From My Book of the Church's Year, by Enid M. Chadwick; Forward by Peter Kwasniweski, PhD.
30 April 2026
Feasts of Early May
This was published prior to 1955, when Pius XII introduced today's Feast of St Joseph the Worker to counteract the Communists' International Labour Day/May Day. Ss Philip & James are kept on the 11th.
DOJ Releases Extensive Report on How the Democratic Administration Persecuted Traditional Catholics
And, this was under a self-proclaimed "devout Catholic!" President! How is it different from a Godless President, actively persecuting the Church?
From Rorate Cæli
The report was released yesterday; it is a massive nearly 600-page document on just how targeted all believing Christians were by the Biden Administration, and Traditional Catholics are at the center of it:
Key Finding 2: The Biden Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) investigated, monitored,tracked, and scrutinized traditional Catholics who had engaged in no criminal misconduct. FBI’s Richmond, Virginia, Field Office was at the forefront of this effort. It justified its actions through misplaced reliance on baseless allegations from the Southern Poverty Law Center and the religious affiliation of a single law enforcement target who happened to identify himself as a “radical traditional Catholic.” In response, the Richmond Field Office conducted a low-level investigation of the target’s local church and began to consider traditional Catholics as potential violent extremists or domestic terrorists based on their preferred popes, devotion to the Traditional Latin Mass, and views on abortion, immigration, and human sexuality. (p. ii)
An image from the report at the time:
(Exhibit 3.1.005)
The persecution of nuns was relentless as well.
The full report is available here. The DOJ press release is here.
Worthy of His Hire
Appropriate for the Feast of St Joseph the Worker/International Labour Day, here is a chapter from The Church and Labor (sic).
From The Imaginative Conservative
By Fr John A. Ryan (R+I+P), STD
For the wage-earner of today, access to the resources of nature can be had only through wages. This means that the industrial community in which he lives, and for which he labors, shall provide him with the requisites of a decent livelihood in the form of living wages.
When we consider man’s position in relation to the bounty of nature, we are led to accept three fundamental principles. The first may be thus stated: Since the earth was intended by God for the support of all persons, all have essentially equal claims upon it, and essentially equal rights of access to its benefits. On the one hand, God has not declared that any of His children have superior or exceptional claims to the earth. On the other hand, all persons are made in the image and likeness of God, composed of the same kind of body and soul, affected by the same needs, and destined for the same end. Therefore they are all equally important in His sight. They are all equally persons, endowed with intrinsic worth and dignity, ends in themselves, not instruments to the welfare of others. Hence they stand upon an essentially equal footing with regard to the animal, plant, and mineral bounty of the earth. This bounty is a common gift, possession, heritage. The moral claims upon it held by these equal human persons are essentially equal. No man can vindicate for himself a superior claim on the basis of anything that he finds in himself, in nature or in the designs of nature’s God.
Nevertheless, this equal right of access to the earth is not absolute. It is conditioned upon labor, upon the expenditure of useful and fruitful energy. As a rule, the good things of the earth are obtained in adequate form and quantity only at the cost of considerable exertion. And this exertion is for the most part irksome, of such a nature that men will not perform it except under the compulsion of some less agreeable alternative. The labor to which the earth yields up her treasures is not put forth spontaneously and automatically. Therefore, the equal and inherent right of men to possess the earth and utilize its benefits becomes actually valid only when they are willing to expend productive energy and labor. This is the second fundamental principle.
Obviously we are speaking here of the original rights of men to the earth, not of those rights which they have acquired through the possession of private property. The rights in question are those which inhere in all men, whether or not they are private owners.
From the two principles of equal right of access to the earth, and universal obligation to perform a reasonable amount of useful labor, follows a third fundamental principle. It is that men who at any time or in any way control the resources of the earth are morally bound to permit others to have access thereto on reasonable terms. Men who are willing to work must be enabled to make real and actual their original and equal right of access to the common bounty of nature. For the right to subsist from the earth implies the right actually to participate in its benefits on reasonable conditions and through reasonable arrangements. Otherwise the former right is a delusion. To refuse any man reasonable facilities to exercise his basic right of living from the common bounty by his labor is to treat this right as non-existent. Such conduct by the men who are in possession implies a belief that their rights to the gifts of God are inherently superior to the right of the person whom they exclude. This position is utterly untenable. It is on exactly the same basis as would be the claim of a strong man to deprive a weak one of liberty. The right to freedom of movement is not more certain nor more indestructible than the right of access on reasonable terms to the bounty of the earth. Were a community to imprison an innocent man it would not violate his rights more vitally than does the proprietor or the corporation that deprives him of reasonable access to the resources of nature. In both cases the good that he seeks is a common gift of God.
This, then, is the moral basis underlying the laborer’s right to a living wage. Like all other men, he has an indestructible right of access to the goods of the earth on reasonable terms. Obviously, the conditional clause, “on reasonable terms,” is of very great importance. Neither the laborer nor anyone else has a right of direct and unconditional access to those portions of the earth that have rightly become the property of others. Such a claim would be the height of unreason. The laborer’s right to participate in the common heritage must be actualized in such a way as not to interfere with the equally valid rights of others. The laborer’s right must be satisfied with due regard to existing acquired rights and the existing form of industrial organization.
