Catholic Family Devotions

Understanding the Day

Season

Time After Pentecost

Week

Week 21 of Time After Pentecost

Rank

Feast

This day falls in Ordinary Time after Pentecost (the Time After Pentecost in some calendars), a season focused on the growth of the Church in faith and charity. Celebrating St. Teresa of Avila, Virgin, the liturgical rank given here is “Double.” In plain terms, that means this feast is celebrated with greater prominence than an ordinary memorial: the community gives special attention to the saint in the prayers, readings, and Mass, while the normal rhythm of the season continues.

There is no octave or vigil specified for this celebration, so the observance is kept on the single day without an extended eight-day period or a required evening preparation.

Daily Prayer

The Introit for this day has not yet been generated.

Weekly Prayer

Weekly prayer content will appear here once it is scheduled.

Weekly Formation

Disordered Desire and Chastity

The Way of Darkness

Disordered Desire
This capital vice is disordered desire for bodily intimacy outside faithful marriage or apart from the duties of one’s state in life. It treats persons or the body as objects of appetite rather than gifts entrusted to faithful love, purity, and responsibility.

The Way of Light

Chastity
Chastity is the virtue that orders the gift of the body and its powers according to God’s design and one’s state in life. It preserves personal dignity, faithful love, and rightful boundaries by bringing desire under reason, grace, and charity.

Saint & Feast

Principal celebration

Teresa of Avila

St. Teresa of Avila, Virgin

Roman Catholic saint (1515-1582)

Born: 1515-03-28 · Ávila
Died: 1582-10-15 · Monastery of the Anunciación

Teresa of Ávila, also called Saint Teresa of Jesus, was a Carmelite nun and prominent Spanish mystic and religious reformer.

Learn more about Teresa of Avila

Customs & Fasting

No traditional fast · Complete abstinence

Traditional Friday complete abstinence.

Today in Church History

No Church history reflection has been prepared for this date yet.

Catechism

Catechism of the Catholic Church

In the Catholic faith, life is a precious gift from God, and we are called to be stewards of this gift, honoring it in gratitude and for the salvation of our souls (CCC 2280). Suicide is a grave act that contradicts our natural desire to preserve life and harms not only the individual but also the bonds of love and responsibility we share with others (CCC 2281). It is important to understand that psychological struggles may affect a person's ability to make decisions, and the Church teaches that we should not despair for those who have died by suicide, as God's mercy can reach them in ways we may not comprehend (CCC 2282-2283). For Catholic families, this underscores the importance of supporting one another in times of distress and fostering an environment of love and understanding, while also recognizing the profound responsibility we have to cherish and protect life.

Scandal is an attitude or behavior that leads another person to do evil. The one who gives scandal becomes a tempter to a neighbor, damaging virtue and integrity and even possibly drawing someone into spiritual death. It is especially grave when a person deliberately leads another into grave sin, when those with authority or a duty to teach and educate cause it, or when it harms the weak, including the “little ones” who believe in Christ. As we reflect together, let us remember that scandal can arise not only through personal actions, but also through laws, institutions, fashion, or opinion. Anyone who uses power in a way that leads others to wrongdoing bears responsibility for the evil directly or indirectly encouraged.

Life and physical health are precious gifts entrusted to us by God, and we should take reasonable care of them while considering the needs of others and the common good. Society also has a responsibility to help provide the conditions people need to grow and mature, including food, clothing, housing, health care, education, employment, and social assistance. At the same time, bodily health is not an absolute value: we should not idolize physical perfection or success in sports, especially when such attitudes favor the strong over the weak and distort human relationships. Temperance helps us avoid excess in food, alcohol, tobacco, and medicine, as well as the dangers caused by drunkenness or a love of speed. Drug use, apart from strictly therapeutic purposes, seriously harms health and life and is a grave offense; producing or trafficking drugs also directly cooperates in evil by encouraging grave wrongdoing. May these teachings guide our daily care for life, health, and one another.

Today's Mass Readings

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