Bishop Daniel E. Flores, of the Catholic Diocese of Brownsville, will celebrate a second Red Mass Thursday for those living in the Upper Rio Grande Valley.
The Red Mass will be celebrated at 6:30 p.m. at San Isidro Catholic Church at 5160 FM 1017.
The Mass is held annually in the Roman Catholic Church for those involved in the legal profession.
Those who have attended previous Masses include judges, lawyers, law school professors, law students, and government officials, marking the opening of the judicial year.
“Through prayerful petition and thanksgiving, the Red Mass requests guidance from the Holy Spirit for all who seek justice and offers the legal community an opportunity to reflect on what Catholics believe is the God-given power and responsibility of all in the legal profession,” the Catholic Diocese said on its Facebook Page.
The Red Mass custom originated in Europe in the 13th century. From the time of Edward I, the Mass was offered at Westminster Abbey at the opening of Michaelmas term, according to Encyclopedia.com.
It received its name from the fact that the celebrant was vested in red and the Lord High Justices were robed in a brilliant scarlet. They were joined by the university professors, the doctors among them displaying red in their academic gowns.
The tradition of the Red Mas was started by Pope Innocent IV in 1243 for the “Ecclesial Judicial Court asking the invocation of the Holy Spirit as a source of wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, and strength for the coming term of the court.”
The diocese earlier this month held a Red Mass for those individuals living in the Lower Valley.
