{"ok":true,"date":"2026-08-11","dateKey":"08-11","liturgicalDay":"Ss. Tiburtius and Susanna, Martyrs","rank":"Simple","color":"red","quoteOfTheDay":{"text":"For it is thy heart's desire that is thy prayer; and if thy desire continues uninterrupted, thy prayer continueth also.","author":"St. Augustine","source":"Expositions on the Book of Psalms, Psalm 37 (Vulgate numbering), section 14","treasuryHref":"/wisdom#desire-is-prayer","category":"Prayer and the Interior Life"},"season":"Time after Pentecost","novenas":[{"title":"Novena for the Assumption","feast":"Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary","day":6,"totalDays":9,"startIsoDate":"2026-08-06","feastIsoDate":"2026-08-15","dayTitle":null,"meditation":null,"intention":"Ask Our Lady to detach the soul from earth and order hope toward Heaven.","preparatoryPrayer":null,"prayerOfTheChurch":null,"prayer":"O Lord, we beseech Thee, forgive the transgressions of Thy servants, and, forasmuch as by our own deeds we cannot please Thee, may we find safety through the prayers of the Mother of Thy Son and our Lord. Through the Same our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.","practice":"Renounce every earthly attachment that weakens prayer or purity, beginning with the attachment that most often draws the heart from God.","conclusion":null,"prayerLink":null,"sources":["The Roman Breviary, translated by John, Marquess of Bute, 1908, vol. III, Summer, Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Prayer throughout the Office, printed p. 827."]}],"octaveContexts":[],"subject":"City of God in Exile: Ss. Tiburtius and Susanna, Martyrs - 2026-08-11","previewText":"Ss. Tiburtius and Susanna, Martyrs. The Sacraments Are Instruments of Christ. Resist sacramental casualness, especially the idea that good intention can repair invalid rites or invented forms.","plainText":"CITY OF GOD IN EXILE\nTHE DAILY PILGRIMAGE\n\"Now therefore, ye children, hear me: Blessed are they that keep my ways.\" - Proverbs 8:32\n\"Fear not, little flock, for it hath pleased your Father to give you a kingdom. [...] For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.\" - Luke 12:32-34\nSs. Tiburtius and Susanna, Martyrs\n2026-08-11 - Time after Pentecost - Simple - red\nPLAIN-LANGUAGE GUIDE FOR TODAY\nMartyr: a Christian who was killed rather than deny Christ or abandon the Faith.\nVirgin: in a saint's title, a woman honored for consecrating her chastity and whole life to Christ.\nChastity: the virtue that orders sexuality according to one's state of life and treats the body as belonging to God.\nTODAY IN THE ROMAN YEAR\nThe green season is not empty time. It is growth under grace. The pilgrim must ask whether the seed of doctrine is becoming virtue, whether prayer is becoming habit, whether zeal is becoming charity, and whether Catholic truth is governing ordinary choices. Ask Our Lady to establish every mark of true devotion together: interior, tender, holy, constant, and disinterested. Place the whole day beneath the five marks and ask that every prayer, duty, trial, and act of charity express their united strength.\n\n\"After having laid bare and condemned the false devotions to the most holy Virgin, we must, in a few words, characterise the true devotion. It must be (1) interior, (2) tender, (3) holy, (4) constant, and (5) disinterested.\"\nSt. Louis-Marie de Montfort, True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin, no. 105\n\nSt. Louis de Montfort does not offer separate styles from which the soul may select a favorite. Authentic devotion bears all five marks together: it rises from the spirit and heart, approaches Mary with filial confidence, avoids sin and imitates her virtues, perseveres through trial, and seeks God rather than self-interest.\n\nEach mark protects the others. Interior devotion without holiness becomes sentiment; tenderness without constancy follows changing feelings; exterior fidelity without an interior spirit becomes routine; zeal without disinterested love seeks reward or reputation. Ask Our Lady to form the complete pattern throughout prayer, conduct, sacrifice, and duty.\n\nPRACTICE\nTest admired religious appearances by doctrine, valid worship, and Catholic obedience.\n\nQUOTE OF THE DAY\n\"For it is thy heart's desire that is thy prayer; and if thy desire continues uninterrupted, thy prayer continueth also.\"\nSt. Augustine, Expositions on the Book of Psalms, Psalm 37 (Vulgate numbering), section 14\n\nNOVENA IN PROGRESS\nNovena for the Assumption - Day 6 of 9\n\nPreparing for Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary on 2026-08-15.\n\nPETITION\nAsk Our Lady to detach the soul from earth and order hope toward Heaven.\n\nNOVENA PRAYER\nO Lord, we beseech Thee, forgive the transgressions of Thy servants, and, forasmuch as by our own deeds we cannot please Thee, may we find safety through the prayers of the Mother of Thy Son and our Lord. Through the Same our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.\n\nA FAITHFUL ACT\nRenounce every earthly attachment that weakens prayer or purity, beginning with the attachment that most often draws the heart from God.