March
Holy Week/Sacred Triduum
Palm Sunday: March 24 |
Chrism Mass: March 27 |
Holy Thursday: March 28 |
Good Friday: March 29 |
Easter Vigil: March 30 |
Easter Sunday
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February
The Presentation of Our Lord
(February 2)
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Ash Wednesday/Lent
(February 14)
Click on "Lent" and the Top of the Page
The Chair of St. Peter
(February 22)
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Important Saints in February
St. Blaise (February 3)
St. Agatha (February 5)
St. Paul Miki and Companions (February 6)
St. Jerome Emiliani (February 8)
St. Josephine Bakhita (February 8)
St. Scholastica (February 10)
St. Peter Damian (February 21)
St. Polycarp (February 23)
St. Gregory of Narek (February 27)
January
Epiphany of our Lord
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The Baptism of Our Lord
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Important Saints in January
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton (January 4)
St. John Neumann (January 5)
St. Hilary (January 13)
St. Anthony (January 17)
St. Fabian and St. Sebastian (January 20)
St. Francis de Sales (January 24)
Saints Timothy and Titus (January 26)
St. Angela Merici (January 27)
St. John Bosco (January 31)
December
Advent
Advent comes from the Latin word meaning "coming." Jesus is coming, and Advent is intended to be a season of preparation for His arrival. While we typically regard Advent as a joyous season, it is also intended to be a period of preparation, much like Lent. Prayer, penance and fasting are appropriate during this season.
Advent is not as strict as Lent, and there are no rules for fasting, but it is meant to be a period of self-preparation. The purple color associated with Advent is also the color of penance. The faithful should fast during the first two weeks in particular and receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
The color of the Third Sunday of Advent is rose. This color symbolizes joy and represents the happiness we will experience when Jesus comes again. The Third Sunday is a day of anticipatory celebration. It is formerly called "Gaudete" Sunday; gaudete means "rejoice" in Latin.
Finally, Sundays during Advent, just as during Lent, should not be given to fasting, but instead to celebration because we celebrate the resurrection of Our Lord every Sunday. It is important to remember, however, there are no particular rules for how the laity should observe Advent.
Advent is not as strict as Lent, and there are no rules for fasting, but it is meant to be a period of self-preparation. The purple color associated with Advent is also the color of penance. The faithful should fast during the first two weeks in particular and receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
The color of the Third Sunday of Advent is rose. This color symbolizes joy and represents the happiness we will experience when Jesus comes again. The Third Sunday is a day of anticipatory celebration. It is formerly called "Gaudete" Sunday; gaudete means "rejoice" in Latin.
Finally, Sundays during Advent, just as during Lent, should not be given to fasting, but instead to celebration because we celebrate the resurrection of Our Lord every Sunday. It is important to remember, however, there are no particular rules for how the laity should observe Advent.
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Week 1 HOPE Purple Candle |
Week 2 PEACE
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Week 3 JOY
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Week 4 LOVE
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The Immaculate Conception (December 8)
The Immaculate Conception refers to the condition that the Blessed Virgin Mary was free from Original Sin from the very moment of her conception in the womb of her mother, Saint Anne. We celebrate the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary—her birth—on September 8; nine months before that is December 8,
the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.
the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.
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Our Lady of Guadalupe (December 12)
Our Lady of Guadalupe, the Virgin Mary in her appearance before Saint Juan Diego in a vision in Mexico in 1531. The name also refers to the Marian apparition itself.
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Christmas (The Nativity of Our Lord)
December 25
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The Holy Innocents (December 28)
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The Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus,
Mary, and Joseph
(December 31)
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Important Saints in December
St. Nicholas (December 6)
St. Ambrose (December 7)
St. Lucy (December 13)
St. John of the Cross (December 14)
St. Stephen (December 26)
St. John the Apostle and Evangelist (December 27)
November
All Saints Day (November 1)
All Saints' Day is a solemn holy day of the Catholic Church celebrated annually on November 1. The day is dedicated to the saints of the Church, that is, all those who have attained heaven. It should not be confused with All Souls' Day, which is observed on November 2, and is dedicated to those who have died and not yet reached heaven.
Although millions, or even billions of people may already be saints, All Saints' Day observances tend to focus on known saints --that is those recognized in the canon of the saints by the Catholic Church.
