Understanding the Day
Season
Passiontide
Week
Week 1 of Passiontide
Rank
Weekday
Passiontide is the final part of Lent when the Church focuses more intensely on the suffering and death of Christ. A “Greater Non-Privileged Feria” is a regular weekday in the liturgical year that has a higher importance than ordinary weekdays: it keeps the season’s prayers and readings intact but does not have the special rites or propers of a feast, solemnity, octave, or vigil. There is no octave or vigil indicated for this day, so its observance follows the usual liturgy of Passiontide.
Introit (Daily Prayer)
Ps 55:2
Have pity on me, O Lord, for men trample upon me; all the day they press their attack against me.
Ps 55:3
My adversaries trample upon me all the day; yes, many fight against me. -- Have pity on me.
Have pity on me, O Lord, for men trample upon me; all the day they press their attack against me.
Have pity on me, O Lord, for men trample upon me; all the day they press their attack against me.
Ps 55:3
My adversaries trample upon me all the day; yes, many fight against me. -- Have pity on me.
Have pity on me, O Lord, for men trample upon me; all the day they press their attack against me.
O Lord, we beseech You, make holy our fasting, and graciously lavish upon us forgiveness for all our sins.
Through our Lord…
Through our Lord…
Weekly Prayer
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, I give you my heart and my soul.
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, assist me in my last agony.
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, may I breathe forth my soul in peace with you.
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, assist me in my last agony.
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, may I breathe forth my soul in peace with you.
Weekly Formation
Beatitude 5
The Beatitudes
Blessed are the merciful; for they shall obtain mercy.
The merciful recognize another’s misery and act to relieve needs of body or soul. Their mercy imitates God’s compassion and disposes them to receive mercy from Him, without making mercy contrary to truth or justice.
Saint & Feast
Principal celebrationCalendar title
Monday of Week 1 of Passiontide
A biography or feast reflection has not yet been prepared.
Customs & Fasting
Traditional fast
Traditional Lenten fast.
Today in Church History
Archbishop Romero's Call for Peace in El Salvador
1980MartyrdomIn 1980, Archbishop Óscar Romero delivered a powerful speech urging the Salvadoran military to cease violence against civilians. His advocacy for human rights and justice made him a symbol of the Church's commitment to social justice, ultimately leading to his martyrdom in 1980.
True courage in faith often calls us to stand against injustice.
Catechism
Catechism of the Catholic Church
The Paschal mystery of Christ’s cross and Resurrection stands at the heart of the Gospel. Through the redemptive death of Jesus, God’s saving plan was accomplished once for all. As families pray and reflect together, they can turn to the Scriptures, which show that Christ’s suffering, rejection, and entrance into glory were necessary. The Gospels and other historical sources help faith consider the circumstances of Jesus’ death and the meaning of redemption. Jesus’ words and deeds were a sign of contradiction, especially for some religious authorities, yet his relationships with the Pharisees were not only marked by conflict. He affirmed teachings such as the resurrection of the dead, prayer, fasting, almsgiving, calling God Father, and the central commandment to love God and neighbour.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus presents God’s Law, given on Sinai, in the light of the grace of the New Covenant. As Israel’s Messiah, he alone fulfils the Law perfectly, keeping it in all its detail and bringing its meaning to completion. Jesus teaches that the Law is not only a matter of outward observance, but of its letter and spirit, and he reveals that what comes from the human heart can defile a person. With divine authority, he gives the Law its ultimate interpretation and rejects human traditions that make void God’s word. In family prayer, we can look to Jesus as the one who faithfully brings forth justice, fulfils the Law for sinners, and shows that serving God and neighbour does not violate the sabbath rest.
The Catechism teaches that the Church of Christ is one, holy, catholic, and apostolic—qualities given to her by Christ through the Holy Spirit and essential to her mission. Faith recognizes that these qualities come from God, while the Church’s growth, holiness, fruitfulness, unity, and stability also witness to her divine mission. The Church’s oneness reflects the unity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and is enriched, not diminished, by the diverse peoples, cultures, gifts, offices, and traditions gathered within the People of God. As we pray and live together, we can remember that the Church’s unity is sustained by charity, the profession of one apostolic faith, the common celebration of worship and the sacraments, and apostolic succession through Holy Orders.