TUESDAY IN THE OCTAVE OF EASTER
SAINTS OF THE DAY: FEAST DAY ~ APRIL 2, 2024
DIVINE MERCY NOVENA: Novena in preparation for DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY. Good Friday is the first day of the Divine Mercy Novena. Novena begins on Good Friday, March 29, 2024 and ends, Saturday, April 6, 2024 (Novena Links below)
Greetings beloved family and Happy Easter Tuesday!
We continue to celebrate and rejoice in the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ during this first eight days of the Easter season (Easter octave) which are celebrated as solemnities of the Lord. Each day is another little Easter. The Alleluia verse is repeated throughout the octave: “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad. Alleluia!” May God’s grace and mercy be with us all during this Easter season and always🙏
Watch “Holy Mass and Holy Rosary on, April 2, 2024 on EWTN” |
Pray “Holy Mass from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | April 2, 2024 |
Pray “Holy Rosary from Lourdes, France” | April 2, 2024 |
Pray “Holy Rosary from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | April 2, 2024 |
Pray “Solemn Novena of the Chaplet of Divine Mercy – Day 5 | from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | Easter Tuesday, April 2, 2024 |
Pray “Holy Rosary ALL 20 Mysteriels VIRTUAL🌹JOYFUL🌹LUMINOUS🌹SORROWFUL🌹GLORIOUS” on YouTube |
Today’s Bible Readings: Tuesday, April 2, 2024
Reading 1, Acts 2:36-41
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 33:4-5, 18-19, 20, 22
Gospel, John 20:11-18
NOVENA IN PREPARATION FOR DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY: Novena begins on Good Friday, March 29, 2024 and ends, Saturday, April 6, 2024
DAY 5: Today, Easter Tuesday is the fifth day of the Divine Mercy Novena | EWTN | Links ~ https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/devotions/novena-13366
https://divinemercy.life/the-divine-mercy-novena
How to Recite the Chaplet of The Divine Mercy | The Divine Mercy | https://www.thedivinemercy.org/message/devotions/pray-the-chaplet
DEVOTION OF THE MONTH OF APRIL – MONTH OF THE HOLY EUCHARIST: The month of April is traditionally dedicated to devotion to Jesus in the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. The Catholic Church teaches that the Blessed Sacrament is the real and living presence of Christ—His Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity—received into our souls with every reception of Holy Communion. Our Eucharistic Lord is the source and summit of our Christian life, the ultimate proof of His infinite love for us.
THE POPE’S MONTHLY INTENTIONS FOR 2024: FOR THE MONTH OF APRIL – 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. 🙏
PRAYER FOR PEACE ~ POPE FRANCIS:
Lord God of peace, hear our prayer!
We have tried so many times and over so many years to resolve our conflicts by our own powers and by the force of our arms. How many moments of hostility and darkness have we experienced; how much blood has been shed; how many lives have been shattered; how many hopes have been buried… But our efforts have been in vain. Now, Lord, come to our aid! Grant us peace, teach us peace; guide our steps in the way of peace. Open our eyes and our hearts, and give us the courage to say: “Never again war!”; “With war everything is lost”. Instill in our hearts the courage to take concrete steps to achieve peace. Lord, God of Abraham, God of the Prophets, God of Love, you created us and you call us to live as brothers and sisters. Give us the strength daily to be instruments of peace; enable us to see everyone who crosses our path as our brother or sister. Make us sensitive to the plea of our citizens who entreat us to turn our weapons of war into implements of peace, our trepidation into confident trust, and our quarreling into forgiveness. Keep alive within us the flame of hope, so that with patience and perseverance we may opt for dialogue and reconciliation. In this way may peace triumph at last, and may the words “division”, “hatred” and “war” be banished from the heart of every man and woman. Lord, defuse the violence of our tongues and our hands. Renew our hearts and minds, so that the word which always brings us together will be “brother”, and our way of life will always be that of: Shalom, Peace, Salaam! Amen🙏
During this Easter season, please let us all continue to pray for peace all over the world, particularly in Africa, the Middle East, for an end to the current war in Israel-Palestine, and the Ukraine-Russia conflicts and for peace in our families and throughout our divided and conflicted World. Amen 🙏
On this special feast day, as we continue to celebrate our risen Lord, with special intention through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary, and the Saints, we pray for the Clergy and religious as they serve in the Lord’s Vineyard. We also pray for the sick and dying. We especially pray for our loved ones who have recently died and we continue to remember our beloved, we pray for the repose of their gentle souls and the souls of all the faithful departed, may the Lord receive them into the light of Eternal Kingdom. Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord. And let perpetual light shine upon them. May their gentle souls through the mercy of God rest in perfect peace with our Lord Jesus Christ… Amen 🙏 ✝️🕯✝️🕯✝️🕯