All Saints' Day is also commemorated by members of the Eastern Orthodox Church as well as some protestant churches, such as Lutheran and Anglican churches.
Generally, All Saints' Day is a Catholic Holy Day of Obligation, meaning all Catholics are required to attend Mass on that day, unless they have an excellent excuse, such as serious illness.
Other countries have different rules according to their national bishop's conferences. The bishops of each conference have the authority to amend the rules surrounding the obligation of the day.
All Saints' Day was formally started by Pope Boniface IV, who consecrated the Pantheon at Rome to the Virgin Mary and all the Martyrs on May 13 in 609 AD. Boniface IV also established All Souls' Day, which follows All Saints.
Although millions, or even billions of people may already be saints, All Saints' Day observances tend to focus on known saints --that is those recognized in the canon of the saints by the Catholic Church.
All Saints' Day is also commemorated by members of the Eastern Orthodox Church as well as some protestant churches, such as Lutheran and Anglican churches.
Generally, All Saints' Day is a Catholic Holy Day of Obligation, meaning all Catholics are required to attend Mass on that day, unless they have an excellent excuse, such as serious illness.
Other countries have different rules according to their national bishop's conferences. The bishops of each conference have the authority to amend the rules surrounding the obligation of the day.
All Saints' Day was formally started by Pope Boniface IV, who consecrated the Pantheon at Rome to the Virgin Mary and all the Martyrs on May 13 in 609 AD. Boniface IV also established All Souls' Day, which follows All Saints.
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All Souls Day (November 2)
All Souls' Day commemorates the faithful departed. In Western Christianity, this day is observed principally in the Catholic Church, although some churches of the Anglican Communion and the Old Catholic Churches also celebrate it. The Eastern Orthodox churches observe several All Souls' Days during the year. The Roman Catholic celebration is associated with the doctrine that the souls of the faithful who at death have not been cleansed from the temporal punishment due to venial sins and from attachment to mortal sins cannot immediately attain the beatific vision in heaven, and that they may be helped to do so by prayer and by the sacrifice of the Mass. In other words, when they died, they had not yet attained full sanctification and moral perfection, a requirement for entrance into Heaven. This sanctification is carried out posthumously in Purgatory.
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Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe (November 26)
On the last Sunday of each liturgical year, the Church celebrates the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, or Christ the King.
Pope Pius XI instituted this feast in 1925 with his encyclical Quas primas (“In the first”) to respond to growing secularism and atheism. He recognized that attempting to “thrust Jesus Christ and his holy law” out of public life would result in continuing discord among people and nations. This solemnity reminds us that while governments come and go, Christ reigns as King forever.
Christ the King sacred art
During the early twentieth century, in Mexico, Russia, and some parts of Europe, militantly secularistic regimes threatened not just the Catholic Church and its faithful but civilization itself. Pope Pius XI’s encyclical gave Catholics hope and—while governments around them crumbled—the assurance that Christ the King shall reign forever. Jesus Christ “is very truth, and it is from him that truth must be obediently received by all mankind”.
Christ’s kingship is rooted in the Church’s teaching on the Incarnation. Jesus is fully God and fully man. He is both the divine Lord and the man who suffered and died on the Cross. One person of the Trinity unites himself to human nature and reigns over all creation as the Incarnate Son of God. “From this it follows not only that Christ is to be adored by angels and men, but that to him as man angels and men are subject, and must recognize his empire; by reason of the hypostatic union Christ has power over all creatures”.
The Church calls us to acknowledge Christ’s kingship with our whole lives:
He must reign in our minds, which should assent with perfect submission and firm belief to revealed truths and to the doctrines of Christ. He must reign in our wills, which should obey the laws and precepts of God. He must reign in our hearts, which should spurn natural desires and love God above all things, and cleave to him alone. He must reign in our bodies and in our members, which should serve as instruments for the interior sanctification of our souls, or to use the words of the Apostle Paul, ‘as instruments of justice unto God.’
Today, religious freedom for many people means that we can believe whatever we want in private, but when we enter the public square or the marketplace, we may not speak of anything that relates to our faith. However, the Church acknowledges the reign of Christ, not only privately, but publicly. This solemnity encourages us the celebrate and live out our faith in public. “Thus by sermons preached at meetings and in churches, by public adoration of the Blessed Sacrament exposed and by solemn processions, men unite in paying homage to Christ, whom God has given them for their King”.
