{"ok":true,"date":"2026-09-26","dateKey":"09-26","liturgicalDay":"Sts. Isaac Jogues, John de Brébeuf, and Companions, Martyrs","rank":"Double of the Second Class","color":"red","quoteOfTheDay":{"text":"The beginning of wisdom, the fear of our Lord: and the knowledge of the holy, prudence.","author":"Holy Scripture","source":"Proverbs 9:10, Original Douay-Rheims","treasuryHref":"/wisdom#the-beginning-of-wisdom","category":"Wisdom and Holy Fear"},"season":"Time after Pentecost","novenas":[{"title":"Novena to St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus","feast":"St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus","day":3,"totalDays":9,"startIsoDate":"2026-09-24","feastIsoDate":"2026-10-03","dayTitle":"Love of Jesus Without Limit","meditation":"The heart of the little way is love of Jesus. St. Thérèse did not seek remarkable deeds for their own sake; she desired that every sacrifice and the smallest action should become an answer to His love.","intention":"O my Jesus, grant that I may love Thee, as much as Saint Teresa, Thy Little Flower, loved Thee, and that I may say with her: ‘O my Jesus, I beg Thee only for Thy love without limits and without bounds. Grant, O my Jesus, that for love of Thee I may be a martyr. I wish to love Thee as Thou hast never been loved.’ And thou, O little Saint, succor and assist me that I may never show myself ungrateful to Him Who loved me so much. Amen.","preparatoryPrayer":"O glorious Teresa of the Infant Jesus, through whose unshaken confidence God was so glorified, obtain for me the same filial trust and love which animated thy innocent heart and soul. Grant that I may practice self-abnegation, patience and confidence, and that my confidence may be a fountain of blessings which God pours out upon me. As confidence was for thee the key to the greatest treasures of God, so it may induce me to throw myself into my Saviour’s arms and say with David: ‘In Thee, O my God, I put my trust, let me not be confounded.’ Amen.","prayerOfTheChurch":null,"prayer":null,"practice":"Perform one hidden act of love for Jesus with exceptional care, asking for no recognition and offering it for a soul in danger.","conclusion":"Pray one Our Father, one Hail Mary, and one Glory Be. Then pray the Act of Oblation of Saint Teresa of the Infant Jesus: My Lord and my God! O Most Blessed Trinity! I desire to love Thee and to make Thee loved by mankind. Since Thou hast loved me so much as to give me the only begotten Son for my Saviour and my Spouse, the infinite treasures of His merits are mine. These merits I offer to Thee with joy, beseeching Thee to behold me only as in the Face of Jesus, and in His Sacred Heart burning with love. Moreover, I offer Thee all the merits of the saints—in heaven and on earth—together with their acts of love, and those of the holy Angels. Lastly, I offer Thee, O Blessed Trinity, the love and merits of the Blessed Virgin, my dearest Mother. To her I entrust this oblation, begging her to present it to Thee. Amen. Holy Child Jesus, have mercy on us. Our Lady of Victories, pray for us. Saint Teresa of the Infant Jesus, pray for us. Little Flower of Jesus, pray for us. Amen.","prayerLink":null,"sources":["Very Rev. Charles J. Callan, O.P., and Very Rev. John A. McHugh, O.P., Blessed Be God: A Complete Catholic Prayer Book (New York: P. J. Kenedy & Sons, 1925), ‘Novena to Saint Teresa of the Infant Jesus: The Little Flower of Jesus’; Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur of Patrick Cardinal Hayes, Archbishop of New York, March 19, 1925. The common prayer, daily prayers, Act of Oblation, and invocations are reproduced from this source; the meditation and faithful act supplied for each day are concise editorial applications of its proper prayer."]}],"octaveContexts":[],"subject":"City of God in Exile: Sts. Isaac Jogues, John de Brébeuf, and Companions, Martyrs - 2026-09-26","previewText":"Sts. Isaac Jogues, John de Brébeuf, and Companions, Martyrs. Justification Requires True Conversion. Resist false mercy, which comforts the sinner while leaving the wound unhealed.","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\nSts. Isaac Jogues, John de Brébeuf, and Companions, Martyrs\n2026-09-26 - Time after Pentecost - Double of the Second Class - red\nPLAIN-LANGUAGE GUIDE FOR TODAY\nMartyr: a Christian who was killed rather than deny Christ or abandon the Faith.\nApostolic: belonging to the faith, mission, teaching, or authority handed down from Christ through the apostles.\nTODAY IN THE ROMAN YEAR\nThe Time after Pentecost teaches perseverance after the great feasts. Many souls receive light and then return to forgetfulness. The pilgrim must instead turn light into rule: morning prayer, the Angelus, Rosary, examination, custody of speech, and fidelity to the duty before him. Through Mary, receive the day from Jesus Christ and return it to Him. Place every prayer, work, joy, suffering, and temptation into the hands of Our Lady, asking her to present the whole day to her Divine Son.\n\n\"It was through the most holy Virgin Mary that Jesus came into the world, and it is also through her that He has to reign in the world.\"\nSt. Louis-Marie de Montfort, True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin, no. 1\n\nGod did not choose Our Lady because He needed assistance from a creature. He chose her freely, and by that choice He teaches us something about His own order: the Word came to us in humility, hidden beneath a Mother's heart, and He wills that pride should not prescribe the road by which grace reaches a soul.