Catholic Catechism School Commission Archdiocese of Karachi

24/05/2026

24/05/2026

May 24
𝐒𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐀𝐘•
Saint Joanna the Myrrh - Bearer,
wife of Chuza
1st Century

Joanna (Koinē Greek: Ἰωάννα, romanized: Iōanna, also Greek: Ἰωάνα), the wife of Chuza (γυνὴ Χουζᾶ), is a woman mentioned in the gospels who was healed by Jesus and later supported him and his disciples in their travels. She is one of the women recorded in the Gospel of Luke as accompanying Jesus and the twelve apostles and as a witness to Jesus' resurrection. Her husband was Chuza, who managed the household of Herod Antipas, the ruler of Galilee; this is the origin of the distinguishing epithet commonly attached to her name, differentiating her from other figures named Joanna or Joanne.

Joanna and the Head of John the Baptist: Tradition holds she recovered the saint's head after Herodias had disposed of it.

Feast June 27 (Orthodox and Eastern Catholic)also, on 'Sunday of the Myrrh-bearers', the 3rd Sunday of Pascha (Orthodox and Eastern Catholic). May 24 (Roman Catholic) August 3 (Lutheran)

Saint Joanna the Myrrh-bearer was the wife of Chuza, the steward of King Herod Antipas. She was cured of evil maladies by Jesus, then followed and provided for Him and His apostles. (Luke 8:1-3) She was one of the women who discovered the empty tomb on Easter morning. (Luke 24:10) Saint Joanna is known to have carried the myrrh that was to prepare Jesus at His death.

24/05/2026

May 24
𝐒𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐀𝐘•
Saints Donatian and Rogatian
Martyrs

In the 3rd century there loved at Nantes in Brittany two brothers named Donatian and Rogatian. The former had become a convert to Christianity and led such an edifying life that his example moved the heart of Rogatian to desire the Sacrament of Baptism. But the persecution of the Emperor Maximian was raging, and the Bishop was in concealment, so there remained no opportunity of receiving that Sacrament. The Emperor was in Gaul in285, and it was probably about that time that the martyrdom of the two brothers occurred.

The perfect, who was probably the cruel Rictius Varus, accused Saint Donatian of being a Christian and of having enticed others, particularly his brother, from the worship of the gods. Having confessed Christ, he was cast into prison. Saint Rohatianwas also apprehendedand showed himself equally steadfast in the Faith.

Both spent the night in prayer. When brought before the prefect in the morning, they declared that thet were ready to suffer anything for the Name of Jesus. Seeing them to be inflexible, the judge commanded them to be stretched on the rack and beheaded (Saint Rogatian thus received a Baptism of Blood). Their martyrdom occured probably about the year 287.

24/05/2026

May 24
𝐒𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐀𝐘•
Saint Vincent of Lérins
Priest

In the 5th century, Little is known of the life of Vincent of Lérins, but his work is renown. He was known for his eloquence and knowledge. He was of noble birth and once was a soldier but became a monk in the south of France.

In about 434, Vincent authored his famous work the Commonitorium. Written under the pseudonym Peregrinus the Commonitorium offered a guide to orthodox teaching and included his famous maxim, the Vincentian Canon, by which he hoped to be able to differentiate between true and false tradition: quod ubique, quod semper, quod ab omnibus credituni est (“what has been believed everywhere, always, and by all”). He believed that the ultimate source of Christian truth was Holy Scripture and that the authority of the Church was to be invoked to guarantee the correct interpretation of Scripture.

Augustine wrote of prevenient grace and expanded to a discussion of predestination. A number of monastic communities took exception to the latter because it seemed to nullify the value of asceticism practiced under their rules. John Cassian felt that Augustine’s stress on predestination ruled out any need for human cooperation or consent.

Vincent was suspected of Semipelagianism, a doctrine of grace advocated by monks in and around Marseilles in Southern Gaul after 428. It aimed at a compromise between the two extremes of Pelagianism and Augustinism and was condemned as heresy at the Second Council of Orange in 529 AD after more than a century of disputes. Whether he actually held that doctrine is not clear as it is not found in the Commonitorium. It is also possible that Vincent held to a position closer to the Eastern Orthodox position of today, which they claim to have been virtually universal until the time of Augustine, and which may have been interpreted as Semipelagian by Augustine’s followers.

Vincent upheld tradition and seemed to have objected to much of Augustine’s work as “new” theology. He shared Cassian’s reservations about Augustine’s views on the role of grace. In the Commonitorium he listed theologians and teachers who, in his view, had made significant contributions to the defense and spreading of the Gospel; he omitted Augustine from that list. Some commentators have viewed Cassian and Vincent as “Semiaugustinian” rather than Semipelagian.

24/05/2026

To my Dominican friends! Happy Feast Day to you!

24/05/2026

Happy Birthday Saint Camillus de Lellis.
25th May 1550 (475th Birthday)

24/05/2026

24/05/2026

Feast of Our Lady, Help of Christians – 24th May – Also known as Auxilium Christianorum.

The tradition of this advocation goes back to 1571, when the whole of Christendom was saved by Our Lady, Help of Christians when Catholics throughout Europe prayed the Rosary. The great battle of Lepanto occurred on 7 October 1571. For this reason, this date has been chosen as the feast of the Holy Rosary. In 1573 Pope Pius V instituted the feast in thanksgiving for the decisive victory of Christianity over Islamism.

Near the end of the 17th century, Emperor Leopold I of Austria took refuge in the Shrine of Mary, Help of Christians at Pasau, when 200,000 Ottoman Turks besieged the capital city of Vienna but a great victory occurred thanks to Our Lady, Help of Christians, on 8 September, Feast of Our Lady’s Birthday, plans were drawn for the battle. On 12 September, Feast of the Holy Name of Mary, Vienna was finally freed through the intercession of Mary, Help of Christians. All Europe had joined with the Emperor crying out “Mary, Help!” and praying the Holy rosary.

In 1809, Napoleon’s men entered the Vatican, arrested Pius VII and brought him in chains to Grenoble and eventually Fontainbleau. His imprisonment lasted five years. The Holy Father vowed to God that , if he were restored to the Roman See, he would institute a special feast in honour of Mary. Military reverses forced Napoleon to release the Pope and on May 24th 1814, Pius VII returned in triumph to Rome. Twelve months later, the Pope decreed that the feast of Our Lady, Help of Christians, be kept on 24 May.

St John Bosco (1815 – 1888) was a dynamic priest who founded the Salesian Order in the XIX century in Italy. His many prophetic dreams, beginning at age nine, guided his ministry and gave insights on future events.

On 14 May 1862, Don Bosco dreamed about the battles the Church would face in the latter days. In his dream, the Pope of those days anchors the ‘ship’ of the Church between two pillars, one with a statue of Our Lady ( the Auxilium Christianorum or ‘Help of Christians’) and the other with a large Eucharistic Host.

St John Bosco wrote about his congregation, the Salesians: “The principal objective is to promote veneration of the Blessed Sacrament and devotion to Mary, Help of Christians. This title seems to please the august Queen of Heaven very much.”

The Salesian Sisters of St John Bosco or Daughters of Mary, Help of Christians, are the sister order of the Salesians of Don Bosco.

St John Bosco, himself, on 9 June 1868, dedicated to Our Lady Help of Christians, the mother church of his congregation at Turin (Italy). The Salesian Fathers and their Sisters have carried the devotion to their numerous establishments all over the world.

24/05/2026

Congratulations. Rev. Fr. Afzal Iqbal OFM Cap on your 19th Sacerdotal Ordination Anniversary. (25th May 2007)