The Apparition of the Holy Cross over Jerusalem: The Commemoration of the appearance on 7 May 351, Pentecost that year, of a luminous image of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem. It stretched from Mount Golgotha to the Mount of Olives (about two miles / three kilometers), was brighter than the sun, lasted several hours and was seen by the entire City. It led to many conversions and was reported in a letter attributed to Saint Cyril of Jerusalem.
Bl Agnellus of Pisa OFM (c 1195-1236) Bl Antonio de Agramunt St Augustine of Nicomedia St Augustus of Nicomedia St Cerenico of Spoleto St Domitian of Huy St Duje
St Flavia Domitilla of Terracina (1st Century) Virgin Martyr. The Roman Martyrology states of her today: “At Terracina, in Campania, the birthday of blessed Flavia Domitilla, Virgin and Martyr, niece of the Consul Flavius Clemens. She received the religious veil at the hands of St Clement and in the persecution of Domitian, was exiled with many others to the island of Pontia, where she endured a long Martyrdom for Christ. Taken afterwards to Terracina, she converted many to the faith of Christ by her teaching and miracles. The judge ordered the chamber in which she was, with the virgins Euphrosina and Theodora, to be set on fire and she thus consummated her glorious Martyrdom. She is also mentioned with the holy Martyrs Nereus and Achilleus, on the 12th of this month.” Her Life and Death: https://anastpaul.com/2021/05/07/saint-of-the-day-7-may-saint-flavia-domitilla-of-terracina-1st-century-virgin-and-martyr/
St Flavius of Nicomedia Bl Francesco Paleari Bl Gisela of Ungarn Bl Jan Eugeniusz Bajewski St John of Beverley (Died 721) Bishop St Juvenal of Benevento St Maurelius of Voghenza-Ferrara Bl Miqael of Ulompo St Peter of Pavia St Placid of Autun St Quadratus of Herbipolis St Quadratus of Nicomedia
Monday of Holy Week +2022 As the most Sacred week of the Liturgical year, the Church does not celebrate the Feast Days of the Saints during Holy Week. However, for chronalogical accuracy, I continue to post the list and the Saint of the Day.
St Hildebrand of Saint-Gilles St Isaac of Monteluco Bl James of Africa Bl John of Cupramontana Bl Lanunio St Machai St Maedhog of Clonmore Bl Mechthild of Lappion Bl Paul of Africa St Philip of Gortyna St Raynerius Inclusus St Stephen of Saint-Gilles Bl Symforian Ducki
Low Sunday +2021The Octave Day of Easter, also known as the Sunday in White
Notre-Dame de Fourviere / Our Lady of Fourviere, France – 11 April:
This is a copy of the original Statue, which was destroyed by the protestants. It was placed above the main Altar in 1751 and crowned on 8 September 1900 by the Order of Pope Leo XIII, at the same time as the Statue of Our Lady in the Basilica.
According to the traditions of Lyons, supported by a Bull of Pope Innocent IV, Saint Pothinus erected the first Oratory where Mary was invoked in Gaul. It is asserted that he brought, from the interior of Asia, a small Statue of the Blessed Virgin, which he deposited in a solitary and shaded crypt on the banks of the Saone, in front of the hill of Fourviere. He set up in this wild and secluded spot an Altar to the true God and placed there, the image, which was transferred later to a Church built on the hill itself, whence it took the name of Our Lady of Fourviere. The veneration of the people, in the middle ages, surrounded this Church and it was a pilgrimage of great renown throughout the Lyonnais but the Calvinists, who destroyed and pillaged so many rich Sanctuaries, showed no favour to that of Lyons, the Church of Fourviere, where, from the birth of Christianity, each generation had marked its passage by gifts to Our Lady of Fourviere. After the desecration, the Church retained nothing but its four bare walls, which could not be melted down in the crucible, where so many master productions disappeared, which had the misfortune to be made of gold or silver. The chapter of Saint John could not attend to the renovation of the Church of Fourviere, until long after the ravages of the Protestants. They worked at it after they had restored the Cathedral and the cloister. The Altar of Mary, Our Lady of Fourviere, was at last consecrated on 21 August 1586. From that moment, the confidence of the inhabitants turned towards that beacon of salvation. “The source of prodigies seemed dried up there,” says an ancient historian; “they began again at the end of the sixteenth century and all Lyons felt great joy on the occasion.”
