One of the more intriguing liturgies of the Church, the Greater Litanies or Processions, falls on April 25th (also the feast of St. Mark). The Greater Litanies, so called to distinguish them from the Minor Litanies - processions of lesser importance - which fall right before the Ascension, refer to a day set aside to make amends for offenses against our Good God in the form of spiritual acts of reparation, the chief being the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass preceded by a procession of supplication. During the procession, the Litany of the Saints was sung along with other prayers imploring God's mercy and blessing. Dom Prosper Gueranger, O.S.B, the great liturgical reformer of the 19th century, tells us that the custom of celebrating the Greater Litanies was already ancient by the time of Pope St. Gregory the Great.

Dom Prosper gives us the spiritual intentions underlying this liturgical tradition:

Although this liturgy has not enjoyed widespread celebration for many years, it is spiritually fruitful to reflect on this liturgy and to unite ourselves in spirit to the intention of the Church in calling the minds and hearts of the faithful to the offenses against our Lord.

Without the cross, there would be no Christianity and certainly no religious life. Each Christian, and particularly each consecrated person, is called to embrace the cross as the means of union and identification with Jesus Christ Crucified. St. Louis Marie de Montfort's moving poem, The Triumph of the Cross, expresses this magnificently, particularly in these excerpts:

Transferred from March 25 because of Good Friday, we celebrated the Solemnity of the Annunciation today with a sung Mass and the renewal of our Total Consecration to Jesus through Mary.
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​The month of April is dedicated to honoring the Holy Eucharist. This is particularly fitting considering the month's proximity to the institution of the Most Blessed Sacrament. St. Josemaria Escriva gives the following reflection on the relationship between the Eucharist and the resurrection: