Did You Know? A couple in Pennsylvania regularly trap squirrels that get into their birdfeeders and then release the squirrels elsewhere. One day they trapped one that is purple! They and others say they have no idea why the squirrel is purple (dye, genetic anomaly, etc.). LEARN MORE.
Today is Thursday of the 4th week of Lent. The liturgical color is violet.
Saints & Celebrations:
On March 22, there is no special fixed liturgical day in the Ordinary Form.
There is no special fixed liturgical day in the Extraordinary Form.
For information about other saints, blesseds, and feasts celebrated today, you can click here.
Readings:
To see today’s readings in the Ordinary Form, you can click here.
Or you can click play to listen to them:
Devotional Information:
According to the Holy See’s Directory on Popular Piety:
72. Pious exercises are part of Christian worship. The Church has always been attentive to ensure that God is glorified worthily through them, and that man derives spiritual benefit from them and is encouraged to the live the Christian life.
The actions of Pastors in relation to pious exercises have been many. They have recommended and encouraged them, or guided and corrected them or simply tolerated them. Among the myriad of pious exercises, some must be mentioned, especially those erected by the Apostolic See, or which have been recommended by the same Apostolic See throughout the ages. Mention must also be made of the pious exercises of the particular Churches “that are undertaken by order of the bishops according to customs or books lawfully approved”; of the pious exercises that are practised in accordance with the particular law or tradition of certain religious families, or confraternities, or other pious associations of the faithful, since such have often received the explicit approbation of the Church; and of the pious exercises practised personally or in the home.
Some pious exercises which grew up among the community of the faithful and have received the approbation of the Magisterium, also enjoy the concession of indulgences.
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Did You Know? After the French pillaged Rome and took all the old papal tiaras, Pope Pius VII was crowned pope on March 21, 1800 using a papal tiara made of paper mache! LEARN MORE.
Today is Wednesday of the 4th week of Lent. The liturgical color is violet.
Saints & Celebrations:
On March 21, there is no special fixed liturgical day in the Ordinary Form.
In the Extraordinary Form, we celebrate St. Benedict, abbot and founder of the Benedictines, who died in A.D. 543. It is a Class III day.
If you’d like to learn more about St. Benedict, you can click here.
For information about other saints, blesseds, and feasts celebrated today, you can click here.
Readings:
To see today’s readings in the Ordinary Form, you can click here.
Or you can click play to listen to them:
Devotional Information:
According to the Holy See’s Directory on Popular Piety:
71. In the light of the nature and of the characteristics proper to Christian worship, pious exercises, clearly must conform to the doctrine, legal discipline and norms of the Church. Moreover, they should be in harmony with the Sacred Liturgy, take into account the seasons of the liturgical calendar, in so far as possible, and encourage “conscious active participation in the prayer of the Church.”
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Did You Know? Albert Einstein published the general theory of relativity on March 20, 1916. LEARN MORE.
Today is Tuesday of the 4th week of Lent. The liturgical color is violet.
Saints & Celebrations:
On March 20, there is no special fixed liturgical day in the Ordinary Form.
There is no special fixed liturgical day in the Extraordinary Form.
For information about other saints, blesseds, and feasts celebrated today, you can click here.
Readings:
To see today’s readings in the Ordinary Form, you can click here.
Or you can click play to listen to them:
Devotional Information:
According to the Holy See’s Directory on Popular Piety:
Pious Exercises
70. Pious exercises are typical expressions of popular piety. In origin and content, in language and style, in usage and subject, they greatly differ among each other. The Second Vatican Council gave consideration to pious exercises, reiterating that they were highly to be recommended, and indicated those criteria which authenticate their legitimacy and validity.
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Did You Know? The carnivorous plant known as the Venus Flytrap is native to the United States. I always imagine exotic plants being located overseas somewhere, but the flytrap is native to a 60 mile region around Wilmington, North Carolina. Look out, Tarheels! LEARN MORE.
Today is Monday of the 4th week of Lent. The liturgical color is white.
This is a holyday of obligation (St. Joseph) in some countries (but not the United States, see the Dec. 13, 1991 decree here). If you live in a place where it is a holy day of obligation, be sure to go to Mass if you didn’t go yesterday evening.
Saints & Celebrations:
On March 19, in both the Ordinary and the Extraordinary Form, we celebrate St. Joseph, spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and confessor. In the Ordinary Form, it is a solemnity, and in the Extraordinary Form, it is a Class I day.
If you’d like to learn more about St. Joseph, you can click here.
For information about other saints, blesseds, and feasts celebrated today, you can click here.
Readings:
To see today’s readings in the Ordinary Form, you can click here.
Or you can click play to listen to them:
Devotional Information:
Today we conclude our series on St. Joseph. According to the Holy See’s Directory on Popular Piety:
223. That the solemnity of St. Joseph (19 March) falls in Lent, when the Church concentrates her attention on preparation for Baptism and the memorial of the Lord’s Passion, inevitably gives rise to an attempt to harmonize the Liturgy and popular piety. Hence, the traditional practices of a “month of St. Joseph” should be synchronized with the liturgical Year. Indeed, the liturgical renewal movement attempted to instill among the faithful a realization of the importance of the meaning of Lent. Where the necessary adaptations can be made to the various expressions of popular piety, devotion to St. Joseph should naturally be encouraged among the faithful who should be constantly remained of this “singular example […] which, surpassing all states of life, should be recommended to the entire Christian community, whatever their condition or rank.”
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Did You Know? Albert Einstein published four amazing papers in 1905, the year known as his “Annus Mirabilis” (Latin, “Miraculous Year”). The first was received for publication on March 18. It concerned the “photoelectric effect.” Though Einstein’s later papers were *far* more influential, it was this (comparatively) safe, conservative paper that he won the Nobel Prize for Physics for in 1921–the only Nobel Prize he ever got. LEARN MORE.
Today is the 4th Sunday of Lent (Laetare Sunday). The liturgical color is rose or violet.
Note: Tomorrow is a holyday of obligation (St. Joseph). Be sure to go to Mass either this evening or tomorrow.
Saints & Celebrations:
On March 18, in both the Ordinary and the Extraordinary Form, we celebrate St. Cyril of Jerusalem, bishop, confessor, and doctor of the Church who died in A.D. 386. In the Ordinary Form, it is an optional memorial, and in the Extraordinary Form, it is a Class III day.
If you’d like to learn more about St. Cyril, you can click here.
For information about other saints, blesseds, and feasts celebrated today, you can click here.
Readings:
To see today’s readings in the Ordinary Form, you can click here.
Or you can click play to listen to them:
Devotional Information:
We continue our series on St. Joseph. According to the Holy See’s Directory on Popular Piety:
222. St. Joseph plays a prominent part in popular devotion: in numerous popular traditions; the custom of reserving Wednesdays for devotion to St. Joseph, popular at least since the end of the seventeenth century, has generated several pious exercises including that of the Seven Wednesdays; in the pious aspirations made by the faithful; in prayers such as that of Pope Leo XIII, A te, Beate Ioseph, which is daily recited by the faithful; in the Litany of St Joseph, approved by St. Pope Pius X; and in the recitation of the chaplet of St Joseph, recollecting the Seven agonies and seven joys of St. Joseph.
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