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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

Wednesday of the Second Week of Easter Saint of the Day: St. Stanislaus of Cracow, 1030-1079; born near Cracow and ordained in Gnesen, after which he became known as a powerful preacher and spiritual advisor; named bishop of Cracow in 1072; denounced the cruelties and injustices of King Boleslaus the Bold; Stanislaus was murdered by the king himself Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 4/10/24 Gospel: John 3:16-21

Tuesday of the Second Week of Easter Saint of the Day: St. Acacus; bishop of Amida, Mesopotamia; sold sacred vessels of the church to aid victims of the Persian persecution; King Bahram V was so impressed that he ordered the cessation of persecutions of Christians; St. Acacus died in 425 A.D. Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 4/9/24 Gospel: John 3:7-15

Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord Monday of the Second Week of Easter Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 4/8/24 Gospel: Luke 1:26-38

Second Sunday of Easter - Divine Mercy Sunday Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 4/7/24 Gospel: John 20:19-31

Saturday in the Octave of Easter Saint of the Day: Pope St. Celestine I; elected pope in 422; founder of the papal diplomatic service; battled heresies of Novationism, Nestorianism, and Pelagianism; believed to have sent Palladius to evangelize Ireland in 431; died in 432 A.D. Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 4/6/24 Gospel: Mark 16:9-15

Friday in the Octave of Easter Saint of the Day: St. Ethelburga; wife of King St. Edwin of Northumbria, England, daughter of St. Ethelbert of Kent; Ethelburga converted King St. Edwin, and when he died, she founded a convent at Lyminge; she served as abbess until her death in 647 A.D. Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 4/5/24 Gospel: John 21:1-14

Thursday in the Octave of Easter Saint of the Day: St. Benedict the Moor, 1524-1589; born a slave near Messina, Italy; when freed, he became a solitary, settling with other hermits; later became a Franciscan lay brother, serving as a cook at St. Mary's Convent near Palermo; against his will, he was appointed superior, then became novice master; asking to be relieved of the responsibility, he returned to his position as cook; he was known for holiness, miracles, and fame as a confessor; he died at the convent Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 4/4/24 Gospel: Luke 24:35-48