Saints & Feasts of the Liturgical Year

Saints & Feasts of the Liturgical Year

If a list were made of the greatest human beings who have ever lived, the saints would be at the top. Though historians often attempt to judge greatness from a subjective perspective, there must be objective criteria by which human greatness is judged. The only Being capable of establishing that criteria is God. The criteria that God has established are the virtues, as identified by Jesus and revealed by Him through the holy Gospels. The goal of this podcast is to present each saint found on the Catholic liturgical calendar in such a way so as to identify the Godly virtues that place each one on that list. The Church has already confirmed the saints’ greatness and their heroic virtues. Importantly, God chose the men and women found in these pages, not only for greatness in their lifetimes, but also as models of holiness in ours. These men and women are gifts to you, given by God through the Church. Each podecast reflection comes from the four-volume series Saints and Feasts of the Liturgical Year. These reflections can be read at our website for free: mycatholic.life. They are also available for purchase in eBook and paperback.

Episodes

May 1, 2024 9 mins
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May 3- Saints Philip and James, Apostles—Feast

Saint Philip: c. 4–c. 80
Patron Saint of hatmakers and pastry chefs
Saint James: First century BC–c. 62
Patron Saint of pharmacists and the dying
Pre-Congregation canonizations
Liturgical Color: Red

Quote:
The next day he decided to go to Galilee, and he found Philip. And Jesus said to him, “Follow me.” Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the town of Andre...
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May 1: Saint Joseph the Worker—Optional Memorial

Patron Saint of workers
Liturgical Color: White

Quote:
Work was the daily expression of love in the life of the Family of Nazareth. The Gospel specifies the kind of work Joseph did in order to support his family: he was a carpenter. This simple word sums up Joseph’s entire life. For Jesus, these were hidden years, the years to which Luke refers ...
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May 2- Saint Athanasius, Bishop and Doctor—Memorial

c. 296–373
Patron Saint of theologians
Pre-Congregation canonization
Proclaimed a Doctor of the Church by Pope Saint Pius V in 1568
Liturgical Color: White

Quote:
Now when Arius and his fellows made these assertions, and shamelessly avowed them, we being assembled with the Bishops of Egypt and Libya, nearly a hundred in number, anathematized bot...
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April 30: Saint Pius V, Pope—Optional Memorial

1504–1572
Patron Saint of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith
Invoked for the reform and defense of the Church
Canonized by Pope Clement XI on May 22, 1712
Liturgical Color: White

Quote:
From the very first, upon Our elevation to the chief Apostleship, We gladly turned our mind and energies and directed all our thoughts to those matters which...
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April 29: Saint Catherine of Siena, Virgin and Doctor of the Church—Memorial

1347–1380
Patron Saint of Europe, Italy, nurses, the sick, and those ridiculed for their piety
Invoked against fires, miscarriages, temptations
Canonized by Pope Pius II on June 29, 1461
Proclaimed a Doctor of the Church by Pope Paul VI on October 4, 1970
Proclaimed Co-Patron of Europe by Pope John Paul II on October 1, ...
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April 28: Saint Peter Chanel, Priest and Martyr—Optional Memorial

1803–1841
Patron Saint of Oceania
Canonized by Pope Pius XII on June 12, 1954
Liturgical Color: Red

Quote:
It does not matter whether or not I am killed; the religion has taken root on the island; it will not be destroyed by my death, since it comes not from men but from God. ~Saint Peter Chanel

Prayer:
Saint Peter, God placed the s...
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April 28: Saint Louis Grignion de Montfort, Priest—Optional Memorial

1673–1716
Patron Saint of preachers
Canonized by Pope Pius XII on July 20, 1947
Liturgical Color: White

Quote:
I declare with the saints: Mary is the earthly paradise of Jesus Christ the new Adam, where He became man by the power of the Holy Spirit, in order to accomplish in her wonders beyond our understanding. She is the vast...
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April 25: Saint Mark the Evangelist—Feast

c. 12–c. 68
Patron Saint of attorneys, captives, shoemakers, lions, notaries, glass workers, Egypt, and Venice
Invoked against impenitence, insect bites, scrofulous & struma diseases
Pre-Congregation canonization
Liturgical Color: Red

Quote:
The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God.
As it is written in Isaiah the prophet: “Behold, I a...
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April 24: Saint Fidelis of Sigmaringen, Priest and Martyr—Optional Memorial

c. 1577–1622
Patron Saint of lawyers and the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples
Canonized by Pope Benedict XIV in 1746
Liturgical Color: Red

