Catholic Family Devotions

Understanding the Day

Season

Eastertide

Week

Week 5 of Eastertide

Rank

Feast

St. Peter Celestine, Pope and Confessor, is observed in Ascensiontide, the liturgical season following Easter that focuses on Christ’s return to the Father and the sending of the Holy Spirit. No octave or vigil is specified here, so the observance is kept on the single day named in the calendar. This feast matters because it honors a pope recognized for holiness and fidelity to the Church; remembering him within Ascensiontide helps Catholics connect the witness of past leaders with the Church’s ongoing mission after Christ’s Ascension.

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

Commandment 4

The Ten Commandments

Honor thy father and thy mother.
The Fourth Commandment concerns the honor, gratitude, obedience, and care owed to parents and to lawful authority. It also binds parents and superiors to govern justly, provide what is needed, and seek the true good of those entrusted to them.

Saint & Feast

Principal celebration

Peter Celestine

St. Peter Celestine, Pope and Confessor

Pope of the Catholic Church from July to December 1294

Born: 1215-00-00 · Sant'Angelo Limosano
Died: 1296-05-19 · Fumone

Pope Celestine V, born Pietro Angelerio, also known as Pietro da Morrone, Peter of Morrone, and Peter Celestine, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States for five months from 5 July to 13 December 1294, when he resigned. He was also a monk and hermit who founded the order of the Celestines as a branch of the Benedictine order.

Learn more about Peter Celestine

Commemoration

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

The liturgy proclaims, celebrates, and lives the mystery of Christ within many cultures, not abolishing them but redeeming and fulfilling them in Christ. It includes an unchanging part instituted by God and entrusted to the Church, as well as elements the Church may adapt to cultures when appropriate. Different recognized rites express and communicate the same mystery of Christ and show the catholicity of the Church. For family reflection, cultural expressions in worship are a gift when they remain faithful to the common faith, the sacramental signs received from Christ, and communion with the Church. The liturgy both finds expression in culture and helps shape it, while calling for conversion wherever customs are incompatible with the Catholic faith.

The Catechism teaches that Christ instituted seven sacraments, which touch the important stages of Christian life by giving birth, growth, healing, and mission to faith. Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist lay the foundations of Christian life: through Baptism we are born anew, Confirmation strengthens us, and the Eucharist nourishes us with the food of eternal life. Baptism is the gateway to life in the Spirit and to the other sacraments. Through it we are freed from sin, reborn as children of God, made members of Christ, incorporated into the Church, and made sharers in her mission. Its immersion in water symbolizes burial with Christ in his death and rising with him as a new creature. Scripture’s images of water, the ark, the Red Sea, and the Jordan River help us reflect on Baptism as liberation, salvation, communion with Christ’s death, and the promise of eternal life. As we pray and learn together, these truths can help us treasure the sacramental life Christ has given his Church.

¶ 1206

Today's Mass Readings

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