Saint John Paul II National Shrine

08/25/2026

08/25/2026

Happy feast day of Saint Joseph Calasanz!

St Joseph Calasanz was born into a noble family in 1556 in the kingdom of Aragon, modern day Spain, and, after a university education in theology and law, was ordained a priest in 1583. When he moved to Rome, he founded the first ever free school for poor children in Europe in 1597. In 1617, Pope Paul V allowed Joseph to establish a religious congregation for the priests who lived in community and assisted at his school, known as the “Pauline Congregation of the Poor of the Mother of God of the Pious Schools,” or the Piarist. In 1621, the Piarists were elevated to a religious order by Pope Gregory XV, and named the “Order of Poor Clerics Regular of the Mother of God of the Pious Schools.” Joseph Calasanz died in 1648.

“Joseph Calasanz, wise interpreter of the signs of the times, considered education, given in a “brief, simple and effective manner” (cf. Constitutiones [1622], n. 216), the guarantee of success in the life of students and the leaven of social and ecclesial renewal. Moreover, he saw school as a new way of evangelizing and for this reason he wished religious and preferably priests to take on the task of teaching, committing themselves to offering the child an all-round culture, in which the religious dimension would be considered and lived in a profound manner. ” - JPII, Letter to the Piarist Fathers, 6/24/97

Image credit: Wiki Commons - Slovak National Gallery,
Saint Joseph Calasanz

Letter to the Piarist Fathers: https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/la/letters/1990/documents/hf_jp-ii_let_19900820_sancti-berardi.html

08/24/2026

08/24/2026

Join the Saint John Paul II National Shrine and venerate the First Class relics of Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta and Saint Jeanne Jugan!

Saint Jeanne Jugan:
· Type of Relic: Ex Ossibus (First Class: bone relic)
· Born: October 25th, Cancale, Ille-et-Vilaine, France
· Died: October 3rd, 1879, Saint-Pern, Ille-et-Vilaine, France
· Beatified: October 3rd, 1982, by Pope John Paul II
· Canonized: October 11th, 3022, by Pope Benedict XVI
· Feast Day: August 30th
· Patronage: Elderly, Destitute, Little Sisters of the Poor (Foundress).

Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta:
· Type of Relic: Ex Sanguine (First Class: blood relic)
· Born: August 26th, 1910, Üsküp, Kosovo vilayet, Ottoman Empire
· Died: September 5th, 1997, Calcutta, West Bengal, India
· Beatified: October 19th, 1998, by Pope John Paul II
· Canonized: September 4th, 2016, by Pope Francis
· Feast Day: September 5th
· Patronage: World Youth Day, Missionaries of Charity, Archdiocese of Calcutta

08/24/2026

In just two days, the Saint John Paul II Retreat House will be opening! Situated in the heart of our nation's capital, we celebrate the gifts to come for our country and world!

Come for our opening or schedule a retreat and time to be with Jesus.

Grand Opening: August 26, 12-3pm
Learn More: https://retreat.jp2shrine.org

08/24/2026

We have 18 Relics in Residence at the Saint John Paul II Shrine. Over the next months we will be opening the opportunity to all for veneration during the saints feasts days.

It is important to understand why and how we venerate relics. This post is an attempt to help make it known the importance and significance of relics in the life of a Catholic.

08/23/2026

08/23/2026

08/23/2026

08/23/2026

Happy feast day of Saint Rose of Lima!

Pope Leo XIV recently blessed a statue of St. Rose of Lima in the Vatican Gardens, highlighting her as the first American saint and a model of holiness.

“An encounter with the Lord brings about a profound transformation in all who do not close themselves off from him. The first impulse coming from this transformation is to communicate to others the richness discovered in the experience of the encounter. This does not mean simply teaching what we have come to know but also, like the Samaritan woman, enabling others to encounter Jesus personally: ‘Come and see’ (Jn 4:29).” - JPII, Ecclesia in America, 1/22/99

“Rose was born into an educated but impoverished family in Lima, Peru, in 1586. From her earliest childhood, Rose sought to ‘proclaim the beauty of divine grace’ through constant prayer and mortification. She worked diligently to support her family by creating delicate lacework, and tended the poor sick who came to her home. The commission of the Inquisition that investigated her concluded that her mystical experiences resulted from ‘the impulses of grace.’ At age twenty she took a vow of chastity and entered the Dominican Third Order. She died in 1617.” - Magnificat Vol. 27, No. 6

Image credit: Wiki Commons - Claudio Coello, Santa Rose de Lima

Ecclesia in America: https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/la/letters/1990/documents/hf_jp-ii_let_19900820_sancti-berardi.html