SATURDAY IN THE OCTAVE OF EASTER

SAINTS OF THE DAY: FEAST DAY ~ APRIL 6, 2024

DIVINE MERCY NOVENA: Novena in preparation for DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY, tomorrow, April 7, 2024. 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 Saturday!

Today concludes our Divine Mercy Novena. We thank God for the successful completion of our Novena to the Divine Mercy. May God grant us His grace and mercy as we prepare to celebrate the DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY!🙏

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 6, 2024 on EWTN” |

Pray “Holy Mass from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | April 6, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary from Lourdes, France” | April 6, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | April 6, 2024 |

Pray “Solemn Novena of the Chaplet of Divine Mercy – Day 9 | from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | Easter Saturday, April 6, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary ALL 20 Mysteriels VIRTUAL🌹JOYFUL🌹LUMINOUS🌹SORROWFUL🌹GLORIOUS” on YouTube |

Today’s Bible Readings: Saturday, April 6, 2024
Reading 1, Acts 4:13-21
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 118:1, 14-15, 16-18, 19-21
Gospel, Mark 16:9-15

NOVENA IN PREPARATION FOR DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY: Novena begins on Good Friday, March 29, 2024 and ends, Saturday, April 6, 2024. Today concludes our Novena. We thank God for the successful completion of our Divine Mercy Novena 🙏

DAY 9: Today, Easter Saturday is the ninth 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: As we continue to rejoice in the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, today, we celebrate the Memorial of Saint Eutychius, Patriarch of Constantinople; Saint Juliana of Mount Cornillon, Religious (Patron Saint of Devotion to the Blessed Sacrament) and Saint Phaolo Le Bao Tinh, Priest. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints on this feast day, we humbly pray for the sick, we particularly pray for those who are terminally ill, may God in His infinite grace and mercy grant them His divine healing and intervention. We pray for the conversion of sinners and for all Christians and for all those traveling during this season of Easter. Amen🙏

SAINT EUTYCHIUS, PATRIARCH OF CONSTANTINOPLE: St. Eutychius (512 – 582) was the patriarch of Constantinople from 552 to 565, and from 577 to 582. He was born in Phrygia about 512 of pious and devout parents. His father was an officer. Once, as a child, when Eutychius was playing with his playmates, their game was that each of them would write their names on a wall and, beside their name, they would guess what rank each of them would attain in life. When it was Eutychius’ turn he wrote: Eutychius–Patriarch! In his thirtieth year he became abbot of the monastery in Amasea. At age forty, he was sent by the Metropolitan of Amasea to represent him at the Fifth Ecumenical Council [Constantinople, 553 A.D.]. At the Council, he glowed like a shining star among the Fathers of the Church both in learning as well as in his zealousness. When the debate began whether heretics could be anathematized after their deaths, he supported the opinion that they could be by calling upon the Third Book of Kings (in some translations, called The First Book of Kings 13: 1-8 and the Fourth Book of Kings (in some translations, called The Second Book of Kings 23:16). St.

St. Eutychius endeared himself greatly to Emperor Justinian and Patriarch Mennas. The emperor sought his advice on many occasions and Patriarch Mennas designated Eutychius as his successor and implored the emperor to carry this out in deed. And so it happened! St. Eutychius governed the Church in peace for twelve years. Then the devil raised up a tempest against him. This tempest reached Justinian himself. The emperor became deluded and succumbed to the Monophysite heresy (Aphtartodocetea) which falsely taught that the Lord Jesus, before His resurrection, had a divine and incorruptible body, without feeling, hunger, thirst or pain. St. Eutychius adamantly stood up against this heresy, for which the emperor banished him into exile to his original monastery. St. Eutychius remained there for twelve years and eight months and proved himself to be a great miracle-worker healing people of various illnesses through prayer and by anointing them with holy oil. Emperor Justinian repented and died. He was succeeded by Justin II, who then restored St. Eutychius in 577AD to the patriarchal throne where this saint remained, governing the Church of God in peace, until his death. On his deathbed, the holy Patriarch admitted his error. On April 5, 582 A.D., in his seventieth year, he took up habitation in the kingdom of Christ the Lord, Whom he faithfully and courageously served throughout his entire life.

