Understanding the Day
Season
Lent
Week
Week 3 of Lent
Rank
Weekday
Lent is a forty-day season of prayer, fasting, and repentance leading toward the mystery of Easter. A “Greater Non-Privileged Feria” is a weekday in the liturgical week that keeps an important Lenten character but does not have the solemnity of a feast or memorial; in plain terms, it means the day follows the regular Lenten liturgy and readings rather than celebrating a particular saint or special devotion. This Thursday in the third week of Lent belongs to that ongoing Lenten observance: the prayers, psalms, and Scripture readings are shaped to deepen repentance and spiritual renewal. There is no octave or vigil attached to this celebration.
Daily Prayer
The Introit for this day has not yet been generated.
Weekly Prayer
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Weekly Formation
Beatitude 5
The Beatitudes
Blessed are the merciful; for they shall obtain mercy.
The merciful recognize another’s misery and act to relieve needs of body or soul. Their mercy imitates God’s compassion and disposes them to receive mercy from Him, without making mercy contrary to truth or justice.
Saint & Feast
Principal celebrationCalendar title
Thursday of Week 3 of Lent
A biography or feast reflection has not yet been prepared.
Customs & Fasting
Traditional fast
Traditional Lenten fast.
Today in Church History
No Church history reflection has been prepared for this date yet.
Catechism
Catechism of the Catholic Church
The Church, as the Bride of Christ, is held by faith to be unfailingly holy because Christ loved her, gave himself for her sanctification, joined her to himself as his body, and endowed her with the Holy Spirit for God’s glory. United with Christ, the Church is sanctified and becomes sanctifying; through God’s grace, her members acquire holiness. Although the Church’s holiness on earth is real, it is still imperfect, and every faithful person is called to grow toward the perfection of holiness. Because the Church embraces sinners, all her members, including her ministers, need penance and renewal as they continue on the path to holiness. Charity is the soul of this calling, governing, shaping, and perfecting every means of sanctification. In honoring canonized saints, the Church recognizes the Spirit’s work in them and offers them as models and intercessors, sustaining believers’ hope. As we seek to conquer sin and grow in holiness, we can also turn our eyes to the Blessed Virgin Mary, in whom the Church has already reached her all-holy perfection.
The Church is called “catholic,” meaning universal, because Christ is present in her and she receives from him the fullness of the means of salvation. She is also catholic because Christ has sent her on mission to the whole human race (CCC 830-831). This universality is visible in local communities of the faithful, where the Gospel is preached and the Lord’s Supper is celebrated. Particular Churches are united in faith and sacraments with their bishops and are fully catholic through communion with the Church of Rome (CCC 832-834). The Church’s many disciplines, liturgical rites, and spiritual and theological traditions show a rich diversity that shines within her common unity (CCC 835). All people are called to the catholic unity of God’s People. Those who believe in Christ and are properly baptized, yet do not fully profess the Catholic faith or remain in full communion under the successor of Peter, are joined to the Catholic Church in a real though imperfect communion (CCC 836-838). As we reflect together, we can pray with gratitude for Christ’s presence in his Church, seek unity with fellow Christians, and remember the need to persevere in charity.