Catholic Family Devotions

Understanding the Day

Season

Time After Pentecost

Week

Week 1 of Time After Pentecost

Rank

Sunday or semidouble observance

The Day 3 within the Octave of Corpus Christi falls in the Time after Pentecost, a season focused on the life of the Church following the coming of the Holy Spirit. Corpus Christi celebrates the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist; the octave means the feast’s celebration extends for eight days, so each day continues the Church’s prayerful attention to this mystery. The canonical rank “Semidouble” indicates a liturgical observance that is more solemn than an ordinary weekday but less so than a major solemnity: certain proper prayers and antiphons of the feast are kept, while some parts of the daily liturgy may follow the season.

Introit (Daily Prayer)

Sir 45:30
The Lord made a covenant of friendship with him, and made him a prince; that he should possess the dignity of priesthood forever. (Alléluia, alléluia.)
Ps. 131:1
Remember, O Lord, David and all his meekness.
Glory Be to the Father…

O God, Who made blessed Norbert, Your Confessor and Bishop, a brilliant preacher of Your word, and through him enriched Your Church with a new religious family, grant, we beseech You, that by his prayerful intercession and Your help, we may be able to do what he has taught us by his words and deeds.
Through our Lord…

Weekly Prayer

Act of Spiritual Communion

My Jesus,
I believe that Thou art present in the Most Holy Sacrament.
I love Thee above all things,
and I desire to receive Thee into my soul.

Since I cannot now receive Thee sacramentally,
come at least spiritually into my heart.
I embrace Thee as if Thou wert already there,
and unite myself wholly to Thee.

Never permit me to be separated from Thee. Amen.

Weekly Formation

Commandment 6

The Ten Commandments

Be faithful in marriage and respect God’s gift of the body.
The Sixth Commandment guards fidelity in marriage and the holiness of God’s gift of the body. It requires purity appropriate to each state of life, respect for personal boundaries, and faithful conduct in thought, word, and action.

Saint & Feast

Principal celebrationCalendar title

Day 3 within the Octave of Corpus Christi

A biography or feast reflection has not yet been prepared.

Commemoration

Norbert

St. Norbert, Bishop and Confessor

Roman Catholic archbishop and saint

Born: 1080-00-00 · Gennep
Died: 1134-06-06 · Magdeburg

Norbert of Xanten, O. Praem, also known as Norbert Gennep, was a German Catholic bishop who was the Archbishop of Magdeburg, founder of the Premonstratensian order of canons regular, and is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church. Norbert was canonized by Pope Gregory XIII in the year 1582, and his statue appears above the Piazza colonnade of St. Peter's Square in Rome.

Learn more about Norbert

Today in Church History

Queen Christina's Abdication and Conversion to Catholicism
1654Conversion
In 1654, Queen Christina of Sweden abdicated her throne and embraced Catholicism, marking a significant moment in the history of the Church. Her conversion not only highlighted the tensions between Protestantism and Catholicism in Europe but also brought attention to the Catholic faith during a time of religious strife.
The journey of faith can lead to unexpected paths and profound transformations.

Catechism

Catechism of the Catholic Church

At the heart of the Eucharistic celebration are bread and wine, which, through the words of Christ and the invocation of the Holy Spirit, become his Body and Blood. As we gather in faith, we remember the Last Supper, Christ’s death and Resurrection, and the new Passover fulfilled in him. In the Offertory, the Church gives thanks to the Creator for the gifts of bread and wine, fruits of the earth, the vine, and human hands. The Eucharist is a pledge of Christ’s love, given so that he may never depart from his own and may make them sharers in his Passover. Though this mystery can be difficult and even a stumbling block, the Lord lovingly invites us to receive in faith the gift of his Eucharist—and so to receive the Lord himself.

In the Catechism, we learn that Jesus’ command to repeat his actions and words is not only a call to remember him, but a directive to celebrate liturgically the memorial of his life, death, Resurrection, and intercession before the Father. From the Church’s earliest days, Christians have gathered on Sunday, the day of Jesus’ Resurrection, to break bread. This celebration has continued throughout the Church’s history and remains the center of the Church’s life, proclaiming the Paschal mystery until he comes. The Eucharistic liturgy has a fundamental structure: the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist, which together form one single act of worship. As the pilgrim People of God celebrates from gathering to gathering, we continue along the way of the cross toward the heavenly banquet in the kingdom.

Baptism is a profound sacrament that symbolizes both death and purification, as well as regeneration and renewal in the Holy Spirit. Through Baptism, original sin, personal sins, and all punishment for sin are forgiven, so that nothing remains to impede entry into the Kingdom of God. The baptized become new creatures: adopted children of God, members of Christ, coheirs with him, and temples of the Holy Spirit. Yet suffering, illness, death, human weakness, and the inclination to sin remain, calling us to resist sin courageously through the grace of Jesus Christ. For families reflecting on Baptism, this is a hopeful reminder that Christian life is rooted in the grace received there: faith, hope, love, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and growth in goodness through the moral virtues.

Today's Mass Readings

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

Day 3 within the Octave of Corpus Christi

Understanding the Day

Introit (Daily Prayer)

Collect

Weekly Prayer

Act of Spiritual Communion

Weekly Formation

Commandment 6

The Ten Commandments

Saint & Feast

Day 3 within the Octave of Corpus Christi

Norbert

Today in Church History

Queen Christina's Abdication and Conversion to Catholicism

Catechism

Catechism of the Catholic Church

Today's Mass Readings

Baltimore Catechism No. 3