Understanding the Day
Season
Time After Pentecost
Week
Week 16 of Time After Pentecost
Rank
Sunday or semidouble observance
Introit (Daily Prayer)
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…
O Lord, hear our prayers and comfort us by the continual assistance of Your Martyrs, Euphemia, Lucy and Geminianus, whose festival we solemnly celebrate.
Through our Lord…
Weekly Prayer
Prayer for the Home
and drive far from it all snares of the enemy.
Let Thy holy angels dwell herein to preserve us in peace;
and may Thy blessing be always upon us.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Weekly Formation
The Fruits of the Holy Spirit
The Fruits of the Holy Spirit
Charity
Charity as a fruit is the mature delight of loving God and neighbor under the action of the Holy Ghost. It is called a fruit because supernatural love has become not only right but spiritually fruitful and pleasing in its exercise.
Joy
Joy is the spiritual gladness that follows charity’s union with the beloved good, above all with God. It can remain beneath sorrow and suffering because its deepest cause is God’s possessed or hoped-for goodness rather than favorable circumstances.
Peace
Peace is the tranquility produced when desires are rightly ordered within the soul and charity unites persons in the good. It is more than quiet or lack of conflict, since true peace depends on union with God, justice, and ordered love.
Patience
Patience bears present suffering without abandoning the good or surrendering to disordered sorrow. As a fruit of the Spirit it gives steadiness under trials whose end may not yet be visible.
Kindness
Kindness is a gracious readiness to treat others with warmth and to make charity evident in manner and action. It removes needless harshness and makes the good attractive without compromising truth.
Goodness
Goodness is the active inclination to do what is morally good and beneficial to others. As a fruit of the Spirit it reflects an interior uprightness that readily expresses itself in worthy deeds.
Saint & Feast
Saints Cornelius and Cyprian
Sts. Cornelius, Pope and Cyprian, Bishop, Martyrs
Cornelius was bishop of Rome from 251 to 253 and died after exile during imperial persecution.
Cornelius was bishop of Rome from 251 to 253 and died after exile during imperial persecution. Cyprian was bishop of Carthage, an influential early Christian writer, and a martyr; the Roman calendar commemorates the two together on September 16.
Learn more about Saints Cornelius and CyprianSeptember Ember Wednesday
A biography or feast reflection has not yet been prepared.
Customs & Fasting
Traditional fast · Complete abstinence
Traditional September Ember Wednesday fast and complete abstinence.
Today in Church History
Death of Cardinal Alfredo Ottaviani
1972EventCardinal Alfredo Ottaviani, a prominent figure in the Roman Curia and defender of traditional Catholic doctrine, passed away on September 16, 1972. He played a significant role during the Second Vatican Council.
Cardinal Ottaviani's life reminds us of the importance of upholding the faith amidst changing times.
Stigmata of Saint Francis of Assisi
1224EventOn September 16, 1224, Saint Francis of Assisi received the stigmata, the wounds of Christ, while praying on Mount La Verna. This event marked the first recorded instance of stigmata in Christian history.
The stigmata of Saint Francis remind us of the profound union with Christ that can be achieved through deep faith and humility.