Catholic Family Devotions

Understanding the Day

Season

Time After Pentecost

Week

Week 4 of Time After Pentecost

Rank

Feast

This celebration falls in the Time after Pentecost, the long season of the Church year when we live in the light of the Holy Spirit and the growth of the Church. Days in this season often focus on the holiness of ordinary Christian life and the examples of those who walked faithfully with Christ. There is no octave or vigil noted here, so the observance is a single-day celebration rather than an extended celebration.

Introit (Daily Prayer)

Ps 36:30-31
The mouth of the just man tells of wisdom, and his tongue utters what is right. The law of his God is in his heart. (Alléluia, alléluia.)
Ps 36:1
Be not vexed over evildoers, nor jealous of those who do wrong.
Glory Be to the Father…

O God, Who made Your Saints an example and a help for our weakness; grant us, as we walk the path of salvation, so to venerate the virtues of the blessed Abbot William that we may obtain his intercession and follow in his footsteps.
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.

Weekly Formation

Commandment 9

The Ten Commandments

Thou shalt not covet another person’s spouse.
The Ninth Commandment guards purity and marital fidelity within the heart, where deliberate desires begin. It distinguishes an unwanted temptation from a chosen desire and forbids willingly entertaining thoughts that would violate another person or another marriage.

Saint & Feast

Principal celebration

William

St. William, Abbot

Italian noble and saint

Born: 1085-00-00 · Vercelli
Died: 1142-06-25 · Sant'Angelo dei Lombardi

William of Montevergine, or William of Vercelli,, also known as William the Abbot, was a Catholic hermit and the founder of the Congregation of Monte Vergine, or "Williamites". He is venerated as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church.

Learn more about William

Commemoration

Nativity of John the Baptist

Second Day of the Octave of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist

The Nativity of John the Baptist celebrates the birth of John as narrated in the Gospel of Luke.

Today in Church History

Death of Ven. Pierre Toussaint
1848Event
Pierre Toussaint, a former slave who became a prominent Catholic layman and philanthropist in New York City, died. He is remembered for his charitable works and deep faith.
Toussaint's life exemplifies the power of faith and charity to transform society.
Encyclical Sacerdotalis Caelibatus
1967Doctrine
Pope Paul VI issued the encyclical Sacerdotalis Caelibatus, reaffirming the value of priestly celibacy in the Latin Church amidst growing calls for change.
Priestly celibacy is a profound witness to the Kingdom of God.
Beatification of Josemaria Escriva
1992Beatification
Pope John Paul II beatified Josemaria Escriva, founder of Opus Dei, recognizing his contribution to promoting the universal call to holiness.
Escriva's life encourages all to seek holiness in everyday life.

Catechism

Catechism of the Catholic Church

Through the sacraments of Christian initiation, we receive the new life of Christ. Yet we still live with human frailty, suffering, illness, death, and the inclination to sin, so this new life can be weakened or even lost by sin. In his mercy, the Lord continues his work of healing and salvation in the Church through the sacraments of Penance and Anointing of the Sick. In Penance, we confess our sins and receive God’s pardon and peace, being reconciled with God and with the Church. As we pray together, let us remember our call to conversion, forgive one another, and rely on Christ’s grace as we strive for holiness and eternal life.

In the Catechism, Jesus’ call to conversion is foundational to the proclamation of God’s kingdom: repent and believe in the Gospel. This conversion begins in Baptism, where, through faith in the Gospel, we renounce evil, receive forgiveness of sins, and are given new life. Yet conversion remains an ongoing task for Christians and for the whole Church. It is more than outward observances; it calls for a sincere turning of the heart away from sin and back to God, with trust in his mercy and grace. St. Peter’s tears of repentance remind us of Jesus’ infinite mercy. In our daily family devotion, we can remember that God gives us the strength to begin anew, and that the Holy Spirit brings sin to light while giving our hearts grace for repentance and conversion.

¶ 1425

"YOU were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God." One must appreciate the magnitude of the gift God has given us in the sacraments of Christian initiation in order to grasp the degree to which sin is excluded for him who has "put on Christ." But the apostle John also says: "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." and the Lord himself taught us to pray: "Forgive us our trespasses," linking our forgiveness of one another's offenses to the forgiveness of our sins that God will grant us.

Today's Mass Readings

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