PRAYER FOR THE DEAD: In your hands, O Lord, we humbly entrust our brothers and sisters. In this life, you embraced them with your tender love; deliver them now from every evil, and bid them eternal rest. The old order has passed away: welcome them into paradise, where there will be no sorrow, no weeping or pain, but fullness of peace and joy with your Son and the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen🙏
Prayers for Peace | https://mycatholic.life/catholic-prayers/prayers-for-peace/
SAINTS OF THE DAY: SAINT FRANCIS OF PAOLA, HERMIT AND SAINT MARY OF EGYPT, HERMITESS: Today, as we continue to celebrate our risen Lord, we celebrate the Memorial of Saint Francis of Paola, Hermit, who was named Patron of Italian seamen in 1943 by Pope Pius XII because many of the miracles attributed to him were related to the sea. (He’s the Patron Saint of Calabria; Amato; La Chorrera, Panama; boatmen, mariners, and naval officers) and Saint Mary of Egypt, Hermitess, known for her conversion and dedication of her life to God, she is seen as a model of repentance. She’s the Patron Saint of Chastity (warfare against the flesh; deliverance from carnal passions); Demons (deliverance from); Fever; Skin diseases; Temptations of the flesh. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary, and the Saints on this feast day, as we begin Holy Week, we humbly pray for the Church and the Clergy, we pray for their protection, safety and well-being, especially during these incredibly challenging times. May the Lord preserve the members of the Navy, Marines and all sailors from all harm and dangers of the sea, and from the violence of the enemy and we pray for the conversion of sinners and deliverance from evil … Amen🙏
Saint Francis of Paola, you lived an integrated life deeply united to God, nature, and your fellow man. Intercede before the Trinity in heaven on our behalf, assisting us to grow closer to God through death to self, through prayer and through a deep attachment to Christ. Amen🙏
“Fix your minds on the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ. Inflamed with love for us, He came down from heaven to redeem us.
For our sake He endured every torment of body and soul and shrank from no bodily pain. He Himself gave us an example of perfect patience and love. We, then, are to be patient in adversity.” ~ St. Francis of Paola, Hermit.
SAINT FRANCIS OF PAOLA, HERMIT: St. Francis of Paola (1416-1507) was born about the year 1416, at Paola, a small city Calabria Italy. His parents were very poor, but virtuous and known for their holiness. After suffering childlessness for many years, his parents had recourse to prayer, especially the intercession of St. Francis of Assisi. They eventually had three children, and the eldest, Francis, was named after St. Francis in thanksgiving for his birth. Francis of Paola grew in sanctity, and after having a vision of St. Francis he spent a year in a Franciscan convent to fulfill a vow his parents had made to the saint. After his time there, he returned to his parents and accompanied them on a pilgrimage to Assisi. Upon returning home, Francis retired to a private spot on his parents’ estate to live as a hermit. He later moved his dwelling to a lonely cave by the seashore, living there in prayer, solitude, and mortification for six years. Disciples gradually came to him to imitate his manner of life, so many that St. Francis of Paola, with the permission of his bishop, built a monastery and church to accommodate them. He later obtained permission from the Holy See to found a new religious order called the Minims, or “The Least,” as they were to live hidden lives of poverty, abstinence, and humility. The Minim Order, is a branch of the Franciscans (1454). These “Hermits of St. Francis of Assisi” dwelt in small houses, and as “least” brethren, endeavored to live a more austere and humble life than the “Fratres Minores.” Pope Sixtus IV sent him to France to help Louis XI on his deathbed. St. Francis traveled to France taking with him his nephew Nicholas, whom he had raised from the dead. There, the notoriously power-hungry King Louis XI was approaching the point of death himself, and hoped that St. Francis would perform a miracle and restore his health. St. Francis told the king bluntly that he should not fear the end of his earthly life, but the loss of eternal life. From that time, the hermit became a close spiritual adviser to the king. He discussed the reality of death and eternity with him, and urged him to surrender his heart and soul to God before it was too late. St. Francis of Paola stood high in the esteem of the French king, Louis XI, whom he helped prepare for death. The king died in Francis’ arms in 1483. King Louis XI’s son and successor, Charles VIII, maintained the monk, St. Francis as a close adviser, in spiritual and even political affairs. Nonetheless, Francis persisted in following the monastic rule he had developed while living in his hermitage outside of Paola. He continued as superior general of the Minim order, he remained there and founded new monasteries, house of his Minims at Tours in France.