\nROMAN MARTYROLOGY - August 11\nAt Rome, between the two laurels situated about three miles from the city, the birthday of St. Tiburtius, martyr, under the judge Fabian, in the persecution of Diocletian. After he hard walked barefoot on burning coals and confessed Christ with increased constancy, he was put to the sword. — Also, at Rome, the holy virgin Susanna, a woman of noble race, and niece of the blessed Pontiff Caius. She merited the palm of martyrdom by being beheaded in the time of Diocletian. — At Gomana, in Pontus, St. Alexander, bishop, surnamed Carbonarius, who added to a consummate knowledge of philosophy an eminent degree of Christian humility. He was promoted to the See of that church by St. Gregory Thaumaturgus, and became illustrious, not only by preaching, but also by suffering martyrdom by fire. — The same day, the martyrdom of St. Rufinus, bishop of the Marsi, and his companions, under the emperor Maximinus. — At Evreux, in France, St. Taurinus, bishop. Being made bishop of that city by the blessed pope Clement, he propagated the Christian faith by the preaching of the Gospel, and the many labors he sustained for it. Celebrated for glorious miracles, he slept in the Lord. — At Cambrai, in France, St. Gaugericus, bishop and confessor. — In the province of Valeria, St. Equitius, abbot, whose sanctity is attested by the blessed pope Gregory. — At Todi, St. Digna, virgin.\n\nTODAY'S SAINT OR FEAST\nSs. Tiburtius and Susanna\nMartyrs of Rome, steadfast under pressure.\nDuring the persecution of Diocletian, St. Tiburtius walked barefoot upon burning coals and confessed Christ with still greater constancy before he was put to the sword.\nSt. Susanna, a Roman virgin of noble family and niece of Pope St. Caius, received the palm of martyrdom by beheading. Together these saints show that neither physical torment nor social position can excuse denial of Christ.\nLet these Roman martyrs steady you. The world often begins by asking for a little silence, a little compromise, a little surrender of modesty. The Catholic answer must remain calm, clear, and faithful to Christ.\nFROM MATINS\nThe martyrs who answered fire and rank with a firmer confession.\nMartyrology - Martyrology Notice - Ss. Tiburtius and Susanna, Martyrs\nRoman Martyrology\n\"After he had walked barefoot on burning coals and confessed Christ with increased constancy, he was put to the sword.\"\n- The Martyrology remembers St. Tiburtius confessing Christ with greater constancy after walking barefoot upon burning coals, and receiving the sword when torment could not obtain apostasy.\n- It remembers St. Susanna as a Roman virgin of noble race and a kinswoman of Pope St. Caius who received the palm of martyrdom by beheading.\n- Their notices unite bodily courage, chastity, and freedom from the fear of status or authority. Neither pain nor social advantage can make denial of Christ lawful.\nAsk these martyrs for chastity and firmness under pressure. Refuse the small compromises by which the world first trains a soul to fear suffering more than sin.\nTHE PILGRIM'S SPIRITUAL CONFERENCE\nThe Sacraments Are Instruments of Christ\nThe Church places this truth before you today: The sacraments are outward signs instituted by Christ to give grace; they are not symbols invented by the community. 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. Because Christ instituted the sacraments, the Church must guard their matter, form, minister, and intention with holy fear.\nThe grace to be practiced is Chaste firmness under pressure, 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. Practice integrated devotion whose interior love, filial confidence, holiness, perseverance, and purity of intention remain inseparable.\nThere is also an enemy to recognize: Resist sacramental casualness, especially the idea that good intention can repair invalid rites or invented forms. 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 firmness under pressure 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. Accept the comprehensive reform required when devotion is tested by every mark rather than by favored practices or consoling feelings. Carry all five marks into worship, speech, labor, relationships, self-denial, works of mercy, and resistance to every sin.\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: Test admired religious appearances by doctrine, valid worship, and Catholic obedience.\nCarry this word: The glory has departed wherever worship and doctrine are severed from truth.\nTHE PILGRIM'S MIRROR\n\"It behoveth thee to break thine own will in many things, if thou wilt have peace and concord with others.\"\nThomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ, Book I, chapter 17, p. 27\nConcord bought by surrendering truth is false, but many quarrels arise from preference rather than principle. Yield what belongs to self-will while holding fast what belongs to God.\n\nLearn to distinguish the two before the moment of conflict. Doctrine, purity, justice, and necessary duty may require firmness. Your preferred method, timing, recognition, or last word usually does not. The soul becomes strong when it stops spending zeal upon the defense of self.\nToday's Practice: Yield harmless preferences cheerfully whenever truth and duty do not require firmness.\nDAILY EXAMEN\nExamine the day under all five marks, repent of every defect, and ask Our Lady to strengthen their complete harmony.\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, do not let me be satisfied with appearances when Thy glory is absent. Teach me to seek worship that is true, reverent, sacrificial, and received.\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 Are the Sacraments?: https://cityofgodinexile.com/catechism-foundations/what-are-the-sacraments?entered=1\nOpen this day in the Sacred Calendar: https://cityofgodinexile.com/sacred-calendar?date=2026-08-11&entered=1\nOpen this day's Daily Pilgrimage: https://cityofgodinexile.com/daily-dispatch?date=2026-08-11&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: Ss. Tiburtius and Susanna, Martyrs - 2026-08-11\n \n \n
\n Ss. Tiburtius and Susanna, Martyrs. The Sacraments Are Instruments of Christ. Resist sacramental casualness, especially the idea that good intention can repair invalid rites or invented forms.\n
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City of God in Exile

