Understanding the Day
Season
Lent
Week
Week 4 of Lent
Rank
Weekday
Lent is a forty-day season of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving that prepares Christians to celebrate Easter.
This day is a Greater Non-Privileged Feria. In plain language, a feria is an ordinary weekday in the liturgical calendar without a feast of a saint or a special solemnity. “Greater” indicates it has a stable place in the season’s weekly cycle and carries fuller liturgical texts than minor weekdays; “non-privileged” means it is not one of the few ferias that can take precedence over other occasional observances. There is no octave or vigil attached to this day.
This day is a Greater Non-Privileged Feria. In plain language, a feria is an ordinary weekday in the liturgical calendar without a feast of a saint or a special solemnity. “Greater” indicates it has a stable place in the season’s weekly cycle and carries fuller liturgical texts than minor weekdays; “non-privileged” means it is not one of the few ferias that can take precedence over other occasional observances. There is no octave or vigil attached to this day.
Introit (Daily Prayer)
Ps 53:3-4
O God, by your Name save me, and by your might deliver me, O God, hear my prayer; hearken to the words of my mouth.
Ps 53:5
For haughty men have risen up against me, and fierce men seek my life.
Glory Be to the Father…
O God, by your Name save me, and by your might deliver me, O God, hear my prayer; hearken to the words of my mouth.
Ps 53:5
For haughty men have risen up against me, and fierce men seek my life.
Glory Be to the Father…
Grant, we beseech You, almighty God, that we who devoutly keep the sacred observances year by year, may be pleasing to You both in body and soul.
Through our Lord…
Through our Lord…
Weekly Prayer
Prayer for the Home
Visit, we beseech Thee, O Lord, this home,
and drive far from it all snares of the enemy.
Let Thy holy angels dwell herein to preserve us in peace;
and may Thy blessing be always upon us.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
and drive far from it all snares of the enemy.
Let Thy holy angels dwell herein to preserve us in peace;
and may Thy blessing be always upon us.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Weekly Formation
Beatitude 4
The Beatitudes
Blessed are they that hunger and thirst for justice; for they shall be satisfied.
To hunger and thirst for justice is to desire holiness and every virtue with the urgency of bodily hunger and thirst. The promise of being filled means that God satisfies this sincere desire through grace now and perfect righteousness in heaven.
Saint & Feast
Principal celebrationCalendar title
Monday of Week 4 of Lent
A biography or feast reflection has not yet been prepared.
Customs & Fasting
Traditional fast
Traditional Lenten fast.
Today in Church History
Martyrdom of the Jews of York
1190PersecutionOn March 16, 1190, a massacre occurred in York, England, where a mob besieged the Jewish community, leading to the death of approximately 150 Jews who sought refuge in Clifford's Tower. This tragic event highlights the persecution faced by Jews in medieval Europe.
This event calls for a reflection on the need for interfaith dialogue and understanding.
Catechism
Catechism of the Catholic Church
The Church’s origin is rooted in the Holy Trinity’s plan and unfolds gradually through history as the “family of God,” called to share in divine life. God created the world for communion with him, brought about through the gathering of people in Christ, which is the Church. After sin disrupted communion with God and one another, God began gathering his People, preparing this gathering through Abraham and Israel and bringing it to fulfillment in the New Covenant instituted by Christ. Jesus inaugurated the Church by proclaiming the Kingdom of God, gathering a little flock around himself, and preparing and building his Church through the Twelve and the other disciples. The Church is born above all from Christ’s total self-giving for salvation, anticipated in the Eucharist and fulfilled on the cross, where the blood and water flowing from his side symbolize her origin and growth. As we reflect together, we can give thanks for God’s loving plan to gather his people into communion with him in Christ.
The Church, established and sustained by Christ and empowered by the Holy Spirit, is missionary by her very nature: she is sent to all nations to make disciples and to spread the Gospel through preaching (CCC 767). To fulfill this mission, the Holy Spirit gives the Church varied hierarchical and charismatic gifts and directs her as she proclaims and establishes the Kingdom of Christ and God among all peoples (CCC 768). Although the Church will receive her perfection only in heavenly glory, she journeys through the persecutions and consolations of this world, longing for the Kingdom’s full coming and enduring great trials before the final gathering of the just (CCC 769). The Church is present in history while also transcending it; with the eyes of faith, she is seen in both her visible and spiritual reality as bearer of divine life (CCC 770). She is a community of faith, hope, and charity, visibly structured and also the mystical Body of Christ, a single reality made up of human and divine elements through which Christ communicates truth and grace (CCC 771).