John B. Manos
7 Surprising Facts about the Ascension (gleaned from Fr. Hardon)
I decided to skip my usual annual bellyache over the idea of Ascension “Sunday” which is offensive to the literal 40 days after Easter, a Thursday, and instead find some other fun things about this historical event. Yes, better than any UFO films leaked by the government, Jesus literally lifted Himself into Heaven and people…
MAY 17, 2026 – ST. PASCHAL BAYLON.
Shepherd Paschal enters the Franciscans as a lay brother and spends his life before the Blessed Sacrament, often raised in ecstasy. An angel once brought him Holy Communion while he tended sheep. The saint of the Eucharist.
MAY 16, 2026 – ST. JOHN NEPOMUCEN.
St. John Nepomucene refuses to break the seal of confession even when tortured by the emperor. He is thrown into the river and dies a martyr. His tongue remains incorrupt centuries later. The priest who chose death over betrayal.
MAY 15, 2026 – SS. PETER AND DIONYSIA.
Young Peter is bound to a wheel and beheaded for Christ. He smiles through the pain and thanks God for giving him victory. Dionysia throws herself on the martyrs’ bodies, begging to die with them. The saints who chose death over denial.
MAY 14, 2026 – ST. PACHOMIUS, ABBOT.
Pagan soldier Pachomius sees Christian charity, converts, and founds the first great monastery. He lives on bread and water, sleeps sitting up, and trains thousands in the desert. The soldier who became a spiritual general.
Fatima isn’t “played out.”
Some Vatican officials want to sideline Fatima. Fr. John Hardon, S.J., wouldn’t. Today’s feast exposes modernism’s rot: collapsing faith in the Real Presence, normalized homicide, subjective Christianity. Lourdes heals bodies. Fatima converts stubborn wills. Mary still points to her Son in the Eucharist. Rosary + reparation or cope.
MAY 13, 2026 – ST. JOHN THE SILENT. OUR LADY OF FATIMA.
John becomes bishop at 28, resigns after 9 years, and spends the next 76 years in the desert in near-total silence and prayer. The bishop who chose God’s whisper over the world’s noise.
MAY 12, 2026 – ST. EPIPHANIUS, ARCHBISHOP.
Epiphanius masters Scripture in Egypt’s deserts, builds a monastery, becomes Bishop of Salamis, earns the title “the Counsellor,” and battles Arianism with wisdom and zeal. The monk who became the Church’s trusted advisor.
MAY 11, 2026 – ST. MAMMERTUS, ARCHBISHOP.
During earthquakes, fires, and wild beasts terrorizing Vienne, Bishop Mammertus prays a massive fire into extinction and institutes the three-day Rogation fasts. The bishop who made God listen.
MAY 10, 2026 – ST. ANTONINUS, BISHOP.
Tiny Antoninus joins the Dominicans at 15, becomes “the Counsellor,” gives away his mule and everything else to the poor, and dies Archbishop of Florence. Small body, massive heart.