Quote:
Catholic faith, how stable, how firm you are, how well‐rooted, how well‐founded on a strong rock. Heaven and earth will pass away, but you can never perish. From t...
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April 23- Saint Adalbert, Bishop and Martyr—Optional Memorial

c. 956–997
Patron Saint of Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic
Canonized by Pope Sylvester II in 999
Liturgical Color: Red

Quote:
Adalbert is that evangelical seed which fell to the earth and died, and has brought forth a manifold harvest in all the nations associated with his mission. This was the case of Bohemia, Hungary, the Po...
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April 23- Saint George, Martyr—Optional Memorial

Died c. 303
Patron Saint of agricultural workers, soldiers, archers, equestrians, chivalry, peacekeeping missions, sheep, shepherds, scouting, England and many other countries, cities, and dioceses
Invoked against skin diseases and syphilis
Pre-Congregation canonization
Liturgical Color: Red

Quote:
Immediately on the publication of the decree again...
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April 21- Saint Anselm of Canterbury, Bishop and Doctor of the Church—Optional Memorial

c. 1033–1109
Especially invoked by scholastic philosophers and in Canterbury
Possibly canonized prior to 1170; canonization confirmed by Pope Alexander VI on October 4, 1494
Declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Clement XI in 1720
Liturgical Color: White

Quote:
Man cannot seek God, unless God himself teaches...
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April 13: Saint Martin I, Pope and Martyr—Optional Memorial

c. 595–655
Pre-Congregation canonization
Invoked by those persecuted by the state
Liturgical Color: Red (Purple if Lenten Weekday)

Quote:
It is now forty-seven days since I have been permitted to wash myself either in cold or warm water. I am quite wasted and chilled, and have had no respite either upon sea or land from the flux which I...
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April 11- Saint Stanislaus, Bishop and Martyr—Memorial

1030–1079
Patron Saint of Poland, soldiers in battle, moral order
Canonized by Pope Innocent IV on September 17, 1253, in Assisi, Italy
Liturgical Color: Red (Purple if Lenten Weekday)

Quote:
Just as a baptized person comes to Christian maturity by means of this sacrament of Confirmation, so Divine Providence gave to our nation, after its Ba...
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April 8: Annunciation of the Lord—Solemnity
Normally celebrated on March 25, but transfered to April 8 due to Holy Week this year

Liturgical Color: White

Quote:
Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word. ~Luke 1:38

Prayer:
Most glorious and ever-virgin Mary, when the Archangel Gabriel appeared to you to announce the coming of God within your virginal womb...
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April 6, 2024 9 mins
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Divine Mercy Sunday—Solemnity
Eighth Day of of the Octave of Easter

Liturgical Color: White

Prayer:
You expired, Jesus, but the source of life gushed forth for souls, and the ocean of mercy opened up for the whole world. O Fount of Life, unfathomable Divine Mercy, envelop the whole world and empty Yourself out upon us (#1319). Jesus, I trust in You.

Source of content: mycatholic.life
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April 7: Saint John Baptist de La Salle, Priest—Memorial

1651–1719
Patron Saint of educators
Canonized by Pope Leo XIII on May 24, 1900
Liturgical Color: White (Purple if Lenten Weekday)

Quote:
Indeed, if I had ever thought that the care I was taking of the schoolmasters out of pure charity would ever have made it my duty to live with them, I would have dropped the whole project. For since, natu...
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April 5: Saint Vincent Ferrer, Priest—Optional Memorial

c.1350–1419
Patron Saint of builders, plumbers, fishermen, and prisoners
Canonized by Pope Calixtus III in 1455
Liturgical Color: White (Purple if Lenten Weekday)

Quote:
By study of Holy Scripture and by factual experience we know that when any great and heavy affliction is about to come on the world, often some warning sign is shown in the...
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April 4: Saint Isidore, Bishop and Doctor of the Church—Optional Memorial

c.560–636
Patron Saint of computer technicians, the Internet, and students
Pre-Congregation canonization
Proclaimed a Doctor of the Church in 1722 by Pope Innocent XIII
Liturgical Color: White (Purple if Lenten Weekday)

Quote:
Isidore, a man of great distinction, bishop of the church of Seville, successor and brother of bis...
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April 2: Saint Francis of Paola, Hermit—Optional Memorial

1416–1507
Patron Saint of boatmen, mariners, and naval officers
Canonized by Pope Leo X on May 1, 1519
Liturgical Color: White (Purple if Lenten Weekday)

Quote:
Brothers, I most strongly urge you to work for the salvation of your souls with prudence and diligence. Death is certain, and life is short and vanishes like smoke. Therefore you ...
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