July 22 is the Feast of St Mary Magdalene, also called Mary of Magdala. Once only celebrated as a memorial in remembrance of St Mary Magdalene, Pope Francis announced the status of the Mass was to be elevated to a Feast in June of 2016. Other than Sundays and Solemnities, it is the next highest rank of importance, raising her to be equal to that of the Apostles who are also celebrated as Feasts.
Polycarp was a disciple of Saint John the Evangelist.
As a disciple of John the Evangelist, Polycarp was able to hear firsthand stories about the life of Jesus from the apostles. After the apostles had gone, many heresies sprang up about Jesus’ true teachings and controversy arose about how to worship Christ. Christians were also being persecuted.
As a small gift to you, we have created an interactive Advent Calendar that you can share with your class.
We wish you, your staff and students a Merry Christmas and Happy 2021. From all of the Team at Understanding Faith.
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Pope John Paul became pope in 1978. He was the first non-Italian pope in over 400 years.
Today is Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. Lent is the perfect time to refocus ourselves and look to ways in which we can better serve God and open our hearts to him.
The 25th January is the Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul. I’m sure we all know the story of Saint Paul. When he was Saul, he was a persecutor of Christians. One day he was off to Damascus (to persecute some more Christians) when he was suddenly blinded by a bright light. This event, and those that followed, resulted in one of the most well known accounts of conversion in the bible and a change in the course of the new Christian Church.
Mary MacKillop was canonised on October 17th, 2010 at Saint Peter’s Basilica, Rome. Pope Benedict XVI proclaimed Mary’s sainthood during a canonisation mass, which was streamed live around the world.
August 8 is the solemnity of St Mary of the Cross (Mary MacKillop). Mary MacKillop is Australia’s first saint. She led a remarkable life in service of others.
St John the Baptist, the son of Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth, is the only saint other than the Virgin Mary, whose birthday is celebrated by the Church in a liturgical feast.
The Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord is on the 2nd June in 2019. Ascension Day is celebrated on a Thursday, forty days after Easter Sunday, because Jesus spent forty days with his disciples after he rose from the dead and before he ascended into heaven.