Catholic Family Devotions

Understanding the Day

Season

Time After Epiphany

Week

Week 2 of Time After Epiphany

Rank

Feast

S. Agnes, Virgin and Martyr is celebrated in the season called Time After Epiphany, the period after the Church has reflected on Christ’s revelation and prepares for the mysteries leading toward Lent. In plain terms, the rank “Double” marks this feast as an important liturgical celebration that takes precedence over ordinary weekday observances; it calls for the proper prayers, readings, and liturgical color of the feast in parish and family prayer. No octave or vigil is specified here, so the celebration is observed on its appointed day without an extended eight‑day observance or an attached preparatory liturgy. For families, this feast highlights the witness of a young Christian who remained faithful unto death.

Introit (Daily Prayer)

Ps 118:95-96.
Sinners wait to destroy me, but I pay heed to Your decrees, O Lord. I see that all fulfillment has its limits; broad indeed is Your command. (Alleluja, alleluja.)
Ps 118:1
Happy are they whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord.
Glory Be to the Father…

Almighty, eternal God, You Who choose the weak things of the world to confound the strong, mercifully grant that we who are celebrating the feast of blessed Agnes, Your Virgin and Martyr, may reap the benefit of her patronal intercession with You.
Through our Lord…

Weekly Prayer

Act of Contrition

O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee, and I detest all my sins because I dread the loss of Heaven and the pains of Hell; but most of all because they offend Thee, my God, Who art all-good and deserving of all my love.

I firmly resolve, with the help of Thy grace, to confess my sins, to do penance, and to amend my life. Amen.

Weekly Formation

Partaking, Silence, and Defense

Ways of Being Accessory to Another’s Sin

By partaking
A person becomes accessory by partaking when he knowingly shares in the performance, benefit, or necessary support of another’s sinful act. The degree of guilt depends on intention, freedom, closeness to the act, and whether the assistance helped cause it.
By silence
A person becomes accessory by silence when a serious duty to speak, warn, correct, or protect is deliberately neglected. Silence is not automatically consent, but it becomes blameworthy when speaking was reasonably possible and necessary to prevent or oppose the wrong.
By defense of the sinful action
A person becomes accessory by defending a sinful action when he knowingly excuses, justifies, or protects the wrongdoing as though it were right. Defending the dignity or legal rights of a sinner is different from defending the sin itself.

The Spiritual Works of Mercy

Instruct the ignorant
Instructing the ignorant means teaching needed truth to someone who does not know it, especially truth concerning faith and moral duty. The work presumes patience and accuracy and differs from winning an argument or displaying knowledge.

Saint & Feast

Principal celebration

Agnes

S. Agnes, Virgin and Martyr

Christian martyr

Born: 0300-00-00 · Rome
Died: 0400-00-00 · Rome

Agnes of Rome is a virgin martyr, venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church, Oriental Orthodox Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church, as well as the Anglican Communion and Lutheran Churches. She is one of several virgin martyrs commemorated by name in the Canon of the Mass, and one of many Christians martyred during the reign of the Roman emperor Diocletian.

Learn more about Agnes

Today in Church History

Feast Day of Saint Angela Merici
1474Founding
Saint Angela Merici, whose feast day is celebrated on January 27, founded the Ursulines, the first teaching order of women in the Church, dedicated to the education of girls and care of the poor.
Saint Angela's dedication to education reminds us of the transformative power of learning.
Election of Pope Pius VI
1775Papal
Pope Pius VI was elected as the 250th pope. His pontificate was marked by challenges, including the French Revolution and the suppression of the Jesuits.
Pope Pius VI's leadership during turbulent times encourages us to trust in God's providence.
Martyrdom of Saint Agnes of Rome
304Martyrdom
Saint Agnes, a young Roman virgin-martyr, was executed for her faith during the Diocletian persecution. Her steadfastness and purity became a symbol of Christian virtue.
Saint Agnes's courage inspires us to remain faithful to Christ even in the face of persecution.

Catechism

Catechism of the Catholic Church

In the Catechism, we learn that the invisible God, from the fullness of his love, addresses us as friends and invites us into his company; the fitting response to this invitation is faith (CCC 142). Faith means freely submitting our intellect and will to God and giving our whole assent to him, in the “obedience of faith” (CCC 143-144). Abraham is a model of this obedience: he went out at God’s call without knowing where he was going, lived as a pilgrim in the promised land, and believed God’s promises with faith in things hoped for and not seen (CCC 145-146). Mary is the most perfect embodiment of this obedience of faith. She welcomed God’s promise, believed that nothing is impossible with God, and remained faithful even through the death of her Son on the cross (CCC 148-149).

Faith is a profound personal adherence to God and a free assent to all the truth he has revealed. Unlike trust in any human person, faith rightly entrusts us wholly to God and believes what he says. Christian faith includes believing in Jesus Christ, the beloved Son sent by the Father, who makes the Father known. We also rely on the Holy Spirit, who reveals who Jesus is and gives us the interior help to accept and believe the truth. Faith is God’s gift and is possible by grace, yet it is also a genuine human act in which our intellect and will cooperate with divine grace. In our daily prayer, we can ask God to move our hearts toward him and help us trust his revealed truth.

¶ 146

Today's Mass Readings

Open the day's Sancta MissaDivinum Officium · Divino Afflatu - 1954View readings