From this principle to the principle that the laborer has a right to a living wage, the transition is logical and certain. Pope Leo XIII declared that the laborer’s right to a living wage arises from the fact that his wage is his only means of livelihood. Owing to the manner in which the goods of the earth have been divided and appropriated in the present organization of industrial society, the wage-earner has no way of exercising his original and equal right of access to the earth except through the sale of his labor in return for wages. An occasional worker might get a livelihood by cultivating a piece of land, but the cost is so great that only those can defray it who are already receiving more than living wages. If such an opportunity and alternative were general, the living wage would not be a practical question. Men would not hire themselves out for less than that amount when they could obtain a decent livelihood by employing themselves on a piece of land. To assure a laborer that if he does not like to work for less than living wages, he can fall back upon his right of access to the earth by taking up a piece of land, is but to mock him. Such access as he has is evidently not access on reasonable terms.
For the wage-earner of today, therefore, access to the resources of nature can be had only through wages. The men who have appropriated the goods and opportunities of the earth have shut him out from any other way of entering upon his natural heritage. Therefore they are morally bound to use and administer these goods in such a way that his right shall not be violated and his access to the resources of nature not rendered unreasonably difficult. This means that the industrial community in which he lives, and for which he labors, shall provide him with the requisites of a decent livelihood in the form of living wages. On the one hand, the worker has performed a reasonable amount of labor; on the other hand, the industrial community is the beneficiary of his services. In the product which he has created the community has the wherewith to pay him living wages. To refuse him this amount of remuneration is surely to deprive him of access to the earth and to a livelihood on reasonable terms.
It is assumed here that the laborer’s product is sufficiently large to provide this much remuneration, and that the employer would rather pay it than go without the laborer’s services. The case in which the product falls short of this sufficiency will be considered presently. If the employer does not think the laborer worth a living wage, he has a right to discharge him. Otherwise the employer would be treated unreasonably. But when the employer regards the employee as worth a living wage, but refuses to pay it merely because the laborer is economically constrained to work for less, he is surely treating the latter unreasonably. He is depriving the laborer of access to the goods of the earth on reasonable terms. In the striking words of Pope Leo XIII, he is making the laborer “the victim of force and injustice.”
_________
This essay is a chapter from “A Living Wage,” in The Church and Labor. Republished with gracious permission from Cluny Media.
The featured image is “Arbeiterkammer” (1925), by Wilhelm Thöny, and is in the public domain, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
Bishop Challoner's Meditations ~ Friday After the Third Sunday After Easter
Consider first, that as God is our first beginning, forasmuch as we are made by him, so is he also our last end, because we are made for him, and, therefore, as we ought to begin the day with him, by morning prayer, so we ought to end the day in his company, by evening prayer. Morning and evening prayer are like the two daily meals of the soul, that ought not upon any account to be omitted, lest the soul should languish and grow sick for want of her daily food; and if upon any occasion we are hindered from taking these meals at their usual times, we ought to observe what we practise with regard to our bodily’ meals, that is, we must proceed to take them afterwards at the first opportunity. Moreover, as we make it our care that our families and such as are under our charge should not want their daily corporal sustenance, so we ought much more to make it our care that their souls may not starve for want of our assembling them to prayer, or seeing that they are regular in this daily exercise.
Consider 2ndly, that one of the principal businesses of the evening exercise is the daily examination of conscience, which may be made in this manner:
1. Place thyself in the presence of God, bow thyself down and adore him, and give him thanks for all he has done that day for thee and for the whole world.
2.Earnestly beg his light and grace, that thou mayest discover all thy sins and be heartily sorry far them.
3. Endeavour to call to mind how thou hast spent the day from morning till night; what care thou hast taken to discharge thyself well both of the common duties of a Christian, and of the particular duties of thy station or calling; and especially how thou hast behaved thyself with regard to thy customary failings and thy predominant passions.
4. Endeavour to be heartily sorry for all the sins of the day, and for all the sins of thy whole life, known or unknown; go in spirit to the feet of Christ, to make an humble confession of them to him, and implore his mercy.
5. Resolve upon a serious and thorough amendment for the future; determine to begin from that very hour a new life, and think upon the means of accomplishing it. O! how happy are those souls that labour in this manner every night to wash away their sins with penitential tears, and that never venture to lie down to rest under the guilt of sin! Unhappy they who, for want of this precaution, expose themselves every night to the evident danger of dying in their sins, and even finding themselves in hell before morning.
Consider 3rdly, that in order to end the day well, we ought every night to endeavour to put ourselves as much as possible in the condition in which we should be glad to be found at the hour of our death. And therefore, besides offering up to God every night the sacrifice of a contrite and humble heart, for all the sins of our life, the Christian should also think seriously of his last end, and dispose himself for it by acts of a lively faith, and of an entire confidence in his redeemer; by a perfect oblation and resignation of himself to the holy will of God, and by aspiring to an eternal union with him, and in the meantime hiding himself with great affection in the sacred wounds of Jesus Christ, and there composing himself to rest. See, my soul, thou never forget this practice.
Conclude never to neglect any part of this evening exercise, and to see that it be not neglected by any under thy care. A religious performance of this duty will be a great means to secure to thy soul a happy death.
1 May, Antonio, Cardinal Bacci: Meditations For Each Day
The Month of Mary1. It is often said that May is the most beautiful month of the year. The flowers are in full bloom, the weather is mild, and the first fruits of the soil are beginning to reward man's labour. It is fitting that we should dedicate to Mary the most beautiful month of the year, for she is the most beautiful of God's creatures.