St. Francis of Paola became famous and was sought out by others for his prophecies and miracles. The saint worked numerous miracles. He had a favorite ejaculation, one that welled up from the depths of his physical and spiritual being: “Out of love.” This was an all-powerful ejaculation for him and for his companions. “Out of love” the heaviest stone was light; “Out of love” he admonished and punished; “Out of love” he once crossed the sea without a boat. For on a certain occasion the saint wanted to go from the Italian mainland to Sicily. A boat was lying in the harbor. St. Francis asked the owner if he would take him and his companion along on the boat. “If you pay, monk,” the sailor answered sulkily, “I will take you along.” “Out of love,” the saint humbly pleaded; “for I have no money with me.” “Then I have no ship for you,” came the mocking reply. “Out of love,” was St. Francis’ answer, “forgive me if I go away.” He walked about a stone’s throw to the shore, knelt down, and blessed the sea. Then, to the sailor’s great surprise, the saint suddenly stood up, stepped out on the tossing waves, and with firm foot trod over the surging sea. St. Francis sensed that his death was approaching at the age of 91, and returned to living in complete solitude for three months to prepare himself. When he emerged, he gathered a group of the Minim brothers and gave them final instructions for the future of the order. He fell sick on Palm Sunday, 1507 and after receiving Last Rites, received Holy Communion and died while the Passion of Christ was read to him aloud. St. Francis of Paola died on April 2, Good Friday of 1507. Pope Leo X canonized St. Francis of Paola 12 years after his death, in 1519. Although the Minim order lost many of its monasteries in the 18th century during the French Revolution, it continues to exist, primarily in Italy. His feast day is April 2 and he’s the Saint Patron against fire; boatmen; Calabria, Italy (named by Pope John XXIII in 1963); mariners; naval officers; plague epidemics; sailors; sterility; travellers; watermen, Amato; La Chorrera, Panama.
PRAYER: God, the exultation of the humble, You raised St. Francis to the glory of Your Saints. Through his merits and example, grant that we may happily obtain the rewards promised to the humble. Amen. Saint Francis of Paola … pray for us🙏
SAINT MARY OF EGYPT, HERMITESS: Saint Mary of Egypt (344-421) story demonstrates the power of the Church as the home of forgiveness, redemption and mercy. St. Mary of Egypt is known for her conversion and dedication of her life to God, she is seen as a model of repentance. St. Mary of Egypt was a prostitute for 17 years before she received the Eucharist and chose the life of a hermit. Born in 344 A.D., St. Mary of Egypt moved to the city of Alexandria at the tender age of twelve, she left her father’s house that she might be without restraint in her life of debauchery, which she pursued for seventeen years at Alexandria. With the intention of continuing her trade of prostitution, she joined a large group that was making a pilgrimage to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. On the feast day itself, she joined the crowd as it was headed to the church in order to venerate the relic of the True Cross, again with the intention of luring others into sin. When she got to the door of the church, she was unable to enter. A miraculous force propelled her away from the door each time she approached. After trying to get in three or four times, St. Mary of Egypt moved to a corner of the churchyard and began to cry tears of remorse. Then she saw a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary. She prayed to the Holy Mother for permission to enter the church for the purposes of venerating the relic. She promised the Virgin Mother that if she were allowed to enter the church, she would renounce the world and its ways. St. Mary of Egypt entered the church, venerated the relic and returned to the statue outside to pray for guidance. She heard a voice telling her to cross the Jordan River and find rest. She set out and in the evening, she arrived at the Jordan and received communion in a church dedicated to St. John the Baptist.