PRAYER: You lived like an angel on earth, O Eutychius vessel of grace; Your words and deeds confirmed the divine gift bestowed on you. By your intercessions preserve the Church from all necessity. In truth you were revealed to your flock as a rule of faith, an image of humility and a teacher of abstinence; your humility exalted you; your poverty enriched you. Hierarch Father Eutychius, entreat Christ our God  that our souls may be saved. O God, You made St. Eutychius an outstanding exemplar of Divine love and the Faith that conquers the world, and added him to the roll of saintly pastors. Grant by his intercession that we may persevere in Faith and love and become sharers in his glory. Amen🙏

SAINT JULIANA OF MOUNT CORNILLON, RELIGIOUS: St. Juliana of Mount Cornillon, also known as Juliana of Liege (1193-1258) was born near Liege, Belgium. She was a medieval Norbertine canoness regular and mystic in what is now Belgium. Traditional scholarly sources have long recognized her as the promoter of the Feast of Corpus Christi, first celebrated in Liège in 1246, and later adopted for the Catholic Church in 1264. Bl. Juliana was orphaned at the age of five. She and her sister Agnes were raised by the nuns at the convent of Mount Cornillon near Liege. She made rapid progress in virtue and grew in love for the Passion of Christ, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the Blessed Sacrament. Bl. Juliana read the works of Saint Augustine and Saint Bernard while she was still very young. At the age of thirteen she became an Augustinian 
nun at Liege, Belgium in 1206. She devoted herself to caring for the sick in the convent‘s hospital. She eventually became the Prioress of the convent at Mount Cornillon in 1225.

St. Juliana, received visions from our Lord Jesus Christ, who pointed out that there was no feast in honour of the Blessed Sacrament. Taught in repeated visions that Our Lord wanted a liturgical feast in honor of the Holy Eucharist to be established, she worked diligently to have the feast of Corpus Christi instituted for the Universal Church, a task for which she endured much opposition. She was forced to flee her convent after its general superior excited the populace against her and her visions. The messages she received led to being branded a visionary, and accused of mismanagement of hospital funds. An investigation by the bishop exonerrated her; she was returned to her position, and he introduced the feast of Corpus Christi in Liege in 1246. On the bishop‘s death in 1248, St. Juliana was driven from Mount Cornillon, ending her life in seclusion. St. Juliana was full of joy, to see her vision made real. She was eager to see the Feast of the Blessed Sacrament extended throughout the whole church!  But she was not blessed to see this take place. She passed the last few years of her life in solitude and died on April 5, 1258 of natural causes at Fosses and buried at Villiers, France. She was canonized on 1869 by Pope Blessed Pius IX (cultus confirmed). She was a friend of Blessed Eva of Liege, who worked for the acceptance of the new feast. The feast of Corpus Christi was finally instituted six years after her death by Pope Urban IV, who also commissioned Saint Thomas Aquinas to prepare the magnificent texts for the feast’s Office and Mass and was sanctioned for the whole Church by Pope Urban IV in 1264. The feast  became mandatory in the Roman Church in 1312. St. Juliana feast day is April 6 and she’s the Patron Saint of Devotion to the Blessed Sacrament.

St. Juliana of Mount Cornillon ~ Pray for us🙏

SAINT PHAOLO LE BAO TINH, PRIEST: St. Phaolo was born in 1793 at Trinh-Ha village, Thanh Hoa Province, now Vietnam, to wealthy parents. As a child he studied under a local Confucian scholar, until his parents sent him at twelve years of age to the Catholic seminary at Ke-Vinh.
The seminary described St. Phaolo as prayerful, ascetical and studious. He enjoyed reading the lives of saints and reminded everyone that they also were called to be saints. St. Phaolo felt called to live as a hermit and left the seminary to live in a cave, surviving on rice and fruit, passing his days in prayer and mortification. The local Bishop then asked St. Phaolo to help in the work of bringing missionary priests back to the area. After this, he settled down in the mountains of Laos, mixing missionary work with being a reclusive hermit. When persecution of Christians broke out in 1841, Phaolo was arrested by government officials and he spent the next seven years in prison at Hanoi. Shortly after receiving the death sentence he wrote to a seminarian describing his experience in prison:

“I, Paul, bound in chains for the sake of Christ, send to you from prison salutations which are many and final.… The prison is truly a living example of hell: to chains, shackles and manacles, are added anger, vengeance, lies, obscene conversations, brawls, evil acts, swearing, slander, plus boredom, sadness, mosquitoes and flies….I write these things so that your hearts might burst with desire to be martyrs, and that your prayers might strengthen me, who lives in the arena of combat.”

Emperor Thieu Tri in 1848, commuted St. Phaolo’s sentence from death to perpetual exile in Phu Yen Province. At the end of the same year the new Emperor, Tu Duc, granted an amnesty to all exiles. St. Phaolo then travelled to the seminary at Ke-Vinh, where he renewed his studies, later being ordained a priest. After exercising his priestly ministry until 1855, some mandarins complained to the governor about Christians and St. Phaolo was arrested again. For working as a priest, he was classed as a criminal and was sentenced to be decapitated. Early next day he was led to the place of execution. His last words were: “The religion of the Heavenly Master is perfectly true, even though our king and the sovereigns of other nations persecute it and wish to destroy it. But this religion will be victorious, and in the future it will count more adherents than it ever has had in the past.” The executioner then came with his sword and the death sentence was carried out. Overall, St Paul’s spirituality had centred on the Cross of Jesus and the practice of prayer and asceticism. St Paul Le-Boa Tinh was canonized a saint by Pope John Paul II in 1988.