We should offer this month to Mary by increasing our love for her. We should love her with a filial love, for she loves us with the heart of a mother. If we contemplate her beauty and goodness, we shall be inflamed with love for her. It will be a tender love such as we have for our earthly mother, and at the same time a respectful and worshipful love such as we ought to have for the Mother of God. Our offering of the month of May to Mary should result in a twofold resolution:—the resolution to make good our failings and to advance in holiness. This is the only way in which we can prove the sincerity of our affection, by deeds rather than by words. It is certain that we have many faults of character. Let us examine ourselves in front of Our Lady's altar by comparing our weakness with her magnificence of soul. When we have discovered our failings, let us be courageous in eradicating them. We can offer this sacrifice to Mary with love and generosity, no matter how hard it may be.
We can spend every day of this month digging out those weeds in the garden of our soul, which our passions and the influence of the devil have helped to flourish. Let us plant and bring to perfection in their place the flowers of Christian virtue. In this way we shall make the month of May very pleasing to Mary.
2. This work of eradicating our faults and replacing them by their opposite virtues is a difficult task which we cannot carry out on our own. Prayer is necessary if we are to obtain the grace which we need. During Mary's month we should beseech our heavenly Mother with greater earnestness to obtain for us from her divine Son the grace which we need to correct the evil in our nature and to perfect it in goodness. Mary wants us to pray to her because she wishes to obtain for us the graces which we require. She loves us very much and is ready to help us to become, like her, living imitations of Jesus in so far as the weakness of our nature will permit. Among our other prayers let us remember to give pride of place to the Rosary, whether we recite it in church or with the family. Let us include at least a quarter of an hour of meditation; a daily visit, however short, to the Blessed Sacrament and to Our Lady's altar; an examination of conscience in the evening; and many ejaculatory prayers during the day which will express our love for Mary and for her divine Son.
3. Holy Mary, my most tender Mother, I love you and desire to love you more and more. I realise that I am spiritually poor and imperfect. You who are close to the all-powerful God, please help me by your favour and intercession. I know that Jesus will grant everything you ask of Him. Obtain for me, therefore, during this month, the grace to eradicate all my vices and to cause to flourish in my soul all the virtues of which I stand in need. Set my heart on fire with the love of God and help me to grow more and more like you and like your divine Son. Amen.
Eastern Rite ~ Feasts of 1 May AM 7534
Today is the Feasts of the Holy Prophet Jeremias, of the Coronation of the Pochaev Icon of the Mother of God, and of the Passing into Eternal Life of Blessed Hieromartyr Klymentii Sheptytsky, Archimandrite of the Studites.
The Holy Prophet Jeremias, one of the four great Old Testament prophets, was the son of the priest Helkias from the city of Anathoth near Jerusalem, and he lived 600 years before the Birth of Christ, under the Israelite king Josias and four of his successors. He was called to prophetic service at the age of fifteen when the Lord revealed to him that even before his birth the Lord had chosen him to be a prophet. Jeremias refused, citing his youth and lack of skill at speaking, but the Lord promised to be always with him and to watch over him.
He touched the mouth of the chosen one and said, “Behold, I have put My words into your mouth. Behold, I have appointed you this day over nations and kingdoms, to root out and to pull down, to destroy and to rebuild, and to plant” (Jer. 1:9-10). From that time Jeremias prophesied for twenty-three years, denouncing the Jews for abandoning the true God and worshipping idols, predicting sorrows and devastating wars. He stood by the gates of the city, and at the entrance to the Temple, everywhere where the people gathered, and he exhorted them with imprecations and often with tears. The people, however, mocked and abused him, and they even tried to kill him.
Depicting for the Jews their impending enslavement to the king of Babylon, Jeremias first placed on his own neck a wooden, and then an iron yoke, and thus he went about among the people. Enraged at the dire predictions of the prophet, the Jewish elders threw the Prophet Jeremias into a pit filled with horrid, slimy creatures, where he almost died. Through the intercession of the God-fearing royal official Habdemelek, the prophet was pulled out of the pit, but he did not cease his prophecies, and for this, he was carted off to prison. Under the Jewish king Zedechias, his prophecy was fulfilled.
Nabuchodonosor came, slaughtered many people, carried off a remnant into captivity, and Jerusalem was pillaged and destroyed. Nabuchodonosor released the prophet from prison and permitted him to live where he wanted. The prophet remained at the ruins of Jerusalem and bewailed his nation’s misfortune. According to Tradition, the Prophet Jeremias took the Ark of the Covenant with the Tablets of the Law and hid it in one of the caves of Mount Nabath (Nebo), so that the Jews could no longer find it (2 Mac. 2). Afterwards, a new Ark of the Covenant was fashioned, but it lacked the glory of the first.
Among the Jews remaining in their fatherland, there soon arose internecine clashes: Hodolias, Nabuchodonosor’s viceroy, was murdered. The Jews, fearing the wrath of Babylon, decided to flee into Egypt. The Prophet Jeremias disagreed with their intention, predicting that the punishment which they feared would befall them in Egypt. The Jews would not listen to the prophet, however, and taking him along by force, they went into Egypt and settled in the city of Tathnis. There the prophet lived for four years and was respected by the Egyptians because by his prayers he killed crocodiles and other creatures infesting these parts. When Jeremias prophesied that the King of Babylon would invade Egypt and annihilate the Jews living there, the Jews murdered him. In that very same year the saint’s prophecy was fulfilled. There is a tradition that 250 years later, Alexander the Great transported the relics of the holy Prophet Jeremias to Alexandria.
