Catholic Culture Trusted Commentary
Catholic Culture Trusted Commentary

April 2024 — Overview for the Month

by Catholic Culture Staff

Description

The month of April is dedicated to The Holy Spirit


Highlights

April 25
St. Mark
St. Mark, the author of the second Gospel, was the son of Mary whose house at Jerusalem was the meeting place of Christians.

Recipe of the Month
Paasbrod
The Easter season is perfect a time to try this traditional Easter bread from Holland which will impress your friends and family.

Activity of the Month
Home Altar Hangings
Altar hangings or banners are an excellent project to help older children to know and love the Easter to Pentecost season and to realize its greater significance.


Symbols

St. Mark
The winged lion, ancient symbol of St. Mark, refers to his Gospel, which informs us of the royal dignity of Christ.

St. Anselm
Writer of the Christian classic, Cur Deus Homo. This thirty-fourth Archbishop of Canterbury, amid difficulties with royalty, guarded the spiritual independence of the Church (represented by the ship symbol).

St. Catherine of Siena
Among many diplomatic achievements, St. Catherine is known for effecting a reconciliation between the Florentine people and the Papacy. This emblem refers to her faith and charitableness.

St. George
The patron of England, a Christian warrior who is said to have suffered martyrdom in Palestine, during the Diocletian persecution. His shield was the badge of the English from the days of Richard Coeur-de-Lion on. It is for this reason these arms are borne by the Order of the Garter.


The Spirit of the Lord hath filed the whole earth, alleluia.

Publisher & Date

Catholic Culture, July 26, 2023

The entire month falls during the Easter season. The liturgical color is white — the color of light, a symbol of joy, purity and innocence (absolute or restored).


The Holy Father's Intentions for the Month of April 2024

For the role of women: We pray that the dignity and immense value of women be recognized in every culture, and for the end of discrimination that they experience in different parts of the world. (See also http://popesprayerusa.net/popes-intentions/)


Feasts for April 2024

1. MONDAY WITHIN THE OCTAVE OF EASTER, Solemnity
2. TUESDAY WITHIN THE OCTAVE OF EASTER, Solemnity
3. WEDNESDAY WITHIN THE OCTAVE OF EASTER, Solemnity
4. THURSDAY WITHIN THE OCTAVE OF EASTER, Solemnity
5. FRIDAY WITHIN THE OCTAVE OF EASTER, Solemnity
6. SATURDAY WITHIN THE OCTAVE OF EASTER, Solemnity
7. SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER (or SUNDAY OF DIVINE MERCY), Solemnity
8. ANNUNCIATION OF THE LORD, Solemnity
14. THIRD SUNDAY OF EASTER, Sunday
21. FOURTH SUNDAY OF EASTER (GOOD SHEPHERD SUNDAY), Sunday
23. George; Adalbert, Opt. Mem.
24. Fidelis, Opt. Mem.
25. St. Mark, Evangelist, Feast
28. FIFTH SUNDAY OF EASTER, Sunday
29. Catherine of Siena, Memorial
30. Pius V, Opt. Mem.


Focus of the Liturgy: The Mass readings for the Sundays of April follow the Easter season for Cycle B. The Weekday readings follow the annual Easter readings.

April 7th
Second Sunday of Easter
or Sunday of Divine Mercy

Year A,B,C: John 20:19-31: Eight days later Jesus appears to the Apostles after the Resurrection and the story of the doubt of St. Thomas.

April 14
Third Sunday of Easter

Year B: Luke 24:35-48: Thus it was written that the Christ would suffer and rise form the dead on the third day.

April 21
Fourth Sunday of Easter
Good Shepherd Sunday

Year B: John 10:11-18: The Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

April 28
Fifth Sunday of Easter

Year B: John 12:20-33: "Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit."


Highlights of the Month
As our Lenten journey comes to a close we prepare to follow Christ all the way to the cross and to witness His glorious Resurrection. Hopefully we have sacrificed and prayed so that we are now able to more fully reap the fruits of a well spent Lent. After our solemn commemoration of the last days and death of Our Lord we will spend the remainder of the month of April celebrating. As Spring breaks forth even nature will join us as buds and blooms begin to surface and we spend this month basking in the joy of the Resurrection. We continue throughout the entire month our cry, "Christ is risen, Christ is truly risen."

The Feast of Divine Mercy offers us the opportunity to begin again as though we were newly baptized. The unfathomable mercy of God is made manifest today if we but accept His most gracious offer. Easter is the feast of feasts, the unalloyed joy and gladness of all Christians. This truly is "the day that the Lord has made." From Sunday to Sunday, from year to year, the Easters of this earth will lead us to that blessed day on which Christ has promised that He will come again with glory to take us with Him into the kingdom of His Father.

The feasts and saints that we will focus on this month — those who have already shared in the rewards of the Resurrection are:
Solemnity of the Annunciation will be celebrated on April 8 since the 25th falls on Monday of Holy Week. The feast was superseded by the Holy Week liturgy.
Sts. George and Adalbert (April 23),
St. Fidelis (April 24),
St. Mark, Evangelist (April 25),
St. Catherine of Siena (April 29),
and St. Pius V (April 30).

These feasts of are superseded by Octave of Easter or Sunday liturgies:
St. Francis of Paola (April 2),
St. Isidore of Seville (April 4),
St. Vincent Ferrer (April 5),
St. John Baptist de la Salle (April 7),
St. Stanislaus of Cracow (April 11),
St. Martin I (April 13),
St. Peter Chanel and St. Louis Marie de Montfort, (April 28),


A Time of New Life
April boasts the most solemn and sublime events of human history: the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ – the Paschal mystery. Though the way to the Resurrection was the Via Crucis, the Sacrificial Lamb of God is now and forever Christ our Light, the Eternal high priest of the New Covenant. And his sorrowful mother, the Stabat Mater of Good Friday, is now the jubilant Mother of the Regina Caeli.

We the members of Christ’s Mystical Body exalt in the mystery by which we were redeemed. If in Baptism we were buried with Christ, so also will we share in his resurrection. By his death we were reborn; “by his stripes we were healed.” (Is 53:5) Easter, the epicenter of time, is the event that links time and eternity. It is indeed “the day the Lord has made; let us be glad and rejoice in it.” (Ps 118:24)

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