Catholic Family Devotions

Understanding the Day

Season

Time After Pentecost

Week

Week 27 of Time After Pentecost

Rank

Feast

St. Catharine of Alexandria is commemorated during the Time after Pentecost, the long season of the Church year focused on Christ’s mission and the growth of the Church through the work of the Holy Spirit. The celebration is listed as a “Double” in the Divino Afflatu calendar system; in plain terms this means it is a principal feast day of particular importance in the local liturgical cycle and should be observed with more solemn prayers and, where possible, special readings and music. There is no octave or vigil specified here, so the observance falls on the assigned day without an extended octave or a prescribed vigil day. This celebration matters for family devotion because it honors a model of youthful faithfulness and courage in witness to Christ.

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

Faith and Charity

Sins Against the Theological Virtues

Resisting or attacking the known truth
Resisting known truth means opposing a truth recognized as coming from God because accepting it would require conversion or surrender. The sin lies not in honest difficulty or inquiry, but in a willful refusal of light already understood.
Envy at another’s spiritual good
Envy of another’s spiritual good is sadness or resentment at the grace, virtue, holiness, or service of God found in someone else. It is especially contrary to charity because it grieves over the very good by which God is honored and souls are helped.

The Theological Virtues

Faith
Faith is the infused virtue by which the mind firmly assents to the truths God has revealed because He can neither deceive nor be deceived. It rests on God’s authority and gives the foundation by which the believer knows Him and orders life toward Him.
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

Catherine of Alexandria

St. Catharine of Alexandria, Virgin and Martyr

Egyptian missionary, saint depicted with a wheel

Born: 0287-01-01 · Alexandria
Died: 0305-01-01 · Alexandria

Catherine of Alexandria, also spelled Katherine, was, according to tradition, a Christian saint and virgin, who was martyred in the early 4th century at the hands of the emperor Maxentius. According to her hagiography, she was both a princess and a noted scholar who became a Christian around age 14, converted hundreds of people to Christianity, and was martyred around age 18.

Learn more about Catherine of Alexandria

Today in Church History

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

Catechism

Catechism of the Catholic Church

In these Catechism passages, we contemplate Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh, as the master of prayer. Jesus learned to pray in his human heart from Mary and through the prayer of his people, while his own prayer revealed his unique filial relationship with the Father. He prayed in solitude and at the decisive moments of his mission, humbly entrusting his human will to the Father’s loving will. His prayers of thanksgiving, his petitions, and his surrender in the Passion show us that prayer is a loving adherence to the Father’s will. As we contemplate and listen to the Son at prayer, we too learn to pray to the Father.

In the teachings of Jesus on prayer, we find a profound invitation to deepen our relationship with God through faith, hope, and charity. Jesus emphasizes the importance of a converted heart, urging us to reconcile with others and pray sincerely, embodying humility and perseverance in our requests to the Father. By praying in Jesus' name and inviting the Holy Spirit into our lives, we engage in a transformative communion that strengthens our faith and aligns our desires with God's will. For Catholic families, this means fostering an environment of prayer that is heartfelt and persistent, encouraging each member to seek God earnestly, uphold one another in faith, and cultivate a spirit of love and forgiveness.

¶ 2601

"He was praying in a certain place and when he had ceased, one of his disciples said to him, 'Lord, teach us to pray."' In seeing the Master at prayer the disciple of Christ also wants to pray. By contemplating and hearing the Son, the master of prayer, the children learn to pray to the Father.

Today's Mass Readings

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