The Prophet Jeremias wrote his Book of Prophecies and also the Book of Lamentations about the desolation of Jerusalem and the Exile. The times in which he lived and prophesied are described in 4 Kings (Ch. 23-25) and in the Second Book of Paralipomenon (36:12) and in 2 Machabees (Ch. 2).
In the Gospel of Matthew, it is said that the betrayal of Judas was foretold by the Prophet Jeremias, “And they took thirty pieces of silver, the price of him on whom the sons of Israel had set a price, and they gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord directed me” (Mt. 27:9-10). Perhaps Jeremias 32:6-15 is meant.
Even after his death, the Prophet Jeremias was regarded as a wonderworker. Dust from his tomb was believed to cure snake bite, and many Christians pray to him for this purpose.
Troparion — Tone 2
Celebrating the memory / of Your Prophet Jeremias, O Lord, / for his sake, we entreat You to save our souls.
Kontakion — Tone 3
Cleansing your radiant heart through the Spirit, / O great Prophet and Martyr, / glorious Jeremias, / you received from on high the gift of prophecy. / You cried out with a great voice to the nations: / This is our God, and there is none other besides Him / Who became incarnate and appeared on earth.
The Icon of the Mother of God “The Footprint” at Pochaev was recognised by Clement XIV, Pope of Rome, as miraculous and was Papally Crowned on his orders.
The history of Our Lady of Pochaiv (pronounced Po-cha-yiv) begins in 1198 at the top of Mount Pochayiv in the Carpathian Mountains, about two centuries after Christianity became institutionalised in Ukraine following the conversion of St. Volodymyr.
On April 17, 1198, a monk in the region of Ternopil Oblast ascended Mount Pochaiv to pray. After beginning his prayers, a pillar of fire appeared to him and to some shepherds nearby. The flames withdrew to reveal the Blessed Virgin standing upon the mountain. The apparition left behind a single footprint upon the rock where she stood, and from this rock, a healing spring began to flow.
News of this supernatural event spread to the people of the region, and many who visited the place told of receiving healing from the waters of the spring. The imprint on the rock became known as the Healing Unshod Footprint, while the spring became known for its miraculous healing ability. The previously uninhabited mountain became the site of a monastery dedicated to the miracle, and a song about the apparition has been passed down through generations:
Shepherds on a hill tended their flock;
They beheld the Mother of God on the rock,
And in remembrance of her good
Leaving a footprint where she stood.
Water there now flows from a spring,
Good health, to those who believe, to bring.
Hundreds of years later, the Greek bishop Neophit visited the monastery and left behind a gift — an icon of the Theotokos from Constantinople — for Anna Hoyska, a rich widow who owned the local town and lands. Soon after, the icon reportedly started glowing, and Anna Hoyska’s blind brother is said to have regained his sight after praying in front of it. Donated to the monastery after Hoyska’s death, the icon eventually came to bear the mountain’s name: the Pochaiv Icon of the Mother of God or the Theotokos of Pochaiv (Ukrainian: Почаївська ікона Пресвятої Богородиці). Painted in a late Byzantine style, the image is an Eastern Catholic icon of the Eleusa, or “Tenderness Madonna,” iconographic type. The icon shows Our Lady wearing a crown and holding the infant Jesus. In her other hand, she holds the end of her veil. This being a “tenderness” icon, it shows the faces of Jesus and Mary touching while Jesus gives a blessing with his hand. Mary’s face is sad yet beautiful, and her head leans toward her son, a sign of her loving concern and readiness to help.
The monastery’s chronicles record hundreds of miracles during the icon’s stay, one regarding the invasion of the Turks during the Zbarazh War in 1675. At this time, the people of Pochaiv gathered at the monastery in order to weather the attack. Facing certain death at the hands of the invaders, they prayed and sang hymns to Mary, pleading for protection and help. Legend tells that the Blessed Virgin appeared in the sky along with a host of angels and St. Job of Pochaiv. Mary’s white mantle (or Pokrova) spread over the monastery and terrified the besieging army. The Turks fired arrows into the sky at the apparition, but the arrows fell back and wounded the attackers who shot them. This caused enough confusion among the invaders that they scattered, allowing the people of Pochaiv to turn their enemies back. Against overwhelming odds, the people of Pochaiv achieved victory.
