Catholic Family Devotions

Understanding the Day

Season

Advent

Week

Week 1 of Advent

Rank

Major feast

St. Francis Xavier, Confessor is celebrated in Advent during the first week of the season. The rank “Greater Double” is a traditional liturgical classification: in plain language, it means this is an important feast with its own proper prayers and readings that take precedence over ordinary weekday observances in Advent. There is no octave or vigil specified here, so the celebration is observed on its appointed day without an extended eight-day observance.

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.
Ps 116:1-2
Praise the Lord, all you nations; glorify Him, all you peoples! For steadfast is His kindness toward us, and the fidelity of the Lord endures forever.
Glory Be to the Father…

Commemoration Feria V after I Sunday of Advent
May we receive Your mercy, O Lord, in the midst of Your temple, and thus prepare with due observance for the coming festal season of our redemption.
Through our Lord…

Weekly Prayer

Weekly prayer content will appear here once it is scheduled.

Weekly Formation

Obstinacy, Impenitence, and Charity

Sins Against the Theological Virtues

Obstinacy in sin
Obstinacy is the stubborn decision to remain attached to sin despite correction, grace, or clear knowledge of duty. It hardens the will against repentance and makes amendment increasingly difficult by turning a sinful choice into a settled refusal.
Final impenitence—refusal to repent
Final impenitence is perseverance in the refusal to repent until death. It is unforgiven not because God’s mercy is insufficient, but because forgiveness is knowingly rejected to the end and the will closes itself against the remedy God offers.

The Theological Virtues

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

Francis Xavier

St. Francis Xavier, Confessor

Spanish Catholic saint and missionary (1506–1552)

Born: 1506-04-07 · Javier
Died: 1552-12-03 · Shangchuan Island

Francis Xavier, SJ, venerated as Saint Francis Xavier, was a Navarrese cleric and missionary. He co-founded the Society of Jesus and, as a representative of the Portuguese Empire, led the first Christian mission to Japan.

Learn more about Francis Xavier

CommemorationCalendar title

Thursday of Week 1 of Advent

Today in Church History

Pope John X Crowns Berengar I as Holy Roman Emperor
915Event
In 915, Pope John X crowned Berengar I of Italy, marking a significant moment in the relationship between the papacy and the secular authority of the Holy Roman Empire. This event underscored the pope's role in legitimizing rulers and the intertwining of church and state during the medieval period.
The crowning of rulers by the pope illustrates the divine authority bestowed upon leadership, reminding us of the importance of faith in governance.

Catechism

Catechism of the Catholic Church

In the rich tradition of Catholic prayer, each Church offers forms of prayer suited to its history, society, and culture, while the Church discerns their faithfulness to the apostolic faith and explains them in relation to Jesus Christ. Whether our prayer is communal or personal, spoken or interior, we have access to the Father by praying in the name of Jesus. Invoking his holy name is a simple way to pray always: with a humbly attentive heart, it opens us to the Savior’s mercy and can bear fruit with patience. The Church also invites us to call upon the Holy Spirit every day, especially at the beginning and end of important actions. In this way, prayer is not merely one task among others, but loving God in a way that animates and transforms our actions in Christ.

¶ 2663

In the living tradition of prayer, each Church proposes to its faithful, according to its historic, social, and cultural context, a language for prayer: words, melodies, gestures, iconography. the Magisterium of the Church has the task of discerning the fidelity of these ways of praying to the tradition of apostolic faith; it is for pastors and catechists to explain their meaning, always in relation to Jesus Christ.

¶ 2664

There is no other way of Christian prayer than Christ. Whether our prayer is communal or personal, vocal or interior, it has access to the Father only if we pray "in the name" of Jesus. the sacred humanity of Jesus is therefore the way by which the Holy Spirit teaches us to pray to God our Father.

Today's Mass Readings

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