Overview

• April 27 honors San Pedro Armengol, a 13th-century former bandit turned Mercedarian friar, known for rescuing captives and surviving a near-martyrdom experience.
• San Rafael Arnáiz Barón, a modern Spanish mystic, is remembered for his profound spirituality and quiet perseverance amidst illness in the Trappist monastery of San Isidro de Dueñas.
• The day also marks the martyrdom of San Simeón de Jerusalén, crucified in 107 AD as the second bishop of Jerusalem, and the 2014 canonization of Pope John Paul II.
• April 28 commemorates San Luis María Grignion de Montfort, an 18th-century French priest renowned for his Marian devotion and influential spiritual writings.
• Santa Gianna Beretta Molla, a 20th-century Italian pediatrician, and San Pedro Chanel, the first martyr of Oceania, are celebrated for their selfless sacrifices and missionary zeal.