{"ok":true,"date":"2026-07-15","dateKey":"07-15","liturgicalDay":"St. Henry, Emperor and Confessor","rank":"Semi-Double","color":"white","quoteOfTheDay":{"text":"Blessed is the man that findeth wisdom, and floweth with prudence.","author":"Holy Scripture","source":"Proverbs 3:13, Original Douay-Rheims","treasuryHref":"/wisdom#blessed-is-the-wise-man","category":"Wisdom and Holy Fear"},"season":"Time after Pentecost","novenas":[],"octaveContexts":[],"subject":"City of God in Exile: St. Henry, Emperor and Confessor - 2026-07-15","previewText":"St. Henry, Emperor and Confessor. Grace Heals and Elevates Nature. Resist naturalism, which treats human improvement as though it could take the place of supernatural life.","plainText":"CITY OF GOD IN EXILE\nSt. Henry, Emperor and Confessor\n2026-07-15 - Time after Pentecost - Semi-Double - white\nPLAIN-LANGUAGE GUIDE FOR TODAY\nConfessor: in the traditional calendar, a male saint who openly professed the Faith by a holy life but was not killed as a martyr.\nChastity: the virtue that orders sexuality according to one's state of life and treats the body as belonging to God.\nThe full Breviary lessons preserve an older English translation. Read the modern explanation first; it identifies the people, event, and doctrine before the historical wording appears.\nTODAY IN THE ROMAN YEAR\nSt. Henry's imperial dignity remained beneath prayer, chastity, service to the Church, and judgment before God. His feast teaches that authority is stewardship rather than possession: rank, money, household influence, and public office must serve worship, order, and souls. Join the praise of Heaven and earth, but ask that your praise of Mary become obedience to her Son. Offer the first Hail Mary slowly, praising God's work in Our Lady and asking to live beneath her standard.\n\n\"Every day, from one end of the earth to the other, in the highest heights of the heavens and in the profoundest depths of the abysses, everything preaches, everything publishes, the admirable Mary!\"\nSt. Louis-Marie de Montfort, True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin, no. 8\n\nSt. Louis de Montfort allows the soul to hear a vast chorus of praise, but he does not invite it to remain among beautiful words. Heaven praises Our Lady because God has crowned His own work in her. The devils acknowledge her unwillingly because they cannot erase the victory of the Woman whom God has set against the serpent.\n\nYour praise must therefore take sides. To honor Mary is to reject the spirit that contradicts her: pride instead of humility, impurity instead of her spotless heart, revolt instead of her fiat, and doctrinal compromise instead of her unwavering faith. Let every praise of her today become a refusal of sin.\n\nPRACTICE\nPerform acts of authority and obedience with prayer, clarity, humility, and concern for souls.\n\nQUOTE OF THE DAY\n\"Blessed is the man that findeth wisdom, and floweth with prudence.\"\nHoly Scripture, Proverbs 3:13, Original Douay-Rheims\n\nROMAN MARTYROLOGY - July 15\nAt Bamberg, St. Henry 1., emperor, who kept perpetual chastity with his wife Cunegunde, and induced St. Stephen, king of Hungary, with nearly all his kingdom, to receive the faith of Christ. — At Porto, the birthday of the holy martyrs Eutropius, and the sisters Zosima and Bonosa. — At Carthage, blessed Catulinus, deacon, whose glories were proclaimed by St. Augustine in a sermon to his people, and the Saints Januarius, Florentius, Julia and Justa, martyrs, who were entombed in the church of St. Faustus. — At Alexandria, the holy martyrs Philip, Zeno, Narseus, and ten children. — In the island of Tenedos, St. Abudemius, a martyr, who suffered under Diocletian. — At Sebaste, St. Antiochus, a physician, who was decapitated under the governor Adrian. On seeing milk flowing from his wounds instead of blood, Cyriaeus, his executioner, was converted to Christ and endured martyrdom. — At Pavia, St. Felix, bishop and martyr. — At Msibis, the birthday of St. James, bishop of that city, a man celebrated for great holiness, miracles and erudition. He was one of those who confessed the faith during the persecution of Galerius Maximian, and afterwards, in the Council of Nicsea, condemned the perverse heresy of Arius, by opposing to it the doctrine of consubstantiality. It was also owing to his prayers, and those of bishop Alexander, that Arius received at Constantinople the condign punishment of his iniquity, the extravasation of his intestines. — At Naples, in Campania, St. Athanasius, bishop of that city, who suffered much from his wicked nephew Sergius, by whom he was driven from his see. Consumed with afflictions, he departed for heaven at Veroli, in the time of Charles the Bald. — At Palermo, the finding of the body of St. Kosalia, virgin of Palermo. Being miraculously discovered in the time of the Sovereign Pontiff, Urban VIII., it delivered Sicily from the plague in the year of the Jubilee.\n\nHIGHLIGHTED SAINT\nSt. Henry\nEmperor and confessor, ruler under God.\nSt. Henry governed as emperor while seeking to place public authority beneath the law of Christ. The Martyrology remembers his chastity with St. Cunegunde and his work in helping bring the faith to Hungary.\nHe supported churches, order, and Christian worship rather than treating power as self-display. His feast teaches that authority, rank, and public responsibility must be placed under God and judged by eternity.\nWhatever authority you possess, govern it under Christ. St. Henry reminds families, fathers, rulers, and workers that rank is judged by fidelity.\nFROM MATINS\nAn earthly crown governed beneath the Eternal King.\nMatins - Second Nocturn - St. Henry, Emperor and Confessor\nRoman Breviary\n\"His hope soared beyond the short enjoyment of a fleeting kingdom.\"\n- The Breviary measures imperial dignity by service to the Eternal King, prayer before action, and concrete support of churches and monasteries.\n- St. Henry's fidelity to the Roman See, chastity with St. Cunegunda, and wise government place public authority beneath divine law.\n- The lesson deliberately makes holiness outshine the splendour of the crown.\nPlace every lesser authority beneath Christ. St. Henry teaches rulers, fathers, employers, and householders to pray before acting and to use temporal goods for worship, order, and souls.\nFULL BREVIARY LESSONS\nFourth Lesson\nHenry II, surnamed the Pious, became successively Duke of Bavaria, King of Germany, and Emperor of the Romans. His hope soared beyond the short enjoyment of a fleeting kingdom, and he aimed at an unfading crown by living as the loyal servant of the Eternal King.