Today is Maundy Thursday, Holy Thursday, the night of sorrows.

But what makes this such an important day?
What happened in that upper room, and in the garden beyond?

It begins with bread & wine & ends with blood-sweat, betrayal, and the binding of the Son of Man - a 🧵✝️
As the sun sets on Jerusalem, the streets are filled with the fragrance of lamb and bitter herbs. It is the night of the Passover, and Jesus gathers with His twelve Apostles in an upper room prepared for the sacred meal.

He knows what this night will bring.

“Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them unto the end.” - John 13,1

Today is Spy Wednesday, a day of betrayal cloaked in silence.

But what makes it so grave?
What secret turns the tide of history on this day?

It begins with whispered plots in the Temple & ends with thirty pieces of silver and a kiss of betrayal - a 🧵✝️
Today, the shadows deepen.

Jerusalem, the Holy City, buzzes with pilgrims preparing for the great Feast of the Passover. The Temple is filled with offerings, prayers and the smoke of sacrifices.

But behind closed doors, in the chambers near the Sanctuary, the chief priests, scribes, and elders of the people are plotting.

“And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to arrest Him by stealth and kill Him; for they said, ‘Not during the feast, lest there be a riot of the people." - Mark 14,1–2

Today is Holy Tuesday, a day of deep confrontation and prophecy during Holy Week.

But what makes it so powerful?
What did Jesus do and say on this day?

It all begins with the traps laid by the Pharisees, and ends with Christ’s speech on the Mount of Olives - a 🧵✝️ The morning sun glimmered over the city of Jerusalem, but there was tension in the air.

The Temple courts buzzed with whispers and scheming. The chief priests and elders were watching. Yesterday, this Jesus of Nazareth had cast out merchants and scattered the money changers. Today, they were ready. They would catch Him in His words. They would bring Him down with cleverness and law.

But the Lion of Judah came walking into the Temple, unfazed by the scheming pharisees.

Today is Holy Monday, a day in Holy Week worth remembering.

But why is it considered so important?
What’s the story behind it?

It all begins with the Cursing of the Fig Tree and the Cleansing of the Temple - a 🧵✝️ The morning sun rose over the hills of Bethany, casting golden light across olive groves and dusty paths. Jesus walked ahead of His disciples, His face set toward Jerusalem. The air was quiet, but something weighed heavy in the atmosphere, the storm of Calvary was drawing near.

As they approached the city, the Lord grew hungry.
In the distance stood a fig tree, full of leaves, healthy in appearance.

He stepped toward it… but there was no fruit. Only leaves.

The tree promised life but gave nothing.

Today is Palm Sunday, a very special day of Lent.

But why do we consider it such an important day?
What's the story behind it?

Palm Sunday, the Triumphal Entry of Christ into Jerusalem - a 🧵🌿✝️ Let's set the scene.

It was the beginning of the Jewish feast of Passover, and pilgrims from all over Judea and beyond had flocked to Jerusalem. The city was swelling with people, expectation, tension, religious fervor and hope were in the air.

Jesus of Nazareth, from Galilee, had raised Lazarus from the dead just days before. Word of this incredible sign had spread like fire. Many believed He was the Messiah, the long-awaited King from the line of David, sent to liberate Israel.

Few tales from the Crusades are as strange & inspiring as that of the Leper Knights.

Scarred in body but burning with faith, these warriors bore both their Cross & a disease feared by all, yet they rode into battle undaunted.

The Order of the Leper Knights – a 🧵✝️ To understand how the Leper Knights came to be, we must first understand the medieval Christian attitude toward leprosy.

It was a terrible disease, but it was also seen as a "sacred disease" with religious meanings attributed to it.

In the year of our Lord 1095, Christian Europe had had enough.

The Pope spoke, and warrior-kings answered.
It was time to reclaim the Holy Land from the Saracen infidels.

Thus began the First Crusade, the triumph of the Cross over the Crescent. 🧵✝️ Yet the origins of this sacred campaign stretch far deeper than a single sermon.

The struggle between Christendom and the rising power of Islam had burned for centuries. Since the 7th century, the heirs of Muhammad had poured across once-Christian lands: Iberia fell, North Africa turned, and the Eastern Roman Empire, what little remained of Rome’s legacy, found itself bleeding in Anatolia.

When the crusader knights retook Jerusalem in 1099, they not only seized the city, they reestablished law and order.

In the deserts and fortresses of the East, they raised Christian kingdoms amidst the Islamic sea.

The Laws of the Christian Crusader States - a 🧵
It was necessary to create laws, organize justice, and maintain order.

Thus were born the Laws of the Crusader States, one of the most fascinating legal codes of the Middle Ages.

Beneath the shadow of the Cross, as thunder roared and the veil tore, stood a Roman centurion, hardened by war, loyal to Caesar, yet at that moment touched by grace.

His name was Longinus, servant of empire, but chosen for a greater Kingdom.

The Conversion of Longinus – a 🧵✝️
Longinus was a Roman centurion, a veteran hardened by war and entrusted with keeping order in the distant provinces of the vast Roman Empire.

Assigned to the region of Palestine, his duty on that fateful day, the crucifixion of Jesus, was to oversee the execution & verify the condemned man's death.