\n\nYou may desire the reign of Christ while still guarding some chamber of life for self-will. Bring that guarded place into the light today. Ask Mary to receive it, not as its final end, but as the Mother appointed to form in you a more obedient welcome for her Divine Son.\n\nPRACTICE\nOffer one deliberate sacrifice for the conversion and perseverance of souls, and ask the North American Martyrs for courage to remain faithful when duty becomes costly.\n\nQUOTE OF THE DAY\n\"The beginning of wisdom, the fear of our Lord: and the knowledge of the holy, prudence.\"\nHoly Scripture, Proverbs 9:10, Original Douay-Rheims\n\nNOVENA IN PROGRESS\nNovena to St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus - Day 3 of 9\n\nPreparing for St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus on 2026-10-03.\n\nTODAY'S MYSTERY\nLove of Jesus Without Limit\n\nPREPARATORY PRAYER\nO glorious Teresa of the Infant Jesus, through whose unshaken confidence God was so glorified, obtain for me the same filial trust and love which animated thy innocent heart and soul. Grant that I may practice self-abnegation, patience and confidence, and that my confidence may be a fountain of blessings which God pours out upon me. As confidence was for thee the key to the greatest treasures of God, so it may induce me to throw myself into my Saviour’s arms and say with David: ‘In Thee, O my God, I put my trust, let me not be confounded.’ Amen.\n\nMEDITATION\nThe heart of the little way is love of Jesus. St. Thérèse did not seek remarkable deeds for their own sake; she desired that every sacrifice and the smallest action should become an answer to His love.\n\nPETITION\nO my Jesus, grant that I may love Thee, as much as Saint Teresa, Thy Little Flower, loved Thee, and that I may say with her: ‘O my Jesus, I beg Thee only for Thy love without limits and without bounds. Grant, O my Jesus, that for love of Thee I may be a martyr. I wish to love Thee as Thou hast never been loved.’ And thou, O little Saint, succor and assist me that I may never show myself ungrateful to Him Who loved me so much. Amen.\n\nA FAITHFUL ACT\nPerform one hidden act of love for Jesus with exceptional care, asking for no recognition and offering it for a soul in danger.\n\nCONCLUSION\nPray one Our Father, one Hail Mary, and one Glory Be. Then pray the Act of Oblation of Saint Teresa of the Infant Jesus: My Lord and my God! O Most Blessed Trinity! I desire to love Thee and to make Thee loved by mankind. Since Thou hast loved me so much as to give me the only begotten Son for my Saviour and my Spouse, the infinite treasures of His merits are mine. These merits I offer to Thee with joy, beseeching Thee to behold me only as in the Face of Jesus, and in His Sacred Heart burning with love. Moreover, I offer Thee all the merits of the saints—in heaven and on earth—together with their acts of love, and those of the holy Angels. Lastly, I offer Thee, O Blessed Trinity, the love and merits of the Blessed Virgin, my dearest Mother. To her I entrust this oblation, begging her to present it to Thee. Amen. Holy Child Jesus, have mercy on us. Our Lady of Victories, pray for us. Saint Teresa of the Infant Jesus, pray for us. Little Flower of Jesus, pray for us. Amen.\nROMAN MARTYROLOGY - September 26\nAt Nicomedia, the birthday of the holy martyrs Cyprian, and Justina, virgin. Under the emperor Diocletian and the governor Eutholmius. Justina suffered much for the faith of Christ and converted Cyprian, who, while a magician, endeavored to bring her under the influence of his magical practices. She afterwards suffered martyrdom with him. Their bodies being exposed to the beasts, were taken away in the night by some Christian sailors, and carried to Rome. They were subsequently taken into the Constantinian basilica, and deposited near the baptistery. — At Rome, the holy martyr Callistratus, and forty-nine other soldiers, who endured martyrdorn together, in the persecution of Diocletian. The companions of Callistratus were converted to Christ on seeing him miraculously delivered from drowning in the sea, where he had been thrown sewed up in a bag. — Also, at Rome, pope St. Eusebius. — At Bologna, St. Eusebius, bishop and confessor. — At Brescia, St. Vigilius, bishop. — At Albano, St. Senator. — In the territory of Frascati, the blessed abbot Mlus, founder of the monastery of CryptaFerrata, a man of eminent sanctity. — At Citta-diCastello, St. Amantius, a priest distinguished for the gift of miracles.\n\nGOSPEL OF THE DAY\nBlessed shall you be when men shall hate you for the Son of man's sake.\nSts. Isaac Jogues, John de Brébeuf, and Companions, Martyrs - Luke 6:17-23\n\"Blessed shall you be when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake.\"\nDo not seek conflict, but do not purchase acceptance by hiding Christ. Ask the martyrs for patient courage: speak truth with charity, remain at duty, and entrust visible results to God.\n\nTHE CHURCH'S READING OF THE GOSPEL\nWhat This Gospel Teaches\nOur Lord does not call hatred good. He calls blessed the fidelity that endures hatred for His sake and refuses to abandon Him when the world punishes confession.\nThe North American Martyrs carried the Gospel where the work demanded privation, danger, patience, and finally blood. Their reward was not earthly safety but the kingdom promised by Christ.\nThe same Gospel joins suffering to mercy: the multitude came to hear Christ and to be healed. Missionary endurance exists so that wounded souls may hear the truth and receive the life of grace.\nError corrected: The false prudence that treats rejection as proof that the whole Faith should no longer be preached.