Catholic Family Devotions

Understanding the Day

Season

Time After Pentecost

Week

Week 7 of Time After Pentecost

Rank

Sunday or semidouble observance

Time after Pentecost is the long season of the Church year when we reflect on the life of the Church and the call to live out Christ’s teaching in everyday family life. A semidouble feast is a modest but significant celebration: prayers and readings for the day have special importance, but the ordinary rhythm of the season continues.

Introit (Daily Prayer)

Ps 46:2
All you peoples clap your hands, shout to God with cries of gladness.
Ps 46:3
For the Lord, the Most High, the awesome, is the great King over all the earth.
Glory Be to the Father…

O God, Whose providence never fails to set things in order, we humbly beseech You to remove from us whatever is harmful and grant whatever is for our benefit.
Through our Lord…

Weekly Prayer

Act of Charity

O my God, I love Thee above all things, with my whole heart and soul, because Thou art all-good and worthy of all love.

I love my neighbor as myself for the love of Thee. I forgive all who have injured me, and ask pardon of all whom I have injured.

Weekly Formation

The Precepts of the Church: Sunday Worship

The Precepts of the Church

You shall attend Mass on Sundays and on Holy Days of Obligation and rest from servile labor.
This precept gives a concrete minimum for keeping the Lord’s Day: Catholics assist at Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation and refrain from work that prevents worship, proper rest, or duties of charity. Serious reasons such as illness or the necessary care of others can excuse the obligation.

Saint & Feast

Principal celebration

Cletus

St. Anacletus, Pope and Martyr

3rd pope and bishop of Rome from c. 79 to c. 92 AD

Born: 0025-00-00 · Rome
Died: 0090-00-00 · Rome

Pope Anacletus, also known as Cletus, was the bishop of Rome, following Peter and Linus. Anacletus served between c. AD 80 and his death, c. AD 92. Cletus was a Roman who, during his tenure as pope, ordained a number of priests and is traditionally credited with setting up about twenty-five parishes in Rome. Although the precise dates of his pontificate are uncertain, he "died a martyr, perhaps about 91". Cletus is mentioned in the Roman Canon of the mass; his feast day is April 26.

Learn more about Cletus

Today in Church History

Martyrdom of Blessed Madeleine Fontaine and Companions
1793Martyrdom
On July 13, 1793, during the French Revolution, Blessed Madeleine Fontaine and three companions were martyred in Cambrai for refusing to take the oath of the Civil Constitution of the Clergy.
Their sacrifice reminds us of the courage to stand firm in faith amidst persecution.
Third Apparition of Our Lady of Fatima
1917Apparition
On July 13, 1917, the third apparition of Our Lady occurred in Fatima, Portugal, where the Virgin Mary revealed the famous 'Three Secrets of Fatima' to the three shepherd children.
The message of Fatima calls for prayer, penance, and conversion, emphasizing the power of the Rosary.

Catechism

Catechism of the Catholic Church

In the Catholic Church, the sacrament of Holy Orders unites priests with Christ’s mission and with the bishops who succeed the apostles. Through this sacrament, priests are configured to Christ the priest and can act in the person of Christ the head. They are consecrated to preach the Gospel, shepherd the faithful, and celebrate divine worship. Their sacred office is exercised most fully in the Eucharistic assembly, where they proclaim Christ’s mystery and, in the Mass, make present and apply Christ’s unique sacrifice. Priests serve as co-workers of their bishop and can exercise their ministry only in dependence on and communion with him. Bound together in sacramental brotherhood, they form one priestly body within the diocese under their bishop, serving the People of God in the universal mission of salvation.

The diaconate is a vital rank in the Church’s hierarchy. Deacons receive the laying on of hands from the bishop, showing their special attachment to him in the ministry of service. Through Holy Orders, they are configured to Christ, who made himself the servant of all, and they assist bishops and priests in the celebration of the divine mysteries, especially the Eucharist, as well as in proclaiming the Gospel, preaching, assisting at marriages, presiding at funerals, and works of charity. The permanent diaconate, restored in the Latin Church and long maintained in the Eastern Churches, can be conferred on married men and enriches the Church’s mission. Because ordination is important for the life of the particular Church, the faithful are encouraged to take part in its solemn celebration within the Eucharistic liturgy.

¶ 1564

"Whilst not having the supreme degree of the pontifical office, and notwithstanding the fact that they depend on the bishops in the exercise of their own proper power, the priests are for all that associated with them by reason of their sacerdotal dignity; and in virtue of the sacrament of Holy Orders, after the image of Christ, the supreme and eternal priest, they are consecrated in order to preach the Gospel and shepherd the faithful as well as to celebrate divine worship as true priests of the New Testament."

Today's Mass Readings

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