{"ok":true,"date":"2027-08-31","dateKey":"08-31","liturgicalDay":"St. Raymund Nonnatus, Confessor","rank":"Double","color":"white","quoteOfTheDay":{"text":"He humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death, even to the death of the cross.","author":"St. Paul","source":"Philippians 2:8, Douay-Rheims","category":"Christ, the Wisdom of God"},"season":"Time after Pentecost","novenas":[{"title":"Novena for the Nativity of Our Lady","feast":"Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary","day":2,"totalDays":9,"startIsoDate":"2027-08-30","feastIsoDate":"2027-09-08","intention":"Ask for childlike purity, Marian trust, and renewal of Catholic homes beneath Our Lady's care.","prayer":null,"practice":"Pray for children, mothers, and households wounded by modern errors.","sources":[]}],"octaveContexts":[],"subject":"City of God in Exile: St. Raymund Nonnatus, Confessor - 2027-08-31","previewText":"St. Raymund Nonnatus, Confessor. Dogma Binds the Mind Because God Has Spoken. Resist the modernist habit of treating dogma as a symbol whose meaning may be revised by later experience.","plainText":"CITY OF GOD IN EXILE\nSt. Raymund Nonnatus, Confessor\n2027-08-31 - Time after Pentecost - Double - white\nPLAIN-LANGUAGE GUIDE FOR TODAY\nEucharist: the sacrament in which, after the consecration at Mass, Jesus Christ is truly present—Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity—under the appearances of bread and wine.\nConfessor: in the traditional calendar, a male saint who openly professed the Faith by a holy life but was not killed as a martyr.\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\nThe Time after Pentecost is the long school of the Holy Ghost. The fire given at Pentecost must become doctrine believed, worship guarded, commandments kept, homes ordered, tongues governed, and charity practiced without novelty or disorder. Under Our Lady's mantle, guard purity of faith, heart, intention, and conduct. Consecrate the senses and imagination to Jesus through Mary. Ask her to guard what you permit the eyes, ears, and memory to receive.\n\n\"We must put ourselves and leave ourselves in her virginal hands, like a tool in the grasp of a workman, like a lute in the hands of a skillful player.\"\nSt. Louis-Marie de Montfort, True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin, no. 259\n\nThe instrument does not select the song, and the tool does not direct the craftsman. This image reaches the place where self-will hides beneath religious activity: we are often willing to serve God provided that we may choose the task, the hour, the consolation, and the result.\n\nTo remain in Mary's hands is to become teachable. Ask her to quiet the inward argument by which you resist the form of today's duty. Then give yourself peacefully to what God actually asks, without imagining a more flattering obedience elsewhere.\n\nPRACTICE\nFulfill all known duties in their proper order, without deliberate delay or complaint.\n\nQUOTE OF THE DAY\n\"He humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death, even to the death of the cross.\"\nSt. Paul, Philippians 2:8, Douay-Rheims\n\nNOVENA IN PROGRESS\nNovena for the Nativity of Our Lady - Day 2 of 9\nPreparing for Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary on 2027-09-08.\nAsk for childlike purity, Marian trust, and renewal of Catholic homes beneath Our Lady's care.\n\nPray for children, mothers, and households wounded by modern errors.\n\nROMAN MARTYROLOGY - August 31\nAt Cardona, in Spain, St. Raymond Nonnatus, cardinal and confessor, of the Order of Mercedarians, renowned for holiness of life and miracles. — At Treves, the birthday of St. Paulimis, a bishop, who was exiled for the Catholic faith by the Arian emperor Constantius, in the time of the Arian persecution. By having to change the place of his exile, which was beyond the limits of Christendom, he became wearied unto death, and finally, dying in Phrygia, received a crown from the Lord for his blessed martyrdom. — Also, the holy martyrs Robustian and Mark. — At Transaqua, among the Marsi, near lake Celano, the birthday of the holy martyrs Cresidius, priest, and his companions, who were crowned with martyrdom in the persecution of Maximinus. — At Caesarea, in Cappadocia, the Saints Theodotus, Rufina, and Ammia. The first two were the parents of the martyr St. Mamas, who was born in prison, and whom Ammia brought up. — At Athens, St. Aristides, most celebrated for his faith and wisdom, who presented to the emperor Adrian a treatise on the Christian religion, containing the exposition of our doctrine. In the presence of the emperor, he also delivered a discourse in which he clearly demonstrated that Jesus Christ is the only God. — At Auxerre, St. Optatus, bishop and confessor. — In England, St. Aidan, bishop of Lindisfarne. When St. Cuthbert, then a shepherd, saw his soul going up to heaven, he left his sheep and became a monk. — At Nusco, St. Amatus, bishop. — On Mount Senario, near Florence, blessed Bonajuncta, confessor, one of the seven founders of the Order of the Servites of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who gave up his soul into the hands of the Lord whilst discoursing to his brethren on the Passion of our Saviour.\n\nHIGHLIGHTED SAINT\nSt. Raymund Nonnatus\nConfessor of mercy toward captives and endangered souls.\nSt. Raymund Nonnatus is honored as a confessor of the Order of Our Lady of Mercy, remembered for holiness, miracles, and mercy toward captives.\nHis feast keeps before the Church the ransom of captives and the protection of souls in danger. Mercy is not a soft feeling, but a Catholic work that seeks deliverance for those bound by force, sin, fear, or error.\nAsk St. Raymund for courageous mercy. The Church in exile must remember prisoners, the unborn, the tempted, the confused, and all souls who need real deliverance.\nFROM MATINS\nMercy that entered captivity to ransom captives.\nMatins - Second Nocturn - St. Raymund Nonnatus, Confessor\nRoman Breviary\n\"He pawned himself.\"\n- The proper lessons honor St. Raymund as a son of the Order of Our Lady of Ransom who spent himself and finally pledged his own person for Christian captives.\n- His padlocked lips make visible the cost of preaching Christ among persecutors, while his endurance shows mercy willing to suffer for another's freedom.\n- The account of angels bringing his final Viaticum—the Holy Eucharist received as food for a dying Catholic's last journey—joins the ransom of captives to the greater deliverance given by Christ.\nLet mercy become costly. St. Raymund teaches prayer, material sacrifice, personal risk for the endangered, fearless confession, and confidence in Christ at the hour of death.