The next day, she crossed the river and went into the desert east of Palestine, where she lived alone for 47 years, not seeing a single human being and beset by all kinds of temptations, which were mitigated by her prayers to the Blessed Virgin. Then, while making his Lenten retreat, a priest named Zosimus found the hermitess and was impressed by her spiritual knowledge and wisdom. She told him that for seventeen years she was a singer and actress who had sinned and was doing penance in the desert. She said the old songs and scenes had haunted her; but since then she had had perfect peace. At her request, she asked the Holy Man of God to return to the banks of the Jordan on Holy Thursday of the following year and to bring her Communion. The priest was true to his word and returned bearing the Eucharist. St. Mary told him to come back again the next year, but to the place where he had originally met her. When the Priest, Zosimus returned in a year’s time, he found Mary’s corpse upon the sand. On the ground beside it was a written request with an inscription saying, Bury here the body of Mary the sinner. She requested that she be buried accompanied by a statement that she had died one year ago, in 421 A.D., on the very night she had received Holy Communion. Amazed, Zosimus began to dig and was later joined by a lion who helped him finish digging. After burying St. Mary of Egypt, Zosimus returned to his monastery near the Jordan, he told the brethren what he had witnessed and improved the faults of the monks there and the story spread. Her feast day is April 2nd and she’s the Patron Saint of Chastity (warfare against the flesh; deliverance from carnal passions); Demons (deliverance from); Fever; Skin diseases; Temptations of the flesh.
PRAYER: Saint Mary of Egypt, we beseech you to accept our prayer, in the Name of God, for we turn to you in veneration of your holiness and in supplication of your intercession. We also wish to dedicate our lives to the Virgin Mother and to go wherever she directs us. In this way, we shall be blessed with true happiness and inherit the Kingdom of Heaven. For this we pray, and for this we thank you and all the saints in Heaven. Amen. Saint Mary of Egypt ~ Pray for us🙏
PRAYER INTENTIONS: We thank God for blessing us all with the gift of His precious son, may we be saved by the name of our Savior Jesus Christ! May the Lord grant us His grace as we continue to serve Him in spirit and in truth and as we come to the end of our Lenten Season. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary, and the Saints on this feast day, we humbly pray for the sick and dying. We particularly pray for sick children, those who are sick with convulsive disorder, mental illness, strokes, heart diseases, and those suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. May God restore them to good health and grant them His Divine healing and intervention. May our Mother Mary comfort them, may the Angels and Saints watch over them and may the Holy Spirit guide them in peace and comfort during this challenging time. We pray for the safety and well-being of us all and our families, for peace, love and unity in our families, our marriages and our divided and conflicted world. Every life is a gift. We pray for God’s deliverance from impossible causes or situations. We pray for the souls in Purgatory and the repose of the gentle souls of all the faithful departed, may the Lord receive them into the light of Eternal Kingdom. Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord. And let perpetual light shine upon them. May their gentle souls through the mercy of God rest in peace with our Lord Jesus Christ Amen. For all widows and widowers. And we continue to pray for our Holy Father, Pope Francis, the Bishops, the Clergy and all those who preach the Gospel. For vocations to the priesthood and religious life, for the Church, for persecuted Christians, for all the innocent who suffer violence due to political or religious unrest, for the conversion of sinners and Christians all over the world. Amen🙏
“SCRIPTURE REFLECTIONS”
Bible Readings for today, Tuesday in the Octave of Easter | USCCB | https://bible.usccb.org/daily-bible-reading
Gospel Reading ~ John 20:11–18
“I have seen the Lord, and He said these things to me”
“Mary Magdalene stayed outside the tomb weeping. And as she wept, she bent over into the tomb and saw two angels in white sitting there, one at the head and one at the feet where the Body of Jesus had been. And they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken my Lord, and I don’t know where they laid him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus there, but did not know it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” She thought it was the gardener and said to him, “Sir, if you carried him away, tell me where you laid him, and I will take him.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni,” which means Teacher. Jesus said to her, “Stop holding on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and then reported what he had told her.”
