Catholic Family Devotions

Understanding the Day

Season

Time After Pentecost

Week

Week 26 of Time After Pentecost

Rank

Feast

St. Catharine of Alexandria is commemorated during the Time after Pentecost, the long season of the Church year focused on Christ’s mission and the growth of the Church through the work of the Holy Spirit. The celebration is listed as a “Double” in the Divino Afflatu calendar system; in plain terms this means it is a principal feast day of particular importance in the local liturgical cycle and should be observed with more solemn prayers and, where possible, special readings and music. There is no octave or vigil specified here, so the observance falls on the assigned day without an extended octave or a prescribed vigil day. This celebration matters for family devotion because it honors a model of youthful faithfulness and courage in witness to Christ.

Introit (Daily Prayer)

Ps 118:46-47.
I will speak of Your decrees before kings without being ashamed. And I will delight in Your commands, which I love exceedingly. (Alleluja, alleluja.)
Ps 118:1
Happy are they whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord.
Glory Be to the Father…

O God, Who gave the law to Moses on Sinai's height and through your holy angels miraculously placed there the body of blessed Catherine, Your Virgin and Martyr; grant, we beseech You, that by her merits and intercession we may reach that towering eminence which is Christ.
Who livest and reignest with God the Father…

Weekly Prayer

Weekly prayer content will appear here once it is scheduled.

Weekly Formation

Faith and Charity

Sins Against the Theological Virtues

Resisting or attacking the known truth
Resisting known truth means opposing a truth recognized as coming from God because accepting it would require conversion or surrender. The sin lies not in honest difficulty or inquiry, but in a willful refusal of light already understood.
Envy at another’s spiritual good
Envy of another’s spiritual good is sadness or resentment at the grace, virtue, holiness, or service of God found in someone else. It is especially contrary to charity because it grieves over the very good by which God is honored and souls are helped.

The Theological Virtues

Faith
Faith is the infused virtue by which the mind firmly assents to the truths God has revealed because He can neither deceive nor be deceived. It rests on God’s authority and gives the foundation by which the believer knows Him and orders life toward Him.
Charity
Charity is the infused virtue by which God is loved above all things for His own sake and one’s neighbor is loved for God. It gives supernatural life to the other virtues by directing the whole person toward friendship with God and eternal union with Him.

Saint & Feast

Principal celebration

Catherine of Alexandria

St. Catharine of Alexandria, Virgin and Martyr

Egyptian missionary, saint depicted with a wheel

Born: 0287-01-01 · Alexandria
Died: 0305-01-01 · Alexandria

Catherine of Alexandria, also spelled Katherine, was, according to tradition, a Christian saint and virgin, who was martyred in the early 4th century at the hands of the emperor Maxentius. According to her hagiography, she was both a princess and a noted scholar who became a Christian around age 14, converted hundreds of people to Christianity, and was martyred around age 18.

Learn more about Catherine of Alexandria

Today in Church History

State Funeral of John F. Kennedy
1963Event
The state funeral of President John F. Kennedy in 1963 included a Requiem Mass at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle, highlighting the intersection of American politics and Catholic faith. This event marked a significant moment for the Catholic Church in the U.S., as it showcased the role of the Church in public life and the mourning of a Catholic president.
The funeral serves as a reminder of the importance of faith in times of national grief.
Appointment of Cardinal Ratzinger as Prefect
1981Doctrine
In 1981, Pope John Paul II appointed Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, a pivotal role in safeguarding Catholic doctrine. This appointment marked the beginning of Ratzinger's influential leadership in the Church, emphasizing the importance of doctrinal integrity during a time of significant theological challenges.
The appointment reminds us of the Church's commitment to uphold and clarify its teachings amidst contemporary challenges.

Catechism

Catechism of the Catholic Church

In these Catechism passages, we contemplate Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh, as the master of prayer. Jesus learned to pray in his human heart from Mary and through the prayer of his people, while his own prayer revealed his unique filial relationship with the Father. He prayed in solitude and at the decisive moments of his mission, humbly entrusting his human will to the Father’s loving will. His prayers of thanksgiving, his petitions, and his surrender in the Passion show us that prayer is a loving adherence to the Father’s will. As we contemplate and listen to the Son at prayer, we too learn to pray to the Father.

In the teachings of Jesus on prayer, we find a profound invitation to deepen our relationship with God through faith, hope, and charity. Jesus emphasizes the importance of a converted heart, urging us to reconcile with others and pray sincerely, embodying humility and perseverance in our requests to the Father. By praying in Jesus' name and inviting the Holy Spirit into our lives, we engage in a transformative communion that strengthens our faith and aligns our desires with God's will. For Catholic families, this means fostering an environment of prayer that is heartfelt and persistent, encouraging each member to seek God earnestly, uphold one another in faith, and cultivate a spirit of love and forgiveness.

¶ 2600

The Gospel according to St. Luke emphasizes the action of the Holy Spirit and the meaning of prayer in Christ's ministry. Jesus prays before the decisive moments of his mission: before his Father's witness to him during his baptism and Transfiguration, and before his own fulfillment of the Father's plan of love by his Passion. He also prays before the decisive moments involving the mission of his apostles: at his election and call of the Twelve, before Peter's confession of him as "the Christ of God," and again that the faith of the chief of the Apostles may not fail when tempted. Jesus' prayer before the events of salvation that the Father has asked him to fulfill is a humble and trusting commitment of his human will to the loving will of the Father.

Today's Mass Readings

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