Ora Pro Nobis!

San Gennaro, Ora Pro Nobis!

St Joseph, Ora Pro Nobis!

St John the Apostle, Ora Pro Nobis!

Madonna Del Lume, Ora Pro Nobis!

Please send all correspondence, prayers, and your heartfelt gratitude to Bishop Parkes and his entire staff at the Diocese of St Peterburg either via email at communicate@dosp.org or by mail at:

Diocese of St. Petersburg

Office of the Bishop

PO Box 40200

St. Petersburg, FL 33743-0200

We also want to highly encourage you, particularly during this time of Lent, to give alms by participating in the Diocese’s 1,000,000 Acts of Mercy Challenge by finding a corporal and/or spiritual work of mercy that uplifts those most in need in our Diocese.

---

Laetare Jerusalem: et conventum facite omnes qui diligitis eam: gaudete cum laetitia, qui in tristitia fuistis: ut exsultetis, et satiemini ab uberibus consolationis vestrae. (Psalm) Laetatus sum in his, quae dicta sunt mihi: in domum Domini ibimus. Gloria Patri.

Rejoice, O Jerusalem: and come together all you that love her: rejoice with joy, you that have been in sorrow: that you may exult, and be filled from the breasts of your consolation. (Psalm) I rejoiced at the things that were said to me: we shall go into the house of the Lord. Glory be to the Father.

This Sunday is the 4th Sunday of Lent otherwise known as Laetare Sunday. The vestments for this day are rose, as they are on Gaudete Sunday in Advent, and flowers may adorn the Altar. This day is called "Laetare Sunday" (also "Rose Sunday" ), and takes its name from the opening words of the Mass, the Introit's "Laetare, Jerusalem":

The rose vestments on Laetare Sunday is a custom originating in the fact that, as a symbol of joy and hope in the middle of this somber season, popes used to carry a golden rose in their right hand when returning from the celebration of Mass on this day (way back in 1051, Pope Leo IX called this custom an "ancient institution.")

Originally it was natural rose, then a single golden rose of natural size, but since the fifteenth century it has consisted of a cluster or branch of roses wrought of pure gold in brilliant workmanship by famous artists. The popes bless at least one every year, and often confer it upon churches, shrines, cities, or distinguished persons as a token of esteem and paternal affection.

The golden rose represents Christ in the shining splendor of His majesty, the "flower sprung from the root of Jesse," and it is blessed with these words:

O God! by Whose word and power all things have been created, by Whose will all things are directed, we humbly beseech Thy Majesty, Who art the joy and gladness of all the faithful, that Thou wouldst deign in Thy fatherly love to bless and sanctify this rose, most delightful in odor and appearance, which we this day carry in sign of spiritual joy, in order that the people consecrated by Thee and delivered from the yoke of Babylonian slavery through the favor of Thine only-begotten Son, Who is the glory and exultation of the people of Israel and of that Jerusalem which is our Heavenly mother, may with sincere hearts show forth their joy. Wherefore, O Lord, on this day, when the Church exults in Thy name and manifests her joy by this sign, confer upon us through her true and perfect joy and accepting her devotion of today; do Thou remit sin, strengthen faith, increase piety, protect her in Thy mercy, drive away all things adverse to her and make her ways safe and prosperous, so that Thy Church, as the fruit of good works, may unite in giving forth the perfume of the ointment of that flower sprung from the root of Jesse and which is the mystical flower of the field and lily of the valleys, and remain happy without end in eternal glory together with all the saints.

After the rose is blessed, the Pope incenses musk and balsam and then places them inside the cup of the largest rose. Then the entire rose is incensed and sprinkled with holy water.¹

1. https://www.fisheaters.com/customslent7.html