Catholic Family Devotions

Understanding the Day

Season

Time After Pentecost

Week

Week 14 of Time After Pentecost

Rank

Feast

St. Pius X, celebrated in Ordinary Time after Pentecost, falls in the mid-summer weeks when the Church focuses on growth in holiness and living the Gospel day by day. There is no octave or vigil attached in the provided context, so the celebration is kept to the day itself.

Introit (Daily Prayer)

Ps 88:20-22
I have raised up the chosen one from the people; with My holy oil I have anointed him, that My hand may be always with him, and that My arm may make him strong.
Ps 88:2
The favors of the Lord I will sing forever; through all generations my mouth shall proclaim Your faithfulness.
Glory Be to the Father…

O God Who, for the defense of the Catholic faith and the restoration of all things in Christ, filled St. Pius, the Supreme Pontiff, with heavenly wisdom and apostolic fearlessness, mercifully grant that, by following his teachings and examples, we may receive Your eternal rewards.
Through the same Christ 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

The Spiritual Works of Mercy

Admonish the sinner
Admonishing the sinner is a charitable warning intended to help a person recognize and leave serious wrongdoing. It requires truth, prudence, and concern for the person’s salvation, not humiliation, anger, or a desire to display superiority.
Instruct the ignorant
Instructing the ignorant means teaching needed truth to someone who does not know it, especially truth concerning faith and moral duty. The work presumes patience and accuracy and differs from winning an argument or displaying knowledge.
Counsel the doubtful
Counseling the doubtful helps a person whose judgment is uncertain to recognize a sound and morally lawful course. Good counsel applies truth prudently to the actual difficulty and does not replace conscience with another person’s preferences.
Comfort the sorrowful
Comforting the sorrowful shares another person’s burden through truthful consolation, patient presence, and appropriate help. Christian comfort neither dismisses grief nor offers false assurances, but strengthens hope in God amid real suffering.
Bear wrongs patiently
Bearing wrongs patiently means enduring injuries that cannot prudently be corrected without yielding to hatred or revenge. It does not require enabling abuse or refusing lawful protection; patience governs the heart while justice addresses the wrong.

Saint & Feast

Principal celebration

Pius X

St. Pius X, Pope and Confessor

Pope of the Catholic Church from 1903 to 1914, saint

Born: 1835-06-02
Died: 1914-08-20

Pope Pius X was head of the Catholic Church from 4 August 1903 until his death in August 1914. Pius X is known for vigorously opposing modernist interpretations of Catholic doctrine, and for promoting liturgical reforms and Thomist scholastic theology. He initiated the preparation of the 1917 Code of Canon Law, the first comprehensive and systemic work of its kind, which was ultimately promulgated by his successor. He is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church.

Learn more about Pius X

Today in Church History

Election of Pope Gregory I
590Papal
Pope Gregory I, also known as Gregory the Great, was elected on September 3, 590. His papacy marked a significant period of reform and consolidation of Church doctrine and liturgy.
Pope Gregory I's leadership exemplifies the power of reform and dedication to spiritual growth.

Catechism

Catechism of the Catholic Church

In the Catechism, we learn that God chose Israel as his people and revealed his Law to prepare for the coming of Christ. The Law of Moses expresses moral truths accessible to human reason, and the Old Law’s moral teaching is summed up in the Ten Commandments. These commandments guide conscience by showing what is essential to love of God and neighbor and by protecting us against evil. Though the Law is holy, spiritual, and good, it cannot by itself give the grace of the Spirit needed to fulfill its demands or remove sin. It reveals sin and prepares God’s people, and each Christian, for conversion and faith in the Savior. As we reflect together, we can receive the commandments as a lasting teaching that points us toward the Gospel, the New Covenant, and life according to the Spirit.

The New Law, or Law of the Gospel, is the perfection of God’s divine law on earth. It is the work of Christ, expressed especially in the Sermon on the Mount, and the work of the Holy Spirit, who makes it an interior law of charity written on our hearts. Given through faith in Christ, this law works through charity and gives us grace through the sacraments to do what it teaches. It fulfills and brings the Old Law to perfection, not by simply adding external rules, but by reforming the heart. As we pray together, we can ask for hearts shaped by faith, hope, charity, humility, forgiveness of enemies, and the generosity of our heavenly Father. The New Law also guides almsgiving, prayer, and fasting toward the Father who sees in secret, and gives us the Our Father as its prayer.

The Law of the Gospel invites us to make a decisive choice between two ways, centered on the Golden Rule: treating others as we wish to be treated. It is summed up in Jesus’ new commandment to love one another as he has loved us (CCC 1970). The apostolic teachings help us live this love through virtues flowing from faith in Christ and animated by charity, encouraging genuine love, patience in tribulation, constancy in prayer, generosity, and hospitality (CCC 1971). The New Law is a law of love, grace, and freedom: love infused by the Holy Spirit moves us to act, grace gives us strength through faith and the sacraments, and freedom leads us from servitude into friendship with Christ and the status of sons and heirs (CCC 1972). Along with its precepts, the New Law includes the evangelical counsels, which help remove obstacles to the growth of charity and are practiced according to each person’s vocation (CCC 1973-1974).

Today's Mass Readings

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

St. Pius X, Pope and Confessor

Understanding the Day

Introit (Daily Prayer)

Collect

Weekly Prayer

Act of Spiritual Communion

Weekly Formation

The Spiritual Works of Mercy

The Spiritual Works of Mercy

Saint & Feast

Pius X

Today in Church History

Election of Pope Gregory I

Catechism

Catechism of the Catholic Church

Today's Mass Readings

Baltimore Catechism No. 3