Posted on 06/11/2026 21:06 PM (CatholicCulture.org - Catholic World News)
Pope Leo XIV departed from Barcelona on June 11, the penultimate day of his apostolic journey to Spain, and arrived in the Canary Islands (video 1, video 2).
Posted on 06/11/2026 21:06 PM (CatholicCulture.org - Catholic World News)
The bishops of the United States consecrated the nation to the Sacred Heart on June 11, the vigil of the
Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.
The consecration, offered during the nation’s 250th anniversary year, took place during a Mass in Orlando, at the Basilica of Mary, Queen of the Universe (video).
“In a culture that prizes independence and self-reliance, we gather publicly to acknowledge that our deepest identity and our truest hope come, not from ourselves but from the Lord,” Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore preached. “Today we place the Church in the United States, and this nation we love, into the Sacred Heart of Jesus.”
In preparation for the consecration, three archbishops offered reflections on the Sacred Heart.
Posted on 06/11/2026 04:06 AM (CatholicCulture.org - Catholic World News)
Posted on 06/11/2026 00:00 AM (Catholic Culture Liturgical Year)
Today is the Memorial of St. Barnabas, Apostle, who was designated by the Holy Spirit to share the charge and mission of the twelve Apostles, is venerated by the Church as one of them. He played an important part in the first extension of Christianity outside the Jewish world. It was Barnabas who presented St. Paul to the other Apostles when, after his long retreat in Arabia, he came to Jerusalem for the first time after his conversion to submit for Peter's approval the mission to the Gentiles entrusted to him by the Master Himself. Barnabas was Paul's companion and helper on his first missionary journey and returned with him to Jerusalem, but left him when he set out on his second journey and went to Cyprus. The name of St. Barnabas is mentioned in the Canon of the Mass.
Posted on 06/10/2026 00:00 AM (Catholic Culture Liturgical Year)
The Roman Martyrology commemorates St. Landericus, or St. Landry (d. 661), who was the Bishop of Paris from 650 to his death. He is best remembered as the founder of the first hospital in Paris, known as Hotel-Dieu.
Posted on 06/9/2026 00:00 AM (Catholic Culture Liturgical Year)
The Church celebrates the Optional Memorial of St. Ephrem, Deacon (306-373), called "the Harp of the Holy Spirit." Ephrem is the great classic Doctor of the Syrian church. As deacon at Edessa, he vigorously combated the heresies of his time, and to do so more effectively wrote poems and hymns about the mysteries of Christ, the Blessed Virgin and the saints. He had a great devotion to Our Lady. He was a commentator on Scripture and a preacher as well as a poet, and has left a considerable number of works, which were translated into other Eastern languages as well as into Greek and Latin. He died in 373. Pope Benedict XV proclaimed him a Doctor of the Church in 1920.
Posted on 06/8/2026 00:00 AM (Catholic Culture Liturgical Year)
The Roman Martyrology commemorates St. Médard (456-545), Bishop of Noyon, France. Legend says that once when he was a child a sudden shower fell, soaking everyone except St. Médard who remained perfectly dry, because an eagle had spread its wings over him. Ever since, Médard was known as "master of rain" or his patronage against bad weather and who to invoke for good weather. In religious art, an eagle shelters Médard from the rain.
Posted on 06/7/2026 00:00 AM (Catholic Culture Liturgical Year)
"While they were eating, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, gave it to them, and said, 'Take it; this is my body.' Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, and they all drank from it. He said to them, 'This is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed for many.'"
Posted on 06/6/2026 00:00 AM (Catholic Culture Liturgical Year)
Today is the Optional Memorial of St. Norbert (1080-1134). Norbert was born at Xanten near Cologne about the year 1080. As a young cleric he resided at the court of the Archbishop of Cologne and then at that of the emperor where he allowed himself to be influenced by the spirit of the world. But he was won back by grace; caught by a storm during a journey on horseback he made up his mind to take his clerical obligations seriously. After ordination to the priesthood he devoted himself to itinerant preaching.
Posted on 06/5/2026 00:00 AM (Catholic Culture Liturgical Year)
The Church celebrates the Memorial St. Boniface (c. 673-680-754). Boniface was a monk of Exeter in England. Boniface is one of the great figures of the Benedictine Order and of the monastic apostolate in the Middle Ages. Gregory II sent him to preach the Gospel in Germany. He evangelized Hesse, Saxony and Thuringia and became Archbishop of Mainz. He well earned the title of Apostle of Germany, and Catholic Germany in our own times still venerates him as its father in the faith. He was put to death by the Frisians at Dokkum in 754 during the last of his missionary journeys. The famous abbey of Fulda, where his body lies, has remained the national shrine of Catholic Germany.
