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On February 26, Catholic and Orthodox tradition honors Saint Porphyry  (c. 347–420), the resolute bishop who, through persistent prayer, imperial support, and miraculous signs, led the conversion of Gaza—one of the last great pagan citadels in the late Roman Empire—from idolatry to Christianity. Though the modern Roman Calendar marks this Thursday in the First Week of Lent as an ordinary weekday, Porphyry's ancient feast day endures in many local churches and hagiographical s

Reading 1 Jon 3:1-10 The word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time: "Set out for the great city of Nineveh, and announce to it the message that I will tell you." So Jonah made ready and went to Nineveh, according to the LORD's bidding. Now Nineveh was an enormously large city; it took three days to go through it. Jonah began his journey through the city, and had gone but a single day's walk announcing, "Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed," when the people of Ni

On February 25, the Church remembers Saint Walburga  (c. 710–779), the remarkable Anglo-Saxon missionary, Benedictine abbess, and wonder-worker whose relics continue to exude a miraculous healing oil more than twelve centuries after her death. Though her commemoration is not part of the universal calendar's obligatory observances, February 25—her dies natalis (heavenly birthday)—remains a day of profound devotion in many Catholic communities, especially in Germany, England, a