During the revolution of 1793, the Church of Fourviere was sold but when calm was restored, the zealous prelate who governed the ancient Church of Pothinus and Irenaeus, procured the Sanctuary of Mary, to be restored to the veneration of her as Our Lady of Fourviere. The inauguration of the Sanctuary was performed on 19 April 1805, by the Sovereign Pontiff Pius VII. In 1832 and 1835, Lyons being threatened with cholera, lifted up her eyes to the holy mountain and the Blessed Virgin said to the scourge, “Thou shalt go no farther.” The capital of the Lyonnese, changed its cries of alarm into canticles of joy and the prayers of thanksgiving were solemnly and justly offered to Mary. Ever since the happy period when that Sanctuary was restored to religious worship, piety seems to have redoubled its ardour for Our Blessed Lady and, it is at Fourviere, that it is sharpened and revived. The inhabitants of Lyons and those of the county adjacent, throng the paths of the hill of Mary; at whatever hour you repair there, you will always find yourself in the midst of a crowd of pious persons ,of all ranks, ages and conditions.
Our Lady on the Facade
One day, in the year 1815, a pilgrim of an unusual kind, who had begun by observing Lyons from the summit of the hill, like a man who wanted to study both its strength and its weakness, presented himself in the Church of Notre Dame and the faithful, lifting up for a moment their eyes, which had been cast down in prayer, said to themselves, “Marshal Suchet!” It was indeed he – the Marshal of the empire, the child of Lyons, to whom was confided the defence of his native city – who passed along the nave of the Church of Mary with a slow step, with a respectful countenance, in which was mingled something mild and softened, something like a distant remembrance of joy, which awakens and soothes the soul with an invisible music. He went into the Sacristy and directed one of the Chaplains to come to him there;. The vice-president hastened to him: “Monsieur l’Abbe,” said the marshal, stepping forward towards the ecclesiastic, “when I was quite a child, my pious and good mother often brought me here, to the feet of Our Lady and this I still remember…I will say more, this recollection is dear to me and I have never lost it. Be pleased to have some Masses said for my intentions.” And putting down three Napoleons on the table where the offerings are registered, the brilliant hero of the gigantic epoch went to kneel, before the Altar of Mary, where he prayed for some time with edifying devotion. Moreover, Marshal Suchet terminated his noble and loyal career by a Christian end, for which he was praised upon his tomb.
Bl George Gervase St Godeberta of Noyon St Guthlac of Crowland (674–715) Biography: https://anastpaul.com/2019/04/11/saint-of-the-day-11-april-st-guthlac-674-715/ St Hildebrand of Saint-Gilles St Isaac of Monteluco Bl James of Africa Bl John of Cupramontana Bl Lanunio St Machai St Maedhog of Clonmore Bl Mechthild of Lappion Bl Paul of Africa St Philip of Gortyna St Raynerius Inclusus St Sancha of Portugal St Stephen of Saint-Gilles Bl Symforian Ducki
On Holy Saturday the Church waits at the Lord’s tomb, meditating on His suffering and death.
The altar is left bare and the sacrifice of the Mass is not celebrated.
Only after the solemn vigil during the night, held in anticipation of the Resurrection, does the Easter celebration begin, with a spirit of joy that overflows into the following period of fifty days.
Bl George Gervase
St Godeberta of Noyon St Guthlac of Crowland (674–715) Biography: https://anastpaul.com/2019/04/11/saint-of-the-day-11-april-st-guthlac-674-715/
St Hildebrand of Saint-Gilles
St Isaac of Monteluco
Bl James of Africa
Bl John of Cupramontana
Bl Lanunio
St Machai
St Maedhog of Clonmore
Bl Mechthild of Lappion
Bl Paul of Africa
St Philip of Gortyna
St Raynerius Inclusus
St Sancha of Portugal
St Stephen of Saint-Gilles
Bl Symforian Ducki
Bl George Gervase
St Godeberta of Noyon St Guthlac of Crowland (674–715)
St Hildebrand of Saint-Gilles
St Isaac of Monteluco
Bl James of Africa
Bl John of Cupramontana
Bl Lanunio
St Machai
St Maedhog of Clonmore
Bl Mechthild of Lappion
Bl Paul of Africa
St Philip of Gortyna
St Raynerius Inclusus
St Sancha of Portugal
St Stephen of Saint-Gilles
Bl Symforian Ducki
Thought for the Day – 11 April – Wednesday of the Second Week of Eastertide & the Memorial of St Stanislaus (1030-1079) Bishop and Martyr
Anyone who reads the history of Eastern Europe cannot help but chance on the name of Stanislaus, the saintly but tragic bishop of Kraków, patron of Poland. He is remembered with Saints Thomas More and Thomas Becket for vigorous opposition to the evils of an unjust government.
Born in Szczepanow near Kraków on 26 July 1030, he was ordained a priest after being educated in the cathedral schools of Gniezno, then capital of Poland and at Paris. He was appointed preacher and archdeacon to the bishop of Kraków, where his eloquence and example brought about real conversion in many of his penitents, both clergy and laity. He became bishop of Kraków in 1072.
