Approximately 625 members of the faithful in the Diocese of Charlotte attended the first Traditional Latin Masses (TLM) held at the Chapel of the Little Flower in Mooresville, North Carolina, over the weekend.
After months of controversy over Bishop Michael Martin’s decision to move all parish-based offerings of the TLM to a single chapel, members of four parishes in Charlotte, Greensboro, and Tryon came together Oct. 5 to worship in Mooresville — at least a two-hour drive for those in the mountain region. They had hoped to persuade the bishop to ask for an extension, something that Rome has recently granted for bishops who requested one.
First High Mass at the designated TLM chapel in Mooresville, NC. Combined attendance today between the early Low Mass and noon Sung Mass: 600-625. Gratitude for our priests, deacons, servers, and talented schola. Blessed be God! #CharlotteTLM #CLMC pic.twitter.com/RoVkxe8rUS
— Charlotte Latin Mass Community (@CLMCLatinMass) October 5, 2025
The traditional liturgies at the four North Carolina parishes drew about 1,200 congregants each weekend. The new Mooresville chapel holds about 350 people and offers two Mass times on Sundays and holy days of obligation only.
In a letter read to congregations gathered Sept. 28 for the final Sunday of parish-based celebrations of the TLM in the diocese, Bishop Martin asked devotees to treat it as a pilgrimage site and not attend every weekend.
“I encourage you to see Little Flower Chapel as you would a shrine chapel that you might visit for Mass on occasion while participating regularly in the life of your regular parish,” the bishop wrote.
The Charlotte Traditional Latin Mass Community posted a photo on X of a sign from the diocese telling parishioners not to take photos at St. Ann Church’s final Mass leading up to the Oct. 2 cut-off for the parish-based liturgies.
We were hoping to share pictures from the last Traditional Latin Mass at St. Ann’s. Unfortunately we were unable to.
— Charlotte Latin Mass Community (@CLMCLatinMass) October 2, 2025
After 17 years the TLM will no longer be offered here. The CLMC wishes to express its gratitude to Fr. Reid, pastor of St. Ann’s, for all he’s done since 2008. pic.twitter.com/mbRGetilL8
Tracy O’Halloran, who worked with her husband and their children on the “Bread Not Stones” documentary about the Latin Mass in the Charlotte diocese, told CatholicVote that a diocesan representative was present at the Mooresville chapel on Sunday to stop professional photography from being taken. O’Halloran noted that people were still able to use their cell phones and that the two liturgies, held at 10 a.m. and noon, were well-attended but not packed.
“There was still a sadness and an awkwardness, or a feeling of being in a foreign place, which is difficult to explain, but the Mass brought everyone together,” O’Halloran said, adding that the community still feels like a second home after her family moved to a South Carolina parish that offers the TLM. The O’Halloran family is currently raising funds for Part II of “Bread Not Stones.”
Many who had been attending the parish-based liturgies report that they did not attend on Sunday due to distance, family obligations, fidelity to their pastors and parish families, or a combination of these and other factors.
Randal Romie, a parishioner of Our Lady of Grace in Greensboro, said he and his wife, Kimberly, will not go to the Mooresville chapel much, if at all, adding that no one wants to be disconnected from their parishes.
Romie added that for him the traditional liturgy is a port in the storm during turbulent times.
“The [TLM] Latin Mass is my foundation, a touchstone and a stronghold in the current unrestful and violent times and events in our Country,” Romie wrote in an email to CatholicVote. “It is the one thing in the week that I can truly count on and depend on as my closest time in a most reverent physical revelation with Our Lord in his sacrifice, death, and rising and receiving Jesus Christ (bow) in Holy Communion.”
Kelly Henson, a professional Catholic writer and mother of five who also attends Our Lady of Grace, spoke with CatholicVote about why her family is not planning to go to the chapel.
“Emotionally, we are devastated, but we will be here with our parish family in Greensboro, whatever that may look like. This is our home,” she said. “Father [Casey] Coleman is our spiritual father, and he is trying his very best to do that well. We can’t leave that.”
In the meantime, Henson says that though the change has been painful, she is at peace.
“God doesn’t allow things to happen randomly. He’s ultimately in control, and I think that our family has a particular mission or calling,” she said. “There’s something formative that needs to happen in our lives through this experience. I don’t know all of the ripple effects of that yet, but I trust that God does have that plan and I’m OK with that. He’s never failed me yet. We have an amazing parish family, so with those two things to hold on to, that keeps me anchored.”