Blessed Hieromartyr Archimandrite Klymentii Sheptytsky was born in 1869 on the Prylbychi estate outside Rava Ruska. He was the younger brother of the Venerable Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky and the Archimandrite of the Order of Studite monks of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. He was educated at home; graduated from St. Anne Gymnasium in Kraków and then from the law department of the university in Kraków. He worked as a lawyer and later became a member of parliament. In 1909 he entered the Order of St. Benedict in Beuron, Germany. In 1910 he enrolled in Innsbruck University (Austria) where he studied philosophy and theology. In 1915 he was ordained a priest of the Eastern Rite in Krizhevci, Croatia. He made his perpetual vows taking the name “Klymentiy.” He was a hieromonk, abbot of Sknyliv Monastery of Studites outside Lviv. In 1919 – during the Civil War – the monastery was burned down. Fr. Klymentiy along with the monastic community managed to make it to Holy Dormition Lavra in Univ; in 1921, to the monastery in Zarvanytsia outside Berezhany, and then later to Lviv. In December 1939 – during the Soviet occupation of Lviv, the monastery was closed and its property confiscated. In the summer of 1941, during the German occupation, under the leadership of Fr. Klymentiy the monastery was reopened and the life of the monastic community reestablished. In October 1944, he gave communion [to the community] and on November 5 along with a group of Basilian Fathers, he took part in the funeral of his brother, Metropolitan Andrey. In the middle of November 1944 Metropolitan Josyf Slypyi appointed him archimandrite of the Studites. In 1947, after the establishment of the Soviet regime in Lviv, Fr. Klymentiy was arrested and charged with “hiding in his monastery partisans who had fought the Soviet regime.” He was transported to Vladimir, then transferred to Kyiv Prison and later to Poltava Prison, where, in 1950 (?) he was sentenced to ten years in a corrective labour camp. He died May 1, 1951, in Vladimir Central Prison. Beatified on June 27, 2001, by Pope John Paul II and awarded the title of Righteous Among the Nations by the State of Israel for saving Jews.
✠✠✠✠✠
The Holy Prophet Jeremias, one of the four great Old Testament prophets, was the son of the priest Helkias from the city of Anathoth near Jerusalem, and he lived 600 years before the Birth of Christ, under the Israelite king Josias and four of his successors. He was called to prophetic service at the age of fifteen when the Lord revealed to him that even before his birth the Lord had chosen him to be a prophet. Jeremias refused, citing his youth and lack of skill at speaking, but the Lord promised to be always with him and to watch over him.
He touched the mouth of the chosen one and said, “Behold, I have put My words into your mouth. Behold, I have appointed you this day over nations and kingdoms, to root out and to pull down, to destroy and to rebuild, and to plant” (Jer. 1:9-10). From that time Jeremias prophesied for twenty-three years, denouncing the Jews for abandoning the true God and worshipping idols, predicting sorrows and devastating wars. He stood by the gates of the city, and at the entrance to the Temple, everywhere where the people gathered, and he exhorted them with imprecations and often with tears. The people, however, mocked and abused him, and they even tried to kill him.
Depicting for the Jews their impending enslavement to the king of Babylon, Jeremias first placed on his own neck a wooden, and then an iron yoke, and thus he went about among the people. Enraged at the dire predictions of the prophet, the Jewish elders threw the Prophet Jeremias into a pit filled with horrid, slimy creatures, where he almost died. Through the intercession of the God-fearing royal official Habdemelek, the prophet was pulled out of the pit, but he did not cease his prophecies, and for this, he was carted off to prison. Under the Jewish king Zedechias, his prophecy was fulfilled.
Nabuchodonosor came, slaughtered many people, carried off a remnant into captivity, and Jerusalem was pillaged and destroyed. Nabuchodonosor released the prophet from prison and permitted him to live where he wanted. The prophet remained at the ruins of Jerusalem and bewailed his nation’s misfortune. According to Tradition, the Prophet Jeremias took the Ark of the Covenant with the Tablets of the Law and hid it in one of the caves of Mount Nabath (Nebo), so that the Jews could no longer find it (2 Mac. 2). Afterwards, a new Ark of the Covenant was fashioned, but it lacked the glory of the first.
Among the Jews remaining in their fatherland, there soon arose internecine clashes: Hodolias, Nabuchodonosor’s viceroy, was murdered. The Jews, fearing the wrath of Babylon, decided to flee into Egypt. The Prophet Jeremias disagreed with their intention, predicting that the punishment which they feared would befall them in Egypt. The Jews would not listen to the prophet, however, and taking him along by force, they went into Egypt and settled in the city of Tathnis. There the prophet lived for four years and was respected by the Egyptians because by his prayers he killed crocodiles and other creatures infesting these parts. When Jeremias prophesied that the King of Babylon would invade Egypt and annihilate the Jews living there, the Jews murdered him. In that very same year the saint’s prophecy was fulfilled. There is a tradition that 250 years later, Alexander the Great transported the relics of the holy Prophet Jeremias to Alexandria.
The Prophet Jeremias wrote his Book of Prophecies and also the Book of Lamentations about the desolation of Jerusalem and the Exile. The times in which he lived and prophesied are described in 4 Kings (Ch. 23-25) and in the Second Book of Paralipomenon (36:12) and in 2 Machabees (Ch. 2).
In the Gospel of Matthew, it is said that the betrayal of Judas was foretold by the Prophet Jeremias, “And they took thirty pieces of silver, the price of him on whom the sons of Israel had set a price, and they gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord directed me” (Mt. 27:9-10). Perhaps Jeremias 32:6-15 is meant.
Even after his death, the Prophet Jeremias was regarded as a wonderworker. Dust from his tomb was believed to cure snake bite, and many Christians pray to him for this purpose.
Troparion — Tone 2
Celebrating the memory / of Your Prophet Jeremias, O Lord, / for his sake, we entreat You to save our souls.
Kontakion — Tone 3
Cleansing your radiant heart through the Spirit, / O great Prophet and Martyr, / glorious Jeremias, / you received from on high the gift of prophecy. / You cried out with a great voice to the nations: / This is our God, and there is none other besides Him / Who became incarnate and appeared on earth.
✠✠✠✠✠
The Icon of the Mother of God “The Footprint” at Pochaev was recognised by Clement XIV, Pope of Rome, as miraculous and was Papally Crowned on his orders.