\nFULL BREVIARY LESSONS\nFourth Lesson - A Son Formed by the Mother of God\nThis Raymond is commonly called the Unborn, because his was one of the rare cases in which the child is not brought into the world in the course of nature, but by a surgical operation after the death of the mother. He was the son of godly and noble parents, at Portel, [in the diocese of Urgel,] in Catalonia. The tokens of his holy after-life appeared even in his childhood. The things that delight children, and the attractions of the world, had no charm for him. He was so earnest in godliness that all men marvelled at his habits of premature old age. As he grew older, he gave himself to the study of letters, but, at the command of his father, turned to farming. He went often to the Chapel of St Nicolas, in the suburbs of Portel, to visit the sacred image of the Mother of God, which is still sought with great tenderness by the faithful. There he poured forth his soul in prayer, and earnestly entreated the Mother of God herself to be pleased to take him for her son, to show him the way wherein it should be safe for him to walk, and to teach him the science of the Saints.\nFifth Lesson - He Pawned Himself for Captives\nAnd the most gracious Maiden was not deaf to his prayers. From her he understood that it would please her right well, if he would join the Religious Order which had just been founded at her own inspiration, styled \"of Ransom\" or \"of Mercy,\" for buying up and freeing slaves. As soon as he had received this intimation from her, he went to Barcelona, and entered the Institute so nobly dedicated to love for our neighbour. Once enlisted in the Regular Army, he guarded unspotted for ever the virginity which he had already consecrated to the Blessed Virgin for ever. But he was a bright and shining light of all other good words and works, especially of tender compassion for Christians who were passing a life of grievous bondage in the possession of unbelieving masters. To free such he was sent into Africa, and delivered many. But his money ran short, and as there were still many in imminent danger of denying the faith, he pawned himself. He was enkindled with a most vehement longing for the salvation of souls, and by his exhortations brought divers Mohammedans to Christ. The Moors therefore threw him into close prison, and put him to divers tortures, at last making holes through his lips and locking them together with an iron padlock, which horrid cruelty he long bore.\nSixth Lesson - Viaticum and the Last Journey\nOn account of these, and other brave things that he did, he got the name of a Saint far and wide. Gregory IX. was moved thereby to make Raymond a Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church, but in this place of honour the man of God shrank from all outward show, and clung ever tightly to the lowliness that beseemeth a Religious man. He had started for Rome, [in obedience to the command of the Pope,] but had only got as far as Cardona, [six miles from Barcelona,] when he was seized with his last illness, and earnestly called for the strengthening Sacraments of the Church. But his position became critical, and the Priest had not arrived. Then Angels came unto him, clad in the habit of his own Order, and ministered unto him the wholesome Provision for the last journey. When he had taken It, he gave God thanks, and departed hence to be ever with the Lord. It was the last Lord's Day in August, 1240. After his death there was some dispute arose as to where his body should be buried; so they shut it up in a box, and laid it upon a blind mule, and the beast was guided by God to carry it to the chapel of St Nicolas, that he might be buried where he had laid the foundations of his nobler life. There was built there a Convent of his Order, and the faithful come together thither from all parts of Catalonia to honour him, and he is famous for divers signs and wonders.\nTHE PILGRIM'S SPIRITUAL CONFERENCE\nDogma Binds the Mind Because God Has Spoken\nThe Church places this truth before you today: A Catholic dogma is not something the Church says for a while and later replaces. It is a truth revealed by God and taught by the Church. Because God cannot lie, the Church cannot later teach the opposite. 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 binding force of dogma protects souls from private invention and keeps charity rooted in truth rather than mood.\nThe grace to be practiced is Mercy ordered to deliverance, 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. Imitate Mary's purity: not merely freedom from grave stain, but an undivided heart that refuses whatever competes with God.\nThere is also an enemy to recognize: Resist the modernist habit of treating dogma as a symbol whose meaning may be revised by later experience. 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 mercy ordered to deliverance 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. In temptation, do not debate with the tempter. Call upon Jesus and Mary, turn from the occasion, and perform the next duty. Keep this act pure in intention: for God's glory and the good of souls, not for praise, control, or appearance.\nThe Church's witness: this truth manifests the Church's mark of one; the witness placed beside it is Pope St. Pius X.\nYour resolution before God: Fulfill all known duties in their proper order, without deliberate delay or complaint.\nCarry this word: Truth becomes fruitful when it is obeyed.\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\nAsk where curiosity, vanity, or impurity entered today. Place the fault beneath Christ's mercy and make a definite guard for tomorrow.\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 permit me to admire truth without submitting to it. Give me the courage to obey what Thou hast already made known.\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\nDogma and the Modernist War Against Binding Truth: https://cityofgodinexile.com/how-the-true-church-is-known/chapter-dogma-the-modernist-war-against-the-binding-truth?entered=1\nOpen this day in the Sacred Calendar: https://cityofgodinexile.com/sacred-calendar?date=2027-08-31&entered=1\nOpen this day's Daily Pilgrimage: https://cityofgodinexile.com/daily-dispatch?date=2027-08-31&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. Raymund Nonnatus, Confessor - 2027-08-31\n \n \n
\n St. Raymund Nonnatus, Confessor. Dogma Binds the Mind Because God Has Spoken. Resist the modernist habit of treating dogma as a symbol whose meaning may be revised by later experience.\n
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City of God in Exile

