Understanding the Day
Season
Eastertide
Week
Week 1 of Eastertide
Rank
First-class feast
Eastertide is the fifty-day season from Easter Sunday to Pentecost, a prolonged celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus. Day 3 within the Octave of Easter falls on the third day after Easter Sunday and remains fully within the Church’s immediate rejoicing over Christ’s rising. The rank "Double of the I Class" is a traditional way of indicating a very high liturgical importance: in plain terms, this day is treated with the same solemnity as the other principal celebrations of the Octave, with the Mass and Office reflecting Easter joy rather than ordinary weekday observance. An octave means the eight days beginning with Easter Sunday are liturgically one extended celebration; each day is a continuation of Easter, not a separate feast.
Introit (Daily Prayer)
Sir 15:3-4
He gave them the water of wholesome wisdom to drink, alleluia; and it shall be made strong in him, and shall not be moved, alleluia, and it shall exalt them forever, allelúja, allelúja.
Ps 104:1
Give glory to the Lord, and call upon his name: declare his deeds among the Gentiles.
Glory Be to the Father…
He gave them the water of wholesome wisdom to drink, alleluia; and it shall be made strong in him, and shall not be moved, alleluia, and it shall exalt them forever, allelúja, allelúja.
Ps 104:1
Give glory to the Lord, and call upon his name: declare his deeds among the Gentiles.
Glory Be to the Father…
O God, Who art ever multiplying the Children of thy Church, grant unto the same thy servants that they may lead the rest of their lives according to this beginning wherein Thou hast given them faith to receive the Sacrament of the New Birth.
Through our Lord…
Through our Lord…
Weekly Prayer
Act of Hope
O my God, relying on Thy almighty power and infinite mercy and promises, I hope to obtain pardon of my sins, the help of Thy grace, and life everlasting, through the merits of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Redeemer.
Weekly Formation
Beatitude 7
The Beatitudes
Blessed are the peacemakers; for they shall be called the children of God.
Peacemakers establish the tranquility of right order by reconciling persons to God, to truth, and to one another. Christian peace is therefore more than avoiding conflict; it rests on justice and charity and does not purchase quiet by cooperation with evil.
Saint & Feast
Principal celebrationCalendar title
Day 3 within the Octave of Easter
A biography or feast reflection has not yet been prepared.
Today in Church History
Rwandan Genocide and the Catholic Church's Response
1994EventThe Rwandan genocide of 1994 had profound implications for the Catholic Church, as many clergy were implicated in the violence, while others sought to protect victims. The Church faced scrutiny over its role and the need for reconciliation in the aftermath of the tragedy.
In times of crisis, the Church is called to be a beacon of hope and reconciliation.
Catechism
Catechism of the Catholic Church
The Resurrection of Jesus is the crowning truth of faith in Christ, fulfilling what God promised to the fathers and standing at the heart of the Paschal mystery with the cross. The New Testament bears witness that it is a real historical event. The empty tomb, while not proof by itself, was an essential sign that led the disciples toward recognizing the Resurrection. Mary Magdalene and the holy women were the first to encounter the Risen One and to bring this message to the apostles; Jesus then appeared to Peter, the Twelve, and many others. Though the disciples were at first saddened, frightened, and slow to believe, their faith in the Resurrection was born, through divine grace, from their direct experience of the risen Jesus. As we reflect together, may we receive this central truth of faith with the witnesses who handed it on.
The Catechism teaches that through Baptism, Christians become the People of God and share, each in their own way, in Christ’s priestly, prophetic, and royal office. All the faithful have equal dignity and cooperate in building up the Body of Christ, according to each person’s condition and function. The Church’s diversity of ministries serves her unity and mission: ordained ministers teach, sanctify, and govern in Christ’s name, while the laity have their own assignment in the Church and in the world. Christ is the source of ministry in the Church, and sacramental ministry is a service, modeled on Christ who took the form of a servant. As we reflect together, we can give thanks for the different ways God calls the faithful to serve the one mission of the Church.
Christ established the Twelve as an apostolic college, with Peter at their head. Peter, the rock of the Church and shepherd of the whole flock, received the keys of the Church; the apostles’ pastoral office continues in the bishops under the primacy of the Pope. As Peter’s successor, the Pope is the perpetual and visible source and foundation of unity among the bishops and the whole company of the faithful, with full, supreme, and universal power over the Church. United with the Pope, bishops serve as visible sources of unity in their own particular Churches, caring for their people with priests and deacons while also sharing concern for all the Churches—especially the poor, those persecuted for the faith, and missionaries. This structure shows the Church’s unity: many local Churches and bishops gathered under one head.