\n- Where does this error tempt me in practice?\n- What act does this Gospel require of me today?\n\nTODAY'S SAINT OR FEAST\nSts. Isaac Jogues, John de Brébeuf, and Companions\nThe North American Martyrs - missionaries who spent and were spent for souls.\nThe proper feast kept in the dioceses of the United States honors eight Jesuit missionaries whose preaching and blood consecrated the first fruits of the Faith in North America: John de Brébeuf, Isaac Jogues, Gabriel Lalemant, Anthony Daniel, Charles Garnier, Noel Chabanel, René Goupil, and John de Lalande.\nHoly Mother Church places upon their feast the words of the Apocalypse: they came out of great tribulation and made their robes white in the Blood of the Lamb. Their Epistle gives the missionary heart of St. Paul: 'I most gladly will spend and be spent myself for your souls.' Their martyrdom was not a search for suffering, but the final cost of refusing to abandon the souls entrusted to them.\nAsk the North American Martyrs for a love stronger than fear. Their feast does not permit zeal to become harshness or charity to become silence: souls are loved by giving them Christ and remaining faithful when fidelity costs dearly.\nHIGHLIGHTED SAINT FROM THE MARTYROLOGY\nPope St. Eusebius\nA saint in the Martyrology whose defense of penance illuminates the present day.\n\"Eusebius taught the unhappy to weep for their crimes.\" - Pope St. Damasus I, epitaph for Pope St. Eusebius\nWhen Christians who had denied the Faith sought to return, Pope St. Eusebius defended mercy without falsifying it. The fallen were not beyond forgiveness, but reconciliation required repentance and penance. For preserving the Church's discipline and the true bonds of peace, he was driven from Rome and died in exile in Sicily.\nLearn about Pope St. Eusebius and the fallen: https://cityofgodinexile.com/champions-of-orthodoxy/pope-st-eusebius-and-the-fallen-mercy-penance-and-the-peace-that-cannot-be-falsified?entered=1\n\nTHE PILGRIM'S SPIRITUAL CONFERENCE\nJustification Requires True Conversion\nThe Church places this truth before you today: The sinner is not healed by excuse or affirmation, but by grace, repentance, faith, hope, charity, and the turning of the soul toward God. 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. Catholic mercy restores the sinner to truth; it never names sin as holiness or treats amendment as optional.\nThe grace to be practiced is Apostolic fortitude willing to spend and be spent for souls, 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. Ask Our Lady to form this virtue in you by teaching you her humility: she received every gift from God and returned all glory to Him.\nThere is also an enemy to recognize: Resist false mercy, which comforts the sinner while leaving the wound unhealed. 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 apostolic fortitude willing to spend and be spent for souls 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. Do not carry the cross alone or waste it in complaint. Stand beneath it with Our Lady and remain faithful to Jesus. Offer this duty through Mary, without seeking notice, so that it may belong more perfectly to Jesus Christ.\nThe Church's witness: this truth manifests the Church's mark of holy; the witness placed beside it is Council of Trent.\nYour resolution before God: Offer one deliberate sacrifice for the conversion and perseverance of souls, and ask the North American Martyrs for courage to remain faithful when duty becomes costly.\nCarry this word: The day must end beneath truth.\nTHE PILGRIM'S MIRROR\n\"Trust not in thine own cunning, neither in the cunning or policy of any creature living, but rather in the grace of God, which helpeth meek persons.\"\nThomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ, Book I, chapter 7, p. 16\nNatural ability cannot sanctify a soul. Work diligently, but place confidence in grace and entrust the outcome into Our Lady's hands for her Divine Son.\n\nSelf-reliance often disguises itself as responsibility. The difference appears when plans fail: responsibility continues the duty peacefully, while self-reliance becomes anxious, harsh, or defeated because it secretly believed everything depended upon itself. Ask for help before beginning, and surrender the fruit when you have done what you can.\nToday's Practice: Begin a difficult duty with a Hail Mary and finish it without self-congratulation.\nDAILY EXAMEN\nReturn the completed day into Our Lady's hands. Ask her to obtain pardon for its faults and to preserve whatever grace bore fruit.\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, bring this day to judgment before Thy mercy. Show me where I obeyed, where I resisted, where I loved, and where I must begin again.\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\nGrace, Conversion, and Final Perseverance: https://cityofgodinexile.com/mercy-and-salvation/grace-conversion-and-final-perseverance?entered=1\nOpen this day in the Sacred Calendar: https://cityofgodinexile.com/sacred-calendar?date=2026-09-26&entered=1\nOpen this day's Daily Pilgrimage: https://cityofgodinexile.com/daily-dispatch?date=2026-09-26&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: Sts. Isaac Jogues, John de Brébeuf, and Companions, Martyrs - 2026-09-26\n \n \n
\n Sts. Isaac Jogues, John de Brébeuf, and Companions, Martyrs. Justification Requires True Conversion. Resist false mercy, which comforts the sinner while leaving the wound unhealed.\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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Sts. Isaac Jogues, John de Brébeuf, and Companions, Martyrs

