April 2025 — Overview for the Month
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 first nineteen days of the month fall during the season of Lent which is represented by the liturgical color violet or purple — a symbol of penance, mortification and the sorrow of a contrite heart.
April 20th is Easter Sunday and the beginning of 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 2025
For the use of the new technologies: Let us pray that the use of the new technologies will not replace human relationships, will respect the dignity of the person, and will help us face the crises of our times. (See also http://popesprayerusa.net/popes-intentions/)
Feasts for April 2025
2. Francis of Paola, Opt. Mem.4. St. Isidore of Seville, Opt. Mem.
5. Vincent Ferrer, Opt. Mem.
6. FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT, Sunday
13. PALM SUNDAY OF THE LORD'S PASSION, Holy Week
14. Monday of Holy Week, Holy Week
15. Tuesday of Holy Week, Holy Week
16. Wednesday of Holy Week, Holy Week
17. Holy Thursday, Triduum
18. Good Friday of the Lord’s Passion, Triduum
19. Holy Saturday, Triduum
20. EASTER SUNDAY OF THE RESURRECTION OF THE LORD, Solemnity
21. MONDAY WITHIN THE OCTAVE OF EASTER, Solemnity
22. TUESDAY WITHIN THE OCTAVE OF EASTER, Solemnity
23. WEDNESDAY WITHIN THE OCTAVE OF EASTER, Solemnity
24. THURSDAY WITHIN THE OCTAVE OF EASTER, Solemnity
25. FRIDAY WITHIN THE OCTAVE OF EASTER, Solemnity
26. SATURDAY WITHIN THE OCTAVE OF EASTER, Solemnity
27. SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER (or SUNDAY OF DIVINE MERCY), Solemnity
28. Peter Chanel; Louis Mary de Montfort, Opt. Mem.
29. Catherine of Siena, Memorial
30. Pius V, Opt. Mem.
Focus of the Liturgy: The Mass readings for the Sundays of April follow the Lenten and Easter season for Cycle C. The Weekday readings follow the annual Lenten and Easter readings.
April 6th | Cycle C: John 8:1-11: Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her. |
April 13 | Cycle C: Luke 22:14-23:56:The reading of the Passion of Our Lord from St. Luke's Gospel.
|
April 20 | Cycle C, Vigil: Luke 24:1-12; John 20:1-9: Why do you seek the Living One among the dead? |
April 27 | Cycle C: John 20:19-31: Eight days later Jesus came and stood in their midst. |
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:
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. Peter Chanel and St. Louis Marie de Montfort, (April 28),
St. Catherine of Siena (April 29),
and St. Pius V (April 30).
These feasts of are superseded by Holy Week, the Octave of Easter or Sunday liturgies:
St. Martin I (April 13),
St. Anselm (April 21),
Sts. George and Adalbert (April 23),
St. Fidelis (April 24), and
St. Mark, Evangelist (April 25).
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)
This item 12547 digitally provided courtesy of CatholicCulture.org