\nHe restored churches, enriched and endowed monasteries and other holy places, founded the Bishopric of Bamberg from his inheritance, and made it tributary to blessed Peter and the Bishop of Rome. When Benedict VIII was in exile, Henry received him and afterward restored him to his See.\nFifth Lesson\nWhen grievously sick at Monte Cassino, Henry was healed through the intercession of St. Benedict. He was a princely benefactor to the Church of Rome and never undertook anything until he had made it a subject of prayer.\nWith God's help he prevailed more by prayer than by arms. His marriage with St. Cunegunda was a union of two virgins, and when death drew near he gave her back inviolate to her kindred.\nSixth Lesson\nHe managed with great wisdom whatever tended to the honour and usefulness of the Empire. The perfume of his saintly life spread far and wide, and the glory of his holiness outshone the splendour of his crown.\nWhen his earthly work was finished, he was called to the eternal kingdom. He was buried in the Church of the Apostles Peter and Paul at Bamberg, and, after miracles at his grave were duly proved, Eugenius III numbered him among the Saints.\nTHE PILGRIM'S SPIRITUAL CONFERENCE\nGrace Heals and Elevates Nature\nThe Church places this truth before you today: Man is not saved by natural goodness, sentiment, or progress. He needs sanctifying grace, the merits of Christ, and persevering conversion. Do not hurry past it as though doctrine belonged only to books and controversies. A revealed truth is also a light by which the soul must judge its loyalties, its fears, its habits, and the duties immediately before it. The Church is holy because Christ is holy, because she possesses holy doctrine and sacraments, and because she forms saints by grace.\nThe grace to be practiced is Chaste stewardship of authority, drawn from today's saintly witness. Ask God for more than the natural appearance of this virtue. Temperament may make an action seem easy for a time, but supernatural virtue remains faithful because God is worthy of obedience, even when feeling offers no assistance and no one notices the cost. Let praise become imitation. Honor Mary's humility by refusing the contrary movement of pride when it first appears.\nThere is also an enemy to recognize: Resist naturalism, which treats human improvement as though it could take the place of supernatural life. Do not study this danger only in other people. Look quietly for the door by which it seeks entrance into your own soul - perhaps through delay, curiosity, resentment, human respect, attachment to comfort, or the desire to control the outcome. Dying to self today means choosing chaste stewardship of authority when pride, comfort, fear, resentment, or human respect asks for control.\nDo the faithful act and entrust its fruit to divine Providence, God's wise and loving governance of all things. Place effort and outcome into Our Lady's hands so that the whole offering may be presented to her Divine Son. Confidence in God is not passivity: obey, pray, work, and accept that visible success, consolation, or immediate relief may not be given. God remains faithful when the duty is hidden and the outcome uncertain. Therefore, perform the duty that belongs to you, use the lawful means God has provided, and then surrender the fruit. When fidelity separates you from the world's approval, remember that Heaven's judgment is the one that endures. Let your acts visibly reflect Mary's purity, obedience, recollection, and courageous faith.\nThe Church's witness: this truth manifests the Church's mark of holy; the witness placed beside it is St. Thomas Aquinas.\nYour resolution before God: Perform acts of authority and obedience with prayer, clarity, humility, and concern for souls.\nCarry this word: Every lesser authority is healed by submission to Christ the King.\nTHE PILGRIM'S MIRROR\n\"Virtue appeareth best in time of adversity. Occasions make not a man frail, but they shew openly what he is.\"\nThomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ, Book I, chapter 16, p. 27\nThe trial does not excuse the fault; it reveals where grace must be received and nature mortified. Do not waste the revelation God permits.\n\nWhen adversity uncovers impatience or fear, do not conclude that every previous effort was false. Thank God for showing you where the wall remains weak. Humble yourself, ask pardon if another was wounded, and return to the battle with a more honest knowledge of your need for grace.\nToday's Practice: At the next contradiction, name the virtue being tested and practice it once.\nDAILY EXAMEN\nAsk whether your Marian words produced Marian conduct, and entrust the distance between them to her maternal correction.\n- For what grace or mercy should I thank God today?\n- What sin, fault, neglected duty, or resistance to grace must I confess?\n- What definite amendment will I carry into tomorrow?\nPRAYER\nO Lord, through St. Henry, govern every authority I exercise or receive and keep it obedient to Thy law.\nDAILY RULE FOR THE PILGRIM\nA brief rule to keep every day:\nBegin with morning prayer\nAdore the Blessed Trinity and offer the whole day to Jesus through Mary before other duties claim the mind.\nKeep the Angelus\nPause morning, noon, and evening to remember the Incarnation.\nSeek Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament\nAttend Holy Mass when duty permits; otherwise make a Spiritual Communion and renew desire for Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.\nReturn to Jesus and Mary\nUse frequent holy aspirations during work, waiting, suffering, and temptation.\nPray the Rosary\nKeep the mysteries of Christ before the mind with Our Lady and learn to imitate what they contain.\nEnd with night prayer and examen\nGive thanks, confess faults, forgive injuries, make a practical amendment, and entrust the night to Our Lady.\nCONTINUE STUDY\nWhat Is Grace?: https://cityofgodinexile.com/catechism-foundations/what-is-grace?entered=1\nOpen this day in the Sacred Calendar: https://cityofgodinexile.com/sacred-calendar?date=2026-07-15&entered=1\nOpen this day's Daily Pilgrimage: https://cityofgodinexile.com/daily-dispatch?date=2026-07-15&entered=1\nBrowse the Formation Index: https://cityofgodinexile.com/daily-dispatch/formation?entered=1","html":"\n\n \n \n \n City of God in Exile: St. Henry, Emperor and Confessor - 2026-07-15\n \n \n
\n St. Henry, Emperor and Confessor. Grace Heals and Elevates Nature. Resist naturalism, which treats human improvement as though it could take the place of supernatural life.\n
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City of God in Exile

