Day: April 3, 2026

Posted in GOOD FRIDAY, HOLY WEEK, LENT 2026, Quotes on SALVATION, QUOTES on SUFFERING, The MOST HOLY REDEEMER, Our SAVIOUR, The PASSION, The REDEMPTION, Thomas Aquinas

Good Friday – 3 April – Our Lenten Journey With St Thomas Aquinas – The Death of Christ

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Good Friday – 3 April – Our Lenten Journey With St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) Doctor of the Church The Death of Christ

Good Friday
The Death of Christ

The Expediency of the Death of Christ:

  1. To complete our Redemption.
    For, although any Suffering of Christ had an Infinite Value because of its union with His Divinity, it was not, by no matter which of His Sufferings that the Redemption of mankind was completed but only, by His Death.
    So the Holy Ghost declared, speaking through the mouth of Caiaphas, “It is expedient for you that One Man shall Die for the people” (John xi. 50).
    Whence, St Augustine says, “Let us stand in wonder, rejoice, be glad, love, praise and adore, since it is by the Death of our Redeemer, we have been called from death to life, from exile to our own land, from mourning to joy.”
  2. To increase our faith, our hope and our charity.
    With regard to faith, the Psalm says (Ps cxl. 10), “I am alone until I pass from this world, that is, to the Father. When I shall have passed to the Father, then shall I be multiplied.”
    “Unless the grain of wheat falling into the ground and die itself, it remaineth alone” (John xii. 24).

As to the increase of hope, St Paul writes, “He Who spared not even His Own Son but delivered Him up for us all, how hath He not also, with Him, given us all things?“ (Rom viii. 32).
God cannot deny us this, for to give us all things is less than to give His Own Son to Death for us.
St Bernard says, “Who is not carried away to hope and confidence in prayer, when he looks upon the Crucifix and sees how Our Lord hangs there, His Head bent as though to kiss, His Arms outstretched in an embrace, His Hands pierced to give, His Side opened to love, His Feet nailed to remain with us.”

“Come, my dove, in the clefts of the rock” (Cant ii. 14). It is in the Wounds of Christ where the Church builds its nest and waits, for it is in the Passion of Our Lord she places her hope of Salvation and thereby trusts to be protected from the craft of the falcon, that is, of the devil.

With regard to the increase of charity, Holy Scripture says, “At noon he burneth the earth” (Ecclus xliii. 3), that is to say, in the fervour of His Passion, He burns up all mankind with His Love.
So St Bernard says, “The chalice Thou didst drink, O good Jesus, maketh Thee lovable above all things.”
The Work of our Redemption easily, brushing aside all hindrances, calls out in return the whole of our love. This it is which more gently draws our devotion, builds it more straightly, guards it more closely and fires it with greater ardour.

ST THOMAS AQUINAS (1225-1274)
Priest, Theologian, Dominican
Doctor Angelicus (Angelic Doctor)
Doctor Communis (Common Doctor)
Added by Pope Saint Pius V in 1568

Posted in CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, FATHERS of the Church, GOD ALONE!, GOOD FRIDAY, HOLY WEEK, JUNE-THE SACRED HEART, POETRY, Quote on SELF-ABANDONMENT, QUOTES for CHRIST, QUOTES on ETERNAL LIFE, QUOTES on HEAVEN, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, QUOTES on PURITY, QUOTES on SELF-DENIAL, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, Quotes Self-Oblation, The HEART, The HOLY CROSS

Quote of the Day – 3 April – GOOD FRIDAY The Word of the Cross (Christ,What am I to Give Thee for my life?)

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Quote of the Day – 3 April – Good Friday – The Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ

GOOD FRIDAY
The Word of the Cross
(Christ,What am I to Give Thee for my life?)

St Paulinus of Nola (c 354-431)
Father of the Church

“Look on thy God, Christ hidden in our flesh.
A bitter word, the Cross and bitter sight –
Hard rind without, to hold the Heart of Heaven.
Yet, sweet it is, for God upon that tree
Did offer up His Life upon that rood –
My Life hung, that my Life might stand in God.
Christ, what am I to give Thee for my life?
Unless, take from Thy Hands, the cup they hold,
To cleanse me with the precious draught of death.
What shall I do? My body to be burned?
Make myself vile? The debt is not paid out yet.
Whate’er I do, it is but I and Thou,
And still do I come short, still must Thou pay
My debts, O Christ, for debts Thyself had’st none.
What love may balance Thine? My Lord was found
In fashion like a slave that so His slave
Might find himself in fashion like his Lord.
Think you the bargain’s hard, to have exchanged
The transient for the eternal, to have sold,
Earth to buy Heaven? More dearly God bought me!”

Posted in GOD ALONE!, GOOD FRIDAY, ONE Minute REFLECTION, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, The HOLY CROSS, The PASSION

One Minute Reflection – 3 April – There they crucified Him – John 19:18

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One Minute Reflection – 3 April – Good Friday – The Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to St John 18:1-40.19:1-42 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“There they Crucified Him and with Him two others, one on either side and Jesus between them. ” – John 19:18

REFLECTION – “Truly, you are a hidden God!” (Is 45:15).   Why hidden?   Because He had neither form nor beauty, yet Power was in His Hands.   It was there His fortitude was hidden.

