Resurrection of the Lord Catholic Church

Feast date: Apr 18

April 18 commemorates the feast of Blessed Marie-Anne Blondin, a Canadian woman whose life was a story of obedience in the face of personal setbacks.

Esther Blondin was born in 1809 to a pious, French-Canadian farm family in southern Quebec. When she was old enough, she began to work as a domestic servant for a merchant and later for the Sisters of the Congregation of Notre Dame. While she worked for the sisters, she learned to read and write.

During that time, Esther decided to enter the congregation as a novice. However, her health forced her to abandon the pursuit. Nevertheless, the literacy she had obtained opened doors for her and she became a teacher, and eventually a director at a parochial school.

She was aware of the high levels of illiteracy in the area, and when she was 39 years old, she sought to found an order that taught both boys and girls in the same school. The year was 1848 and her idea was radical, as schools taught boys and girls separately.

Eventually, the pioneering woman received the requisite permission, and the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Anne was founded. Esther was the superior and took the name Marie-Anne. Though she was the founder and superior, Sister Marie-Anne faced much oppression from the congregation’s chaplain. He eventually had her removed from her position, and she was prohibited from holding any administrative roles for the rest of her life.

She spent her last 32 years without complaining, working in the order’s laundry and ironing room. Despite her demotion, her order continued to grow and spread across Canada and the United States.

Blessed Marie-Anne Blondin died in 1890. She was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 2001.

In his greetings shared with participants at the Fourth World Gathering of the Global Christian Forum taking place in Accra, Ghana, Pope Francis encourages everyone to deepen their faith and revitalize fraternal love, reflecting the unity to which Christians are called as they discuss the challenges facing the global Christian community.

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Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu, Metropolitan Archbishop of Kinshasa, the Democratic Republic of Congo, has warned that the situation in the east of the country is deteriorating rapidly. Armed militias have recently captured several towns in the area.

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Bishop Medhin of the Catholic Eparchy of Adigrat, Ethiopia appeals for vital aid amid a catastrophic humanitarian crisis gripping the northern region of Tigray.

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Qatar is reviewing its role as a mediator between Israel and Hamas.

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The Bishops of Quebec call on Christian communities to respond “to the call of those who are hungry,” to ensure that everyone has enough to eat.

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The head of the Justice and Peace Commission in Chad’s Diocese of Sarh has told Vatican News about the heavy toll exacted on lives, livestock and property as a result of unknown gunmen

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Pope Francis invites Discalced Carmelites to immerse themselves entirely in the Lord's presence in order to be filled with joy and love.

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In a statement addressed to the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues at the 23rd Session in New York on April 16, Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the UN, spoke of the importance of supporting indigenous people, especially young people, and cultivating dialogue.

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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Exercising the virtue of temperance is not a recipe for a boring life, Pope Francis said, but rather it is the secret to enjoying every good thing.

If one wants "to appreciate a good wine, savoring it in small sips is better than swallowing it all in one go. We all know this," the pope said April 17 at his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square.

Continuing a series of audience talks about vices and virtues, the pope focused on temperance, which the Catechism of the Catholic Church defines as "the moral virtue that moderates the attraction of pleasures and provides balance in the use of created goods."

Temperance is "the virtue of the right measure" in what one does and what one says, the pope said. "In a world where so many people boast about saying what they think, the temperate person prefers instead to think about what he or she says."

"Do you understand the difference?" Pope Francis asked people in the square. It means "I don't say whatever pops into my head. No, I think about what I must say."

A temperate person does not allow "a moment’s anger to ruin relationships and friendships that can then only be rebuilt with difficulty," the pope said. Temperance with words is especially important in families to keep "tensions, irritations and anger in check."

"There is a time to speak and a time to be silent, but both require the right measure," he said.

Being temperate, he said, does not mean never getting annoyed or frustrated, Pope Francis said, but he kept repeating the phrase with "the right measure" and "the right way."

For example, "a word of rebuke is at times healthier than a sour, rancorous silence," he said. "The temperate person knows that nothing is more uncomfortable than correcting another person, but he or she also knows that it is necessary; otherwise, one offers free reign to evil."

A temperate person "affirms absolute principles and asserts non-negotiable values," the pope said, but he or she does so in a way that shows understanding and empathy for others.

In other words, he said, a temperate person has the gift of balance, "a quality as precious as it is rare" in a world given to excess.

"It is not true that temperance makes one gray and joyless," Pope Francis said. On the contrary, it increases "the joy that flourishes in the heart of those who recognize and value what counts most in life."