The year was 1043, and Iberia was a land at war.

Torn between crescent & cross, Iberia bled for a champion. In the rugged hills of Castile, beneath crumbling Roman stones & monastic chants the prayer was answered.

EL CID CAMPEADOR ,The Lord, Master of Battles - a 🧵 Rodrigo grew tall and strong, trained in sword and saddle, and pledged his loyalty to King Sancho II of Castile. In the service of his liege, he fought with the fury of an archangel, wielding his blade Tizona like a judgment from Heaven.

Who was Robin Hood? A mere vigilante or a deeply pious Catholic noble?

Contrary to modern retellings, the medieval tales portray Robin Hood as a man deeply devoted to the Most Holy Virgin Mary & a loyal defender of England’s rightful king.

Robin Hood, Defender of Justice -🧵✝️
The stories begin in the 14th and 15th centuries and reveal that he was not a revolutionary, but deeply tied to tradition, to faith, and to justice.

In the midst of the dense forests of Sherwood, where the shadows of the trees danced under the moonlight, a name echoed among men who still believed in justice: Robin Hood.

In the year of Our Lord, 312 the Roman Empire stood divided, ravaged by civil war.

Maxentius, a rebel tyrant enthroned in Rome, ruled by terror & idolatry.

Constantine the Great & the Sign of the Cross - a 🧵✝️ Blood stained the land from the Alps to the Tiber, and ambition tore brother from brother.

Constantine, son of the beloved Constantius, stood as a man of vision, tempered by discipline and justice.

“There are kings who rule by might, and kings who rule by law. But once in an age, God sends a king who rules by grace.”

This is the epic tale of a man who's life serves both as example & inspiration

This is Saint King Fernando the III of Castile & León - The Saintly King a 🧵 In the borderlands of León and Castile, where olive trees twisted in the sun & Moors still held sway to the south, a child was born under the shadow of war.

Fernando, son of Berengaria of Castile and Alfonso IX of León, was a prince torn between realms long divided.

In 722, In the mountains of Asturias, a small band of 300 warriors prepares for battle against thousands of muslims

They have no empire, no kingdom; just a handful of men, armed with iron and unbreakable faith that decided enough was enough.

The Birth of the Reconquista - a 🧵
By the 8th century, Iberia is completely under islamic rule.

Muslim forces are pushing north where they even dare to make incursions into southern France.

Beneath the shadow of Golgotha, as the storm clouds raged and the earth trembled, stood a Roman centurion, a man of war, duty, and hardened steel.

His name was Longinus, a soldier sworn to Rome, but destined for something far greater.

The Sanctification of Longinus - a 🧵✝️

The year was 1187 & Jerusalem was a land at war

Jacques de Mailly, a Templar knight, rode on patrol with 150 men

Word came that a moor force 7,000 strong was descending upon a Christian town. All counseled retreat

But Jacques feared nothing, he rode out to meet them - a 🧵✝️ The Kingdom of Jerusalem stood like a candle flickering in a storm, beset on all sides by the rising tide of Islam.

Saladin, the mighty Sultan of Egypt and Syria, had united the crescent under his banner and now gathered a colossal host to reclaim the Holy City.

"No religion on earth has ever honored women as much as Christianity does." - a🧵

A bold claim? Not so much. Let’s dive into why this statement is 100% true through the lenses of Apostolic Christianity. Christ included women in his ministery

>He revealed He was the Messiah firstly to the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4).
>He welcomed Mary of Bethany to “sit at His feet” as a disciple (Luke 10,39). A role traditionally reserved for men.
>Women were the first witnesses of the Resurrection, the cornerstone of our faith (Matthew 28, 1-10)

In the dawn of the 7th century the desert winds howled across Arabia’s sands.

From its heart rode warlords, bearing the crescent moon and the fire of conquest.

Christendom watched as the Holy Land fell.

Why The Crusades were not only JUSTIFIED but NECESSARY - a 🧵✝️ After the Edict of Milan, persecution ceased and the Cross rose by imperial decree. The faith of Christ surged like a mighty river, no longer hidden, but proclaimed from marble cities of the Roman Empire to the distant sands of the East, radiant and unstoppable.

The Lord of the Rings in Byzantine style Christian Iconography - a🧵🧵

Photos of Pope Saint John Paul the II that proof he was cooler than all of us - a 🧵pt 2
Saint Pope John Paul the II, Future Pope Benedict the XI and famous brasilian priest Father Paulo Ricardo

The year was 33 AD, and the tomb was empty.

Two disciples entered, Peter and John, finding not one, but two cloths.

A contradiction? No. A revelation.

One was the Shroud of Turin, the other?
The Sudarium of Oviedo, proof of the Passion of our Lord - a 🧵✝️ The Gospel of John (John 20,6-7) tells us that when Peter and John entered the empty tomb, they saw two cloths, not one. The larger linen (the Shroud of Turin) was left neatly folded, while the smaller "Sudarium", which had been wrapped around Christ’s bloodied head, was set apart.

The reason for the Sudarium is that Jewish tradition demanded that if the face of a dead person was in any way disfigured, as was that of Jesus, it should be covered with a cloth so as not to be seen.