Sacred Calendar
The Roman year ordered for memory, penance, feasts, saints, and the daily pilgrimage of the faithful.
Calendar standard
Pre-1955 Roman usage
The calendar follows the universal Roman year under the rubrics of Pope St. Pius X, with the Roman Martyrology preserved as a distinct daily witness.
The day is presented for prayer, recollection, study, and perseverance in the City.
Daily observance
Today in the City of God
The Church keeps this day in holy time. The Pilgrim's Companion gathers the feast, daily quote, Martyrology, meditation, prayer, and related chapters into one daily path through the City.
Choose a date
Daily observance
St. Paul, First Hermit
Thursday, January 15, 2026
Season: Time after Epiphany
The day is set within the Roman year so its feast, Martyrology, daily quote, prayer, and reading path may be received together without blurring their proper sources.
Today's pilgrimage
St. Paul, First Hermit
Rank: Double
Color: white
Commemoration: St. Maurus, Abbot.
Quote for the day
Pope St. Leo the Great
“A great safeguard is the entire faith, the true faith, in which neither anything whatever can be added nor anything taken away.”
Roman Martyrology
Roman Martyrology - January 15
ST. PAUL, the first hermit, who was carried to the home of the blessed on the tenth of this month. — In the diocese of Angers, St. Maur, abbot and disciple of St. Benedict. He made great progress with so able a master, for while he was still under the Saint's instruction he miraculously walked upon the water — a prodigy unheard of since the days of St. Peter. Sent later to France by St. Benedict, he built a famous monastery, which he governed for forty years, and after performing striking miracles, he rested in peace. — In Judaea, the holy prophets Habacue and Michaeas, whose bodies were found by divine revelation in the days of Theodosius the Elder. — At Anagni, St. Secundina, virgin and martyr, who suffered under the emperor Decius. — At Cagliari, in Sardinia, St. Ephisius, martyr, who, in the persecution of Diocletian and under the judge Flavian, having, by the assistance of God, overcome many torments, was beheaded and ascended to heaven. — At Nola, in Campania, St. Maximus, bishop. — At Clermont, in Auvergne, St. Bonitus, bishop and confessor. — In Egypt, St. Macarius, abbot, disciple of St. Anthony, very celebrated for his life and miracles. — Also, blessed Isidore, renowned for holiness of life, faith and miracles. — At Rome, St. John Calybita. For some time living unknown to his parents in a corner of their house, and later in a hut on an island in the Tiber, he was recognized by them only at his death. Being renowned for miracles, he was buried where he had died, and a church was subsequently erected in his honor in the same place.
Highlighted saint
St. Paul, First Hermit
Hidden poverty in the desert.
St. Paul the First Hermit is remembered as a solitary of the Egyptian desert, living hidden from the world in prayer, poverty, and penance.
The tradition of his meeting with St. Antony shows the honor due to hidden sanctity: God sees the soul unknown to men and nourishes fidelity in silence.
Virtue to practice
Hidden penance and poverty of spirit.
Error to resist
The spiritual vanity that thinks holiness must be seen, discussed, or admired.
For the pilgrim in exile
Let St. Paul teach the worth of being unknown. In exile, hidden fidelity may be one of the purest ways to belong wholly to God.
Imitate today
- Keep one hidden sacrifice for God alone.
- Reduce one unnecessary comfort.
- Seek silence without becoming harsh or proud.
Sources
- St. Andrew Daily Missal, January 15.
- Roman Martyrology, 1916 Baltimore edition, January 15.
Breviary Witness
The first hermit hidden with God.
Matins - St. Paul, First Hermit
Breviary witness
- The Breviary remembers St. Paul the First Hermit as a hidden solitary of the desert, preserved by God in poverty, prayer, and penance.
- His witness teaches that the unknown life can be great before Heaven when it is surrendered wholly to God.
For the pilgrim in exile
Let hiddenness become offering, not bitterness. God sees the cave, the silence, and the sacrifice.
Sources
- Roman Breviary, Matins lessons for January 15, St. Paul the First Hermit.
- St. Andrew Daily Missal, January 15.
Gospel of the day
You who have followed me.
St. Paul, First Hermit - Matthew 19:27-29
“Every one that hath left house... for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold.”
What Our Lord teaches
- The hermit leaves visible security because Christ Himself is worth more than the world.
- St. Paul's hidden desert life shows the fruitfulness of abandonment when it is governed by prayer and penance.
Virtue to practice
Leave one attachment for love of Christ.
Error to resist
The fear that hidden sacrifice is wasted because men do not see it.
For the pilgrim in exile
The desert is not empty when Christ is there. Let St. Paul teach you to be content with God as witness.
Sources
- Matthew 19:27-29, Douay-Rheims.
- Traditional Roman Gospel from the common of abbots.
Meditation
Apostolic Fidelity
Today the Church turns the pilgrim toward apostolic order: the faith received, guarded, preached, and suffered for. In exile this is not an abstraction. The faithful must love the visible form Christ gave His Church without confusing office, truth, and fidelity.
Related paths
Walk the day through the City.
Today's chapters
Read with the feast.
Prayer
The day should become prayer.
O Lord, strengthen the little duties of this day with Thy grace, that nothing entrusted to me may be wasted through negligence or vanity.
Thought for the pilgrim
Grace is guarded by ordinary fidelity.
Practice
The day should become obedience.
Fulfill one ordinary duty promptly and offer it for the glory of God.
Source notes
Universal Roman Calendar under the rubrics of Pope St. Pius X
Fasting and abstinence according to the laws observed in 1952
Daily quotations and pilgrimage excerpts should come from Scripture, Fathers, Doctors, saints, traditional popes before 1958, traditional catechisms, approved devotional works, or received liturgical texts.
The Roman Martyrology, Baltimore, 1916, published by John Murphy Company; the local 1916 text is displayed and traceable to its source lines.
- St. Andrew Daily Missal, Liturgical Calendar, pp. xvii–xxviii.