What's your favorite month?

The month of June is arguably one of the most important months in the Church calendar next to December, May, and Easter. Here at the Church of the Blessed Sacrament we celebrate our Patronal Feast of Corpus Christi on June 10th with Mass, Procession, and Italian dinner.

Then on June 11th we will honor Saint Barnabas the Apostle who aided St. Paul in his mission to convert the gentiles beginning around 46AD. In Acts 13 we read how Paul found Barnabas teaching in a church in Antioch and made him an Apostle and minister. Barnabas may have been the cousin of Mark the Evangelist. He is thought to have been martyred around 60 AD, though there are conflicting stories as to the method of his execution. He is the patron saint of Cyprus, Antioch, peacemakers, and hailstorms.

Saint Anthony of Padua, whose feast day is the 13th , has remained one of the most beloved Saints throughout the centuries. He was born into wealth in 1195, a priest by the age of 19, studied at the feet of St. Francis, and was one of the most profound homilists of his time. This Doctor of the Church is best known for his miracles in raising the dead, healing the sick, and even helping you find your car keys. He is the patron saint of finding lost things, people, or souls; the poor, oppressed, elderly, and starving; and shipwrecks.

On June 24th we remember the birth of John the Baptist who was the first prophet called by God in 400 years; this miraculously born cousin of Jesus was the first Christian evangelizer. John is known for baptizing the Messiah, his ministry as a wilderness prophet, and for eating nothing but locusts and honey. He professed the coming of Christ until his death by beheading around 28-36 AD. He is the patron saint of baptisms, conversion, storms, builders, and monastic life.

Saints Peter and Paul’s feast day on June 29th honors them as martyrs of Rome. These two brothers in Christ are honored together for their importance in spreading the Gospel. Peter, the first Bishop of Rome, and Paul, a persecutor-turned-Christian-apologist are, without a doubt, the pinnacle upon which the Church was built. In a sermon in the year 395, St. Augustine of Hippo said of Saints. Peter and Paul: “Both apostles share the same feast day, for these two were one; and even though they suffered on different days, they were as one. Peter went first, and Paul followed. And so, we celebrate this day made holy for us by the apostles’ blood. Let us embrace what they believed, their life, their labors, their sufferings, their preaching, and their confession of faith.”