The Daily Pilgrimage

Good Morning, Pilgrim

Receive this day from God.

At Pentecost the Holy Ghost strengthened the apostles to preach Christ publicly and carry the Gospel to the nations. His work is not private excitement separated from doctrine, worship, and the authority Christ established. The faithful should ask Him for zeal that makes them more obedient to revealed truth, more constant in charity, and more courageous in Catholic witness.

Ask for Our Lady's recollection before the noise of the day begins. Let her lead the mind away from distraction and toward the will of her Son.

Formation in True Devotion - Day 295: Review and Deepening: Consecrated Life through Mary to Jesus

“This devotion consists, then, in giving ourselves entirely to Our Lady, in order to belong entirely to Jesus through her.”
St. Louis-Marie de Montfort, True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin, no. 121

Ora — Begin with Prayer

Offer the day before spending it

Prayer gives the day its right beginning and its right end. Before work, conversation, news, or distraction claims the mind, adore the Blessed Trinity and offer every prayer, work, joy, suffering, and temptation to Jesus through Mary. Ask your Guardian Angel for help, and place the souls and needs entrusted to you beneath God's will.

Begin simply. Make the Morning Offering through the hands of Our Lady. Pray the Three Hail Marys for purity and final perseverance, ask your Guardian Angel to govern the senses and imagination, and name the soul or intention for which today's prayers and sacrifices will be offered. Do not rush these acts merely because they are familiar; let them place the whole day beneath God before the world begins to claim it.

O Lord Jesus Christ, by Thy Precious Blood cleanse my conscience, strengthen my will, and teach me never to treat grace as cheap.

Quote of the Day

“I have believed that thou art Christ the Son of the living God.”
St. Martha, John 11:27, Douay-Rheims

Today's Full Breviary Sermon or Proper Lesson

The widow's son and the raising of dead souls.

Matins - Third Nocturn - 15th Sunday after Pentecost

The verified Breviary witness for this observance is identified below. A complete English transcription has not yet been admitted, so no excerpt or summary is presented as though it were the full appointed text.

St. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, Discourse 44 on the Words of the Lord

“That souls of men are every day called to life is the joy of our Mother the Church.”

• The Breviary teaches that Christ's visible miracles are signs by which the faithful should understand spiritual realities.
• St. Augustine reads the raising of the widow's son as an image of souls dead in mind and called back to life by Christ.
• The Church rejoices not only when bodies are raised, but when sinners awake from interior death and receive light.

Do not despair of souls that seem dead. Christ sees the death hidden from others, and He alone can command the soul to rise.

Walk with the Church

The Church has already begun praying. Enter her prayer.

Today the Roman year keeps 15th Sunday after Pentecost. Receive the observance as the Church gives it: first understand what is commemorated, then let its doctrine and worship shape the day.

Roman Martyrology

September 17

The commemoration of the Impression of the - Sacred Wounds which St. Francis, founder of the Order of Minorites, received, through a wonderful favor of God, in his hands, feet and side, on Mount Alvernia, in Tuscany. — At Rome, on the road to Tivoli, the birthday of St. Justin, priest and martyr, who distinguished himself by a glorious confession of the faith, during the persecution of Valerian and Gallienus. He buried the bodies of the blessed pontiff, Xystus, of Lawrence, Hippolytus, and many other saints, and finally consummated his martyrdom under Claudius. — Also, at Rome, the holy martyrs Narcissus and Crescentio. — In Phrygia, St. Ariadna, martyr, under the emperor Adrian. — In England, the holy martyrs Socrates and Stephen. — At Nevers, the holy martyrs Valerian, Macrinus, and Gordian. — At Autun, under the emperor Antoninus and the governor Valerian, St. Flocellus, a boy, who, after many sufferings, was torn to pieces by wild beasts, and thus won the crown of martyrs. — At Liege, blessed Lambert, bishop of Maestricht. Having, through zeal for religion, rebuked the royal family, he was undeservedly put to death by the guilty, and thus entered the court of the heavenly kingdom, to enjoy it forever. — At Saragossa, in Spain, St. Peter of Arbues, first inquisitor of the faith in the kingdom of Arragon, who received the palm of martyrdom by being barbarously massacred by apostate Jews, for defending courageously the Catholic faith, according to the duties of his office. He was canonized by Pius IX. in 1867. — The same day, St. Agathoclia, servant of an infidel woman, who was for a long time subjected by her to blows and other afflictions, that she might deny Christ. She was finally presented to the judge and cruelly lacerated, and as she persisted in confessing the faith, they cut off her tongue and threw her into the flames. — At Cordova, St. Columba, virgin and martyr. — At Milan, the departure from this world of St. Satyrus, confessor, whose distinguished merits are mentioned by his brother, St. Ambrose. — At Rome, in the persecution of Diocletian, St. Theodora, a matron, who carefully ministered to the martyrs. — At Bingen, in the diocese of Mayence, St. Hildegarde, virgin.

Gospel of the Day

Young man, I say to thee, arise.

15th Sunday after Pentecost - Luke 7:11-16

“And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said to her: Weep not.”

Hear the words 'weep not' as compassion, not rebuke. Our Lord first sees the tears, then raises what seemed lost.

Learn from Today's Saint or Feast

15th Sunday after Pentecost

Young man, I say to thee, arise.

The Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost shows Our Lord raising the widow's son at Naim and returning him to his mother.

The day teaches Christ's sovereign mercy over death and the Church's maternal sorrow for souls spiritually dead, whom only the voice of Christ can raise.

Do not measure death by human sight alone. The Lord who touches the bier can command the soul to rise.

Secondary Saint or Commemoration

The Stigmata of St. Francis

The wounds of Christ impressed upon the servant.

The Martyrology commemorates the sacred wounds which St. Francis received through a wonderful favor of God in his hands, feet, and side on Mount Alvernia.

This feast teaches that love of Christ Crucified is not decorative. The saint who embraces holy poverty and penance is conformed to the wounds of the Master.

Let the Stigmata sober and console you. Christ's friends are marked by love, and love becomes most real when it consents to the Cross.

Breviary Witness for the Day

Christ raises the widow's son.

Matins - 15th Sunday after Pentecost

• The Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost contemplates Christ raising the dead young man at Naim and giving him back to his mother.
• Its witness teaches hope for souls spiritually dead and compassion for the Church's maternal sorrow over her children.

Pray where life seems gone. The voice of Christ can raise what human hope already mourns.