FEASTS OF THE WEEK
Easter Time
The celebration of Easter is prolonged throughout the Easter season.
The fifty days from Easter Sunday (5th April 2026) to Pentecost Sunday (24th May 2026) are celebrated as one feast day, the "great Sunday".
CHRIST IS RISEN, ALLELUIA!
Thursday 30th April : St. Pius V (1504-1572)
Born Michele Ghislieri. Became a Dominican and was elected pope in 1565 taking the name Pius V. He implemented the reforms of the Council of Trent, including the Breviary, Missal and Catechism. He is noted for his defence of Christendom against the Ottoman empire.
Friday 1st May : St. Joseph the Worker
Apparently in response to the "May Day" celebrations for workers sponsored by Communists, Pius XII instituted the feast of St. Joseph the Worker in 1955, but the relationship between Joseph and the cause of workers has a much longer history.
Saturday 2nd May : St. Athanasius
Born at Alexandria around the year 295, he fought ceaselessly against the Arian heresy, defending the true and equal divinity of Christ. As a result, he had to endure much tribulation and he was several times sent into exile.
Sunday 3rd May : 5th Sunday of Easter
No one can come to the Father except through Christ. The Church must work so that all peoples may come to the Father. Woking together in love, all God's people can build up the kingdom in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, our high priest.
Monday 4th May : St. Conleth
He is believed to have come form the Wicklow area. While living as a hermit he was persuaded by Brigid to act as priest for her community in Kildare. He was venerated as a great saint and Cogitosus, in his Life of Brigid, calls him bishop and abbot of the monks of Kildare. He was buried beside Brigid in the great church there.
Monday 4th May : St. Florian
He was an officer of the Roman army, who occupied a high administrative post in Noricum, now part of Austria, and who suffered death for the Faith in the days of Diocletian.
Patron of Poland and firefighters.
Tuesday 5th May : Bl Edmund Rice
Came from Callan, Co. Kilkenny. After his young wife's death, he sold his possessions and dedicated his life to the education of the poor. To advance the work, he gathered other like-minded men who took religious vows together to work for the Catholic education of boys. He is a model of patient and cheerful acceptance of the sufferings God sends, a true lay apostle and a deeply committed religious. Founder of the Presentation Brothers and the Christian Brothers.
Friday 8th May : Bl John Sullivan
Born in Eccles St., Dublin on 8 May 1861 and baptised in St. George's Church of Ireland, Temple St., and was brought up in the Christian tradition of his father. He went to Portora Royal School in Enniskillen and then studied classics and law at Trinity College, Dublin and at Lincoln's Inn, London. At the age of 35 he was received into the Roman Catholic Church and returned to Dublin, living a very simple life style. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1900, was ordained priest in 1907 and then spent the greater part of his life at Clongowes Wood College, Co. Kildare. His reputation for holiness and as a person of prayer spread rapidly and he was always available to the sick, the poor and anyone in need. He died 19 February 1933. His declaration as blessed on 13 May 2017 at St. Francis Zavier Church, Gardiner St., Dublin was the first ever beatification celebrated in Ireland. His beatification was fittingly ecumenical, with Cardinal Angelo Amato representing Pope Francis, and Catholic Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin joined by Church of Ireland Archbishop for Dublin Michael Jackson on the altar.
Friday 8th May is the anniversary of the election in 2025 (on the 2nd day of the Conclave) of Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost as Supreme Pastor of the Church.
He took the name Pope Leo XIV.
Friday 8th May is the anniversary of the death of Cardinal Tomás O'Fiaich in 1990 (while in Lourdes with the Armagh Diocesan Pilgrimage).