Description

It’s the Feast of St. Didacus, 3rd Class, with the color of White. In this episode: the meditation: “Assisting at Several Masses at the Same Time”, today’s news from the Church: “Communique from the General House about the Vatican's document on Our Lady”, a preview of the Sermon: “Luther’s Error on Indulgences”, and today’s thought from the Archbishop.

Have feedback or questions about the DD or our other shows? podcast@sspx.org

Sources Used Today:

• “Assisting at Several Masses at the Same Time” – The Heart of the Mass
  • https://angeluspress.org/products/heart-mass
  
  
• “Communique from the General House about the Vatican's document on Our Lady” (FSSPX.news)
  • https://sspx.org/en/publications/communique-general-house-society-saint-pius-x-55472
  
  
• “Luther’s Error on Indulgences” (SSPX Sermons)
  • SSPX YouTube: Sermons Playlist
  • Listen & Subscribe: SSPX Sermons Podcast
  
  
• The Spiritual Life – Archbishop Lefebvre (Angelus Press)
  • https://angeluspress.org/products/spiritual-life-archbishop
  
  

Saint Didacus — known in Spanish as San Diego de Alcalá — was a humble Franciscan lay brother whose holiness shone most clearly in simplicity and service. Born around 1400 in the small Andalusian village of San Nicolás del Puerto, he grew up in poverty and spent his youth as a shepherd. Even in solitude, he was drawn to prayer and penance. Locals said he treated his flocks as his congregation, speaking to them of God and singing psalms across the fields. The rhythm of prayer and work became the pattern of his entire life.

When he entered the Franciscan Order as a lay brother, he did not seek learning or authority. Instead, he asked for the most menial tasks: gardening, cooking, caring for the sick. He was sent to a series of small friaries, each one touched by his joy and kindness. In the 1440s, Didacus volunteered to serve as a missionary in the Canary Islands, then a harsh and distant outpost. There he helped establish a friary, evangelized the islanders through example rather than words, and tended to the poor with patience and humor.

Later he was recalled to Spain and assigned to a friary near Alcalá de Henares. When the plague broke out in 1450 during the Jubilee Year, Didacus happened to be in Rome. He was placed in charge of the infirmary at the Franciscan convent of Ara Coeli, where hundreds of sick pilgrims crowded the halls. He nursed them with such gentleness that witnesses said he seemed to glow with peace amid the suffering. Some were healed simply through his prayers or his touch, and people began to call him “Father of the Poor.”

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