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2026-09-26 - Time after Pentecost - Double of the Second Class - 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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Apostolic
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belonging to the faith, mission, teaching, or authority handed down from Christ through the apostles.
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Today in the Roman Year

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The Time after Pentecost teaches perseverance after the great feasts. Many souls receive light and then return to forgetfulness. The pilgrim must instead turn light into rule: morning prayer, the Angelus, Rosary, examination, custody of speech, and fidelity to the duty before him.

Through Mary, receive the day from Jesus Christ and return it to Him.

Place every prayer, work, joy, suffering, and temptation into the hands of Our Lady, asking her to present the whole day to her Divine Son.

“It was through the most holy Virgin Mary that Jesus came into the world, and it is also through her that He has to reign in the world.”

St. Louis-Marie de Montfort, True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin, no. 1

God did not choose Our Lady because He needed assistance from a creature. He chose her freely, and by that choice He teaches us something about His own order: the Word came to us in humility, hidden beneath a Mother's heart, and He wills that pride should not prescribe the road by which grace reaches a soul.

You may desire the reign of Christ while still guarding some chamber of life for self-will. Bring that guarded place into the light today. Ask Mary to receive it, not as its final end, but as the Mother appointed to form in you a more obedient welcome for her Divine Son.

Offer one deliberate sacrifice for the conversion and perseverance of souls, and ask the North American Martyrs for courage to remain faithful when duty becomes costly.