The history of Our Lady of Pochaiv (pronounced Po-cha-yiv) begins in 1198 at the top of Mount Pochayiv in the Carpathian Mountains, about two centuries after Christianity became institutionalised in Ukraine following the conversion of St. Volodymyr.
On April 17, 1198, a monk in the region of Ternopil Oblast ascended Mount Pochaiv to pray. After beginning his prayers, a pillar of fire appeared to him and to some shepherds nearby. The flames withdrew to reveal the Blessed Virgin standing upon the mountain. The apparition left behind a single footprint upon the rock where she stood, and from this rock, a healing spring began to flow.
News of this supernatural event spread to the people of the region, and many who visited the place told of receiving healing from the waters of the spring. The imprint on the rock became known as the Healing Unshod Footprint, while the spring became known for its miraculous healing ability. The previously uninhabited mountain became the site of a monastery dedicated to the miracle, and a song about the apparition has been passed down through generations:
Shepherds on a hill tended their flock;
They beheld the Mother of God on the rock,
And in remembrance of her good
Leaving a footprint where she stood.
Water there now flows from a spring,
Good health, to those who believe, to bring.
Hundreds of years later, the Greek bishop Neophit visited the monastery and left behind a gift — an icon of the Theotokos from Constantinople — for Anna Hoyska, a rich widow who owned the local town and lands. Soon after, the icon reportedly started glowing, and Anna Hoyska’s blind brother is said to have regained his sight after praying in front of it. Donated to the monastery after Hoyska’s death, the icon eventually came to bear the mountain’s name: the Pochaiv Icon of the Mother of God or the Theotokos of Pochaiv (Ukrainian: Почаївська ікона Пресвятої Богородиці). Painted in a late Byzantine style, the image is an Eastern Catholic icon of the Eleusa, or “Tenderness Madonna,” iconographic type. The icon shows Our Lady wearing a crown and holding the infant Jesus. In her other hand, she holds the end of her veil. This being a “tenderness” icon, it shows the faces of Jesus and Mary touching while Jesus gives a blessing with his hand. Mary’s face is sad yet beautiful, and her head leans toward her son, a sign of her loving concern and readiness to help.
The monastery’s chronicles record hundreds of miracles during the icon’s stay, one regarding the invasion of the Turks during the Zbarazh War in 1675. At this time, the people of Pochaiv gathered at the monastery in order to weather the attack. Facing certain death at the hands of the invaders, they prayed and sang hymns to Mary, pleading for protection and help. Legend tells that the Blessed Virgin appeared in the sky along with a host of angels and St. Job of Pochaiv. Mary’s white mantle (or Pokrova) spread over the monastery and terrified the besieging army. The Turks fired arrows into the sky at the apparition, but the arrows fell back and wounded the attackers who shot them. This caused enough confusion among the invaders that they scattered, allowing the people of Pochaiv to turn their enemies back. Against overwhelming odds, the people of Pochaiv achieved victory.
✠✠✠✠✠
Blessed Hieromartyr Archimandrite Klymentii Sheptytsky was born in 1869 on the Prylbychi estate outside Rava Ruska. He was the younger brother of the Venerable Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky and the Archimandrite of the Order of Studite monks of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. He was educated at home; graduated from St. Anne Gymnasium in Kraków and then from the law department of the university in Kraków. He worked as a lawyer and later became a member of parliament. In 1909 he entered the Order of St. Benedict in Beuron, Germany. In 1910 he enrolled in Innsbruck University (Austria) where he studied philosophy and theology. In 1915 he was ordained a priest of the Eastern Rite in Krizhevci, Croatia. He made his perpetual vows taking the name “Klymentiy.” He was a hieromonk, abbot of Sknyliv Monastery of Studites outside Lviv. In 1919 – during the Civil War – the monastery was burned down. Fr. Klymentiy along with the monastic community managed to make it to Holy Dormition Lavra in Univ; in 1921, to the monastery in Zarvanytsia outside Berezhany, and then later to Lviv. In December 1939 – during the Soviet occupation of Lviv, the monastery was closed and its property confiscated. In the summer of 1941, during the German occupation, under the leadership of Fr. Klymentiy the monastery was reopened and the life of the monastic community reestablished. In October 1944, he gave communion [to the community] and on November 5 along with a group of Basilian Fathers, he took part in the funeral of his brother, Metropolitan Andrey. In the middle of November 1944 Metropolitan Josyf Slypyi appointed him archimandrite of the Studites. In 1947, after the establishment of the Soviet regime in Lviv, Fr. Klymentiy was arrested and charged with “hiding in his monastery partisans who had fought the Soviet regime.” He was transported to Vladimir, then transferred to Kyiv Prison and later to Poltava Prison, where, in 1950 (?) he was sentenced to ten years in a corrective labour camp. He died May 1, 1951, in Vladimir Central Prison. Beatified on June 27, 2001, by Pope John Paul II and awarded the title of Righteous Among the Nations by the State of Israel for saving Jews.
IN LUMINE FIDEI: 1 MAY – FRIDAY OF THE FOURTH WEEK AFTER EASTER
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IN LUMINE FIDEI: 1 MAY – SAINT JOSEPH THE WORKER
1 May, The Chesterton Calendar
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MAY 1st
LABOUR DAY
It may be we shall rise the last as Frenchmen rose the first;Our wrath come after Russia's, and our wrath be the worst.It may be we are set to mark by our riot and our restGod's scorn of all man's governance: it may be beer is best.But we are the people of England, and we never have spoken yet.Mock at us, pay us, pass us; but do not quite forget.