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St. Henry, Emperor and Confessor

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2026-07-15 - Time after Pentecost - Semi-Double - white

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“Walk whilst you have the light, that the darkness overtake you not.”
John 12:35
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Plain-Language Guide for Today

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Confessor
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in the traditional calendar, a male saint who openly professed the Faith by a holy life but was not killed as a martyr.
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Chastity
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the virtue that orders sexuality according to one's state of life and treats the body as belonging to God.

The full Breviary lessons preserve an older English translation. Read the modern explanation first; it identifies the people, event, and doctrine before the historical wording appears.

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Today in the Roman Year

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St. Henry's imperial dignity remained beneath prayer, chastity, service to the Church, and judgment before God. His feast teaches that authority is stewardship rather than possession: rank, money, household influence, and public office must serve worship, order, and souls.

Join the praise of Heaven and earth, but ask that your praise of Mary become obedience to her Son.

Offer the first Hail Mary slowly, praising God's work in Our Lady and asking to live beneath her standard.

“Every day, from one end of the earth to the other, in the highest heights of the heavens and in the profoundest depths of the abysses, everything preaches, everything publishes, the admirable Mary!”

St. Louis-Marie de Montfort, True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin, no. 8

St. Louis de Montfort allows the soul to hear a vast chorus of praise, but he does not invite it to remain among beautiful words. Heaven praises Our Lady because God has crowned His own work in her. The devils acknowledge her unwillingly because they cannot erase the victory of the Woman whom God has set against the serpent.