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Quote of the Day

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“The beginning of wisdom, the fear of our Lord: and the knowledge of the holy, prudence.”
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Holy Scripture, Proverbs 9:10, Original Douay-Rheims

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Novena in Progress

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Day 3 of 9

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Novena to St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus

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Preparing for St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus on 2026-10-03.

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Today's Mystery

Love of Jesus Without Limit

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Preparatory Prayer

O glorious Teresa of the Infant Jesus, through whose unshaken confidence God was so glorified, obtain for me the same filial trust and love which animated thy innocent heart and soul. Grant that I may practice self-abnegation, patience and confidence, and that my confidence may be a fountain of blessings which God pours out upon me. As confidence was for thee the key to the greatest treasures of God, so it may induce me to throw myself into my Saviour’s arms and say with David: ‘In Thee, O my God, I put my trust, let me not be confounded.’ Amen.

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Meditation

The heart of the little way is love of Jesus. St. Thérèse did not seek remarkable deeds for their own sake; she desired that every sacrifice and the smallest action should become an answer to His love.

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Petition

O my Jesus, grant that I may love Thee, as much as Saint Teresa, Thy Little Flower, loved Thee, and that I may say with her: ‘O my Jesus, I beg Thee only for Thy love without limits and without bounds. Grant, O my Jesus, that for love of Thee I may be a martyr. I wish to love Thee as Thou hast never been loved.’ And thou, O little Saint, succor and assist me that I may never show myself ungrateful to Him Who loved me so much. Amen.

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A Faithful Act

Perform one hidden act of love for Jesus with exceptional care, asking for no recognition and offering it for a soul in danger.

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Conclusion

Pray one Our Father, one Hail Mary, and one Glory Be. Then pray the Act of Oblation of Saint Teresa of the Infant Jesus: My Lord and my God! O Most Blessed Trinity! I desire to love Thee and to make Thee loved by mankind. Since Thou hast loved me so much as to give me the only begotten Son for my Saviour and my Spouse, the infinite treasures of His merits are mine. These merits I offer to Thee with joy, beseeching Thee to behold me only as in the Face of Jesus, and in His Sacred Heart burning with love. Moreover, I offer Thee all the merits of the saints—in heaven and on earth—together with their acts of love, and those of the holy Angels. Lastly, I offer Thee, O Blessed Trinity, the love and merits of the Blessed Virgin, my dearest Mother. To her I entrust this oblation, begging her to present it to Thee. Amen. Holy Child Jesus, have mercy on us. Our Lady of Victories, pray for us. Saint Teresa of the Infant Jesus, pray for us. Little Flower of Jesus, pray for us. Amen.

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Roman Martyrology - September 26

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At Nicomedia, the birthday of the holy martyrs Cyprian, and Justina, virgin. Under the emperor Diocletian and the governor Eutholmius. Justina suffered much for the faith of Christ and converted Cyprian, who, while a magician, endeavored to bring her under the influence of his magical practices. She afterwards suffered martyrdom with him. Their bodies being exposed to the beasts, were taken away in the night by some Christian sailors, and carried to Rome. They were subsequently taken into the Constantinian basilica, and deposited near the baptistery. — At Rome, the holy martyr Callistratus, and forty-nine other soldiers, who endured martyrdorn together, in the persecution of Diocletian. The companions of Callistratus were converted to Christ on seeing him miraculously delivered from drowning in the sea, where he had been thrown sewed up in a bag. — Also, at Rome, pope St. Eusebius. — At Bologna, St. Eusebius, bishop and confessor. — At Brescia, St. Vigilius, bishop. — At Albano, St. Senator. — In the territory of Frascati, the blessed abbot Mlus, founder of the monastery of CryptaFerrata, a man of eminent sanctity. — At Citta-diCastello, St. Amantius, a priest distinguished for the gift of miracles.

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Gospel of the Day

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Blessed shall you be when men shall hate you for the Son of man's sake.

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Sts. Isaac Jogues, John de Brébeuf, and Companions, Martyrs - Luke 6:17-23

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“Blessed shall you be when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake.”
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Do not seek conflict, but do not purchase acceptance by hiding Christ. Ask the martyrs for patient courage: speak truth with charity, remain at duty, and entrust visible results to God.

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The Church's Reading of the Gospel

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What This Gospel Teaches

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Our Lord does not call hatred good. He calls blessed the fidelity that endures hatred for His sake and refuses to abandon Him when the world punishes confession.

