Catholic Family Devotions

Understanding the Day

Season

Time After Pentecost

Week

Week 9 of Time After Pentecost

Rank

Second-class feast

St. Anne, Mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is celebrated during the Time after Pentecost, the liturgical season that follows Pentecost and focuses on the growth of the Church in daily life. The celebration is a feast (day kind) observed in the ninth week of this season. Its canonical rank is “Double of the II Class,” which in plain terms means this is an important, solemn celebration with its own proper prayers and readings; it takes precedence over ordinary weekday observances but is below the highest-ranking solemnities and major doubles. No octave or vigil is indicated here, so the observance is confined to the day itself rather than an extended eight-day celebration or a required evening vigil.

Introit (Daily Prayer)

Ps 53:6-7
Behold, God is my helper, the Lord sustains my life. Turn back the evil upon my foes; in Your faithfulness destroy them, O Lord, my protector.
Ps 53:3
O God, by Your name save me, and by Your might deliver me.
Glory Be to the Father…

Commemoration St. Anne, Mother of the Blessed Virgin
Strengthened by the heavenly sacrament, we beseech You, O Lord our God, that, by the intercession of blessed Anne, whom You willed to be the mother of Your Son’s Mother, we may be found worthy of reaching eternal salvation.
Through the same Christ our Lord…

Weekly Prayer

Confiteor

I confess to almighty God and to you, my brothers and sisters, that I have greatly sinned in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done and in what I have failed to do,

through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault;

therefore I ask blessed Mary ever-Virgin, all the angels and saints, and you, my brothers and sisters, to pray for me to the Lord our God.

Weekly Formation

The Needs of the Church

The Precepts of the Church

You shall help to provide for the needs of the Church.
This precept requires the faithful to contribute, according to their means, to the material needs of the Church. Such support provides for divine worship, apostolic work, clergy and ministers, and assistance to those in need.

Saint & Feast

Principal celebration

Anne

St. Anne, Mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary

mother of Virgin Mary in Christian and Islamic traditions; unnamed in the New Testament or Quran

Born: 0055-00-00 · Bethlehem
Died: 0012-00-00 · Nazareth

According to apocrypha, as well as Christian and Islamic tradition, Saint Anne was the mother of Mary, the wife of Joachim and the maternal grandmother of Jesus. Mary's mother is not named in the Bible's canonical gospels. In writing, Anne's name and that of her husband Joachim come only from New Testament apocrypha, of which the Gospel of James seems to be the earliest that mentions them. The mother of Mary is mentioned but not named in the Quran.

Learn more about Anne

Commemoration

Today in Church History

Traditional Feast of Saints Joachim and Anne
Event
The Church has celebrated the parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary on this date since antiquity. Saint Anne, grandmother of Jesus Christ, has been venerated since the earliest centuries. This feast honors the holy couple who raised Mary and prepared her for her role as Mother of God.
The faith of Joachim and Anne reminds us of the importance of holy family life in God's plan.

Catechism

Catechism of the Catholic Church

The Catechism teaches that marriage is a profound sacrament that mirrors the relationship between Christ and the Church, inviting couples to love each other with Christ-like devotion. This covenant, rooted in mutual consent, is designed for the couple's good, as well as for the nurturing and education of their children. Key elements of marriage include unity, indissolubility, and openness to life, reinforcing the sacredness of the marital bond. For Catholic families, the home is a vital "domestic church," where faith is first shared, virtues are cultivated, and the Christian life is lived out, empowering parents to raise their children in the love and teachings of Christ.

Sacramentals are sacred signs instituted by the Church that prepare us to receive the fruit of the sacraments and sanctify different circumstances of life. They include blessings of persons, meals, objects, and places, through which the Church praises God and prays for his gifts, usually invoking the name of Jesus with the sign of the cross. Sacramentals do not confer grace as the sacraments do, but the Church’s prayer disposes us to receive grace and cooperate with it. Alongside the liturgy, Christians are also nourished by popular devotions, which can enrich Christian life when they harmonize with the liturgy and lead us toward it. In daily prayer, may we welcome these sacred signs as helps that direct ordinary moments toward the praise of God and the sanctification of life.

¶ 1664

Unity, indissolubility, and openness to fertility are essential to marriage. Polygamy is incompatible with the unity of marriage; divorce separates what God has joined together; the refusal of fertility turns married life away from its "supreme gift," the child (GS 50 # 1).

Today's Mass Readings

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