Holy Saviour Parish Mass and Confession Schedule

Masses 
 

• Weekdays: 7:30 a.m.

• Saturdays: 9:00 a.m. & 5:15 p.m. (Vigil Mass for Sunday)

• Sundays: 7:30 a.m., 9:30 a.m. 11:30 a.m.

• Vigil of Holy Days: 7:00 p.m.

• Holy Days: 7:30 a.m., 12:15 p.m.

• Civil Holidays: 9:00 a.m

Confessions

• Saturdays: 8:30 - 9:00 AM, 4:00 - 5:00 PM

At Our Lady of Mount Carmel Mission Church

Masses on the First Sunday of the month from October until May at 10AM
and 11:30AM Traditional Latin Mass (celebrated in summer also).

 

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 'SHROUD ENCOUNTER' PART OF HOLY SAVIOUR PARISH'S LENTEN PROGRAM

   Shroud Encounter is coming to Holy Saviour Parish on Tuesday, February 26^th at 7:00 PM. This highly acclaimed multi-media presentation is free and open to the public. The Church Hall is located at 407 East Main Street, Norristown, PA., just beneath the Church. There is large parking lot next to the Church.

   Shroud Encounter is a production of Shroud of Turin Education Project, Inc. and will be presented by international expert Russ Breault. The presentation is a fast moving, big-screen experience using over 200 images covering all aspects of Shroud research.

   Mr. Breault has been featured in several national documentaries including Mysteries of the Ancient World on CBS and most recently The Real Face of Jesus? on the History Channel.  He has presented at numerous colleges and universities including Duke, West Point, Penn State, Cal State and many others. See ShroudEncounter.com for more information.

   The Shroud of Turin is the most analyzed artifact in the world yet remains a mystery. The 14-foot long linen cloth that has been in Turin, Italy for over 400 years and bears the faint front and back image of a 5'10" bearded, crucified man with apparent wounds and bloodstains that match the crucifixion account as recorded in the bible. Millions of people over the centuries have believed it be the actual burial shroud of Jesus. The historical trail tracks back through Italy, France, Asia Minor (Turkey) and may have originated in the Middle East according to botanical evidence.

   A team of 24 scientists in 1981 concluded it was not the work of an artist. They found no visible  trace of paint, pigment, dye or other artistic substances on the cloth. The blood is AB positive with human DNA. Skeptics have mounted numerous attempts to show how a medieval artist could have produced the image but all have been inadequate to fully explain how it was formed. The image is so superficial it only penetrates the top micro-fibers to the depth of a single bacterium. In addition, there is no image under the blood meaning that the blood was on the cloth before the image was formed. No attempt at replicating the image has resolved these two key attributes. If the cloth did indeed wrap a corpse, there are no stains of decomposition.

   The Shroud was largely dismissed in 1988 when three carbon dating labs indicated a medieval origin. However chemical research published in a peer reviewed scientific journal in 2005 showed that the single sample cut from the outside corner edge may not be part of the original Shroud material. In violation of the sampling protocol, only one sample was used for dating and was cut from the most handled area of the cloth, an area that should have been avoided. The sample may have been part of a section that was frayed and repaired sometime during the Middle Ages. Based on this new evidence, many scientists now believe the carbon dating result is inconclusive and should no longer be considered valid.

Adding strength to the Shroud’s authenticity, scientists from Hebrew University confirmed the presence of pollen from plants that grow only in Israel. The mystery continues. National Geographic called it "One of the most perplexing enigmas of modern times."

Shroud Encounter will cover all aspects of the history, science, art and theories of how the image may have been formed. 

    

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 New Translation of the Holy Mass went into effect on First Sunday of Advent, November 27, 2011 

 

 Here is a brief explanation that may help you to continue to use this translation well and prayerfully:

 

     In the earliest centuries of the Church, Latin was established as the universal language of the Liturgy of what we call the Western or Latin Church. There are several reasons why the Liturgy came to make use of Latin and why the Church retained its use in the Liturgy for approximately 1800 years, or 90% of its existence up until this time.

• Since Latin was the language of the Roman Empire, unifying many different peoples, the Church sought that same unity in worshipping in the same language throughout the world.
• Latin was retained after the fall of the Roman Empire because, not being a spoken language anymore, the meanings of its words were not subject to constant change.
• Latin is a language which is able to clearly express ideas in a noble and dignified way, making it appropriate for the language of worship, in which men and women give God the adoration that is His due.
• The proper use of language is a guarantee of the purity of the Faith, taking into account an ancient maxim: “Lex orandi, lex credendi,” which means The law of praying is the law of belief. How we express our faith in the Liturgy can either maintain its purity or dilute the truths of the Faith.

     Many think that the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) “did away with Latin.” It may be surprising to note the following, taken from the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy of that same Council: “The use of the Latin language, with due respect to particular law, is to be preserved in the Latin rite” (article 36). The Council did permit the introduction of the vernacular, or local language, for some parts of the Mass. With the forming of a committee to oversee this introduction after the Council, Pope Paul VI eventually authorized the use of the vernacular for the entire Mass, and also introduced a new Liturgy of the Mass.

     Up until this time, there certainly had been unofficial translations of the prayers of the Mass. Many will remember the excellent hand Missals that were published, often containing the Latin and English texts side by side, so that the faithful could follow the prayers of the Mass. However, while these translations for private use had to be approved by the local Bishop, they were not meant for actual public use in the celebration of Mass. With a new Mass text and the introduction of the vernacular, the challenge of translating the Latin texts into local languages was given to national conferences of Bishops. It is at this point that we find something which gives us the key to the translations used up until now, and the reason for their replacement.

     In the directives given for translations, a Roman document said that the Latin prayers could be translated using the concept of what was called “dynamic equivalency.” This means that the words did not have to be translated literally from the Latin, but that the idea could be expressed using current forms of expression. Considering that we are speaking here about the year 1970 or so, it seems now that this was an unfortunate directive given at an unfortunate time. For instance, if we were held to the fashions or expressions of 1970 today, we would all be wearing polyester suits and Nehru jackets, having all our rooms paneled and saying things like “groovy” and “far out!” 

     During the last forty years or so, the Holy See and many liturgists and Bishops have become concerned with the fact that the translations made in 1970 were perhaps hastily done and did not express the prayers of the Liturgy in the noble manner that should accompany them. This resulted in the Holy See issuing directives a number of years ago, which stated, that new translations were to be prepared in which the literal meaning of the original Latin was to be more clearly expressed and a more noble or elevated style was to be used. A Roman Commission was formed, of which our own Cardinal Rigali has been a member, to oversee this work. It is the fruit of these labors that was presented to the Holy See and approved. This is what we experienced on the First Sunday of Advent and continue to experience and learn from.

     We have purchased cards for the pews to assist you in the first months of these changes with the new responses printed on them.