Catholic Family Devotions

Understanding the Day

Season

Advent

Week

Week 4 of Advent

Rank

Second-class feast

The Fourth Sunday of Advent is the final Sunday in Advent, the Church’s season of watchful waiting and preparation for the coming of Christ at Christmas. The canonical title Dominica 4 Adventus designates this as Sunday in the fourth week. Its rank, “Greater Sunday of the II Class,” means this is a principal Sunday of the liturgical year with fuller rites and readings; in plain terms it takes precedence over most memorials or ferial celebrations that might otherwise fall on that day. There is no octave attached to Advent Sundays; rather they lead directly into the Christmas season.

Introit (Daily Prayer)

Isa 45:8
Let the Just One descend, O heavens, like dew from above, like gentle rain let the skies drop Him down. Let the earth open and a Saviour bud forth.
Ps 18:2
The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament proclaims His handiwork.
Glory Be to the Father…

Put forth Your power, O Lord, we beseech You, and delay not: and with Your great might come to our aid, so that what is hindered by our sins may be hastened by Your merciful goodness.
Who livest…

Weekly Prayer

Weekly prayer content will appear here once it is scheduled.

Weekly Formation

Oppression of the Poor

Sins Crying to Heaven

Oppression of the poor
Oppression of the poor uses power, wealth, or social advantage to burden people who are already vulnerable or unable to defend their rights. Their cry reaches God because He is their protector and judges the powerful for injustice toward the weak, the stranger, the widow, and the orphan.

The Corporal Works of Mercy

Feed the hungry
Feeding the hungry supplies necessary nourishment to those who lack it. It is a corporal work because it serves a bodily need, and an act of mercy because charity responds to another’s misery rather than ignoring preventable want.
Give drink to the thirsty
Giving drink to the thirsty provides the water or other wholesome refreshment needed for life and health. The work includes direct aid and reasonable support for efforts that make safe water available to people in need.
Shelter the homeless
Sheltering the homeless provides safe lodging or helps secure it for those without a stable place to live. Traditional language calls this harboring the harborless, extending hospitality and protection to the stranger and displaced person.

Saint & Feast

Principal celebrationCalendar title

Sunday 4 of Advent

A biography or feast reflection has not yet been prepared.

Today in Church History

Election of Pope Benedict XII
1334Papal
In 1334, Cardinal Jacques Fournier was elected Pope Benedict XII, marking a significant moment in the Avignon Papacy. His papacy focused on the reform of the Church and the clarification of doctrinal issues, particularly regarding the afterlife.
Leadership in the Church is vital for guiding the faithful towards truth and holiness.
Synod of Sutri (1046) and Papal Mediation
1046Event
The Synod of Sutri, convened by Emperor Henry III, was a pivotal moment in Catholic history as it addressed the crisis of multiple claimants to the papacy. This synod led to the election of Pope Clement II, marking a significant step towards reforming the papacy and restoring its authority within the Church.
In times of division, God provides leaders to guide His Church back to unity.

Catechism

Catechism of the Catholic Church

When we pray to “our” Father, we enter a new relationship with God, recognizing that his promises of love are fulfilled in Jesus Christ and that we have become his people. This prayer reminds us that we belong to the Church’s communion with the one Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and calls us to respond to the grace and truth given in Christ with love and faithfulness. Saying “our” Father draws us beyond individualism: it urges us to overcome divisions, to seek unity among all the baptized, and to bring before God everyone for whom he gave his Son. In daily prayer, these words help us pray with a wider heart, trusting in God’s boundless love for all people and all creation.

The Catechism teaches that when we pray “Our Father who art in heaven,” we acknowledge both God’s majesty and his closeness to the humble and contrite heart. Heaven is the Father’s house and our true homeland; sin has exiled us from the covenant, but conversion of heart enables us to return to the Father. In Christ, through his Cross, Resurrection, and Ascension, heaven and earth are reconciled. As we pray the Our Father, we are called to simple, faithful trust, humble and joyful assurance. This prayer brings us into communion with the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ, reveals our identity as God’s adopted children in Christ, and helps form in us a humble, trusting heart that desires to become like the Father. It also joins us to the Church and to the divine love that reaches out to the world as we look toward our heavenly homeland.

¶ 2788

Since the Lord's Prayer is that of his people in the "endtime," this "our" also expresses the certitude of our hope in God's ultimate promise: in the new Jerusalem he will say to the victor, "I will be his God and he shall be my son."

Today's Mass Readings

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

Sunday 4 of Advent

Understanding the Day

Introit (Daily Prayer)

Collect

Weekly Prayer

Weekly Formation

Oppression of the Poor

Sins Crying to Heaven

The Corporal Works of Mercy

Saint & Feast

Sunday 4 of Advent

Today in Church History

Election of Pope Benedict XII

Synod of Sutri (1046) and Papal Mediation

Catechism

Catechism of the Catholic Church

Today's Mass Readings

Baltimore Catechism No. 3