The North American Martyrs carried the Gospel where the work demanded privation, danger, patience, and finally blood. Their reward was not earthly safety but the kingdom promised by Christ.

The same Gospel joins suffering to mercy: the multitude came to hear Christ and to be healed. Missionary endurance exists so that wounded souls may hear the truth and receive the life of grace.

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Error corrected: The false prudence that treats rejection as proof that the whole Faith should no longer be preached.

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  • Where does this error tempt me in practice?
  • What act does this Gospel require of me today?
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Today's Saint or Feast

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Sts. Isaac Jogues, John de Brébeuf, and Companions

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The North American Martyrs - missionaries who spent and were spent for souls.

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The proper feast kept in the dioceses of the United States honors eight Jesuit missionaries whose preaching and blood consecrated the first fruits of the Faith in North America: John de Brébeuf, Isaac Jogues, Gabriel Lalemant, Anthony Daniel, Charles Garnier, Noel Chabanel, René Goupil, and John de Lalande.

Holy Mother Church places upon their feast the words of the Apocalypse: they came out of great tribulation and made their robes white in the Blood of the Lamb. Their Epistle gives the missionary heart of St. Paul: 'I most gladly will spend and be spent myself for your souls.' Their martyrdom was not a search for suffering, but the final cost of refusing to abandon the souls entrusted to them.

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Ask the North American Martyrs for a love stronger than fear. Their feast does not permit zeal to become harshness or charity to become silence: souls are loved by giving them Christ and remaining faithful when fidelity costs dearly.

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Highlighted Saint from the Martyrology

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Pope St. Eusebius

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A saint in the Martyrology whose defense of penance illuminates the present day.

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“Eusebius taught the unhappy to weep for their crimes.”
Pope St. Damasus I, epitaph for Pope St. Eusebius
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When Christians who had denied the Faith sought to return, Pope St. Eusebius defended mercy without falsifying it. The fallen were not beyond forgiveness, but reconciliation required repentance and penance. For preserving the Church's discipline and the true bonds of peace, he was driven from Rome and died in exile in Sicily.

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Learn about Pope St. Eusebius and the fallen

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The Pilgrim's Spiritual Conference

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Justification Requires True Conversion

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The Church places this truth before you today: The sinner is not healed by excuse or affirmation, but by grace, repentance, faith, hope, charity, and the turning of the soul toward God. 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. Catholic mercy restores the sinner to truth; it never names sin as holiness or treats amendment as optional.

The grace to be practiced is Apostolic fortitude willing to spend and be spent for souls, 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. Ask Our Lady to form this virtue in you by teaching you her humility: she received every gift from God and returned all glory to Him.

There is also an enemy to recognize: Resist false mercy, which comforts the sinner while leaving the wound unhealed. 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 apostolic fortitude willing to spend and be spent for souls 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. Do not carry the cross alone or waste it in complaint. Stand beneath it with Our Lady and remain faithful to Jesus. Offer this duty through Mary, without seeking notice, so that it may belong more perfectly to Jesus Christ.

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The Church's witness: this truth manifests the Church's mark of holy; the witness placed beside it is Council of Trent.

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Your Resolution Before God

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Offer one deliberate sacrifice for the conversion and perseverance of souls, and ask the North American Martyrs for courage to remain faithful when duty becomes costly.

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The day must end beneath truth.
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The Pilgrim's Mirror

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How shall I imitate Christ today?

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“Trust not in thine own cunning, neither in the cunning or policy of any creature living, but rather in the grace of God, which helpeth meek persons.”
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Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ, Book I, chapter 7, p. 16

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Natural ability cannot sanctify a soul. Work diligently, but place confidence in grace and entrust the outcome into Our Lady's hands for her Divine Son.

Self-reliance often disguises itself as responsibility. The difference appears when plans fail: responsibility continues the duty peacefully, while self-reliance becomes anxious, harsh, or defeated because it secretly believed everything depended upon itself. Ask for help before beginning, and surrender the fruit when you have done what you can.

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Today's Practice

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Begin a difficult duty with a Hail Mary and finish it without self-congratulation.

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Daily Examen

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Three questions before night prayer

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Return the completed day into Our Lady's hands. Ask her to obtain pardon for its faults and to preserve whatever grace bore fruit.

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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, bring this day to judgment before Thy mercy. Show me where I obeyed, where I resisted, where I loved, and where I must begin again.

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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 Grace, Conversion, and Final Perseverance\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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