A daily study of the Network’s diverse faiths
Easter Monday. (Bright Monday, Velikonoční Pondělí, Lany Poniedziałek). The 2nd day of Eastertide and in Eastern Christianity the 2nd day of Bright Week (Pascha Week, Renewal Week, Διακαινήσιμος Ἑβδομάς), a period of 7 days beginning on Easter Day for the celebration of the Resurrection, the entire week being considered to be one continuous day. There is normally an outdoor procession 3 times around the church, carrying the Icon of the Resurrection and a blessed Artos (loaf of leavened bread) that symbolises the physical presence of the Resurrected Christ among the Apostles. In Austria and Southern Germany, there is a traditional Emmausgang, commemorating the walk of the disciples to Emmaus, when Jesus followed them without being recognised. In parts of Spain, godparents give godchildren Easter mona cake, which is normally eaten in the countryside. In the Republic of Ireland it is a day of remembrance for the men and women who died in the Easter Rising that began on Easter Monday 1916. In Leicestershire, the people of Hallaton hold a bottle-kicking match and Hare Pie Scramble.
San Vicente Ferrer (Sant Vicent Ferrer, St Vincent Ferrer OP, William Stewart Ferrer, Santo Vicent Feffer, Angel of the Last Judgment) (1350-1419). Feast Day commemorating death of noble Valencian Doctor of Theology, friar, priest and preacher acclaimed as a missionary and logician. Entering the Order of St Dominic in a Valencian monastery in 1374, he lectured on philosophy before going to Barcelona, where he was ordained as a Catholic priest in 1379. Although he could speak only Catalan, he was endowed with the gift of tongues and famed for building up and strengthening the Church. In Valencia in 1391, in Toledo later and across Spain, some 25,000 Jews were converted to Christianity, also thousands of Moors in Mohammedan Granada. The 1378-1417 Western Schism had divided Roman Catholicism and in 1399 Vincent set out on a Papal mission as a preacher, for 20 years travelling through western Europe, with thousands flocking to hear him. Mortally ill, Vincent saw a vision of Christ, St Francis of Assisi and St Dominic and was miraculously cured. He then began preaching about the last judgment and the need for penance. By 1417, he was in Brittany, where he died of a fever in Vannes. Bebe el agüa del maestro Vicente (Drink Vincent’s water) is still said in Spain to advise silence, as he recommended a nagging wife to fill her mouth with water. Venerated in Catholic Church, Anglican Communion, Aglipayan Church. Major shrine Cathedral of Vannes. Patron of Archdiocese of Valencia, Valencia, Catalonia, Spain, France, Spanish orphanages, builders, prisoners, plumbers, Breton fishermen.
Prayer Loving Father and my Protector, San Vicente Ferrer, give us a living and sincere faith to properly value divine things, the rectitude and purity of the customs you preached and a burning charity to love God and our neighbours. We pray that you will remedy all our ills. Amén.
Derfel Sant (c566-660) (St Derfel Gadarn, Derfel the Mighty). Feast Day commemorating death of 6th Century noble Celtic Christian warrior monk, as was his cousin to St Cadfan, who survived the early 6th Century Battle of Camlan (Gwaith Camlan) by his strength alone. Tudur Penllyn wrote: Derfel mewn rhyfel, gwnai’i wayw’n rhyfedd, darrisg dur yw’r wisg, dewr yw’r osgedd (Derfel in war, he would work his spear wondrously, steel covering is the garment, brave is the appearance). After Camlan, Derfel adopted the religious life of a hermit, entered the monastery of Llantwit and founded one at Llandderfel, where the small chapel above Cwmbran named after him was on the way to the shrine of the Virgin Mary at Penrhys. Derfel founded churches across Wales before succeeding St Cadfan as Abbot of Ynys Enlli (Bardsey Island), where he died of natural causes and was buried alongside other saints. Welsh saints’ mortal remains were not distributed as relics but his decorated staff and image were at Llandderfel before being removed by order of Thomas Cromwell during the English Reformation and partly used to burn a Catholic priest at Smithfield in London. Venerated in Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic Churches, Anglican Communion.