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Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Easter Optional Memorial of Pope St. Pius V, 1504-1572; elected in 1566, and given the task of implementing the reforms called for by the Council of Trent; he ordered the founding of seminaries, published a new missal, new breviary, and new catechism; he built hospitals, and gave money to the poor; he continued to wear his Dominican habit, leading to the custom of the pope wearing a which cassock

Monday of the Fifth Week of Easter Memorial of St. Catherine of Siena, virgin and doctor of the Church, 1347-1380; joined the Dominican Third Order at 18, and soon had a group of followers; her letters began to take more and more note of public affairs; she worked for the crusade against the Turks, and for peace between Florence and the pope; the Great Schism began in 1378, and Catherine spent the last two years of her life in Rome, praying and pleading on behalf of the cause of Pope Urban VI and the unity of the Church Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 4/29/24 Gospel: John 14:21-26

Fifth Sunday of Easter Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 4/28/24 Gospel: John 15:1-8

Saturday of the Fourth Week of Easter Saint of the Day: St. Zita, 1212-1272; born at Monte Sagrati, Italy; from the age of 13, worked as a servant; she was disliked by the other household staff because of her hard work and goodness, and her habit of giving food and clothing to the poor; they eventually were convinced one day when they found an angel filling in for Zita, doing baking and cleaning; also known for various miracles; patron saint of servants Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 4/27/24 Gospel: John 14:7-14

Friday of the Fourth Week of Easter Saint of the Day: St. Cletus; the third bishop of Rome, succeeding St. Linus; he was pope from 76 to 89 A.D.; he is styled as a martyr by the Canon of the Roman mass, St. Bede, and other martyrologists; he was buried at the Vatican, near St. Linus Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 4/26/24 Gospel: John 14:1-6

Feast of St. Mark Thursday of the Fourth Week of Easter Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 4/25/24 Gospel: Mark 16:15-20

Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Easter Optional Memorial of St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen, 1577-1622; a lawyer who left his career to become a Capuchin priest; as a Franciscan, he served the weak and needy; during a severe epidemic, he cared for and cured many soldiers; preached against Calvinists and Zwinglians in Switzerland, where he was set upon by armed men and killed Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 4/24/24 Gospel: John 12:44-50

Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Easter Optional Memorial of St. George, 280-303; martyr who suffered at Lydda in Palestine, probably before the time of Constantine; the Church believes that he was willing to pay the supreme price to follow Christ--and it is enough; tales of him slaying a dragon, and such, are part of an Italian fable; favorite patron of crusaders Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 4/23/24 Gospel: John 10:22-30

Monday of the Fourth Week of Easter Saint of the Day: St. Tarbula; Fourth Century Virgin and martyr, the sister of St. Simeon the Persian bishop and martyr; she was consecrated a virgin and met her own martyrdom soon after the death of her brother; she was accused of witchcraft, and of causing sickness to befall the wife of the ardently anti-Christian Persian king Shapur; Tarbula was condemned and executed in 345 A.D. Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 4/22/24 Gospel: John 10:1-10

Fourth Sunday of Easter Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 4/21/24 Gospel: John 10:11-18

Saturday of the Third Week of Easter Saint of the Day: St. Agnes of Montepulciano, 1268-1317; entered the monastery of Montepulciano at the age of nine; four years later, Pope Nicholas IV asked her to assist in the foundation of a new convent at Procena; at 15, she became head of the nuns there; the people of Montepulciano built a new convent to try to lure Agnes back to them; she governed there until her death; she was noted for her visions Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 4/20/24 Gospel: John 6:60-69

Friday of the Third Week of Easter Saint of the Day: St. Alphege of Canterbury, 954-1012; became abbot of the Bath monastery, and was then consecrated bishop of Winchester, and eventually elevated to the see of Canterbury; during a Danish invasion of Canterbury, Alphege offered himself, and was consigned to a dungeon; an epidemic frightened the Danes into releasing him; Alphege healed many victims of the epidemic, but the Danes still stoned and axed him to death in Greenwich Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 4/19/24 Gospel: John 6:52-59

Thursday of the Third Week of Easter Saint of the Day: St. Appolonius the Apologist; Roman senator who was denounced as a Christian by one of his slaves; the Praetorian Prefect, Sextus Tigidius Perennis, arrested him, also putting the slave to death as an informer; Perennis and Appolonius debated, and despite Appolonius' eloquent defense, he was condemned and beheaded in 185 A.D. Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 4/18/24 Gospel: John 6:44-51

Wednesday of the Third Week of Easter Saint of the Day: St. Stephen Harding; joined St. Robert of Molesme at the abbey in Burgundy; when Robert left because of corruption and laxity, Stephen went with him, along with St. Alberic; when 21 other monks left Molesme, a new monastery was founded at Citeaux, with Robert as abbot; Robert returned to Molesme after a year, and Alberic served as abbot until his death; Stephen became the third abbot of Citeaux; Bernard of Clairvaux visited in 1112, and brought his followers with him; In 1119, Stephen wrote the Carter Caritatis, an important document for the Cistercian order; Stephen Harding died in 1134 Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 4/17/24 Gospel: John 6:35-40

Tuesday of the Third Week of Easter Saint of the Day: St. Bernadette Soubirous, 1844-1879; first child of a poor miller in Lourdes, France; in 1858, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to Bernadette 18 times; on March 25, she told her, "I am the Immaculate Conception"; the Church confirmed the authenticity of the apparitions in 1862; Bernadette suffered much, and was protected in a convent of nuns; she eventually entered the Sisters of Notre Dame of Nevers, and within four months was given last rites; chronic health problems persisted, and she died in 1879, at the age of 35 Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 4/16/24 Gospel: John 6:30-35

Monday of the Third Week of Easter Saint of the Day: St. Hunna; she was known as "the holy washerwoman," a noblewoman who devoted herself to the poor of Strasbourg, France; she was the daughter of a duke and wife of Huno of Hunnaweyer, she even washed the poor; patroness of laundresses, laundry workers, and washerwomen Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 4/15/24 Gospel: John 6:22-29

Third Sunday of Easter Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 4/14/24 Gospel: Luke 24:35-48

Saturday of the Second Week of Easter Optional Memorial of Pope St. Martin I; became pope in 649, when there was a popular heretical teaching that Christ had no human will; Martin held a council in the Lateran in which the patriarch of Constantinople and two of his predecessors who held to this heresy were condemned; the emperor sent troops to Rome to seize Martin and to bring him back to Constantinople; he was submitted to various imprisonments, tortures, and hardships; he died shortly after, in 655, the last of the early popes to be venerated as a martyr Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 4/13/24 Gospel: John 6:16-21

Friday of the Second Week of Easter Saint of the Day: St. Sabas the Goth, 334-372; Goth, converted to Christianity in his youth; became a lector to a priest. Sansala; seized with Sansala by a group of Gothic soldiers and ordered to eat meat which had been sacrificed to idols; tortured and drowned in the Mussovo River, along with 50 others Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 4/12/24 Gospel: John 6:1-15 

Thursday of the Second Week of Easter Saint of the Day: St. Antipas; martyr and disciple of St. John the apostle; reputed to be the bishop of Pergamum; he is believed to have been burned to death in 90 A.D.; the only mention of him is in the book of Revelation Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 4/11/24 Gospel: John 3:31-36