Saint Phaolo Le Bao Tinh ~ 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 during this Easter 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, Saturday in the Octave of Easter | USCCB | https://bible.usccb.org/daily-bible-reading

Gospel Reading ~ Mark 16:9–15

“Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature”

“When Jesus had risen, early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had driven seven demons. She went and told his companions who were mourning and weeping. When they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe. After this He appeared in another form to two of them walking along on their way to the country. They returned and told the others; but they did not believe them either. But later, as the Eleven were at table, He appeared to them and rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart because they had not believed those who saw Him after He had been raised. He said to them, “Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.”

In today’s Gospel reading, the first disciples found it very difficult to believe reports that Jesus who had been crucified was now alive. When Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene and she went and told the disciples what had happened, they were in such deep mourning that they did not believe her. When Jesus appeared to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus and they went and told the disciples their news, they did not believe them either. It was only when the risen Lord appeared to the group of disciples themselves that they finally believed that Jesus who was crucified was now living with a new quality of life. On that occasion, the risen Lord rebuked them for refusing to believe the witness of those to whom He had appeared. We are asked to do what the original disciples failed to do, to believe that Jesus is risen on the basis of the witness of those to whom the risen Lord appeared. We find this witness in the Gospels and in the letters of Paul. Our belief in the risen Lord is also based on His coming to us personally. He may not appear to us in the way He appeared to the first disciples, but He touches our own lives in a very personal way. We are to belief on the basis of the written testimony of the first eye witnesses, and on the basis of our own personal experience of the risen Lord’s presence in our lives. The risen Lord who comes to us sends us out in the same way He sent out the disciples in today’s Gospel reading, to ‘proclaim the good news (of Easter) to all creation’.

In our first reading today, St. Peter and Saint John courageously spoke up and preached about the Risen Lord to all the people who witnessed the miracle and then later on to all the members of the Sanhedrin who opposed the Lord and His Apostles. The Sanhedrin upon listening to the words that St. Peter had spoken courageously before them, revealing the folly and error of their actions in having persecuted the Lord and His disciples. In their discussion and debate with each other, the members of the Sanhedrin could not agree on how to deal with the Apostles and their actions in preaching about the Resurrected Christ and the miracles that they had performed in His Name. They wanted to stop them and to order them not to do it again, but at the same time, they knew that what the Apostles had performed, all the miraculous occasions and healings performed had been witnessed by so many people that it would have been impossible for the Sanhedrin to refute and deny that the miracles had occurred. They should have been the first ones to believe in the Lord and to welcome Him and His disciples. Yet, most of them except some like Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea chose to ignore the truth, hardened their hearts and minds, preferring to continue in their prejudices and in their judgmental attitudes towards the Lord. They saw the Lord as a great rival and threat to their power, influence and privileges in the community, and hence, they tried their best to curb the spread of the news and the truth behind the Resurrection, but they could not stop the Apostles and the other disciples from speaking up despite the threats and other efforts they made. And that was because the Lord was with His servants, and His Spirit strengthened them, giving them the courage to go up against even the opposition from the powerful Sanhedrin and others.

As we reflect on the words of the Sacred Scriptures today, we are reminded again of our obligation as Christians, as those who believe in the Lord’s resurrection and triumphant victory over sin and death, to be His witnesses and missionaries in our world today, in proclaiming His truth and love among all the people, continuing the many good works that His Apostles and disciples had begun, in all that we have heard in the past one week of this holy Easter Octave, the works of the Apostles in the Acts of the Apostles. Let us all allow the Lord to work through us and with us, and let us walk faithfully in His path, doing our very best to be good role models for our fellow brothers and sisters, for all those who have not yet seen the Lord’s truth or known about His salvation and grace. May God in His infinite grace and mercy, grant us His grace and may all of us be the beacons of the Light of our Risen Lord and Saviour, and may He strengthen us all to walk ever more dedicatedly in His presence, now and always. Amen🙏

Let us pray:

My most merciful God, You love the sinner and hate the sin. You love me in ways that are beyond my understanding. Help me to understand how deeply You love my heart when I completely repent. And help me to see my heart only through Your eyes. I thank You for Your love and mercy, dear Lord. Help me to love You all the more. Jesus, I trust in You ~ Amen🙏

Save Us, Savior of the World. Our Blessed Mother Mary and Saint Eutychius, Saint Juliana of Mount Cornillon, and Saint Phaolo Le Bao Tinh ~ 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. Have a blessed, safe and grace-filled Easter Saturday and relaxing weekend🙏

Blessings and Love always, Philomena💖