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
Ss. Vincent and Anastasius, Martyrs
Thursday, January 22, 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
Ss. Vincent and Anastasius, Martyrs
Rank: Semi-Double
Color: red
Quote for the day
Pope Clement XIII
“Reveal to the faithful the wolves which are demolishing the Lord's vineyard.”
Christianae Reipublicae, 1766
Roman Martyrology
Roman Martyrology - January 22
At Valencia, in Spain, while the wicked Dacian was governor, St. Vincent, deacon and martyr, who, after suffering imprisonment, hunger, the torture, the disjointing of his limbs; after being burned with plates of heated metal and on the gridiron, and tormented in other ways, took his flight to heaven, there to receive the reward of martyrdom. His noble triumph over his sufferings has been elegantly set forth in verse by Prudentius, and highly eulogized by St. Augustine and pope St. Leo. — At Rome, at Aqua3 Salviae, St. Anastasius, a Persian monk, who, after suffering much at Caesarea, in Palestine, from imprisonment, stripes and fetters, had to bear many afflictions from Chosroes, king of Persia, who caused him to be beheaded. He had sent before him to martyrdom seventy of his companions, who were precipitated into rivers. His head was brought to Rome, together with his venerable likeness, by the sight of which the demons are expelled, and diseases cured, as is attested by the Acts of the second council of Nicaea. — At Embrun, in France, the holy martyrs Vincent, Orontius, and Victor, who were crowned with martyrdom in the persecution of Diocletian. — At Novara, St. Gaudentius, bishop and confessor. — At Sora, the abbot St. Dominic, renowned for miracles.
Highlighted saint
Ss. Vincent and Anastasius
Martyrs of endurance under cruel powers.
St. Vincent, deacon of Saragossa, suffered martyrdom at Valencia during the persecution of Diocletian after refusing to betray the sacred books and the Catholic faith.
St. Anastasius, a Persian monk and martyr, left error for Christ and sealed his confession by death, showing that grace can draw a soul from darkness into costly fidelity.
Virtue to practice
Martyr endurance and fidelity to sacred things.
Error to resist
The fear that treats bodily suffering or social pressure as a reason to betray the faith.
For the pilgrim in exile
Ask these martyrs for courage when pressure becomes concrete. A Catholic does not preserve life by surrendering the things by which the soul lives.
Imitate today
- Guard holy doctrine more than comfort.
- Pray for converts who must suffer for the faith.
- Endure one hardship without surrendering truth.
Sources
- St. Andrew Daily Missal, January 22.
- Roman Martyrology, 1916 Baltimore edition, January 22.
Breviary Witness
Two martyrs and one confession of Christ.
Matins - Ss. Vincent and Anastasius, Martyrs
Breviary witness
- The Breviary honors St. Vincent, deacon and martyr, and St. Anastasius, monk and martyr, as confessors of Christ unto death.
- Their witness teaches endurance under cruelty, fidelity to sacred truth, and the power of grace to draw converts into heroic confession.
For the pilgrim in exile
Do not treat suffering as proof that fidelity has failed. The martyrs show that truth can be most victorious when the body is most helpless.
Sources
- Roman Breviary, Matins lessons for January 22, Ss. Vincent and Anastasius.
- St. Andrew Daily Missal, January 22.
Gospel of the day
Blessed are ye when men shall hate you.
Ss. Vincent and Anastasius, Martyrs - Luke 6:17-23
“Be glad in that day and rejoice; for behold, your reward is great in heaven.”
What Our Lord teaches
- The martyrs show that suffering for Christ is not defeat when fidelity remains.
- St. Vincent and St. Anastasius teach that grace can sustain both the servant of the altar and the convert drawn from error.
Virtue to practice
Endure pressure without betraying Christ.
Error to resist
The fear that treats pain, loss, or persecution as reasons to surrender the faith.
For the pilgrim in exile
Let the martyrs measure courage for you. The world can injure the body, but it cannot make fidelity foolish.
Sources
- Luke 6:17-23, Douay-Rheims.
- Traditional Roman Gospel from the common of martyrs.
Meditation
The Coming of the King
The mystery of the coming of Christ teaches the pilgrim to wait without surrender, to recognize divine humility, and to adore the King where He truly appears. Sacred time trains hope, but hope must remain disciplined by doctrine and worship.
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.