Catholic Family Devotions

Understanding the Day

Season

Septuagesima

Week

Week 1 of Septuagesima

Rank

Simple feast

This celebration falls in the season of Septuagesima, a preparatory period before Lent marked by a growing focus on penance and spiritual readiness. In older liturgical calendars like the Divino Afflatu system, Septuagesima begins about seventy days before Easter and helps families enter a quieter, more reflective rhythm as they approach the Lenten journey.

The rank given here is Simple. In plain language, that means the observance is an official feast in the calendar but is not as liturgically prominent as a higher-ranked feast (such as a double or a solemnity). The celebration is kept with its proper texts and prayers but without the extended ceremonial additions that accompany higher ranks.

There is no octave or special vigil indicated for this day. The day matters because it highlights a saintly witness that can inspire ordinary Christian living during a season of preparation.

Introit (Daily Prayer)

Ps 17:5-7
The terrors of death surged round me, the cords of the nether world enmeshed me. In my distress I called upon the Lord; from His holy temple He heard my voice.
Ps 17:2-3
I love You, O Lord, my strength, O Lord, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer.
Glory Be to the Father…

Commemoration St. Blaise
May this Communion, O Lord, cleanse us of sin, and through the intercession of blessed Blaise, Your Martyr and Bishop, may it make us sharers of heavenly healing.
Through our Lord…

Weekly Prayer

Memorare

Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thy intercession, was left unaided.

Inspired by this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins, my Mother. To thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful.

O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy mercy hear and answer me. Amen.

Weekly Formation

Idolatry, Sorcery, and Faithfulness

The Works of the Flesh

Idolatry
Idolatry gives a creature, image, power, or human good the worship or absolute trust owed to God alone. It is a work of the flesh because it turns the heart from the Creator toward something finite and makes that created thing the governing object of life.
Sorcery
Sorcery seeks hidden power, knowledge, or control through occult practices rather than through God’s providence and lawful means. It violates faith by appealing to spiritual powers apart from God and can involve superstition, deception, or direct openness to evil.

The Fruits of the Holy Spirit

Faithfulness
Faithfulness is steadfast reliability toward God and toward rightful human commitments. It makes belief, promises, duties, and relationships stable rather than subject to convenience, mood, or pressure.

Saint & Feast

Principal celebration

Blaise

St. Blase, Bishop and Martyr

early 4th-century saint and bishop

Born: 0300-00-00 · Sivas
Died: 0316-00-00 · Sivas

Blaise of Sebaste was a physician and bishop of Sebastea in historical Lesser Armenia who is venerated as a Christian saint and martyr. He is counted as one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers.

Learn more about Blaise

Today in Church History

Death of Johannes Gutenberg
1468Event
Johannes Gutenberg, the inventor of the movable-type printing press, died on February 3, 1468. His invention revolutionized the dissemination of the Bible and Catholic literature, greatly impacting the Church.
Gutenberg's innovation reminds us of the power of technology to spread the Gospel.
Martyrdom of the 26 Martyrs of Japan
1597Martyrdom
On February 3, 1597, 26 Christians, including Franciscans, Jesuits, and laypeople, were executed by crucifixion in Nagasaki, Japan. This event marked a significant moment in the persecution of Christians in Japan.
The steadfast faith of the martyrs inspires courage and perseverance in the face of persecution.

Catechism

Catechism of the Catholic Church

In the Catechism, we learn that before his Passover Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit, the “another Paraclete” or Advocate. The Spirit, already at work since creation and speaking through the prophets, would be with and in the disciples, teaching them and guiding them into all truth (CCC 243). Sent to the apostles and the Church by the Father and by the Son after Jesus returned to the Father, the Spirit’s mission reveals the mystery of the Holy Trinity more fully (CCC 244). The Church confesses that the Holy Spirit is the Lord and giver of life, equal with the Father and the Son, and worshipped and glorified with them (CCC 245). Eastern and Western traditions express the Spirit’s eternal origin in complementary ways: from the Father through the Son, and from the Father and the Son, while confessing the same mystery of faith (CCC 246-248).

The revealed truth of the Holy Trinity stands at the root of the Church’s living faith and is expressed especially in Baptism, as well as in the Church’s preaching, catechesis, and prayer. In the early centuries, the Church worked to clarify this faith and defend it from errors, through the early councils, the theological work of the Church Fathers, and the Christian people’s sense of faith. To speak about the Trinity, the Church developed terms such as “substance,” “person” or “hypostasis,” and “relation.” These words express the unity of the one divine being, the real distinction of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and their relationships with one another, while reminding us that this mystery is infinitely beyond human understanding. As families pray and learn the faith together, they can join the Church’s confession: the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.

The Catechism teaches that the Trinity is one God in three really distinct persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. These are not merely different names for God; each person is wholly and entirely God, sharing the one divine nature. The persons are distinct in their relations of origin: the Father generates the Son, the Son is begotten, and the Holy Spirit proceeds. Yet this distinction never divides God’s unity, for the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are one in divine substance and power. As we pray and grow in faith together, we can treasure this profession of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as a companion for our whole lives, in both hardships and joys.

Today's Mass Readings

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