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“Now therefore, ye children, hear me: Blessed are they that keep my ways.”

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Proverbs 8:32

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Ss. Tiburtius and Susanna, Martyrs

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2026-08-11 - Time after Pentecost - Simple - red

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“Fear not, little flock, for it hath pleased your Father to give you a kingdom. […] For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”
Luke 12:32–34
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Plain-Language Guide for Today

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Martyr
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a Christian who was killed rather than deny Christ or abandon the Faith.
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Virgin
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in a saint's title, a woman honored for consecrating her chastity and whole life to Christ.
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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.
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Today in the Roman Year

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The green season is not empty time. It is growth under grace. The pilgrim must ask whether the seed of doctrine is becoming virtue, whether prayer is becoming habit, whether zeal is becoming charity, and whether Catholic truth is governing ordinary choices.

Ask Our Lady to establish every mark of true devotion together: interior, tender, holy, constant, and disinterested.

Place the whole day beneath the five marks and ask that every prayer, duty, trial, and act of charity express their united strength.

“After having laid bare and condemned the false devotions to the most holy Virgin, we must, in a few words, characterise the true devotion. It must be (1) interior, (2) tender, (3) holy, (4) constant, and (5) disinterested.”

St. Louis-Marie de Montfort, True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin, no. 105

St. Louis de Montfort does not offer separate styles from which the soul may select a favorite. Authentic devotion bears all five marks together: it rises from the spirit and heart, approaches Mary with filial confidence, avoids sin and imitates her virtues, perseveres through trial, and seeks God rather than self-interest.

Each mark protects the others. Interior devotion without holiness becomes sentiment; tenderness without constancy follows changing feelings; exterior fidelity without an interior spirit becomes routine; zeal without disinterested love seeks reward or reputation. Ask Our Lady to form the complete pattern throughout prayer, conduct, sacrifice, and duty.

Test admired religious appearances by doctrine, valid worship, and Catholic obedience.

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Quote of the Day

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“For it is thy heart's desire that is thy prayer; and if thy desire continues uninterrupted, thy prayer continueth also.”
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St. Augustine, Expositions on the Book of Psalms, Psalm 37 (Vulgate numbering), section 14

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Novena in Progress

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Day 6 of 9

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Novena for the Assumption

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Preparing for Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary on 2026-08-15.

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Petition

Ask Our Lady to detach the soul from earth and order hope toward Heaven.

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Novena Prayer

O Lord, we beseech Thee, forgive the transgressions of Thy servants, and, forasmuch as by our own deeds we cannot please Thee, may we find safety through the prayers of the Mother of Thy Son and our Lord. Through the Same our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.

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A Faithful Act

Renounce every earthly attachment that weakens prayer or purity, beginning with the attachment that most often draws the heart from God.