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St. Raymund Nonnatus, Confessor

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2027-08-31 - Time after Pentecost - 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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Eucharist
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the sacrament in which, after the consecration at Mass, Jesus Christ is truly present—Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity—under the appearances of bread and wine.
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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.

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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The Time after Pentecost is the long school of the Holy Ghost. The fire given at Pentecost must become doctrine believed, worship guarded, commandments kept, homes ordered, tongues governed, and charity practiced without novelty or disorder.

Under Our Lady's mantle, guard purity of faith, heart, intention, and conduct.

Consecrate the senses and imagination to Jesus through Mary. Ask her to guard what you permit the eyes, ears, and memory to receive.

“We must put ourselves and leave ourselves in her virginal hands, like a tool in the grasp of a workman, like a lute in the hands of a skillful player.”

St. Louis-Marie de Montfort, True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin, no. 259

The instrument does not select the song, and the tool does not direct the craftsman. This image reaches the place where self-will hides beneath religious activity: we are often willing to serve God provided that we may choose the task, the hour, the consolation, and the result.

To remain in Mary's hands is to become teachable. Ask her to quiet the inward argument by which you resist the form of today's duty. Then give yourself peacefully to what God actually asks, without imagining a more flattering obedience elsewhere.

Fulfill all known duties in their proper order, without deliberate delay or complaint.

