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Fourth Sunday of Easter

Sunday Easter Time

Holy Day of Obligation

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Selected Mass Reading

Second Reading — 1 Peter 2:20b-25

For what glory is it, if, committing sin and being buffeted for it, you endure? But if doing well you suffer patiently: this is thankworthy before God. For unto this are you called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving you an example that you should follow his steps. Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth. Who, when he was reviled, did not revile: when he suffered, he threatened not, but delivered himself to him that judged him unjustly. Who his own self bore our sins in his body upon the tree: that we, being dead to sins, should live to justice: by whose stripes you were healed. For you were as sheep going astray: but you are now converted to the shepherd and bishop of your souls.

Feast Days

Anacletus
Anacletus Pope, Bishop of Rome, Priest, Martyr 25–90

Saint Anacletus, also known as Cletus, was born in Rome around AD 15. In the generation after the Apostles, he served the young Church as bishop of Rome, succeeding Saint Linus and continuing the pastoral care first entrusted to Saint Peter. Though few details of his life survive, tradition remembers him as a steady shepherd during a time of hardship and danger for Christians. He is credited with ordaining a number of priests and, according to ancient custom, organizing the Christian community of Rome by establishing about twenty-five parishes—an early sign of the Church’s growing life and order in the heart of the empire. Anacletus is venerated as a martyr, believed to have given his life for Christ around AD 92. A tomb traditionally associated with him lies near Saint Peter’s resting place beneath Saint Peter’s Basilica, and his name is honored in the Roman Canon of the Mass. He is a patron of Belmonte del Sannio and Ruvo di Puglia. His feast day is April 26.

 Marcellinus
Marcellinus Pope, Bishop of Rome, Catholic priest d. 304

Marcellinus was born in Rome, the son of Proiectus, and was chosen as bishop of Rome on June 30, 296. His pontificate began in a time of relative calm for Christians, when the Church’s numbers were growing across the empire. Soon, however, Emperor Diocletian—urged on by Galerius—unleashed a fierce persecution: Christian soldiers were expelled, church property was seized, and sacred books were destroyed, followed by harsher demands that believers renounce Christ or face death. Ancient sources differ about Marcellinus’s conduct during these trials. Some later accounts accuse him of a moment of weakness, claiming he offered incense to idols or surrendered holy books, while other voices, including Saint Augustine, rejected these charges. Tradition also holds that he repented, confessed Christ anew, and suffered death for the faith, though the details remain uncertain. Whatever the historical shadows, he is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church and the Serbian Orthodox Church, and is honored as patron of Envie. His feast day is celebrated on April 26.