April 1^st

This Day, the First Day of April

 1.  At Rome, the commemoration of the holy martyrs Venantius, bishop, and companions of Dalmatia and Istria—namely, Anastasius, Maurus, Paulinianus, Telius, Asterius, Septimius, Antiochianus, and Gaianus—whom the Church honors with common praise.

2.  At Thessalonica in Macedonia, Saints Agape and Chionia, virgins and martyrs, who, when in the persecution of the emperor Diocletian they refused to eat food sacrificed to idols, were handed over to the governor Dulcetius and condemned to the fire.

3.  In Palestine, Saint Mary of Egypt, who, once a notorious sinner in Alexandria, was converted to God in the Holy City through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin, and led a life of penance in solitude beyond the Jordan.

4.  At Laucon near Amiens in Gaul, Saint Valery, priest, who attracted not a few companions to the eremitical life.

5.  In the place Ardpatrick in Munster, a province of Ireland, Saint Celsus, bishop of Armagh, who greatly advanced the restoration of the Church.

6.  At Grenoble in Burgundy, Saint Hugh, bishop, who labored for the reform of the morals of the clergy and people and, during the same episcopate, fervently loving solitude, granted Saint Bruno, once his teacher, and his companions the retreat of the Charterhouse, over which he presided as first abbot, and he governed this Church for nearly fifty years by his tireless example of charity.

7.  In the Cistercian monastery of Bonnevaux in the Dauphiné of Gaul, blessed Hugh, abbot, whose charity and prudence reconciled Pope Alexander the Third and Emperor Frederick the First.

8.  At Caithness in Scotland, Saint Gilbert, bishop, who built the cathedral church at Dornoch and prepared hospices for the poor; dying, he commended what he himself had observed in life, namely: to harm no one, to bear divine scourges patiently, and to be a stumbling block to no one.

9.  At York in England, blessed John Bretton, martyr, who, a father of a family, for his constancy in the faith of the Roman Church under Queen Elizabeth the First, was several times denounced and, finally falsely accused of sedition, was hanged and died.

10.  At Brescia in Lombardy of Italy, blessed Ludovico Pavoni, priest, who dedicated himself with great diligence to the instruction of the poorest youths, especially taking care to educate them according to Christian morals and to guide them in the arts, and he founded the Congregation of the Sons of Mary Immaculate.

April 2^nd

This Day, the Second Day of April

Saint Francis of Paola, hermit, who, founder of the Order of Minims in Calabria, prescribed to his disciples that they live by alms, having nothing of their own and touching no money, and always use only Lenten foods. Summoned into Gaul by King Louis the Eleventh, he was present at his death and died at Plessis near Tours, renowned for the austerity of his life.

2. At Caesarea in Palestine, Saint Apphian, martyr, who, under the emperor Maximinus, when the inhabitants were being forced to publicly sacrifice to the gods, fearlessly approached the governor Urban and, seizing his right hand, forced him to suspend the rite, for which reason he, with his feet wrapped in linen dipped in oil and set on fire, while still breathing was cast by the soldiers into the sea.

3. In the same place, the passion of Saint Theodora, virgin of Tyre, who, in the same persecution, when she had publicly greeted the holy confessors of the faith as they stood before the tribunal and had asked them to remember her when they came to the Lord, was arrested by the soldiers and led to the same governor, and by his order was tortured with harsh torments and at last cast into the sea.

4. At Como in Liguria, Saint Abundius, bishop, who, sent to Constantinople by Saint Leo the Great, pope, zealously defended the orthodox faith there.

5. At Capua in Campania, Saint Victor, bishop, distinguished for his learning and holiness.

6. At Lyon in Gaul, Saint Nicetius, bishop, who was prompt in care for the poor and kindly toward the simple, and ordered this Church to maintain a rule of psalmody.

7. In the monastery of Luxeuil in Burgundy, Saint Eustace, abbot, disciple of Saint Columbanus, who was the father of nearly six hundred monks.

8. At Chelmsford in England, Saint John Paine, priest and martyr, who under Queen Elizabeth the First suffered the punishment of the gallows on account of a false charge of treason.

9. In the town of Tumon on the island of Guam in Oceania, the blessed martyrs Diego Luis de San Vitores, priest of the Society of Jesus, and Peter Calungsod, catechist, who were cruelly killed out of hatred for the Christian faith by apostates and some natives following pagan superstition, and were thrown into the sea.

10. At Spoleto in Umbria, blessed Leopold of Gaiche, priest of the Order of Friars Minor, who established sacred retreats on Mount Luco.

11. In the village of Xương Điền in Tonkin, Saint Dominic Tuoc, priest of the Order of Preachers and martyr under the emperor Minh Mạng.

12. At Padua in Venetia, blessed Elisabetta Vendramini, virgin, who devoted her life to the poor and, after overcoming many adversities, founded the Institute of the Sisters of Saint Elizabeth from the Third Order of Saint Francis.

13. At Vic in Catalonia, Spain, blessed Francis Coll, priest of the Order of Preachers, who, although unjustly expelled from the cloister, nonetheless steadfastly pursued his vocation and proclaimed the name of the Lord Jesus Christ throughout the whole region.

14. At Győr in Hungary, blessed Vilmos Apor, bishop and martyr, who, while war was raging, opened his house to about three hundred refugees and, having been struck with blows in the evening of Good Friday while defending certain young women from the hands of soldiers, gave up his soul three days later.

15. At Lviv in Ukraine, blessed Nicholas Carneckyj, bishop, who, during a time of persecution against the faith, carrying out the ministry of apostolic exarch of Volyn and Pidljashja, faithfully adhering as a shepherd to the footsteps of Christ, through His grace reached the heavenly kingdoms.

16. At Maracay in Venezuela, blessed Mary of Saint Joseph (Laura) Alvarado, virgin, who founded the Augustinian Recollect Sisters of the Sacred Heart, and was constantly solicitous with greatest charity for girls orphaned of their parents, for the elderly, and for the poor abandoned.

April 3^rd

This Day, the Third Day of April

April 4^th

This Day, the Fourth Day of March

April 5^th

This Day, the Fifth Day of April