Catholic Family Devotions

Understanding the Day

Season

Time After Pentecost

Week

Week 6 of Time After Pentecost

Rank

Sunday or semidouble observance

This celebration falls in the Time after Pentecost, the long liturgical season between Pentecost and Advent focused on the life and growth of the Church. As a Semidouble feast in the divino_afflatu calendar, it has a modest liturgical rank: the proper Office and Mass for the saint are observed, but certain elements of the daily prayers or higher-ranking celebrations may take precedence. There is no octave or vigil indicated here, so the day is celebrated on its assigned date without an eight-day extension or special eve.

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

The Precepts of the Church: Eucharist and Discipline

The Precepts of the Church

You shall receive the Sacrament of the Eucharist at least during the Easter season.
This precept requires worthy reception of Holy Communion at least during the Easter season. The minimum joins the faithful sacramentally to the Paschal mystery and presumes the preparation required for receiving the Eucharist reverently.
You shall observe the days of fasting and abstinence established by the Church.
This precept requires observance of the days and forms of fasting and abstinence established by lawful Church authority. These common disciplines unite bodily self-denial with repentance, prayer, and obedience rather than treating penance as a merely private preference.

Saint & Feast

Principal celebration

Alexius

St. Alexis, Confessor

saint

Born: 0400-01-01 · Rome
Died: 0412-01-01 · Rome

Saint Alexius of Rome or Alexius of Edessa, also Alexis, was a fourth-century Greek monk who lived in anonymity and is known for his dedication to Christ. Two versions of his life exist, one in Syriac and the other in Greek.

Learn more about Alexius

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 through Baptism the whole Church is a priestly people, sharing in Christ’s priesthood through the common priesthood of the faithful. Alongside this, Holy Orders gives ordained ministers a distinct participation in Christ’s mission, serving the People of God through teaching, divine worship, and pastoral governance. This ordained ministry has three degrees: bishops, presbyters, and deacons. Bishops, successors of the apostles, are visible heads of the particular Churches entrusted to them; priests are their co-workers in pastoral service; and deacons are ordained for service in the ministry of the word, worship, pastoral governance, and charity. As families reflect on these readings, we can give thanks for the ordered ministries through which Christ serves his Church.

The Catechism teaches that the matrimonial covenant, established by God, is a partnership of the whole of life between a man and a woman, ordered toward the good of the spouses and the procreation and education of children. Between baptized persons, Christ has raised this covenant to the dignity of a sacrament. Rooted in Scripture and in God’s loving design from creation, marriage reflects the mutual love to which God calls man and woman and is meant to be fruitful. Yet this union is often wounded by sin, bringing discord, domination, infidelity, jealousy, and conflict. God’s grace, which he never refuses in his mercy, helps heal these wounds and enables spouses to seek the union of life for which they were created. For Catholic families, this invites us to cherish marriage, foster love and unity, and rely on God’s grace amid the struggles of daily life.

¶ 1596

Deacons are ministers ordained for tasks of service of the Church; they do not receive the ministerial priesthood, but ordination confers on them important functions in the ministry of the word, divine worship, pastoral governance, and the service of charity, tasks which they must carry out under the pastoral authority of their bishop.

Today's Mass Readings

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