Understanding the Day
Season
Eastertide
Week
Week 4 of Eastertide
Rank
Feast
Eastertide is the fifty-day season from Easter Sunday to Pentecost, a time when the Church rejoices in Christ’s Resurrection and the new life it brings. A celebration placed in the fourth week of Eastertide participates in this ongoing Easter joy, focusing the family’s prayer on resurrection hope and growth in holiness.
The rank “Double” is an older term from traditional calendars meaning this feast is more important than simple commemorations. There is no octave or vigil noted here, so the celebration stands on its appointed day without an extended eight-day observance or required vigil.
St. Paul of the Cross is honored as a confessor — a saint who lived a holy life and taught others by word and example.
The rank “Double” is an older term from traditional calendars meaning this feast is more important than simple commemorations. There is no octave or vigil noted here, so the celebration stands on its appointed day without an extended eight-day observance or required vigil.
St. Paul of the Cross is honored as a confessor — a saint who lived a holy life and taught others by word and example.
Introit (Daily Prayer)
Gal 2:19-20
With Christ I am nailed to the cross. And I live, now not I; but Christ liveth in me. And that I live now in the flesh: I live in the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered himself for me, alleluja, alleluja.
Ps 40:2
Blessed is he that understandeth concerning the needy and the poor: the Lord will deliver him in the evil day.
Glory Be to the Father…
With Christ I am nailed to the cross. And I live, now not I; but Christ liveth in me. And that I live now in the flesh: I live in the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered himself for me, alleluja, alleluja.
Ps 40:2
Blessed is he that understandeth concerning the needy and the poor: the Lord will deliver him in the evil day.
Glory Be to the Father…
Lord Jesus Christ, Who didst gift thine holy servant Paul with great love that he might preach the mystery of thy cross, and hast been pleased that through him a new family should grow up in thy Church, grant unto us at his prayers that upon earth we may so call thy sufferings to mind as worthily to gain the fruit thereof in heaven.
Who livest…
Who livest…
Weekly Prayer
Confiteor
I confess to almighty God and to you, my brothers and sisters, that I have greatly sinned in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done and in what I have failed to do,
through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault;
therefore I ask blessed Mary ever-Virgin, all the angels and saints, and you, my brothers and sisters, to pray for me to the Lord our God.
through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault;
therefore I ask blessed Mary ever-Virgin, all the angels and saints, and you, my brothers and sisters, to pray for me to the Lord our God.
Weekly Formation
Commandment 1
The Ten Commandments
I am the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not have strange gods before Me.
The First Commandment requires the worship, faith, hope, and love owed to God alone. A strange god is not only an idol, but anything treated as more important than God or trusted in place of His providence.
Saint & Feast
Principal celebration
Paul of the Cross
St. Paul of the Cross, Confessor
Italian mystic (1694-1775)
- Born
- 1694-01-03 · Ovada
- Died
- 1775-10-18 · Rome
Paul of the Cross, CP was an Italian Catholic mystic, and founder of the Passionists.
Learn more about Paul of the CrossCommemorationCalendar title
Day 7 within the Octave of St. Joseph
A biography or feast reflection has not yet been prepared.
Today in Church History
Death of Saint Paul of the Cross
1775EventSaint Paul of the Cross, founder of the Passionists (Congregation of the Passion), died in Rome. He dedicated his life to preaching the Passion of Christ and established a religious order focused on contemplating Christ's sufferings. He was canonized by Pope Pius IX in 1867.
Saint Paul of the Cross teaches us that meditating on Christ's Passion transforms our hearts.
Catechism
Catechism of the Catholic Church
In the Catechism, we learn that Jesus’ Resurrection is unlike the return to ordinary earthly life experienced by those he raised before Easter. In his risen body, he passes from death to a new life beyond time and space. His body still bears the marks of his Passion, showing that it is truly the same body that was crucified, yet it also has the new properties of a glorious body and is filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. The Resurrection is a real event, witnessed through the empty tomb and the apostles’ encounters with the risen Christ, while still remaining a mystery that transcends history and human senses. Jesus revealed himself to his disciples in ways meant to awaken their faith. As a family, we can prayerfully contemplate Christ’s suffering, death, and risen glory, trusting in the Father’s power revealed in raising his Son.
At the end of time, the Kingdom of God will come in its fullness. After the universal judgment, the righteous will reign forever with Christ, glorified in body and soul, and the universe itself will be renewed. This “new heavens and a new earth” will fulfill God’s plan to bring all things together in Christ. God will dwell among his people, and there will be no more death, mourning, crying, or pain. United with Christ, the redeemed will share lasting happiness, peace, and communion with God and one another. As we await this fulfillment, the hope of a new earth should not lessen our concern for this world, but spur us to work for the better ordering of human society. Our earthly efforts, offered according to the Lord’s command and in his Spirit, point toward the eternal kingdom Christ will present to the Father.
¶ 650
The Fathers contemplate the Resurrection from the perspective of the divine person of Christ who remained united to his soul and body, even when these were separated from each other by death: "By the unity of the divine nature, which remains present in each of the two components of man, these are reunited. For as death is produced by the separation of the human components, so Resurrection is achieved by the union of the two."