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Roman Martyrology - August 11

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At Rome, between the two laurels situated about three miles from the city, the birthday of St. Tiburtius, martyr, under the judge Fabian, in the persecution of Diocletian. After he hard walked barefoot on burning coals and confessed Christ with increased constancy, he was put to the sword. — Also, at Rome, the holy virgin Susanna, a woman of noble race, and niece of the blessed Pontiff Caius. She merited the palm of martyrdom by being beheaded in the time of Diocletian. — At Gomana, in Pontus, St. Alexander, bishop, surnamed Carbonarius, who added to a consummate knowledge of philosophy an eminent degree of Christian humility. He was promoted to the See of that church by St. Gregory Thaumaturgus, and became illustrious, not only by preaching, but also by suffering martyrdom by fire. — The same day, the martyrdom of St. Rufinus, bishop of the Marsi, and his companions, under the emperor Maximinus. — At Evreux, in France, St. Taurinus, bishop. Being made bishop of that city by the blessed pope Clement, he propagated the Christian faith by the preaching of the Gospel, and the many labors he sustained for it. Celebrated for glorious miracles, he slept in the Lord. — At Cambrai, in France, St. Gaugericus, bishop and confessor. — In the province of Valeria, St. Equitius, abbot, whose sanctity is attested by the blessed pope Gregory. — At Todi, St. Digna, virgin.

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Today's Saint or Feast

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Ss. Tiburtius and Susanna

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Martyrs of Rome, steadfast under pressure.

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During the persecution of Diocletian, St. Tiburtius walked barefoot upon burning coals and confessed Christ with still greater constancy before he was put to the sword.

St. Susanna, a Roman virgin of noble family and niece of Pope St. Caius, received the palm of martyrdom by beheading. Together these saints show that neither physical torment nor social position can excuse denial of Christ.

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Let these Roman martyrs steady you. The world often begins by asking for a little silence, a little compromise, a little surrender of modesty. The Catholic answer must remain calm, clear, and faithful to Christ.

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From Matins

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The martyrs who answered fire and rank with a firmer confession.

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Martyrology - Martyrology Notice - Ss. Tiburtius and Susanna, Martyrs

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Roman Martyrology, Notice for August 11

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“After he had walked barefoot on burning coals and confessed Christ with increased constancy, he was put to the sword.”
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    \n
  • The Martyrology remembers St. Tiburtius confessing Christ with greater constancy after walking barefoot upon burning coals, and receiving the sword when torment could not obtain apostasy.
  • It remembers St. Susanna as a Roman virgin of noble race and a kinswoman of Pope St. Caius who received the palm of martyrdom by beheading.
  • Their notices unite bodily courage, chastity, and freedom from the fear of status or authority. Neither pain nor social advantage can make denial of Christ lawful.
    • \n
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Ask these martyrs for chastity and firmness under pressure. Refuse the small compromises by which the world first trains a soul to fear suffering more than sin.

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The Pilgrim's Spiritual Conference

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The Sacraments Are Instruments of Christ

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The Church places this truth before you today: The sacraments are outward signs instituted by Christ to give grace; they are not symbols invented by the community. 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. Because Christ instituted the sacraments, the Church must guard their matter, form, minister, and intention with holy fear.

The grace to be practiced is Chaste firmness under pressure, 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. Practice integrated devotion whose interior love, filial confidence, holiness, perseverance, and purity of intention remain inseparable.

There is also an enemy to recognize: Resist sacramental casualness, especially the idea that good intention can repair invalid rites or invented forms. 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 firmness under pressure 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. Accept the comprehensive reform required when devotion is tested by every mark rather than by favored practices or consoling feelings. Carry all five marks into worship, speech, labor, relationships, self-denial, works of mercy, and resistance to every sin.

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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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Test admired religious appearances by doctrine, valid worship, and Catholic obedience.

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The glory has departed wherever worship and doctrine are severed from truth.
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The Pilgrim's Mirror

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How shall I imitate Christ today?

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“It behoveth thee to break thine own will in many things, if thou wilt have peace and concord with others.”
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Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ, Book I, chapter 17, p. 27

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Concord bought by surrendering truth is false, but many quarrels arise from preference rather than principle. Yield what belongs to self-will while holding fast what belongs to God.

Learn to distinguish the two before the moment of conflict. Doctrine, purity, justice, and necessary duty may require firmness. Your preferred method, timing, recognition, or last word usually does not. The soul becomes strong when it stops spending zeal upon the defense of self.

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Today's Practice

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Yield harmless preferences cheerfully whenever truth and duty do not require firmness.

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Daily Examen

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Three questions before night prayer

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Examine the day under all five marks, repent of every defect, and ask Our Lady to strengthen their complete harmony.

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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?
    • \n
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Prayer

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O Lord, do not let me be satisfied with appearances when Thy glory is absent. Teach me to seek worship that is true, reverent, sacrificial, and received.

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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 Are the Sacraments?\n
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Persevere, pilgrim.

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The gates remain open to the faithful.

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\n \"The\n
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