Was He not hidden when He submitted His Hands to brutes and His Palms received the nails?   The print of the nails gleamed on His Hands and His innocent Side received the Wound.   They shackled His Feet in fetters, the iron pierced His soles and His Feet were fastened to the tree.   These wounds did God suffer on our behalf, at the hands of His own people, in His own home.   O how marvellous are His Wounds by which the wounds of the world were healed!   How victorious His Wounds, by which He slew death and stung hell! … Therefore, O Church, O dove, You have coverts in the rock and a hollow in the wall in which to rest (cf. Sg 2:14). …

And what will you do … when He comes in the clouds with great power and majesty? (cf Mt 24:30)   He will come down with Heaven and earth ablaze and by the terror of His coming, He will dissolve the elements.   When He has come, the Sign of the Cross will be seen in the sky and the beloved One will show the scars of His Wounds and the prints of the nails, by which He was transfixed in His own home!” … St Amadeus of Lausanne (1108-1159) – Cistercian Monk, Bishop

PRAYER – Deliver us, we beseech Thee, O Lord, from all evils, past, present and to come and by the intercession of the blessed and glorious ever Virgin Mary, Mother of God and of the Holy Apostles, Peter and Paul and of all the Saints, mercifully grant peace in our days, that through the assistance of Thy mercy we may be always free from sin and secure from all disturbance. Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, Who lives and reigns with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen.
Faithful Cross! above all other, One and only noble Tree!
None in foliage, none in blossom, None in fruit thy peer may be.
Sweetest wood and sweetest iron,
Sweetest weight is hung on thee. (Antiphons).

Posted in FATHERS of the Church, LENTEN PRAYERS & NOVENAS, PRAYERS for SEASONS, PRAYERS of PETITION, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, PRAYERS on the CROSS of CHRIST, PRECIOUS BLOOD PRAYERS, The MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD, The PASSION, The SEVEN PASSION Feasts

Our Morning Offering – 3 April – A Prayer of the Passion

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Our Morning Offering – 3 April – Good Friday

A Prayer of the Passion
By St Melito of Sardis (Died 180)
Bishop of Sardis, Apologist, Father

Lord Jesus Christ,
Thou were bound as a ram,
Thou were shorn like a lamb,
Thou were led to the slaughter like a sheep,
Thou bore the wood of the Cross on Thy shoulders,
Thou were led up the hill of Calvary,
Thou were displayed naked on the Cross,
Thou were nailed to the bitter Cross by three spikes,
Thou delivered Thy last Seven Words from the Cross
Thou died on the Cross, with a shout of victory,
Thou were buried in noble Joseph’s rock-hewn tomb,
By Thy boundless suffering on our behalf,
fix our eyes unceasingly on Thy broken Body
and the Blood which poured
from Thine Hands, Feet and Side.
By the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass
which each day renews Thy Sacrifice
of the Cross on our Altars,
apply the merits of the Cross to all humanity
and, especially to those, who worship it daily
and who offer themselves back to Thee,
our great High Priest
and perpetual Intercessor,
before the Eternal Throne of God.
Thou livest and reigns,
throughout all the ages of ages.
Amen

Posted in SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 3 April – Saint Vulpian (Died c306) Martyr of Tyre

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Saint of the Day – 3 April – Saint Vulpian (Died c306) Martyr of Tyre, Phoenicia, Syria. Born and Martyred as a teenager in Syria. Also known as – Ulfianus, Ulpian, Ulpiano, Ulpianus, Vulpianus.

The Roman Martyrology reads today: “At Tyre, the Martyr, St Vulpian, who was sewn in a sack with a serpent and a dog and drowned in the sea during the persecutions of Maximian Galerius.”

The Martyrdom of St Vulpian of Tyre, who lived during the persecution of Maximinu, has come down to us through the Roman Martyrology which celebrates his memory today.

His life and death, although brief and tragic, offers food for thought on the unwavering faith of a young Christian in the face of such violent adversity.

Unfortunately, information on St Vulpian is scant. We know only that he was a teenager from Tyre, a City in Phoenicia (modern-day Lebanon), who lived in the early 4th Century. His Martyrdom occurred during the period of Christian persecution under Emperor Maximinus (305-313), known for his ferocity against the Church.

Vulpian, still a young man, was arrested for his faith in Christ. The authorities attempted to make him recant but he remained steadfast in his great love for Christ and His Church. Faced with his steadfast resistance, his persecutors devised a particularly cruel Martyrdom by sewing him into a sack with a dog and a snake and then throwing him into the sea.

