Catholic Family Devotions

Understanding the Day

Season

Time After Pentecost

Week

Week 25 of Time After Pentecost

Rank

Feast

St. Felix de Valois is commemorated within Ordinary Time (the season after Pentecost), a part of the liturgical year focused on the daily growth of Christian discipleship and the ordinary unfolding of God’s grace in the Church. The celebration is listed as a “Double” rank. There is no octave or vigil attached in the supplied calendar details, so the observance is kept on the single day.

Introit (Daily Prayer)

Ps 91:13-14
The just man shall flourish like the palm tree, like a cedar of Lebanon shall he grow: planted in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God. (Alleluia, alleluia.)
Ps 91:2
It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praise to Your name, Most High.
Glory Be to the Father…

O God, Who by heavenly inspiration graciously called forth blessed Felix, Your Confessor, from the desert to the work of ransoming captives; grant, we beseech You, that by his intercession, and liberated by Your grace from the captivity of our sins, we may be led into our heavenly fatherland.
Through our Lord…

Weekly Prayer

Weekly prayer content will appear here once it is scheduled.

Weekly Formation

Presumption, Despair, and Hope

Sins Against the Theological Virtues

Presumption on God’s mercy
Presumption expects salvation or forgiveness without the repentance, grace, and cooperation God requires. It distorts hope by treating divine mercy as permission to remain in sin or by trusting one’s own power to reach heaven without God’s help.
Despair of God’s mercy
Despair is the deliberate loss of hope in God’s mercy or in the possibility of salvation. It falsely judges sin, weakness, or suffering to be greater than God’s power and goodness and therefore tempts the soul to stop seeking forgiveness and grace.

The Theological Virtues

Hope
Hope is the infused virtue by which a person confidently expects eternal life and the graces needed to reach it, relying on God’s goodness, promises, and power. It stands between despair, which distrusts mercy, and presumption, which expects heaven without conversion and grace.

Saint & Feast

Principal celebration

Felix of Valois

St. Felix de Valois, Confessor

French hermit

Born: 1127-04-16 · Amiens
Died: 1212-11-04 · Paris

Felix of Valois, OSsT (French: Félix de Valois; was a French Catholic former Cistercian hermit and a co-founder of the Trinitarian Order.

Learn more about Felix of Valois

Customs & Fasting

No traditional fast · Complete abstinence

Traditional Friday complete abstinence.

Today in Church History

Accession of Diocletian as Roman Emperor
284Persecution
Diocletian became Roman Emperor, marking the start of a reign that would later initiate the Great Persecution of Christians, one of the most severe persecutions in Church history.
The perseverance of early Christians under persecution inspires steadfast faith.

Catechism

Catechism of the Catholic Church

Prayer is a great mystery that draws us into a living relationship with God. It begins in humility, as we acknowledge our need for God and receive prayer as his gift. Prayer is not merely a matter of words or gestures; the whole person prays, and true prayer comes from the heart, our hidden center of decision and encounter with God. In prayer, Christ meets our thirst with God’s own desire for us, and our petitions become a response of faith and love. As we pray, we live the covenant relationship God gives us in Christ, through the Holy Spirit, directed to the Father. Through Baptism, we are united with Christ, and prayer helps us remain in the presence of the Holy Trinity and in communion with him.

In the Catechism, we learn that the search for God is intrinsic to humanity, rooted in our creation in His image and our ongoing desire to encounter Him through prayer. God initiates this relationship, inviting us to respond through a reciprocal dialogue that unfolds throughout salvation history. Prayer, as exemplified by figures like Abraham and Jacob, is not just a series of words but a heartfelt response to God's call, marked by faith, obedience, and perseverance. For Catholic families, this means fostering a life of prayer that reflects our trust in God's promises and encourages open dialogue with Him, allowing us to grow closer to His will and share in His saving love.

¶ 2563

The heart is the dwelling-place where I am, where I live; according to the Semitic or Biblical expression, the heart is the place "to which I withdraw." The heart is our hidden center, beyond the grasp of our reason and of others; only the Spirit of God can fathom the human heart and know it fully. The heart is the place of decision, deeper than our psychic drives. It is the place of truth, where we choose life or death. It is the place of encounter, because as image of God we live in relation: it is the place of covenant.

Today's Mass Readings

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