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As a short guide and aid to your Holy Week and Easter Octave liturgical living, I have compiled some quick tips, ideas, and links to bring joy and festivity into your domestic church.
catholic, liturgical living, april feast days
Feast days that you will find in this post!
1. Palm Sunday
2. Holy Week
3. Easter Sunday
4. Divine Mercy Sunday
The Month of March is Dedicated to St. Joseph
The Month of April is Dedicated to the Holy Eucharist
Palm Sunday
About
Palm Sunday is the last Sunday before the Easter Triduum. Palm Sunday is also called Passion Sunday. On this day, we recall Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, just days before he was to die. The celebration of Palm Sunday marks the beginning of Holy Week.
Quick Links
Palm Sunday Prayer
Dear God, Thank you for sending your Son and paving the way for our lives to be set free through Jesus' death on the cross. Thank you for what this day stands for - the beginning of Holy Week, the start of the journey towards the power of the cross, the victory of the Resurrection, and the rich truth that Jesus truly is our King of Kings.
"Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord..."
We give you praise and honor for your ways are righteous and true. We give you worship for you are holy and just. We will declare that your love stands firm forever. For your lovingkindness endures forever.
Thank you that your ways are far greater than our ways, your thoughts far deeper than our thoughts. Thank you that you had a plan to redeem. Thank you that you make all things new. Thank you that your face is towards the righteous, and you hear our prayers, and know our hearts. Help us to stay strong and true to you. Help us not to follow after the voice of the crowds, but to press in close to you, to hear your whispers, and seek after you alone.
We praise you, we bless you Lord! Thank you that you reign supreme and we are more than conquerors through the gift of Christ!
In the Mighty Name of Jesus, Amen.
Food
1. Pax Cakes
Holy Week
About
Holy Week Prayer
O Jesus! meek and humble of heart,
Hear me.
From the desire of being esteemed,
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being loved,
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being extolled,
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being honored,
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being praised,
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being preferred to others,
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being consulted,
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being approved,
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being humiliated,
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being despised,
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of suffering rebukes,
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being calumniated,
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being forgotten,
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being ridiculed,
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being wronged,
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being suspected,
Deliver me, Jesus.
That others may be loved more than I,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be esteemed more than I,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That, in the opinion of the world, others may increase and I may decrease,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be chosen and I set aside,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be praised and I unnoticed,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be preferred to me in everything,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it. Amen.
Food
Easter Sunday
About
The word "Easter" comes from Old English, meaning simply the "East." The sun which rises in the East, bringing light, warmth, and hope, is a symbol for the Christian of the rising Christ, who is the true Light of the world. The Paschal Candle used during the Easter Vigil is a central symbol of this divine light, which is Christ. It is kept near the ambo throughout Easter Time and lit for all liturgical celebrations.
The Easter Vigil is the "Mother of All Vigils" and Easter Sunday is the greatest of all Sundays. The season of Easter is the most important of all liturgical times, which Catholics celebrate as the Lord's resurrection from the dead, culminating in his Ascension to the Father and sending of the Holy Spirit upon the Church. The octave of Easter comprises the eight days which stretch from the first to the second Sunday. It is a way of prolonging the joy of the initial day. There are 50 days of Easter from the first Sunday to Pentecost. It is characterized, above all, by the joy of glorified life and the victory over death expressed most fully in the great resounding cry of the Christian: Alleluia! All faith flows from faith in the resurrection: "If Christ has not been raised, then empty is our preaching; empty, too, is your faith." (1 Cor 15:14)
"What you sow is not brought to life unless it dies. And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel of wheat, perhaps, or of some other kind;…So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown corruptible; it is raised incorruptible. It is sown dishonorable; it is raised glorious. It is sown weak; it is raised powerful. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual one. So, too, it is written, "The first man, Adam, became a living being," the last Adam a life-giving spirit. But the spiritual was not first; rather the natural and then the spiritual. The first man was from the earth, earthly; the second man, from heaven. As was the earthly one, so also are the earthly, and as is the heavenly one, so also are the heavenly. Just as we have borne the image of the earthly one, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly one." (1 Cor 15:36-37, 42-49) (USCCB)
Quick Links
Easter Prayer
We praise you in this Easter season. Change our lives, change our hearts to be messengers of Easter joy and hope. We make our prayer through Jesus Christ, our risen Lord forever. Amen.
Food
Divine Mercy Sunday
About
Mankind’s need for the message of Divine Mercy took on dire urgency in the twentieth century, when civilization began to experience an “eclipse of the sense of God,” and therefore, to lose the understanding of the sanctity and inherent dignity of human life. In 1931, Jesus appeared to Sr. Faustina in Poland and expressed his desire for a feast celebrating his mercy. The Feast of Mercy was to be on the Sunday after Easter and was to include a public blessing and liturgical veneration of His image with the inscription “Jesus, I trust in You.”
This promise of mercy has been affirmed by the Church, which has made Divine Mercy Sunday an occasion for receiving a plenary indulgence, “the remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sin whose guilt has already been forgiven” (CCC, no. 1471). The plenary indulgence is granted to the faithful under the usual conditions (Confession, Eucharist, prayer for the intentions of the pope, and complete detachment from sin, even venial sin). The faithful may either take part in the prayers and devotions held in honor of Divine Mercy in any church or chapel or recite the Our Father and Creed in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament exposed or reserved in the tabernacle, adding a devout prayer to the merciful Lord Jesus.
There are many aspects of the Divine Mercy devotion, including the Chaplet, the Divine Mercy image, and the “hour of great mercy” (3:00 p.m.). The popularity of these devotions, focused on the Lord’s infinite mercy, has grown rapidly in recent decades. Regarding the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, St. Faustina wrote that Jesus said to her, “At the hour of their death, I defend as My own glory every soul that will say this chaplet; or when others say it for a dying person “ (Divine Mercy in My Soul, no. 811). (USCCB)
Quick Links
Divine Mercy Prayer
O Jesus, eternal Truth, our Life, I call upon You and I beg Your mercy for poor sinners. O sweetest Heart of my Lord, full of pity and unfathomable mercy, I plead with You for poor sinners. O Most Sacred Heart, Fount of Mercy from which gush forth rays of inconceivable graces upon the entire human race, I beg of You light for poor sinners. O Jesus, be mindful of Your own bitter Passion and do not permit the loss of souls redeemed at so dear a price of Your most precious Blood. O Jesus, when I consider the great price of Your Blood, I rejoice at its immensity, for one drop alone would have been enough for the salvation of all sinners. Although sin is an abyss of wickedness and ingratitude, the price paid for us can never be equalled. Therefore, let every soul trust in the Passion of the Lord, and place its hope in His mercy. God will not deny His mercy to anyone. Heaven and earth may change, but God's mercy will never be exhausted. Oh, what immense joy burns in my heart when I contemplate Your incomprehensible goodness, O Jesus! I desire to bring all sinners to Your feet that they may glorify Your mercy throughout endless ages.
(Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska, 72).
Food
Happy Feasting!
If you used any of these ideas, share with me on Facebook @HisGirlSunday or Instagram @steffani_hisgirlsunday.
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