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Quote of the Day

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“He humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death, even to the death of the cross.”
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St. Paul, Philippians 2:8, Douay-Rheims

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Novena in Progress

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Novena for the Nativity of Our Lady - Day 2 of 9

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Preparing for Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary on 2027-09-08.

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Ask for childlike purity, Marian trust, and renewal of Catholic homes beneath Our Lady's care.

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Pray for children, mothers, and households wounded by modern errors.

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Roman Martyrology - August 31

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At Cardona, in Spain, St. Raymond Nonnatus, cardinal and confessor, of the Order of Mercedarians, renowned for holiness of life and miracles. — At Treves, the birthday of St. Paulimis, a bishop, who was exiled for the Catholic faith by the Arian emperor Constantius, in the time of the Arian persecution. By having to change the place of his exile, which was beyond the limits of Christendom, he became wearied unto death, and finally, dying in Phrygia, received a crown from the Lord for his blessed martyrdom. — Also, the holy martyrs Robustian and Mark. — At Transaqua, among the Marsi, near lake Celano, the birthday of the holy martyrs Cresidius, priest, and his companions, who were crowned with martyrdom in the persecution of Maximinus. — At Caesarea, in Cappadocia, the Saints Theodotus, Rufina, and Ammia. The first two were the parents of the martyr St. Mamas, who was born in prison, and whom Ammia brought up. — At Athens, St. Aristides, most celebrated for his faith and wisdom, who presented to the emperor Adrian a treatise on the Christian religion, containing the exposition of our doctrine. In the presence of the emperor, he also delivered a discourse in which he clearly demonstrated that Jesus Christ is the only God. — At Auxerre, St. Optatus, bishop and confessor. — In England, St. Aidan, bishop of Lindisfarne. When St. Cuthbert, then a shepherd, saw his soul going up to heaven, he left his sheep and became a monk. — At Nusco, St. Amatus, bishop. — On Mount Senario, near Florence, blessed Bonajuncta, confessor, one of the seven founders of the Order of the Servites of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who gave up his soul into the hands of the Lord whilst discoursing to his brethren on the Passion of our Saviour.

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Highlighted Saint

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St. Raymund Nonnatus

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Confessor of mercy toward captives and endangered souls.

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St. Raymund Nonnatus is honored as a confessor of the Order of Our Lady of Mercy, remembered for holiness, miracles, and mercy toward captives.

His feast keeps before the Church the ransom of captives and the protection of souls in danger. Mercy is not a soft feeling, but a Catholic work that seeks deliverance for those bound by force, sin, fear, or error.

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Ask St. Raymund for courageous mercy. The Church in exile must remember prisoners, the unborn, the tempted, the confused, and all souls who need real deliverance.

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From Matins

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Mercy that entered captivity to ransom captives.

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Matins - Second Nocturn - St. Raymund Nonnatus, Confessor

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Roman Breviary, Proper lessons for St. Raymund Nonnatus

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“He pawned himself.”
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  • The proper lessons honor St. Raymund as a son of the Order of Our Lady of Ransom who spent himself and finally pledged his own person for Christian captives.
  • His padlocked lips make visible the cost of preaching Christ among persecutors, while his endurance shows mercy willing to suffer for another's freedom.
  • The account of angels bringing his final Viaticum—the Holy Eucharist received as food for a dying Catholic's last journey—joins the ransom of captives to the greater deliverance given by Christ.
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Let mercy become costly. St. Raymund teaches prayer, material sacrifice, personal risk for the endangered, fearless confession, and confidence in Christ at the hour of death.

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Full Breviary Lessons

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Fourth Lesson - A Son Formed by the Mother of God

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This Raymond is commonly called the Unborn, because his was one of the rare cases in which the child is not brought into the world in the course of nature, but by a surgical operation after the death of the mother. He was the son of godly and noble parents, at Portel, [in the diocese of Urgel,] in Catalonia. The tokens of his holy after-life appeared even in his childhood. The things that delight children, and the attractions of the world, had no charm for him. He was so earnest in godliness that all men marvelled at his habits of premature old age. As he grew older, he gave himself to the study of letters, but, at the command of his father, turned to farming. He went often to the Chapel of St Nicolas, in the suburbs of Portel, to visit the sacred image of the Mother of God, which is still sought with great tenderness by the faithful. There he poured forth his soul in prayer, and earnestly entreated the Mother of God herself to be pleased to take him for her son, to show him the way wherein it should be safe for him to walk, and to teach him the science of the Saints.

