Saint Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort
Saint Pius X not only recommended reading the Treatise on True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin, one of the masterpieces by St. Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort (1673-1716), but he also granted in writing the Apostolic Blessing “to all those who will read this Treatise”.
Saint Zita
Patroness of Lucca, in Tuscany, Saint Zita (1218-1278) enjoyed a widespread cult long before she was canonized, so much so that her contemporary Dante Alighieri mentioned her in the Divine Comedy.
Saint Paschasius Radbertus
Saint Paschasius Radbertus (c. 790-865) is considered the greatest theologian of the 9th century for his treatise on the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, as well as for some works on Mary. He intuited the Virgin Mary's Immaculate Conception and wrote that “she was exempt from all original sin”.
Saint Mark
If St. Matthew writes for his fellow Jews (as we gather from his many references to Old Testament quotations revealing that Jesus is the Messiah), St. Mark wrote the second Gospel on the direct appeal of the first Christians of Rome, attracted by the teachings of St. Peter.
Divine Mercy Sunday
On 22 February 1931 Jesus first communicated to St. Faustina Kowalska His desire for a Feast of Divine Mercy to be celebrated on the first Sunday after Easter, asking her to announce the extraordinary graces He would bestow.
Saint George
Saint George (c. 275 - c. 303) was already the object of an extensive and ancient cult long before the legendary image of his fight with the dragon, symbolizing the intrepid faith that triumphs over evil.
Saint Leonidas of Alexandria
The martyrdom of Saint Leonidas of Alexandria (†202), father of the philosopher and theologian Origen, took place during the persecutions ordered by Emperor Septimius Severus.
Saint Anselm of Aosta
Fides quaerens intellectum, “the faith that seeks the intellect”, was the guiding principle of Saint Anselm of Aosta or Canterbury (1033-1109). Called Doctor Magnificus, he devised a famous argument on the existence of God, which has engaged generations of philosophers and theologians.
Saint Agnes of Montepulciano
In 1374 Our Lord revealed to Saint Catherine of Siena that in Paradise she would enjoy a glory equal to that of Saint Agnes of Montepulciano (c. 1268-1317). This fact is indicative of the greatness of this relatively little known mystic.
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).
