Catholic Family Devotions

Understanding the Day

Season

Time After Pentecost

Week

Week 17 of Time After Pentecost

Rank

Second-class feast

St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist, is celebrated in Ordinary Time (the season after Pentecost), a part of the Church year focused on the daily life and mission of the Church as it follows Christ. The rank “Double of the II Class” indicates this is an important feast with special liturgical texts and prayers; in plain language, it means the community gives St. Matthew priority in the Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours for that day, using the proper propers appointed for the celebration. There is no octave or vigil noted here, so the observance is kept on the single day itself. This celebration matters because it honors Matthew’s witness as one of the Twelve Apostles and as the evangelist whose Gospel has guided Christian faith and practice across generations.

Introit (Daily Prayer)

Ps 36:30-31
The mouth of the just man tells of wisdom, and his tongue utters what is right. The law of his God is in his heart. (Alléluia, alléluia.)
Ps 36:1
Be not vexed over evildoers, nor jealous of those who do wrong.
Glory Be to the Father…

May we be helped, O Lord, by the prayers of the blessed Apostle and Evangelist Matthew, that what we ourselves cannot obtain, may be granted by his intercession.
Through our Lord…

Weekly Prayer

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, I give you my heart and my soul.
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, assist me in my last agony.
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, may I breathe forth my soul in peace with you.

Weekly Formation

The Evangelical Counsels

Chastity
The evangelical counsel of chastity is the voluntary renunciation of marriage for the sake of Christ and undivided service to His kingdom. It goes beyond the chastity required of every Christian and, when vowed in religious life, offers the whole person to God.
Poverty
The evangelical counsel of poverty is the voluntary surrender or restricted use of personal possessions in order to follow Christ with greater freedom. It goes beyond ordinary justice and detachment by making material goods subject to a stable form of Gospel renunciation.
Obedience
The evangelical counsel of obedience is the voluntary offering of one’s will to God through lawful religious authority and an approved rule. St. Thomas calls it the chief religious vow because it offers not merely possessions or bodily goods, but the direction of one’s own will.

Saint & Feast

Principal celebration

Matthew

St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist

Christian evangelist and apostle

Born: 0010-01-01 · Land of Israel
Died: 0074-00-00 · Ethiopia

Matthew the Apostle was one of the twelve apostles of Jesus. According to Christian traditions, he was also one of the four Evangelists as author of the Gospel of Matthew, and thus is also known as Matthew the Evangelist.

Learn more about Matthew

Today in Church History

Battle of St. Matthew's Day in the Livonian Crusade
1217Event
The Battle of St. Matthew's Day in 1217 marked a significant moment in the Livonian Crusade, where Estonian and Livonian leaders were killed. This event highlights the Catholic Church's role in the expansion of Christianity in the Baltic region during the Crusades.
The struggle for faith often involves sacrifice and courage in the face of opposition.

Catechism

Catechism of the Catholic Church

In the teachings of the Catechism, we learn that the theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity give life to the moral virtues. Charity leads us to give God what we owe him in justice, and the virtue of religion disposes us to this attitude. Adoration, the first act of religion, calls us to acknowledge God as Creator, Savior, Lord, and merciful Love, while humbly recognizing our dependence on him. Prayer is essential for expressing faith, hope, and charity through praise, thanksgiving, intercession, and petition, and it is indispensable for obeying God’s commandments. We can also offer our lives to God by uniting ourselves to Christ’s perfect sacrifice. Finally, promises and vows made to God, whether connected with Baptism, Confirmation, Matrimony, Holy Orders, or personal devotion, are acts of devotion and signs of love and respect for God. These teachings can encourage us in daily prayer, humble worship, and faithful devotion to God.

In the Catholic faith, every person is bound to seek, embrace, and hold to the truth, especially concerning God and his Church. This duty is rooted in human dignity and goes together with sincere respect for other religions and with treating those in error or ignorance with love, prudence, and patience (CCC 2104). As we reflect together, we can remember that genuine worship of God concerns both individuals and society. Christians are called to make known the worship of the one true religion, to awaken love for the true and the good, and to bring the Christian spirit into the communities where they live, showing forth Christ’s kingship over creation and human society (CCC 2105). At the same time, no one may be forced to act against his convictions or restrained from acting according to conscience in religious matters, within due limits. Religious freedom is a civil right grounded in human dignity, to be recognized and respected for all citizens and religious communities, with its limits determined according to the common good and the objective moral order (CCC 2106-2109).

Today's Mass Readings

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

St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist

Understanding the Day

Introit (Daily Prayer)

Collect

Weekly Prayer

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph

Weekly Formation

The Evangelical Counsels

The Evangelical Counsels

Saint & Feast

Matthew

Today in Church History

Battle of St. Matthew's Day in the Livonian Crusade

Catechism

Catechism of the Catholic Church

Today's Mass Readings

Baltimore Catechism No. 3