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Fifth Lesson - He Pawned Himself for Captives

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And the most gracious Maiden was not deaf to his prayers. From her he understood that it would please her right well, if he would join the Religious Order which had just been founded at her own inspiration, styled "of Ransom" or "of Mercy," for buying up and freeing slaves. As soon as he had received this intimation from her, he went to Barcelona, and entered the Institute so nobly dedicated to love for our neighbour. Once enlisted in the Regular Army, he guarded unspotted for ever the virginity which he had already consecrated to the Blessed Virgin for ever. But he was a bright and shining light of all other good words and works, especially of tender compassion for Christians who were passing a life of grievous bondage in the possession of unbelieving masters. To free such he was sent into Africa, and delivered many. But his money ran short, and as there were still many in imminent danger of denying the faith, he pawned himself. He was enkindled with a most vehement longing for the salvation of souls, and by his exhortations brought divers Mohammedans to Christ. The Moors therefore threw him into close prison, and put him to divers tortures, at last making holes through his lips and locking them together with an iron padlock, which horrid cruelty he long bore.

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Sixth Lesson - Viaticum and the Last Journey

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On account of these, and other brave things that he did, he got the name of a Saint far and wide. Gregory IX. was moved thereby to make Raymond a Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church, but in this place of honour the man of God shrank from all outward show, and clung ever tightly to the lowliness that beseemeth a Religious man. He had started for Rome, [in obedience to the command of the Pope,] but had only got as far as Cardona, [six miles from Barcelona,] when he was seized with his last illness, and earnestly called for the strengthening Sacraments of the Church. But his position became critical, and the Priest had not arrived. Then Angels came unto him, clad in the habit of his own Order, and ministered unto him the wholesome Provision for the last journey. When he had taken It, he gave God thanks, and departed hence to be ever with the Lord. It was the last Lord's Day in August, 1240. After his death there was some dispute arose as to where his body should be buried; so they shut it up in a box, and laid it upon a blind mule, and the beast was guided by God to carry it to the chapel of St Nicolas, that he might be buried where he had laid the foundations of his nobler life. There was built there a Convent of his Order, and the faithful come together thither from all parts of Catalonia to honour him, and he is famous for divers signs and wonders.

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The Pilgrim's Spiritual Conference

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Dogma Binds the Mind Because God Has Spoken

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The Church places this truth before you today: A Catholic dogma is not something the Church says for a while and later replaces. It is a truth revealed by God and taught by the Church. Because God cannot lie, the Church cannot later teach the opposite. 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 binding force of dogma protects souls from private invention and keeps charity rooted in truth rather than mood.

The grace to be practiced is Mercy ordered to deliverance, 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. Imitate Mary's purity: not merely freedom from grave stain, but an undivided heart that refuses whatever competes with God.

There is also an enemy to recognize: Resist the modernist habit of treating dogma as a symbol whose meaning may be revised by later experience. 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 mercy ordered to deliverance 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. In temptation, do not debate with the tempter. Call upon Jesus and Mary, turn from the occasion, and perform the next duty. Keep this act pure in intention: for God's glory and the good of souls, not for praise, control, or appearance.

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The Church's witness: this truth manifests the Church's mark of one; the witness placed beside it is Pope St. Pius X.

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Your Resolution Before God

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Fulfill all known duties in their proper order, without deliberate delay or complaint.

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Truth becomes fruitful when it is obeyed.
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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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Ask where curiosity, vanity, or impurity entered today. Place the fault beneath Christ's mercy and make a definite guard for tomorrow.

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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, do not permit me to admire truth without submitting to it. Give me the courage to obey what Thou hast already made known.

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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 Dogma and the Modernist War Against Binding Truth\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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\n \n","links":{"sacredCalendar":"/sacred-calendar?date=2027-08-31","webPreview":"/daily-dispatch?date=2027-08-31","emailPreview":"/daily-dispatch/email?date=2027-08-31","formationIndex":"/daily-dispatch/formation","subscribe":"/daily-dispatch/subscribe"},"included":{"martyrology":true,"gospelReflection":false,"saintlyWitness":true,"breviaryReading":true,"patristicBreviaryLesson":true,"faithPoint":"Dogma Binds the Mind Because God Has Spoken"}}