Priest and Martyr(1920-1947)
Special Note: In 2021, March 28 is celebrated as Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord and the beginning of Holy Week.As a way of honoring the Passion of Christ and the witness of the martyrs, all of the saints highlighted during this Holy Week will be chosen from those who offered their lives for Christ. The reflections and prayers will be taken from the liturgical texts of the corresponding day of Holy Week and the Paschal Triduum.
His life
+ Dedë was born in Mali Jushit, Albania.
+ After studying at the Shkodra Pontifical Seminary and in Rome, he was ordaned a priest in 1944 for the archdiocese of Shkodrë-Pult.
+ During the anti-Catholic Communist regime in Albania, he was ordered into military service, but was later arrested, tortured, and ultimately executed on March 28, 1947, on the accusation that he was a spy for the Vatican.
+ Blessed Dedë was beatified with other Albanian martyrs in 2016.
Spiritual bonus
On this day, the Church also honors the memory of Blessed Renée-Marie Feillatreau. A married laywoman of the diocese of Angers, France, she was martyred during the persecutions of the French Revolution. Arrested for the “crime” of hiding vestments and sacred vessels used for Mass, she was accused of stealing wealth from the Republic. Blessed Renée-Marie was martyred on March 28, 1794, and beatified with other martyrs of the French Revolution in 1984.
For prayer and reflection
“God grant that with the angels and the children we may be faithful, and sing with them to the conqueror of death: Hosanna in the highest.”—Lauds antiphon from the Liturgy of the Hours
Prayer
Almighty ever-living God,
who as an example of humility for the human race to follow
caused our Savior to take flesh and submit to the Cross,
graciously grant that we may heed his lesson of patient suffering
and so merit a share in his Resurrection.
Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever. Amen.
(from The Roman Missal: College for Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord)
Saint profiles prepared by Brother Silas Henderson, S.D.S.
And today we celebrate...