During an expedition against the Grand Duchy of Kiev, Stanislaus became involved in the political situation of Poland. Known for his outspokenness, he aimed his attacks at the evils of the peasantry and the king, especially the unjust wars and immoral acts of King Boleslaus II.
The king first excused himself, then made a show of penance, then relapsed into his old ways. Stanislaus continued his open opposition in spite of charges of treason and threats of death, finally excommunicating the king. Enraged, the latter ordered soldiers to kill the bishop. When they refused, the king killed Stanislaus with his own hands.
Forced to flee to Hungary, Boleslaus supposedly spent the rest of his life as a penitent in the Benedictine abbey in Osiak.
Saints John the Baptist, Thomas Becket, Thomas More and Stanislaus are a few of the prophets who dared to denounce corruption in high places. They followed in the footsteps of Jesus Himself, who pointed out the moral corruption in the religious leadership of His day. It is a risky business. A risk we HAVE to take.
Evil has to be confronted boldly whatever the consequences. Brave men like Saints John the Baptist, Thomas Becket, Thomas More and Stanislaus are a few of the prophets who dared to denounce corruption in high places. They followed in the footsteps of Jesus Himself, who pointed out the moral corruption in the religious leadership of His day. There is no longer little chance that we will face such corruption and take a stand in our modern world for evil surrounds us at every turn and so, it should be very clear, in the face of evil, where we stand! It is our moral duty – Christ, our Lord, can expect no less from us, risky or not, this is our duty – are we ready, willing and able?
Saint of the Day – 11 April – St Stanislaus (1030-1079) also known as St Stanislaus Szczepanowsky – Bishop and Martyr, Preacher, Spiritual Director – Patron of Cracow, Poland, Archdiocese of Cracow, Poland, City of, Plock, Poland, Diocese of, Poland, soldiers in battle, moral order.
Stanisław Szczepanowski was born in 1030, southern Poland, the only son of a noble family. At this time, Christianity was still new to Poland, having been introduced less than a century earlier. He studied at the cathedral school of Gniezno, then in Paris and Liège. Stanislaus returned to Poland after his studies and was ordained a priest. In 1072, the Bishop of Krakow died and Stanislaus was elected successor. He was hesitant to accept but did after the command of Pope Alexander II and Stanislaus became the first Polish-born bishop. (Image below: 1- Saint Stanislaus being ordained as bishop. 2- Saint Stanislaus resurrects Peter. 3-King Bolesław murders Saint Stanislaus. 4-Stanislaus’ body is cut in pieces. Image from the Hungarian Kings’ Anjou Legendarium of the 14th century)
St. Stanislaus bought a parcel of land for his diocese and the seller, a man named Piotr, died shortly thereafter. Piotr’s family still claimed the land even though the diocese paid for it and a legal case developed. The king decided in favour of the seller’s family but Stanislaus challenged the decision. St. Stanislaus went to Piotr’s grave and commanded him to rise. Piotr rose, three years after his death, testified in court and defended Stanislaus. The diocese kept the land and Piotr returned to his grave.
King Bolesław II was known for his promiscuity, corruption, as well as cruel treatment of soldiers and their families. These all led to his excommunication by St. Stanislaus in 1079. For this, the bishop was accused of treason and soldiers were ordered to kill him but they refused. The king attacked St. Stanislaus while he was celebrating Mass. Stanislaus ran but the king followed him and Stanislaus was martyred in the public square. Outrage over the murder forced Bolesław to renounce the throne and go into exile in Hungary. The remains of St. Stanislaus are interred at Wawel Cathedral in Krakow.
Wawel Cathedral
Silver sarcophagus of St. Stanislaus in the Wawel Cathedral
St Stanislaus (Memorial)
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St Agericus of Tours
St Aid of Achard-Finglas
Bl Angelo Carletti di Chivasso
St Antipas of Pergamon
St Barsanuphius of Gaza
St Domnio of Salona
Bl Elena Guerra
St Eustorgius of Nicomedia
St Gemma Galgani
Bl George Gervase
St Godeberta of Noyon
St Guthlac of Croyland
St Hildebrand of Saint-Gilles
St Isaac of Monteluco
Bl James of Africa
Bl John of Cupramontana
Bl Lanunio
St Machai
St Maedhog of Clonmore
Bl Mechthild of Lappion
Bl Paul of Africa
St Philip of Gortyna
St Raynerius Inclusus
St Sancha of Portugal
St Stephen of Saint-Gilles
Bl Symforian Ducki
AnaStpaul 
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