Saint Expeditus
If St Jude Thaddeus and St Rita of Cascia are particularly invoked for impossible causes, St Expeditus, the most popular of the Martyrs of Melitene, is similarly venerated as the saint of urgent causes par excellence.
Easter Monday
For the liturgy of the Church, today is Monday in the Octave of Easter. Traditionally it recalls what happened at the tomb the previous day, on the Sunday morning when the pious women - Mary Magdalene, Salome and Mary mother of James - went to the tomb with the intention of anointing Jesus' body with aromatic oils.
Easter of Resurrection
The pain experienced by Jesus on the day of His death on the Cross, which the faithful of all times relive, acquires meaning in the light of the Resurrection, the supreme proof of His divinity and His eternal words: “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life” (Jn 14:6).
Holy Saturday
Holy Saturday is called an aliturgical day because the Church does not celebrate the Eucharist. The faithful are called to relive in silence and meditate on the mystery of Christ in the tomb and on His descent into hell, in soul and divinity, to proclaim salvation to the just.
Good Friday
The whole liturgy of Good Friday exhorts man to contemplate the mystery on which his hope of salvation is founded: the cross. Jesus nailed to the cross reveals the folly of divine Love, which fulfils the ancient promises “as a lamb led to slaughter” (Is 53:7).
Holy Thursday
The first day of the Easter Triduum, Holy Thursday prepares us for the Mysteries of the Passion and recalls what Jesus lived through on the eve of his death on the cross, questioning every believer with the words of the psalmist: “What will I give back to the Lord for all the benefits He has given me?”.
Saint Martin I
St Martin I (c. 600-655) showed his mettle when he was elected pope in July 649, because he did not wait for the consent of the Byzantine emperor Constant II, going against the practice that had been established from Justinian onwards, and which lasted more than two centuries (537-752)
Saint Joseph Moscati
“My place is by the side of the sick”, was the mantra of the medical luminary Saint Giuseppe Moscati (1880-1927), a model for every doctor and every man.
Saint Stanislaus
The main patron saint of Poland was dear to John Paul II, who as a new pontiff wanted to return to his homeland in April 1979, the ninth centenary of the martyrdom of St Stanislaus (1030-1079). But then the communist regime blocked Wojtyla, forcing him to postpone his apostolic pilgrimage to June.
Palm Sunday
Palm Sunday marks the beginning of Holy Week, as we are reminded in the admonition preceding the liturgy and introducing the procession: “Jesus enters Jerusalem to fulfill the mystery of death and Resurrection”.
Saint Demetrius of Thessalonica
He is highly venerated in the East, where the Orthodox Churches attribute to him the title of Megalomartyr (great martyr) and his cult is almost equal to that of Saint George. Saint Demetrius of Thessalonica offered his testimony of faith in Christ with his blood.
Saint Julia Billiart
Julia Billiart (1751-1816), a French woman, was the founder of an institute rich in vocations, the Sisters of Notre Dame of Namur. From an early age she had such a relationship with God that the bishop of Ghent, Monsignor Maurice de Broglie, told the saint that she had saved more souls through sharing her rich interior life with the nuns than through the rest of her fervent apostolic activity.
