SUNDAY, Oct. 10, noon, 8pm Papal Mass

CATHOLICTV Pope Benedict XVI is to celebrate Mass in St. Peter’s for the opening of the Synod of Bishops for the Middle East. The theme for the two-week event is “The Catholic Church in the Middle East: Communion and Testimony. ‘The multitude of believers were of one heart and of one soul’ (Acts 4: 32).” The synod will seek to strengthen ties between the area’s ancient Churches, express spiritual solidarity with them, defend their right to freedom of religion, encourage their Christian witness, focus international attention on persecution, and affirm their presence in their countries.

TUESDAY, Oct. 12, 8pm

Nova: Secrets of the

Parthenon

PBS Scholars study the 2,500-year-old Parthenon during its years-long restoration by Greek architectural experts and try to decipher how the ancients built it so precisely and in just eight years, incorporated ingenious aesthetic distortions, and evidently operated without a blueprint. A re-airing.

FRIDAY, Oct. 15, 2pm

Unlikely Animal Friends

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CHANNEL Animal pals shown include a playful kitten and crow, a lioness and oryx calves, a baby hippo and a 130-year-old tortoise, an orangutan and a dog, and an elephant and a dog. TV-G.

SUNDAY, Oct. 17, 3:30am, live

Beatifications

EWTN “Our work was instituted by God to destroy the secular spirit of education among our schools,” said Sister Mary MacKillop (1842-1909), who founded the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Sacred Heart in Australia in 1866 to teach poor children and to care for everyone in need. Pope Benedict XVI is to canonize her at Mass in St. Peter’s, along with Holy Cross Brother André Bessette (1845-1937), who was the porter at Quebec’s College of Notre Dame, obtained countless cures through the years, and founded the beautiful St. Joseph’s Oratory in Montreal. Re-airs at noon.

TUESDAY, Oct. 19, 8pm

Nova: Building the

Great Cathedrals

PBS Engineers, architects, art historians and computer scientists visit Gothic cathedrals to try to uncover methods the medieval builders used to create such testaments to faith.

WEDNESDAY, Oct. 20, 3am, 6:30pm

I Am the Living Bread

EWTN Eucharistic adorers in San Antonio describe how their worship of Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament has brought many graces and changed their lives.

FRIDAY, Oct. 22, 9pm

Modern Marvels:

Mega Stores

HISTORY American families by the millions find their lives made easier thanks to the planning, efficiency and hard work of the owners and staffs of their local giant stores.

Dan Engler writes from Santa Barbara, California.