Today’s Gospel reading gives an account of the Lord’s resurrection and His appearance to Mary Magdalene. Mary Magdalene witnessed the Lord’s suffering and death on the cross, and she was distraught when she found out that the Lord’s Body had disappeared from His tomb due to His Resurrection. That was when the Lord showed Himself to her in all of His risen glory, although she did not initially recognise Him likely because she was still distraught, until the Lord called her and revealed Himself to her. Mary believed in the Lord and she proclaimed the news of the Lord’s resurrection to the other disciples, the Apostles. In this way is why she is also known as the Apostle to the Apostles. She told them all of what she had seen and experienced, revealing the Risen Lord to the disciples, with great joy and courage. Mary Magdalene did exactly the same as what St. Peter had done, in proclaiming the truth of the Lord and turning people on the their ways towards the Lord and His salvation. This is exactly what each one of us are called to do as well. It is all these revelations and truth which the Lord has revealed to His disciples and followers, through His other appearances throughout the period between His Resurrection and Ascension into Heaven, witnessed by many of His followers, which reassured and strengthened them in their faith in God.
In our first reading today, from the Acts of the Apostles of the testimony of faith which was delivered by St. Peter the Apostle to the people assembled in Jerusalem for the festival of the Pentecost. St. Peter told the people to be faithful in the Lord and to believe in Him, for everything that He had done for the sake of His beloved people. God has given us such a great and unsurpassed gift in His Son, Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour, that He has done everything, even to the point of enduring the worst of sufferings, punishments, humiliation and pain for our sake. He did not hold Himself back from doing all these because He truly loved us. And through His death and resurrection, Christ has broken the doors of death, and the chains of sin that had long kept the people of God enslaved and suffering under their dominion and power. St. Peter called all those people to turn towards the Lord and to discover the love by which God has rescued them from the darkness of sin and evil in this world. He courageously proclaimed the truth despite having no proper education, and despite having hidden himself with the other disciples earlier on due to the opposition and oppression by the Jewish authorities. That is because as the power of the Holy Spirit was working through him, St. Peter allowed himself to be the witness of the Lord’s Resurrection, and to be filled with the courage and strength from the Spirit of God, in bringing the Good News and the truth to the people despite the risks that he had to face in doing so. He spoke with the wisdom and the eloquence that God granted him through the Holy Spirit. And in doing so, he turned the hearts of many towards God, and revealed the great love that God had for all of them, such as shown by Christ’s death on the Cross.
As we reflect on the words of the Sacred Scriptures today, we are all called to reflect again on this Easter Octave, the true meaning of what it means to be Christians. As Christians, each and every one of us are called to serve the Lord with faith and commitment. All of us are called to be missionaries of our Christian faith in our world today, to proclaim the Risen Lord in our respective communities and among all those whom we encounter each day and at each moments of our lives. May God, our Risen Lord and Saviour, bless us all and be with us always, and may He strengthen each and every one of us that we may always be strong and be able to persevere despite the trials, challenges and difficulties that we may encounter in our path towards Him. May God in His infinite grace and mercy, grant us the grace and bless all of our actions and works, that in all things we will always glorify Him and bring His truth to ever more and more people, throughout the world, and bring the salvation He has promised us to those who have not yet known Him. Amen🙏
Let us pray:
My risen and ascended Lord, You now reign in Heaven in perfect glory and splendor. Draw me into Your glorious life and invite me to cling to You with all my heart. I invite You, dear Lord, to come and make Your dwelling within me so that I can hold on to You forevermore. Jesus, I trust in You ~ Amen 🙏
Save Us, Savior of the World. Our Blessed Mother Mary and Saint Francis of Paola and St. Mary of Egypt ~ Pray for us🙏
Thanking God for the gift of His Son our Lord Jesus Christ and praying for us all as we continue to rejoice in the resurrection of our loving Savior, Jesus Christ. We pray for journey mercies for all those traveling during this Easter season. Have a blessed, safe and grace-filled Easter Tuesday🙏
Blessings and Love always, Philomena💖