Catholic Family Devotions

Understanding the Day

Season

Eastertide

Week

Week 3 of Eastertide

Rank

Feast

Eastertide is the fifty-day season from Easter Sunday to Pentecost, a time when families focus on the risen Christ and the joy of new life in baptism. A “Double” in the older Latin liturgical ranking indicates this feast is celebrated with particular liturgical prominence: it has its own proper prayers and readings, and the Mass and Office are observed with more solemnity than ordinary weekdays. There is no octave or vigil specified here, so the celebration is kept on its appointed day within the third week of Eastertide. For families, this feast highlights fidelity to the Gospel even to the point of martyrdom, offering a concrete example of courageous witness.

Introit (Daily Prayer)

Ps 20:2-3
In thy strength, O Lord, the king shall joy; and in thy salvation he shall rejoice exceedingly. Thou hast given him his heart's desire.
Ps 20:4
For thou hast prevented him with blessings of sweetness: thou hast set on his head a crown of precious stones.
Glory Be to the Father…

God, Who didst vouchsafe to enkindle in blessed Fidelis the fire of thy Seraphim, and to glorify his toil to give men a true knowledge of thee by the palm-branch of martyrdom and by great signs and wonders, be entreated, we beseech thee, for his sake and by his prayers, and so establish us in the knowledge and love of thee, that we also, like him, may be found faithful even unto death in serving of thee.
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

Beatitude 9

The Beatitudes

Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven.
This Beatitude applies the promise of persecution personally to those insulted, opposed, or falsely accused because of Christ. Their joy rests not in the pain itself but in union with Christ and the promised reward that earthly hostility cannot take away.

Saint & Feast

Principal celebration

Fidelis of Sigmaringen

St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen, Martyr

Capuchin friar

Born: 1577-10-01 · Sigmaringen
Died: 1622-04-24 · Seewis im Prättigau

Fidelis of Sigmaringen, OFM Cap. was a German Capuchin friar who was involved in the Catholic Counter-Reformation. He was martyred by his opponents at Seewis im Prättigau, now part of Switzerland. Fidelis was canonized in 1746.

Learn more about Fidelis of Sigmaringen

CommemorationCalendar title

Customs & Fasting

No traditional fast · Complete abstinence

Traditional Friday complete abstinence.

Today in Church History

Inauguration of Pope Benedict XVI
2005Papal
In 2005, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was inaugurated as Pope Benedict XVI, marking a significant moment in the Catholic Church's history. His papacy emphasized the importance of tradition and the role of faith in contemporary society, guiding the Church through various challenges.
Pope Benedict XVI's commitment to truth reminds us to seek God in all aspects of our lives.

Catechism

Catechism of the Catholic Church

In the Catechism, we learn that Jesus’ Resurrection is unlike the return to ordinary earthly life experienced by those he raised before Easter. In his risen body, he passes from death to a new life beyond time and space. His body still bears the marks of his Passion, showing that it is truly the same body that was crucified, yet it also has the new properties of a glorious body and is filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. The Resurrection is a real event, witnessed through the empty tomb and the apostles’ encounters with the risen Christ, while still remaining a mystery that transcends history and human senses. Jesus revealed himself to his disciples in ways meant to awaken their faith. As a family, we can prayerfully contemplate Christ’s suffering, death, and risen glory, trusting in the Father’s power revealed in raising his Son.

The Catechism teaches that death ends our earthly pilgrimage, the time of grace and mercy in which we live according to God’s plan and decide our ultimate destiny. It encourages us to prepare for the hour of death through prayer, asking the saints, the Mother of God, and St. Joseph to intercede for us. Our hope rests in the resurrection: by death the soul is separated from the body, but at the last day God will raise us, reuniting soul and body in incorruptible life. Because Jesus freely suffered death and conquered it, he opened the possibility of salvation to all. For family prayer and reflection, these teachings help us remember both the seriousness of earthly life and the Christian hope of resurrection.

In the face of death, Christians who unite their death to Jesus can view it as a step toward him and an entrance into everlasting life. Death brings earthly life, the time for accepting or rejecting God’s grace in Christ, to an end. At the moment of death, each person receives eternal retribution in a particular judgment that refers his or her life to Christ, according to faith and works. Those who die in God’s grace and friendship and are perfectly purified live forever with Christ in heaven. Heaven is perfect communion of life and love with the Holy Trinity, the Virgin Mary, the angels, and all the blessed: the ultimate fulfillment of our deepest longings. There the blessed see God face to face in the beatific vision, rejoice in doing his will, and reign with Christ forever.

Today's Mass Readings

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