Catholic Family Devotions

Understanding the Day

Season

Ascensiontide

Week

Week 2 of Ascensiontide

Rank

Sunday or semidouble observance

Ascensiontide is the period after the Lord’s Ascension into heaven, a time when the Church celebrates Jesus’ presence with the Father and prepares for the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. The Friday after the Octave of the Ascension falls within this season and continues the focus on Christ’s glorification and the mission he gave to his disciples. The rank “Semidouble” is an older liturgical classification: in plain terms it means this day has its own proper prayers and readings that are to be used, but they do not suppress higher-ranking feasts; the celebration is more solemn than an ordinary weekday but not as solemn as the principal feasts. The phrase “after the Octave” indicates this day comes within the eight-day extension of the Ascension feast, so the themes and texts remain tied to that major celebration.

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 6

The Ten Commandments

Be faithful in marriage and respect God’s gift of the body.
The Sixth Commandment guards fidelity in marriage and the holiness of God’s gift of the body. It requires purity appropriate to each state of life, respect for personal boundaries, and faithful conduct in thought, word, and action.

Saint & Feast

Principal celebrationCalendar title

Friday after the Octave of the Ascension

A biography or feast reflection has not yet been prepared.

Commemoration

Marcellinus, Peter

Sts. Marcellinus, Peter, and Erasmus, Martyrs

christian saints and martyrs

Saints Marcellinus and Peter are venerated within the Catholic Church as martyrs who were beheaded. Hagiographies place them in 4th century Rome. They are generally represented as men in middle age, with tonsures and palms of martyrdom; sometimes they hold a crown each.

Learn more about Marcellinus, Peter

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 Catechism teaches that every baptized person not yet confirmed can and should receive Confirmation. Along with Baptism and the Eucharist, Confirmation belongs to the unity of Christian initiation; without Confirmation and Eucharist, initiation remains incomplete. In the Latin tradition, the age of discretion is the usual reference point, though children in danger of death should be confirmed even before that age. Confirmation preparation helps candidates grow in closer union with Christ, deeper familiarity with the Holy Spirit, and readiness for the apostolic responsibilities of Christian life. Candidates should prepare through Penance and more intense prayer, and may fittingly seek the spiritual help of a sponsor, ideally a baptismal godparent. The parish community has a special responsibility in preparing confirmands. In the Latin Rite, the bishop is the ordinary minister of Confirmation, showing the sacrament’s close connection with the Church’s apostolic origins and mission to bear witness to Christ.

Confirmation perfects the grace received at Baptism, giving the Holy Spirit to root us more deeply in our divine filiation, strengthen our union with Christ and the Church, and help us witness to the Christian faith through both words and deeds. It seals the Christian with an indelible spiritual mark and can therefore be received only once. In the Eastern tradition, Confirmation is given immediately after Baptism and followed by the Eucharist, highlighting the unity of Christian initiation. When Confirmation is celebrated separately from Baptism, the renewal of baptismal promises expresses its close connection with Baptism. Candidates who have reached the age of reason are called to profess the faith, be in the state of grace, intend to receive the sacrament, and prepare to live as disciples and witnesses of Christ in the Church and in the world.

¶ 1311

Today's Mass Readings

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