Your praise must therefore take sides. To honor Mary is to reject the spirit that contradicts her: pride instead of humility, impurity instead of her spotless heart, revolt instead of her fiat, and doctrinal compromise instead of her unwavering faith. Let every praise of her today become a refusal of sin.

Perform acts of authority and obedience with prayer, clarity, humility, and concern for souls.

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Quote of the Day

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“Blessed is the man that findeth wisdom, and floweth with prudence.”
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Holy Scripture, Proverbs 3:13, Original Douay-Rheims

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Roman Martyrology - July 15

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At Bamberg, St. Henry 1., emperor, who kept perpetual chastity with his wife Cunegunde, and induced St. Stephen, king of Hungary, with nearly all his kingdom, to receive the faith of Christ. — At Porto, the birthday of the holy martyrs Eutropius, and the sisters Zosima and Bonosa. — At Carthage, blessed Catulinus, deacon, whose glories were proclaimed by St. Augustine in a sermon to his people, and the Saints Januarius, Florentius, Julia and Justa, martyrs, who were entombed in the church of St. Faustus. — At Alexandria, the holy martyrs Philip, Zeno, Narseus, and ten children. — In the island of Tenedos, St. Abudemius, a martyr, who suffered under Diocletian. — At Sebaste, St. Antiochus, a physician, who was decapitated under the governor Adrian. On seeing milk flowing from his wounds instead of blood, Cyriaeus, his executioner, was converted to Christ and endured martyrdom. — At Pavia, St. Felix, bishop and martyr. — At Msibis, the birthday of St. James, bishop of that city, a man celebrated for great holiness, miracles and erudition. He was one of those who confessed the faith during the persecution of Galerius Maximian, and afterwards, in the Council of Nicsea, condemned the perverse heresy of Arius, by opposing to it the doctrine of consubstantiality. It was also owing to his prayers, and those of bishop Alexander, that Arius received at Constantinople the condign punishment of his iniquity, the extravasation of his intestines. — At Naples, in Campania, St. Athanasius, bishop of that city, who suffered much from his wicked nephew Sergius, by whom he was driven from his see. Consumed with afflictions, he departed for heaven at Veroli, in the time of Charles the Bald. — At Palermo, the finding of the body of St. Kosalia, virgin of Palermo. Being miraculously discovered in the time of the Sovereign Pontiff, Urban VIII., it delivered Sicily from the plague in the year of the Jubilee.

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Highlighted Saint

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St. Henry

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Emperor and confessor, ruler under God.

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St. Henry governed as emperor while seeking to place public authority beneath the law of Christ. The Martyrology remembers his chastity with St. Cunegunde and his work in helping bring the faith to Hungary.

He supported churches, order, and Christian worship rather than treating power as self-display. His feast teaches that authority, rank, and public responsibility must be placed under God and judged by eternity.

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Whatever authority you possess, govern it under Christ. St. Henry reminds families, fathers, rulers, and workers that rank is judged by fidelity.

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From Matins

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An earthly crown governed beneath the Eternal King.

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Matins - Second Nocturn - St. Henry, Emperor and Confessor

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Roman Breviary, Proper lessons for St. Henry

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“His hope soared beyond the short enjoyment of a fleeting kingdom.”
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  • The Breviary measures imperial dignity by service to the Eternal King, prayer before action, and concrete support of churches and monasteries.
  • St. Henry's fidelity to the Roman See, chastity with St. Cunegunda, and wise government place public authority beneath divine law.
  • The lesson deliberately makes holiness outshine the splendour of the crown.
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Place every lesser authority beneath Christ. St. Henry teaches rulers, fathers, employers, and householders to pray before acting and to use temporal goods for worship, order, and souls.

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Full Breviary Lessons

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Fourth Lesson

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Henry II, surnamed the Pious, became successively Duke of Bavaria, King of Germany, and Emperor of the Romans. His hope soared beyond the short enjoyment of a fleeting kingdom, and he aimed at an unfading crown by living as the loyal servant of the Eternal King.

He restored churches, enriched and endowed monasteries and other holy places, founded the Bishopric of Bamberg from his inheritance, and made it tributary to blessed Peter and the Bishop of Rome. When Benedict VIII was in exile, Henry received him and afterward restored him to his See.

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Fifth Lesson

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When grievously sick at Monte Cassino, Henry was healed through the intercession of St. Benedict. He was a princely benefactor to the Church of Rome and never undertook anything until he had made it a subject of prayer.

With God's help he prevailed more by prayer than by arms. His marriage with St. Cunegunda was a union of two virgins, and when death drew near he gave her back inviolate to her kindred.

