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Today is the Optional Memorial of Saints Marcellinus and Peter (d. 304) who were two Roman martyrs who suffered under the Diocletian persecution. The first was an exorcist, the second a priest. Their cultus was so important that after peace was restored to the Church, Constantine built a basilica in their honor. Their names are mentioned in the Canon of the Mass (Eucharistic Prayer I).

Today is the Memorial of St. Justin, Apologist and Martyr (c. 100-165), who was one of the most important Christian writers of the second century. Justin himself tells how his study of all the schools of philosophy led him to Christianity, and how he dedicated his life to the defense of the Christian faith as "the one certain and profitable philosophy."

The fundamental dogma, on which everything in Christianity is based, is that of the Blessed Trinity in whose name all Christians are baptized. The feast of the Blessed Trinity needs to be understood and celebrated as a prolongation of the mysteries of Christ and as the solemn expression of our faith in this triune life of the Divine Persons, to which we have been given access by Baptism and by the Redemption won for us by Christ. Only in heaven shall we properly understand what it means, in union with Christ, to share as sons in the very life of God.

The Roman Martyrology commemorates St. Joan of Arc (1412-1431), the patron saint of France. In her day, the English were allied with the Burgundians in a war against the rest of France. Joan was compelled by voices of her favorite saints to take up arms in defence of her country. Dressed in a suit of white armor, she led the French in battle against the English, who retreated, believing that she was in league with the devil. She continued to battle against the English, with dwindling support, until she was eventually captured and tried as a witch. She was found guilty and at the scaffold she pleaded guilty in exchange for a pardon from the Church. However, since the English had no intention of releasing her from prison, she quickly renounced her confession and resumed wearing men's clothing. For this they publicly burned her at the stake for witchcraft and heresy. The Church reversed its decision in 1455, and she was canonized in 1920.

Today is the Optional Memorial of Pope St. Paul VI (1897-1978). Paul VI was canonized and added to the General Roman Calendar on January 25, 2019, the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul. Giovanni Battista Montini was born on September 26, 1897, in a village near Brescia Concesio. On May 29, 1920, he was named Archbishop of Milan. He became Pope on June 21, 1963. He presided over the completion of the Second Vatican Council. He died on August 6, 1978.

On the first Thursday after Pentecost, the Feast of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Eternal High Priest is observed on the particular calendars in Spain, Poland, Netherlands, Czech Republic and England and Wales. Approval for this feast was first granted by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments in 1987. In 2012 the Congregation sent a letter to all conferences of bishops, offering the feast to be inscribed in their respective liturgical calendars if they request it.

Today is the Optional Memorial of St. Augustine of Canterbury (d. 605), who was born in Rome and died in Canterbury, England, in 604. When Pope Gregory I heard that the pagans of Britain were disposed to accept the Catholic Faith, he sent the prior of St. Andrew, Augustine, and forty of his Benedictine brethren to England. Despite the great difficulties involved in the task assigned to him, Augustine and his monks obeyed. The success of their preaching was immediate. King Ethelbert was baptized on Pentecost Sunday, 596, and the greater part of the nobles and people soon followed his example. St. Augustine died as the first Archbishop of Canterbury.

Today is the Memorial of St. Philip Neri (1515-1595), who was born in Florence and died in Rome. He lived a spotless childhood in Florence. Later he came to Rome and after living for fifteen years as a pilgrim and hermit was ordained a priest. He gradually gathered around him a group of priests and established the Congregation of the Oratory. He was a man of original character and of a happy, genial and winning disposition. A great educator of youth, he spent whole nights in prayer, had a great devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, and burned with an unbounded love for mankind. He died on the feast of Corpus Christi.