Catholic Family Devotions

Understanding the Day

Season

Time After Pentecost

Week

Week 9 of Time After Pentecost

Rank

Sunday or semidouble observance

This day falls in Ordinary Time after Pentecost, a season when the Church reflects on the ongoing life and witness of Jesus through the saints. The rank “Semidouble” is an older liturgical designation indicating a celebration more solemn than an ordinary feast but not as elaborate as a principal feast; in practical family terms, it calls for special prayers, readings, and a more joyful tone at prayer or Mass. There is no octave or vigil indicated here, so the celebration is observed on the single calendar day. The day honors several early Church figures: martyrs Nazarius and Celsus, Pope Victor I (noted here as a martyr), and Pope Innocent I, who is called a confessor.

Introit (Daily Prayer)

Ps 78:11; 78:12; 78:10
Let the prisoners’ sighing come before You, O Lord; repay our neighbors sevenfold into their bosoms; avenge the shedding of Your servants’ blood.
Ps 78:1
O God, the nations have come into Your inheritance; they have defiled Your holy temple, they have made Jerusalem as a place to keep fruit.
Glory Be to the Father…

May the martyrdom of Your Saints Nazarius, Celsus, Victor and Innocent, give us courage, O Lord, and may it give us a help to counter-balance our weakness.
Through 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

Nazarius

Sts. Nazarius and Celsus, Martyr, Pope Victor I, Martyr, and Pope Innocent I, Confessor

Christian martyrs

Nazarius and Celsus were two martyrs of whom little is known beyond the discovery of their bodies by Ambrose of Milan.

Learn more about Nazarius

Today in Church History

Execution of Robespierre and Saint-Just during the French Revolution
1794Persecution
The execution of Maximilien Robespierre and Louis Antoine de Saint-Just marked a significant turning point in the French Revolution, which had profound implications for the Catholic Church. The Revolution led to the persecution of the Church, the suppression of religious practices, and the rise of secularism in France, challenging the Church's authority and influence.
In times of persecution, the Church's resilience and faith can inspire believers to stand firm in their convictions.

Catechism

Catechism of the Catholic Church

The Catechism teaches that the sacraments, particularly those of Christian initiation, lead us toward the ultimate fulfillment of life in God's Kingdom, where we anticipate the resurrection and eternal life. In the light of Christ’s Paschal mystery, death for a Christian is transformed into a passage to be "at home with the Lord," marking the completion of the new life begun at Baptism. The Church, as a nurturing mother, accompanies the deceased through the funeral rites, which express hope in eternal life and the community's bond with the departed. Families are encouraged to participate in these rites, reflecting on their loved one's journey and the promise of resurrection, thus fostering a deeper understanding of faith and communion in the Body of Christ during times of loss.

¶ 1680

All the sacraments, and principally those of Christian initiation, have as their goal the last Passover of the child of God which, through death, leads him into the life of the Kingdom. Then what he confessed in faith and hope will be fulfilled: "I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come."

¶ 1681

The Christian meaning of death is revealed in the light of the Paschal mystery of the death and resurrection of Christ in whom resides our only hope. the Christian who dies in Christ Jesus is "away from the body and at home with the Lord."

Today's Mass Readings

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