Last week I attended Mass at church, and during his homily, the priest mentioned, “August 2nd is a special day.” I didn’t catch whose name he was referring to, nor did I understand what holiday it was. After returning home, this kept circling in my mind—like remembering a song’s melody but forgetting the lyrics.
Later, I realized I probably wasn’t alone in this. Many people hear the name of a holiday but don’t know who it honors or how to look it up. So I decided to figure it out myself and document my process, hoping it might help others too.
My Initial Search Left Me More Confused
My first approach was simple—I opened my phone and Googled: “August 2nd saint.” Clicking through the results gave me a start. The page exploded with names: “Saint Peter,” “Saint Peter,” “Saint Peter,” plus one called “Eusebius” and others I didn’t recognize.
The more I looked, the more confused I got. It was like going to a party and finding half the people named “Xiaoming”—you couldn’t tell anyone apart. That’s when I realized this approach wouldn’t work. Since many saints share the same name, relying solely on “August 2nd” and “saint” wouldn’t yield the right answer.
Trying a Different Approach, Still Not Working
I wasn’t ready to give up. I changed the keywords to “Catholic August holidays.” This time the results were slightly better—at least I could see what commemorations fell on each day of August. I slowly scrolled down, endlessly, until my eyes grew tired. The page was incredibly long, like a supermarket receipt, stretching on and on with no end in sight.
Along the way, I saw mentions of August 2nd being “Feast of the Holy Mother of Angels” or “Feast of St. Peter in Chains.” I grew skeptical, recalling the priest mentioning something different last year. Panic set in: Had I misremembered the date? Was it August 1st? Or August 3rd? My thoughts spiraled into confusion, and I nearly gave up.
Finally Finding the Correct Answer
Later, I decided to ditch these messy websites and consult official sources directly. I found the government or church’s official liturgical calendar website. This is the site the church uses to schedule Masses for the entire year, so it should be the most accurate.
I opened the webpage and scanned through each day in August. Finally, under August 2nd, I saw:
Feast of Saint Peter Julian Eymard
It clicked instantly! That was the name the priest had read that day. I just wasn’t familiar with “Emard”—it sounded a bit awkward, so I hadn’t remembered it at the time.
Turns out this saint is Saint Peter Julian Emard, a priest from centuries ago who later founded an organization called the Eucharistic Society. Its mission was to help people participate more meaningfully in Mass and receive Holy Communion.Though not as famous as Saint Patrick or Saint Valentine, he does have an official feast day in the Church.
Why Was It So Hard to Find?
Later, I pondered why such a simple question proved so difficult to research.
First, online information is too scattered. Google indiscriminately lists every person named “Peter,” making it impossible to distinguish one from another.
Second, major feasts like the Transfiguration on August 6th dominate attention, overshadowing lesser ones like August 2nd.
Third, regional variations in names caused confusion. Some calendars listed “Portiuncula,” which refers to an entirely different feast.
So my advice: Don’t make the same mistake I did by randomly searching. Go straight to the official church calendar—it saves time. Otherwise, you might end up like me, wasting half an hour and getting more confused.
To Sum Up
Now I know August 2nd commemorates Saint Peter Julian Eymard. He’s not the most famous saint, but his work was significant.From now on, if a priest mentions a feast day I don’t recognize, I won’t guess or search randomly. I’ll just open that official calendar website and see it at a glance.
If you also want to know which saint or feast day a particular date is for, don’t take the long way around. Find a reliable church calendar to check—it’s simple and accurate. Save yourself the hassle I went through, nearly convinced I’d remembered the date wrong.