Posted in BREVIARY Prayers, GOOD FRIDAY, HOLY WEEK, INCORRUPTIBLES, SAINT of the DAY

GOOD FRIDAY – FAST and ABSTINENCE, Tre Ore (The Three Hours Devotion) abd thge Saints for 3 April

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GOOD FRIDAY – FAST and ABSTINENCE

Tre Ore (The Three Hours Devotion)
The Three Hours’ Agony on Good Friday from Noon until 3 o’clock to commemorate the three hours of Christ’s Hanging on the Cross.
It includes sermons on the Seven Last Words from the Cross and usually occurs between Noon and 3PM, the latter being the time when Jesus Died on the Cross and the time the Liturgy of the Lord’s Passion begins.
In 1815, Pope Pius VII decreed a Plenary Indulgence to those who practice this devotion on Good Friday.

It is a fine tradition to keep silent
from Noon to 3:00 PM today.

The Office of Tenebrae
The public singing of part of the Divine Office, on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday evenings in Holy Week, anticipating Matins and Lauds of Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday.
This custom goes back centuries and acquired the name because of the mourning ritual surrounding the ceremony which includes a triangular candlabra bearing fifteen candles. These are extinguishedt one by one until, after the last candle is extinguished, a prayer is said in darkness, one candle is lit and the assembly dispersed in silence.

St Attala of Taormina

St Benedict of Palermo OFM (1526-1589) Lay Friar of the Order of Friars Minor of the Observance, Confessor, spiritual counsellor, Apostle of the poor and needy, graced with the gift of healing the sick.
St Benedict’s gifts for prayer, his love for the Blessed Virgin and the Infant Jesus and the wisdom displayed in his guidance of souls, earned him, a reputation for holiness, throughout Sicily.   Following the example of St Francis, Benedict kept seven 40-day fasts throughout the year. He also slept only a few hours each night.
His body is incorrupt.
Kind and Holy Benedict:
https://anastpaul.com/2023/04/03/saint-of-the-day-3-april-st-benedict-of-palermo-ofm-1526-1589-lay-friar/

St Burgundofara / more commonly known as Fara (c595-c 643) Virgin, Nun, Abbess, Founder of the famous Evoriacum Monastery, near Paris which after her death was renamed in her honour, Faremoutiers Abbey (Fara’s Monastery). She is celebrated on 7 December in France.
Her Pious and Zealous Life:
https://anastpaul.com/2022/12/07/saint-of-the-day-7-december-st-burgundofara-c-595-c-643-virgin/

St Chrestus
St Comman
St Evagrius of Tomi

Blessed Gandulphus OFM (c1200-1260) Priest, Friar of the First Order of St Francis. He was a renowned Preacher mainly in Sicily, Hermit, Miracle-worker . He was one of those who entered the Order while the Seraphic Father was still alive and the life he led was one of great self-abnegation. He was Beatified on 10 March 1881 by Pope Leo XIII.
Biography:
https://anastpaul.com/2022/04/03/saint-of-the-day-3-april-blessed-gandulphus-of-binasco-ofm-c-1200-1260/

Blessed John of Penna OFM (c1193-1271) Priest, Friar of the First Order of St Francis and became a Franciscan during St Francis’ lifetime. Founder of the Order in France, Mystic and gifted with the charism of prophecy. He was Beatified on 20 December 1806 by Pope Pius VII.
His Ardent Life:
https://anastpaul.com/2021/04/03/saint-of-the-day-3-april-blessed-john-of-penna-ofm-c-1193-1271/

St Liutberga (Died c870) Virgin, Recluse.
Her Holy Life:
https://anastpaul.com/2025/04/03/saint-of-the-day-3-april-saint-liutberga-died-c870-virgin/

St Nicetas (c760-824) Abbot of Medicion Abbey in Bithynia (in modern Turkey).
The Roman Martyrology reads: “In the Monastery of Medicion, in the East, the Abbot, St Nicetas, who suffered much for the worship of holy images, in the time of Leo the Armenian.”
Courageous St Nicetas:
https://anastpaul.com/2024/04/03/saint-of-the-day-3-april-saint-nicetas-of-medicion-c760-824-abbot/

St Papo

St Richard (1197-1253) Bishop of Chichester , Teacher, Reformer, Apostle of charity, Writer, Miracle Worker.
Great St Richard:
https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2018/04/03/saint-of-the-day-3-april-st-richard-of-chichester-1197-1253/`

St Urbicius of Clermont

St Vulpian (Died c306) Martyr of Tyre, Syria

Martyrs of Greece – 4 Saints: A group of young Christian men who protested to City authorities that gifts to temples of pagan gods should be used to feed the poor during a regional famine. When the officials refused, the group went to local temples, broke up the idols and fixtures and gave the gold and silver bits to the poor to use to buy food. The group was imprisoned and executed. The only other thing we know about these Martyrs are the names – Bythonius, Elpideforus, Dius and Galycus. They Died in the 3rd Century at an unknown location in Greece.

Martyrs of Tomi (Romania) – 9 Saints who were Martyred together. We know nothing else about them but the names – Arestus, Benignus, Chrestus, Evagrius, Papo, Patricius, Rufus, Sinnidia and Zosimus. They Died at Tomi, Scythia (modern Constanta, Romania).