'The Silent People.'
'The Silent People.'
1 May, The Holy Rule of St Benedict, Patriarch of Western Monasticism
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CHAPTER LXXIII. That the whole observance of Perfection is not set down in this Rule
1 May. 31 Aug. 31 Dec.
We have written this Rule, in order that, by observing it in Monasteries, we may shew ourselves to have some degree of goodness of life, and a beginning of holiness. But for him who would hasten to the perfection of religion, there are the teachings of the holy Fathers, the following whereof bringeth a man to the height of perfection. For what page or what word is there in the divinely inspired books of the Old and New Testaments, that is not a most unerring rule for human life? Or what book of the holy Catholic Fathers doth not loudly proclaim how we may by a straight course reach our Creator? Moreover, the Conferences of the Fathers, their Institutes and their Lives, and the Rule of our holy Father Basil - what are these but the instruments whereby well-living and obedient monks attain to virtue? But to us, who are slothful and negligent and of evil lives, they are cause for shame and confusion. Whoever, therefore, thou art that hasteneth to thy heavenly country, fulfil by the help of Christ this least of Rules which we have written for beginners; and then at length thou shalt arrive, under God’s protection, at the lofty summits of doctrine and virtue of which we have spoken above.
2 May, The Roman Martyrology
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Sexto Nonas Maii Luna quinta décima Anno Dómini 2026
May 2nd 2026, the 15th day of the Moon, were born into the better life:
At Alexandria, in the year 373, holy Athanasius, Pope of that city, most illustrious for his holiness and teaching. Nearly the whole world leagued itself together to persecute him for the Catholic Faith. He fought right stoutly against Emperors, Presidents, and Arian Bishops without number, from the time of the Emperor Constantine until that of the Emperor Valens. To escape their plots he became an outcast upon the face of the wide world, and there was nowhere left where he could hide himself in safety. He returned at last to his own church, and after many contendings and many crowns of long-suffering he passed away to be ever with the Lord, in the 46th year of his priesthood, in the time of the Emperors Valentinian and Valens.
At Rome, the holy martyrs Saturninus, Neopolus, German, and Celestine, who suffered many things, and were at last cast into prison, where they slept in the Lord.
Likewise the holy martyrs Exuperius and Zoe his wife, their children Cyriacus and Theodulus, who suffered under the Emperor Hadrian.
At Seville, the holy martyr the Deacon Felix.
Upon the same day, [in the year 489,] the holy martyr Vindemial.
℣. And elsewhere many other holy martyrs, confessors, and holy virgins.
℟. Thanks be to God.
At Alexandria, in the year 373, holy Athanasius, Pope of that city, most illustrious for his holiness and teaching. Nearly the whole world leagued itself together to persecute him for the Catholic Faith. He fought right stoutly against Emperors, Presidents, and Arian Bishops without number, from the time of the Emperor Constantine until that of the Emperor Valens. To escape their plots he became an outcast upon the face of the wide world, and there was nowhere left where he could hide himself in safety. He returned at last to his own church, and after many contendings and many crowns of long-suffering he passed away to be ever with the Lord, in the 46th year of his priesthood, in the time of the Emperors Valentinian and Valens.
At Rome, the holy martyrs Saturninus, Neopolus, German, and Celestine, who suffered many things, and were at last cast into prison, where they slept in the Lord.
Likewise the holy martyrs Exuperius and Zoe his wife, their children Cyriacus and Theodulus, who suffered under the Emperor Hadrian.
At Seville, the holy martyr the Deacon Felix.
Upon the same day, [in the year 489,] the holy martyr Vindemial.
℣. And elsewhere many other holy martyrs, confessors, and holy virgins.
℟. Thanks be to God.
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Traditional Catholic Evening Prayers in English | April
Summa Contra Gentiles Book I: God Knows Things Other Than Himself
Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225 – 7 March 1274), was a Doctor of the Church, Philosopher, Theologian, Jurist, Dominican Friar, and Priest. Known as Doctor Angelicus "Angelic Doctor," and the Doctor Communis "Universal Doctor" his writings serve as a defense and proof of the validity of Christ's authority over all. The Summa contra Gentiles (also known as Liber de veritate catholicae fidei contra errores infidelium, "Book on the truth of the Catholic faith against the errors of the unbelievers"). The Summa contra Gentiles consists of four books. The structure of Saint Thomas's work is designed to proceed from general philosophical arguments for monotheism, to which Muslims and Jews are likely to consent even within their own respective religious traditions, before progressing to the discussion of specifically Christian doctrine. Book I begins with general questions of truth and natural reason, and from chapter 10 investigates the concept of a monotheistic God. Chapters 10 to 13 are concerned with the existence of God, followed by a detailed investigation of God's properties (chapters 14 to 102). When demonstrating a Truth about God which can be known through reason, St. Thomas gives multiple arguments, each proving the same Truth in a different way. Whether you are a history enthusiast, a student of religion, or simply curious about the impact of the Roman Catholic Church on the world, this playlist is designed to provide an informative and engaging journey through its captivating past. Subscribe to the Contemplating History channel for more educational content and immerse yourself in the rich tapestry of history.
Britain Ends Hereditary Lords and Shifts Power to Political Parties
From
Britain has just removed the last hereditary peers from the House of Lords, ending a parliamentary tradition that lasted for more than 700 years.