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Sixth Lesson

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He managed with great wisdom whatever tended to the honour and usefulness of the Empire. The perfume of his saintly life spread far and wide, and the glory of his holiness outshone the splendour of his crown.

When his earthly work was finished, he was called to the eternal kingdom. He was buried in the Church of the Apostles Peter and Paul at Bamberg, and, after miracles at his grave were duly proved, Eugenius III numbered him among the Saints.

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The Pilgrim's Spiritual Conference

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Grace Heals and Elevates Nature

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The Church places this truth before you today: Man is not saved by natural goodness, sentiment, or progress. He needs sanctifying grace, the merits of Christ, and persevering conversion. Do not hurry past it as though doctrine belonged only to books and controversies. A revealed truth is also a light by which the soul must judge its loyalties, its fears, its habits, and the duties immediately before it. The Church is holy because Christ is holy, because she possesses holy doctrine and sacraments, and because she forms saints by grace.

The grace to be practiced is Chaste stewardship of authority, drawn from today's saintly witness. Ask God for more than the natural appearance of this virtue. Temperament may make an action seem easy for a time, but supernatural virtue remains faithful because God is worthy of obedience, even when feeling offers no assistance and no one notices the cost. Let praise become imitation. Honor Mary's humility by refusing the contrary movement of pride when it first appears.

There is also an enemy to recognize: Resist naturalism, which treats human improvement as though it could take the place of supernatural life. Do not study this danger only in other people. Look quietly for the door by which it seeks entrance into your own soul - perhaps through delay, curiosity, resentment, human respect, attachment to comfort, or the desire to control the outcome. Dying to self today means choosing chaste stewardship of authority when pride, comfort, fear, resentment, or human respect asks for control.

Do the faithful act and entrust its fruit to divine Providence, God's wise and loving governance of all things. Place effort and outcome into Our Lady's hands so that the whole offering may be presented to her Divine Son. Confidence in God is not passivity: obey, pray, work, and accept that visible success, consolation, or immediate relief may not be given. God remains faithful when the duty is hidden and the outcome uncertain. Therefore, perform the duty that belongs to you, use the lawful means God has provided, and then surrender the fruit. When fidelity separates you from the world's approval, remember that Heaven's judgment is the one that endures. Let your acts visibly reflect Mary's purity, obedience, recollection, and courageous faith.

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The Church's witness: this truth manifests the Church's mark of holy; the witness placed beside it is St. Thomas Aquinas.

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Your Resolution Before God

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Perform acts of authority and obedience with prayer, clarity, humility, and concern for souls.

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Every lesser authority is healed by submission to Christ the King.
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The Pilgrim's Mirror

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How shall I imitate Christ today?

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“Virtue appeareth best in time of adversity. Occasions make not a man frail, but they shew openly what he is.”
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Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ, Book I, chapter 16, p. 27

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The trial does not excuse the fault; it reveals where grace must be received and nature mortified. Do not waste the revelation God permits.

When adversity uncovers impatience or fear, do not conclude that every previous effort was false. Thank God for showing you where the wall remains weak. Humble yourself, ask pardon if another was wounded, and return to the battle with a more honest knowledge of your need for grace.

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Today's Practice

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At the next contradiction, name the virtue being tested and practice it once.

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Daily Examen

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Three questions before night prayer

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Ask whether your Marian words produced Marian conduct, and entrust the distance between them to her maternal correction.

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  • For what grace or mercy should I thank God today?
  • What sin, fault, neglected duty, or resistance to grace must I confess?
  • What definite amendment will I carry into tomorrow?
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Prayer

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O Lord, through St. Henry, govern every authority I exercise or receive and keep it obedient to Thy law.

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Daily Rule for the Pilgrim

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A brief rule to keep every day:

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Begin with morning prayer

Adore the Blessed Trinity and offer the whole day to Jesus through Mary before other duties claim the mind.

Keep the Angelus

Pause morning, noon, and evening to remember the Incarnation.

Seek Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament

Attend Holy Mass when duty permits; otherwise make a Spiritual Communion and renew desire for Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.

Return to Jesus and Mary

Use frequent holy aspirations during work, waiting, suffering, and temptation.

Pray the Rosary

Keep the mysteries of Christ before the mind with Our Lady and learn to imitate what they contain.

End with night prayer and examen

Give thanks, confess faults, forgive injuries, make a practical amendment, and entrust the night to Our Lady.

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Continue Study

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Carry today's lesson into a focused chapter from the library.

\n What Is Grace?\n
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Persevere, pilgrim.

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The gates remain open to the faithful.

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