Daybreak

Thursday of the 21st Week in Ordinary Time Memorial of St. Monica, 331-387; mother of St. Augustine of Hippo; after seventeen years of prayer, her pagan husband and her son converted to Christianity; her faithful spirit is evident in Augustine's "Confessions" Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 8/27/26 Gospel: Matthew 24:42-51

Wednesday of the 21st Week in Ordinary Time Saint of the Day: Pope St. Zephyrinus; pope from 199 to 217; he was a Roman by birth; his reign, as successor to St. Victor I, was dominated by the troubles caused by several heretical groups and the severe  persecution  of the Church launched by Emperor  Septimius Severus around 202; the antipope Hippolytus criticized his vacillation in d...

Tuesday of the 21st Week in Ordinary Time Optional Memorial of St. Louis IX, 1214-1270; became king of France at the age of 13; he defended justice and promoted peace; he organized ‘the court of the king;’ bringing regular reviews of feudal cases; he prioritized the poor; founding many hospitals and charitable organizations; he loved architecture; supporting the famous Sorbonne Univers...

Feast of St. Bartholomew, apostle Monday of the 21st Week in Ordinary Time Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 8/24/26 Gospel: John 1:45-51

21st Sunday in Ordinary Time Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 8/23/26 Gospel: Matthew 16:13-20

Friday of the 20th Week in Ordinary Time Memorial of Pope St. Piux X, 1835-1914; at 23, he was ordained and became a chaplain; in 1875, he became episcopal chancellor of Treviso and spiritual director of the diocesan seminary; in 1884, Bishop of Mantua; and, in 1893, Patriarch of Venice; when elected pope in 1903, he chose as his motto, "To renew all things in Christ"; his papacy achieved a restru...

Thursday of the 20th Week in Ordinary Time Memorial of St. Bernard of Clairvaux, 1090-1153; at 23, he entered the monastery of Citeaux, and three years later was sent to found the monastery of Clairvaux; many were attracted to it, and monks were sent from it to Portugal, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Sweden, England, and Ireland to establish new Cistercian communities; Bernard was a brilliant write...

Wednesday of the 20th Week in Ordinary Time Optional Memorial of St. John Eudes, 1601-1680; ordained a priest at 24, and became a parish missionary; John founded a new community, ultimately called the Eudists—the Congregation of Jesus and Mary–devoted to the formation of the clergy by conducting diocesan seminaries; in his parish mission work, John was disturbed by the sad condition of...

Tuesday of the 20th Week in Ordinary Time Saint of the Day: St. Helena; mother of Constantine the Great; traveled to the Holy Places in the Middle East in 326-328, and found three crosses; she had a woman who was near death place her hand on all three crosses; nothing happened with the first two; but when she touched the third one, she immediately recovered; Helena declared this to be the True Cro...

Monday of the 20th Week in Ordinary Time Saint of the Day: St. Clare of Montefalco, 1268-1308; born in Montefalco, Italy; as a young woman, she joined a  convent of Franciscan tertiaries; her sister Joan was the abbess, and when she died, Clare succeeded her; she led an austere life, devoted to the Passion of Christ, and His Cross; when she died, an image of the cross was found imprinted on h...

20th Sunday in Ordinary Time Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 8/16/26 Gospel: Matthew 15:21-28

Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven Saturday of the 19th Week in Ordinary Time Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 8/15/26 Gospel: Luke 11:27-28

Friday of the 19th Week in Ordinary Time Memorial of St. Maximilian Mary Kolbe, 1894-1941; he was ordained at the age of 24; in 1917, he formed an association called the Militia Immaculata, which started producing faith periodicals; it grew into a publishing house of 650 friars; in 1941, St. Maximilian was arrested and placed in a Nazi death camp; shortly after, he died at Auschwitz, from a lethal...

Thursday of the 19th Week in Ordinary Time Optional Memorial of Saints Pontian and Hippolytus; Pontian was Bishop of Rome from 230 – 236 A.D.; St. Hippolytus, a prominent theologian, was a theological opponent and rival of several of Pontian’s predecessors and of Pontian himself; when Maximinus I became emperor in 235, . he banished both men to the island of Sardinia; St. Hippolytus re...

Wednesday of the 19th Week in Ordinary Time Optional Memorial of St. Jane Frances de Chantal, 1572-1641; when she became a widow, she took a vow of chastity, and in 1604 began seeking spiritual direction from St. Francis de Sales; in 1610, they formed the Congregation of the Visitation, unique in that it admitted women deemed physically unsuitable by other orders; the members went outside their co...

Tuesday of the 19th Week in Ordinary Time Memorial of St. Clare, 1194-1253; Clare heard Saint Francis of Assisi preach and it ignited in her a desire to follow Christ in a similar way; Saint Francis took Saint Clare to San Paolo and placed her in the care of Benedictine nuns; her sister joined her in holy vows within a month; Saint Francis established a community for them, and other women, at...

Feast of St. Lawrence, deacon and martyr, 225-258 Monday of the 18th Week in Ordinary Time Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 8/10/26 Gospel: John 12:24-26

19th Sunday in Ordinary Time Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 8/9/26 Gospel: Matthew 14:22-33

Saturday of the 18th Week in Ordinary Time Memorial of St. Dominic, 1170-1221; Dominic studied arts and theology at the University of Palencia; he was appointed a canon regular of the Cathedral of Osma, ordained, and made prior in 1201; in diplomatic service to his bishop, he traveled across the Pyrenees to southern France several times, and encountered heretical communities, specifically, the Alb...

Friday of the 18th Week in Ordinary Time Optional Memorial of Pope St. Sixtus II and companions, martyrs; Sixtus II was elected Supreme Pontiff in 257 AD.; in his reign, he mediated between Rome and the Asiatic and African churches over re-baptizing heretics; also, during this time, Emperor Valerian issued a decree persecuting Christians and forbidding them to assemble;Saint Sixtus II held to the...

Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord Thursday of the 18th Week in Ordinary Time Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 8/6/26 Gospel: Matthew 17:1-9

Wednesday of the 18th Week in Ordinary Time Optional Memorial of the Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 8/5/26 Gospel: Matthew 15:21-28

Tuesday of the 18th Week in Ordinary Time Memorial of St. John Vianney, the curé d'Ars, 1786-1859; at age 20, he began secondary education; studies progressed slowly, but he was ordained a decade later; he opened an orphanage and began to minister in the local parish in the aftermath of the Revolution; he was appointed curé, minister of souls, and was known to spend up to 18 hours a...

Monday of the 18th Week in Ordinary Time Saint of the Day: St. Peter of Anagni; 12th Century Benedictine, bishop and papal legate; he so distinguished himself as a Benedictine  monk  that Pope  St. Gregory VII  appointed him  bishop of Anagni; he improved the spiritual welfare of the city, built a new cathedral, and promoted the First Crusade to the Holy Land, a venture in...

18th Sunday in Ordinary Time Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 8/2/26 Gospel: Matthew 14:13-21