Pope Francis has addressed the following message to all Christians on the occasion of the 2020 Lenten season, a time of conversion and penitence in preparation for Easter:
“We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God” (2 Cor 5:20)
The Feast of the Translation of the Saint’s Relics, commonly called the Feast of the Tongue, will be held on Sunday 16 February. This is the second, most important feast celebrating St Anthony after the June 13 feast, and marks the discovery of his uncorrupt tongue over 750 years ago, more than 30 years after his death. This scientifically inexplicable phenomenon is what faith calls a miracle, seeing that the relic of the tongue, the instruments used by St Anthony for preaching, is still visible and uncorrupt after many centuries.
This is the schedule of liturgical celebrations during Christmas and the New Year at the Basilica of St Anthony in Padua, Italy, which may be followed live by connecting to our web page. In this way we are bringing St Anthony’s voice directly to the houses of those devotees (in Italy and throughout the world) who cannot come to Padua.
When you give presents to the people you love, remember that the giving of gifts is not a human invention. God started it all when he gave us the priceless gift of His Son in order to save humanity.
Jesus did not come to earth as an explorer or a tourist, nor as an educator or an itinerant preacher. Jesus came as a Savior seeking to save ‘the lost’, those who were estranged from God. And we are all lost without God – lost without hope, lost without a future.
This year Easter is further enlightened by our beloved Pope Francis’ letter to the Youth of the World that he delivered at the end of the Synod of Bishops.
Highlighting the problems, the difficulties, the contradictions we are experiencing, he wrote:
"I remind you of the good news that was given to us on the morning of the Resurrection: that in all the dark and painful situations we experience there is always a way out ... Don't let hope and joy be stolen from you".
Lent begins on Wednesday 6 March. This is a time of conversion and penitence in preparation for Easter.
Pope Francis has addressed the following message to all Christians on the occasion of the 2019 Lenten season:
«When we live as children of God, redeemed, led by the Holy Spirit (cf. Rom 8:14) and capable of acknowledging and obeying God’s law, beginning with the law written on our hearts and in nature, we also benefit creation by cooperating in its redemption».
