The week ahead – from 12 to 18 October

Simon and Jude, the unknown Apostles. Saint Alfonso Rodríguez. All Saints means ALL the saints. An exercise for All Saints’ Day. Episode notes.

Pope St John Paul II. The Ugandan martyrs. St John Capistrano and the minaret on St Paul's. St Anthony Mary Claret: assassinations and books. Episode notes.

Two kinds of outsiders: lepers, and gentiles. The God-fearers. Blessed John Beyzym and the lepers of Madagascar. This Sunday in Brazil: Our Lady of Aparecida and the unexpected people whose patron she is. Devotions to “Our Lady Of” worldwide: incarnation implies location. Keeping popular piety under control. Irish missionaries, Saint Gall and the bear. Saint Teresa turning the Carmelites into Carmelites. Dr Saint Luke being polite about doctors. Episode notes.

The prophet Jonah. Saint Abraham. Saint John Henry Newman. Episode notes.

The week of the angels and the crack in the clouds. Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, and the Guardian Angels. St Jerome; the Brazilian Martyrs of Natal. St Thérèse of Lisieux and St Francis of Assisi. A report on the Southwark Day for Catechists. Episode notes.

Saint Matthew and his Gospel. Why have Gospels? Why have three synoptic Gospels? The madness of Q. Can investment bankers be saved? Episode notes.

Faith: more than a theological virtue. Hope: a hard virtue. The civilised martyrdom of St Cyprian. The Korean martyrs: "I am".

Saints, Blesseds, and canonisation. Our relationship with the saints. Blessed (soon to be Saint) Pier Giorgio Frassati and Blessed (soon to be Saint) Carlo Acutis. Saint Peter Claver. Episode notes.

Confirmation, catechesis and the Creed. "I" and "we" revisited. Saint Gregory the Great; bishops as icebergs. Mother Teresa and why people hate her. More saints to hate! Differing views of judgement. The Litany of Loreto. Episode notes.

The end of the world and the Day of the Lord. Zephaniah and how to read a prophet. ‘Whom the Lord loveth, he chastiseth.’ Saint Louis. St John Chrysostom. Saints Monica and Augustine. Our Lady of Częstochowa (and Hilaire Belloc). Episode notes.