They trace their founding to the voyage to Alexandria of St. Mark, the apostle of Jesus and New Testament author. Just a decade or two after the original Easter, which Christians celebrate around the world, tradition states that Mark founded their church, one of the earliest in the Middle East and the first in Africa. It was to become a pillar of early Christendom.

Some 2,000 years later, Egypt’s Coptic Christians have become the preferred target of the Islamic State group, an apocalyptic cult seeking religious war.

Promoters of the “Prosperity Gospel” often have less to say during Holy Week. The Theology of the Cross is not their strong suit, especially when applied not simply to the God-man Jesus Christ, but to us mere human beings who are called to follow in the Savior’s footsteps. What to tell a Christian when profound suffering comes unexpectedly in their lives and/or lasts much longer than expected? How do such experiences square with hopes of prosperity?

Cuban bishops to the Vatican at the end of the month; behind the scenes of a complex, yet promising moment for the relationship between state and church authorities

When visiting a Catholic church for Sunday Mass, it is hard not to notice all the parishioners pause for a second as they file in through the various entrances. They stop, dip their fingers in a bowl of water and then make the sign of the cross over their body.

Why do they do that?

Besides remembering Christ’s passion and professing their faith in the Holy Trinity, Catholics bless themselves with holy water primarily as a reminder of our Baptism.
Read more: Why do Catholics make the Sign of the Cross before praying?

Mary, my Mother, you were the first to live the Way of the Cross.

You felt every pain and every humiliation. You were unafraid of the ridicule heaped upon you by the crowds. Your eyes were ever on Jesus and his pain. Is that the secret of your miraculous strength? How did your loving heart bear such a burden and such a weight? As you watched him stumble and fall, were you tortured by the memory of all the yesterdays — his birth, his hidden life and his ministry?

Holy Week

In the first centuries of the Church, the week preceding the solemnity of Easter was called the “Great Week.” Then as now, Holy Week is the commemoration of the successful conclusion of the work of salvation accomplished by our Lord, starting with Christ’s triumphant entrance into Jerusalem, and culminating with His glorious Resurrection on Easter Sunday. Below is a brief summation of events.

Palm Sunday

The situation after the Coptic churches attack in Egypt on Palm Sunday and in view of the Pope’s visit scheduled for April 28 and 29

After His resurrection, the Lord Jesus revealed Himself to His disciples and spent time with them. In one such account, we find Jesus and Peter talking to each other, having one of the most beautiful conversations in the New Testament – where Jesus asked Peter if he loves Him three times.

Why did Jesus ask Peter three times?

The Five Holy Wounds or Five Sacred Wounds are the five piercing wounds Jesus suffered during the Crucifixion – the nail wounds on his hands and feet as well as the lance wound which pierced his side. Let us meditate on the Five Wounds of Jesus Crucified specially during Holy Hour of Reparation.

As I kneel before Thee on the Cross, most loving Savior of my soul, my conscience tells me it is I who have nailed Thee to that Cross with these hands of mine, as often as I have fallen into mortal sin, wearying Thee with my monstrous ingratitude.

April 8th is the optional memorial of Saint Julie Billiart. For the little girl who loved to play “school” as a child, founding a religious order dedicated to the education of the young was something that God apparently had in mind for her all along. Although her own formal education was very rudimentary, St. Julie Billiart was very well versed in the teachings of the Catholic faith, and she dedicated her life to passing them on to the generations that came after her.