Sts. Peter, Paul united in Good News

The tradition of honoring these saints on the same day goes back to the early Church. “Both apostles share the same feast day, for these two were one; and even though they suffered on different days, they were as one. Peter went first and Paul followed. And so we celebrate this day made holy for us by the apostles’ blood. Let us embrace what they believed, their life, their labors, their sufferings, their preaching and their confession of faith.” — St. Augustine of Hippo in 395 A.D. According to tradition, St. Peter felt he was not worthy to die in the same manner as Jesus More

Sacred Heart: God inviting us into love

The Solemnity of Most Sacred Heart of Jesus is always celebrated during the octave of Corpus Christi or 19 days after Pentecost Sunday. The Sacred Heart of Jesus represents his divine love for humanity, demonstrated most tangibly by the sacrifice of his life for our sins. Though it is a solemnity, it is not a holy day of obligation. Although devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus goes back many centuries, it was not celebrated universally in the Church until 1856 when Pope Pius IX made it a solemnity. "Jesus knew and loved us each and all during his life, his agony and his passion, and gave himself up More

John the Baptist prophesied from womb

Besides the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. John the Baptist is the only other saint with a feast day celebrating his birth. Though it is a solemnity, the feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist is not a holy day of obligation. That being said, the mysteries of his birth and the prominent role he played in the life of Christ hold special significance in the Church. His feast has been observed by the Church as early as the fourth century. From the moment of conception, a relationship was established between Jesus and John. An angel appeared to an elderly Zechariah and told him his wife More