Catholic Family Devotions

Understanding the Day

Season

Advent

Week

Week 2 of Advent

Rank

Sunday or semidouble observance

St. Damasus, Pope and Confessor, is celebrated in Advent, the season of preparation for Christ’s coming. Advent is a time for prayer, watching, and family-centered practices like lighting the Advent wreath, reading Scripture, and small acts of charity as anticipation of Christmas. The celebration’s rank is “Semidouble.” There is no octave or vigil noted here, so the day stands on its own within the second week of Advent.

Introit (Daily Prayer)

John 21:15-17
If thou lovest me, Simon Peter, feed my lambs, feed my sheep. (Allelúja, allelúja.)
Ps 29:2
I will extol thee, O Lord, for thou hast upheld me: and hast not made my enemies to rejoice over me.
Glory Be to the Father…

Commemoration Feria VI after II Sunday of Advent
We who have been refreshed by the food of spiritual nourishment, humbly beseech You, O Lord, that through partaking of this sacrament You will teach us to disdain the things of earth and love those of heaven.
Through our Lord…

Weekly Prayer

Weekly prayer content will appear here once it is scheduled.

Weekly Formation

Willful Murder

Sins Crying to Heaven

Willful murder
Willful murder is the deliberate and unjust taking of innocent human life. Scripture describes innocent blood as crying to God because the act attacks a person made in His image and commits an injustice that the victim can no longer answer on earth.

The Ten Commandments

Thou shalt not kill.
The Fifth Commandment protects human life because every person is made by God and belongs ultimately to Him. It forbids unjust killing and deliberate injury, and it also condemns hatred, revenge, and conduct that recklessly endangers oneself or another.

Saint & Feast

Principal celebration

Damasus I

St. Damasus, Pope and Confessor

pope

Born: 0305-00-00 · Egitania
Died: 0384-12-11 · Rome

Pope Damasus I, also known as Damasus of Rome, was the bishop of Rome from October 366 to his death in 384. It is claimed that he presided over the Council of Rome of 382 that determined the canon or official list of sacred scripture.

Learn more about Damasus I

Commemoration

Customs & Fasting

No traditional fast · Complete abstinence

Traditional Friday complete abstinence.

Today in Church History

Birth of Pope Leo X
1475Papal
Pope Leo X, born Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici, was born on December 11, 1475. His papacy was marked by the beginning of the Protestant Reformation and the granting of indulgences.
The life of Pope Leo X highlights the need for reform and renewal within the Church.
Death of Pope Damasus I
384Papal
Pope Damasus I, who served as pope from 366 to 384, died on December 11, 384. He was instrumental in commissioning St. Jerome to translate the Bible into Latin, known as the Vulgate.
Pope Damasus I's dedication to Scripture reminds us of the importance of making God's Word accessible to all.

Catechism

Catechism of the Catholic Church

The Catechism highlights the Blessed Virgin Mary’s profound place in the life of the Church. Honored with special devotion as the Mother of God, Mary is not adored; rather, devotion to her differs essentially from the adoration given to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and fosters that adoration. Her “fiat” at the Annunciation showed her consent to the Incarnation and her collaboration in her Son’s saving work. For family prayer, Marian prayers such as the rosary, described as an epitome of the whole Gospel, express this devotion. Mary was taken body and soul into heavenly glory and already shares in her Son’s Resurrection. As the Church journeys in faith toward the communion of saints, she looks to Mary as Mother of the Lord and her own mother, who continues in heaven to exercise her maternal role for Christ’s members.

Prayer is a gift of grace that also calls for our determined response and effort. It involves a spiritual battle against distractions, discouragement, and temptations that draw us away from prayer and union with God. We may need to recognize and resist mistaken ideas that treat prayer as merely a psychological activity, empty concentration, ritual words, or something with no place in daily life. In times of dryness or disappointment, we are invited to grow in humility, trust, perseverance, and faithful attachment to Jesus. When distractions arise, we can gently return to our heart, offer it to the Lord for purification, and renew our love for him.

In these paragraphs from the Catechism, we are reminded that a lack of faith can appear in our prayer, revealing what we truly place first. Temptations such as presumption and acedia can weaken our trust, especially in times of distress or when our petitions seem unanswered. Yet we are called to come before God with humble hearts, trusting more and holding fast with constancy. In our daily prayer, we can ask whether we seek God merely for results or turn to him as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God knows what we need, yet he welcomes our petitions in the freedom of his children and draws us toward what is truly good for us.

Today's Mass Readings

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