For Christians, when our faith is repeatedly marginalized in public life, we can fall into the habit of compartmentalizing our lives. We love Jesus in our private lives, but we shrink from acknowledging the kingship of Christ in social life. When we celebrate the Solemnity of Christ the King, we declare to the world and remind ourselves that Jesus is the Lord of the Church and of the entire universe.
Pope Pius XI instituted this feast in 1925 with his encyclical Quas primas (“In the first”) to respond to growing secularism and atheism. He recognized that attempting to “thrust Jesus Christ and his holy law” out of public life would result in continuing discord among people and nations. This solemnity reminds us that while governments come and go, Christ reigns as King forever.
Christ the King sacred art
During the early twentieth century, in Mexico, Russia, and some parts of Europe, militantly secularistic regimes threatened not just the Catholic Church and its faithful but civilization itself. Pope Pius XI’s encyclical gave Catholics hope and—while governments around them crumbled—the assurance that Christ the King shall reign forever. Jesus Christ “is very truth, and it is from him that truth must be obediently received by all mankind”.
Christ’s kingship is rooted in the Church’s teaching on the Incarnation. Jesus is fully God and fully man. He is both the divine Lord and the man who suffered and died on the Cross. One person of the Trinity unites himself to human nature and reigns over all creation as the Incarnate Son of God. “From this it follows not only that Christ is to be adored by angels and men, but that to him as man angels and men are subject, and must recognize his empire; by reason of the hypostatic union Christ has power over all creatures”.
The Church calls us to acknowledge Christ’s kingship with our whole lives:
He must reign in our minds, which should assent with perfect submission and firm belief to revealed truths and to the doctrines of Christ. He must reign in our wills, which should obey the laws and precepts of God. He must reign in our hearts, which should spurn natural desires and love God above all things, and cleave to him alone. He must reign in our bodies and in our members, which should serve as instruments for the interior sanctification of our souls, or to use the words of the Apostle Paul, ‘as instruments of justice unto God.’
Today, religious freedom for many people means that we can believe whatever we want in private, but when we enter the public square or the marketplace, we may not speak of anything that relates to our faith. However, the Church acknowledges the reign of Christ, not only privately, but publicly. This solemnity encourages us the celebrate and live out our faith in public. “Thus by sermons preached at meetings and in churches, by public adoration of the Blessed Sacrament exposed and by solemn processions, men unite in paying homage to Christ, whom God has given them for their King”.
For Christians, when our faith is repeatedly marginalized in public life, we can fall into the habit of compartmentalizing our lives. We love Jesus in our private lives, but we shrink from acknowledging the kingship of Christ in social life. When we celebrate the Solemnity of Christ the King, we declare to the world and remind ourselves that Jesus is the Lord of the Church and of the entire universe.
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Important Saints in November
St. Charles Borromeo (November 4)
St. Leo the Great (November 10)
St. Martin of Tours (November 11)
St. Frances Xavier Cabrini (November 13)
St. Elizabeth of Hungary (November 17)
St. Andrew Dung-Lac and Companions (November 24)
St. Andrew, the Apostle (November 30)
October
Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary
Important Saints of October
St. Francis of Assisi (October 4)
St. Faustina Kowalska (October 5)
St. John XXIII, Pope (October 11)
St. Ignatius of Antioch (October 17)
St. Luke, Evangelist (October 18)
Saints John de Brebeuf & Isaac Jogues, Companions (October 19)
Saints Simon & Jude, Apostles (October 28)
September
The Seven Sorrows of Mary
1. The First Sword of Sorrow: Simeon announces the suffering destiny of Jesus (Luke 2:34-35)
2. The Second Sword of Sorrow: Mary escapes into Egypt with Jesus and Joseph (Matthew 2:13-15)
3. The Third Sword of Sorrow: Mary seeks Jesus lost in Jerusalem (Luke 2:41-51)
4. The Fourth Sword of Sorrow: Mary meets Jesus as He carries His Cross to Calvary (Luke 23:26-31)
5. The Fifth Sword of Sorrow: Mary stands near the Cross of her Son Jesus (John 19:25-27)
6. The Sixth Sword of Sorrow: Mary receives into her arms the body of Jesus taken down from the Cross (John 19:38)
7. The Seventh Sword of Sorrow: Mary helps place the body of Jesus in the tomb ( John 19:39-42)
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