This video explains what changed, why it matters, and what Britain may have lost in the process.
For generations, hereditary lords sat in Parliament not because they were elected or appointed by party leaders, but because they belonged to an older constitutional order. That order linked monarchy, aristocracy, continuity, and government in a way modern politics increasingly rejects.
Now that final link is being cut.
Supporters call this democratic progress. Critics see something else: the steady transfer of power away from institutions with independent legitimacy and toward the political class and party machinery.
Why Does Truth Depend Upon Being in St. Thomas' Fourth Way?
With Fr Ambrose Little, OP, STB/MDiv, PhL, PhD, Instructor in Philosophy, Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception.
Sad News! ‘Dialogue of the Carmelites’ Nuns To Close Convent
This is horrifying news! What happened to the "NewSpringtime", to the wave of vocations that VII was going to bring? Convents are closing all over the world (except Traditional ones).
From Aleteia
By Mathilde De Robien
The six remaining cloistered Carmelite nuns in Jonquières, France, are closing their historic community, ending a 400-year legacy of prayer ... and martyrdom.It's a sad consequence of the lack of religious vocations. Bishop Jacques Benoit-Gonnin of Beauvais, Noyon, and Senlis (France) announced on April 21 the closure of the Compiègne Carmelite community, located some six miles from the original site, in Jonquières, since 1992.
"As age advances, numbers decrease, vocations are slow in coming, and external reinforcements are impossible to find, our Carmelite Sisters of Compiègne have decided to close their community," the bishop explained. Six nuns currently remain at the monastery. They will leave gradually over the coming months.
Famous martyrs
The Carmel of the Annunciation, founded in Compiègne in 1641 and following the Rule of St. Teresa of Avila, was the 53rd foundation in France at the time. It had a unique impact, giving the Church 16 holy martyrs.
These 16 nuns were expelled from their monastery during the French Revolution and guillotined in Paris on July 17, 1794, out of hatred for the faith.
For over 18 months leading up to their death, they made a daily act of consecration, offering their lives to God so that peace might be restored to the Church and the state.
They are known world-wide thanks largely to Georges Bernanos’ play and Francis Poulenc’s opera Dialogue of the Carmelites.
Pope Francis approved their equipollent canonization on December 18, 2024. On May 8 of last year (the day Pope Leo was being elected), a thanksgiving celebration for their canonization took place in Compiègne.
Later, on September 13, Mass was celebrated at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, followed by a procession retracing the route of the carts that carried them to the guillotine. A plaque where they were martyred is visible today.
C. Schryve I Eglise Catholique dans l'Oise
A brief attempt to restore the Compiègne Carmel in 1835 was short-lived. Finally, on January 18, 1867, a few nuns from the Carmel in Troyes settled on Saint-Lazare Street in Compiègne. The monastery's construction took 16 years, lasting from 1872 until the chapel's inauguration in 1888. By 1992, with the building aging, the nuns sold the monastery and built a new one in Jonquières, a small village about six miles from Compiègne.
An enduring hope
Father Yann Deswarte served as vicar of the Holy Carmelites of Compiègne parish for seven years before leaving last September to join the Society of St. John Vianney in Ars. He shared both his sadness over the nuns' departure and his lasting hope.
"It's sad because it's the end of an era, but I find it beautiful that the Lord allowed the canonization of the Carmelites before they leave. It's a form of fulfillment, and the Lord will bear fruit," he noted.
Father Deswarte celebrated Mass at the Carmel once a week and regularly entrusted the parish's prayer intentions to the community.
"I truly have this conviction that the Carmelites carried our parish in prayer and that everything we managed to do bore fruit thanks to the Carmelites' prayer. There’s real sadness and at the same time hope, because from now on the Carmelite saints will take over!" he added.
© Yannick Boschat / diocèse de Paris
Bishop Benoit-Gonnin also highlighted the community's immense fruitfulness. "Those who joined them in Jonquières, those who visited them or walked alongside them, know the fruits borne by their silent witness, their faithful prayer, and their hearts open to the intentions entrusted to them," he pointed out. "Their presence and their witness will continue to inspire many."
A message of peace
"The Carmelites' message is a message of peace," noted Baudouin Gérard, president of the Friends of the Carmelite Saints of Compiègne. "The association will try to do everything to perpetuate this message." This message has resonated particularly strongly since the canonization of the 16 martyrs.
"To foster devotion, we organized pilgrimages and conferences with the Carmel, and entire buses came from Paris. All of this was a huge surge of faith and a path of peace," Gérard explained. "Sister Alix-Anne, who was the community's prioress, always said that it was absolutely necessary for the 16 Carmelites to be canonized, because the message '[may] peace be restored to the Church and the state' is more relevant than ever today," the association's president added.
A memorial dedicated to the 16 martyred Carmelites is located in Jonquières, drawing many pilgrims eager to learn more about the saints. It includes the church crypt where relics are kept. There’s also a memorial room displaying manuscripts and objects the martyr-nuns used in their prayer life.
What is Gérard's hope for the future? "The association would of course like not to deconsecrate the site, and to keep the crypt, which attracts many people. These are questions that will be debated with the Carmelite Order, the Federation of Carmelites, and the diocese," he explained.
"I personally think that this place could host another religious community or a faith-based retirement home, and who knows? Another Carmel could branch out and settle there in the coming years."
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