Understanding the Day
Season
Lent
Week
Week 3 of Lent
Rank
Weekday
Lent is a penitential season of forty days before Easter when families focus on prayer, fasting, and works of charity to prepare for the Paschal mystery. A Friday in the third week of Lent is a weekday (feria) within this season: its prayers and readings follow the Lenten cycle rather than celebrating a particular saint. The rank “Greater Non-Privileged Feria” means this day is a regular Lenten weekday of enhanced importance compared with simple weekdays; it does not suppress higher feasts and has its own proper liturgical texts for Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours. There is no octave or vigil attached to this day in the provided context.
Introit (Daily Prayer)
Ps 85:17
Grant me, O Lord, a proof of Your favor, that my enemies may see, to their confusion, that You, O Lord, have helped me and comforted me.
Ps 85:1
Incline Your ear, O Lord; answer me, for I am afflicted and poor.
Glory Be to the Father…
Grant me, O Lord, a proof of Your favor, that my enemies may see, to their confusion, that You, O Lord, have helped me and comforted me.
Ps 85:1
Incline Your ear, O Lord; answer me, for I am afflicted and poor.
Glory Be to the Father…
O Lord, graciously be with us during this fast, and, we beseech You, help our spirit to abstain from sin as our body fasts from food.
Through our Lord…
Through our Lord…
Weekly Prayer
Prayer to the Holy Family
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph,
bless us and grant us the grace
to love and serve God faithfully,
to honor one another with patience and charity,
and to make our home a dwelling place of peace.
Holy Family of Nazareth,
help us to grow in faith, hope, and love.
Guide our work, our rest, our words, and our choices,
so that in all things we may seek the will of God.
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph,
pray for us and protect our family. Amen.
bless us and grant us the grace
to love and serve God faithfully,
to honor one another with patience and charity,
and to make our home a dwelling place of peace.
Holy Family of Nazareth,
help us to grow in faith, hope, and love.
Guide our work, our rest, our words, and our choices,
so that in all things we may seek the will of God.
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph,
pray for us and protect our family. Amen.
Weekly Formation
Beatitude 3
The Beatitudes
Blessed are they that mourn; for they shall be comforted.
The blessed mourners grieve chiefly for sin—their own and the sins of the world—and bear unavoidable trials in union with God. Their promised comfort is not mere earthly relief but the consolation of grace and, finally, eternal joy.
Saint & Feast
Principal celebrationCalendar title
Friday of Week 3 of Lent
A biography or feast reflection has not yet been prepared.
Customs & Fasting
Traditional fast · Complete abstinence
Traditional Lenten Friday fast and complete abstinence.
Today in Church History
Election of Pope Francis in 2013
2013PapalThe 2013 papal conclave marked a significant moment in Catholic history with the election of Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio as Pope Francis. His selection as the first pope from the Americas and the Jesuit order reflects a new direction for the Church, emphasizing mercy, social justice, and outreach to the marginalized.
Pope Francis reminds us of the call to serve others with humility and compassion.
Catechism
Catechism of the Catholic Church
In the face of final trials leading up to Christ's second coming, the Church will endure persecution that tests the faith of many. The deception of the Antichrist, which promotes a false sense of salvation through self-glorification, poses a significant threat to authentic belief. However, the fulfillment of God's kingdom will come not through worldly triumphs but through Christ's victory over evil, culminating in the Last Judgment where each person's heart and actions will be revealed. For Catholic families, this serves as a reminder to live in grace and love, embracing each other with compassion, as our treatment of one another reflects our acceptance of Christ’s teachings and prepares us for the eternal life He offers.
The Church has no light of her own; like the moon reflecting the sun, she reflects the light of Christ. She is holy through the gift of the Holy Spirit, who is the source and giver of holiness and flourishes in the Church. As God calls his people together from every part of the earth, the Church is present in local communities and becomes especially real when believers gather for the liturgy, above all the Eucharist. In our family prayer and worship, we can remember that the Church draws her life from the Word and the Body of Christ, and so becomes Christ’s Body.
¶ 677
The Church will enter the glory of the kingdom only through this final Passover, when she will follow her Lord in his death and Resurrection. The kingdom will be fulfilled, then, not by a historic triumph of the Church through a progressive ascendancy, but only by God's victory over the final unleashing of evil, which will cause his Bride to come down from heaven. God's triumph over the revolt of evil will take the form of the Last Judgement after the final cosmic upheaval of this passing world.