Sexagesima Sunday (Dominica in Sexagesima) falls in the pre-Lenten season of Septuagesima. This period prepares families for Lent by shifting the liturgy’s tone from ordinary time toward penance and reflection. As a Greater Sunday of the II Class, Sexagesima is a principal Sunday with more solemn liturgical observance than ordinary weekdays: the Mass and Liturgy of the Hours use proper texts for the day, and the celebration has priority in parish scheduling. There is no octave or vigil specifically attached to this celebration; it is observed on the Sunday indicated by the traditional calendar. For families, Sexagesima matters because it marks an early step in spiritual preparation—Scripture readings and prayers begin to turn attention toward repentance, conversion, and readiness for the Lenten fast.
Daily Prayer
The Introit for this day has not yet been generated.
Weekly Prayer
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Weekly Formation
Idolatry, Sorcery, and Faithfulness
The Works of the Flesh
Idolatry
Idolatry gives a creature, image, power, or human good the worship or absolute trust owed to God alone. It is a work of the flesh because it turns the heart from the Creator toward something finite and makes that created thing the governing object of life.
Sorcery
Sorcery seeks hidden power, knowledge, or control through occult practices rather than through God’s providence and lawful means. It violates faith by appealing to spiritual powers apart from God and can involve superstition, deception, or direct openness to evil.
The Fruits of the Holy Spirit
Faithfulness
Faithfulness is steadfast reliability toward God and toward rightful human commitments. It makes belief, promises, duties, and relationships stable rather than subject to convenience, mood, or pressure.
Saint & Feast
Principal celebrationCalendar title
Sexagesima Sunday
A biography or feast reflection has not yet been prepared.
Commemoration
John Bosco
St. John Bosco, Confessor
Italian Roman Catholic priest, educator, writer (1815–1888)
Born
1815-08-16 · Castelnuovo Don Bosco
Died
1888-01-31 · Turin
John Melchior Bosco, SDB, popularly known as Don Bosco or Dom Bosco, was an Italian Catholic priest, educator and writer. While working in Turin, where the population suffered many of the ill effects of industrialization and urbanization, he dedicated his life to the betterment and education of street children, juvenile delinquents, and other disadvantaged youth. He developed teaching methods based on love rather than punishment, a method that became known as the Salesian Preventive System.
Today in Church History
No Church history reflection has been prepared for this date yet.
Catechism
Catechism of the Catholic Church
Believing in the one true God transforms our lives profoundly, calling us to recognize His greatness and majesty while serving Him above all else. This belief fosters a spirit of gratitude, reminding us that everything we possess is a gift from God, which encourages families to cultivate thankfulness in daily life. It also emphasizes the dignity of every person, made in God's image, urging us to treat each other with respect and love. Ultimately, faith in God invites us to trust Him in all circumstances and to prioritize our relationship with Him, using the created world wisely to draw closer to His love and truth.
¶ 224
It means living in thanksgiving: if God is the only One, everything we are and have comes from him: "What have you that you did not receive?" "What shall I render to the LORD for all his bounty to me?"
¶ 225
It means knowing the unity and true dignity of all men: everyone is made in the image and likeness of God.
It means making good use of created things: faith in God, the only One, leads us to use everything that is not God only insofar as it brings us closer to him, and to detach ourselves from it insofar as it turns us away from him: My Lord and my God, take from me everything that distances me from you. My Lord and my God, give me everything that brings me closer to you My Lord and my God, detach me from myself to give my all to you.
¶ 227
It means trusting God in every circumstance, even in adversity. A prayer of St. Teresa of Jesus wonderfully expresses this trust:
¶ 228
"Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God is one LORD..." ( Dt 6:4; Mk 12:29). "The supreme being must be unique, without equal. . . If God is not one, he is not God" (Tertullian, Adv. Marc., 1, 3, 5: PL 2, 274).
¶ 229
Faith in God leads us to turn to him alone as our first origin and our ultimate goal, and neither to prefer anything to him nor to substitute anything for him.
¶ 230
Even when he reveals himself, God remains a mystery beyond words: "If you understood him, it would not be God" (St. Augustine, Sermo 52, 6, 16: PL 38, 360 and Sermo 117, 3, 5: PL 38, 663).
¶ 231
The God of our faith has revealed himself as HE WHO IS; and he has made himself known as "abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness" ( Ex 34:6). God's very being is Truth and Love.
Baltimore track
Baltimore Catechism No. 3
The Manner in which a Lay Person Is to Baptize in Case of Necessity
Q. 120.What is this baptism called?
A.The baptism given in case of necessity is called private baptism to distinguish it from solemn baptism, which is given in the church with all the ceremonies proper to it.
Q. 121.What do you mean by either sex?
A."Either sex" means man or woman; boy or girl; any person competent to baptize.
Q. 122.When may we say one "has reached the use of reason"?
A.We may say one "has reached the use of reason" when he knows the difference between good and bad or right and wrong. Persons acquire this knowledge at about the age of seven years.