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
Holy Scripture
“If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.”
Luke 9:23, Original Douay-Rheims
The pilgrim's devotional rhythm
Keeping the month and the weekday in prayer
This chosen devotional rhythm does not change the feast, rank, or obligations shown above. It gives the passing days a steady intention, helping the pilgrim honor God, intercede for souls, and carry one Catholic practice into the day. It is a household aid to devotion, not another law of the Roman Calendar.
January intention
The Most Holy Name of Jesus
Let the first month of the civil year be placed beneath the saving Name given to the Divine Child. The pilgrim begins again not in self-reliance, but in the Name before which every knee must bow.
Intention
For reverence toward the Holy Name, reparation for blasphemy and careless speech, and the conversion of those who do not yet confess Jesus Christ.
A faithful act
Invoke the Holy Name slowly in temptation, discouragement, or thanksgiving, and refuse every irreverent use of it.
Prayer
Jesus, be Thou my strength, my refuge, and the end of all that I undertake.
Thursday remembrance
The Most Blessed Sacrament
Thursday recalls the institution of the Holy Eucharist and the priesthood at the Last Supper. Adore Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament and pray for priests, through whose consecrated ministry the Holy Sacrifice is offered.
Intention
For holy priests, worthy Communions, vocations, and reparation for neglect and sacrilege toward the Blessed Sacrament.
A faithful act
Make a visit or spiritual Communion and pray especially for priests by name.
Prayer
Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament, increase our faith, receive our reparation, and sanctify Thy priests.
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. He would not betray the sacred books or the Catholic faith.
St. Anastasius, a Persian monk and martyr, left error for Christ and sealed his confession by death. His conversion shows that grace can draw a soul out of darkness, but grace also asks for fidelity when the cost becomes real.
These martyrs teach that holy things are not bargaining pieces. A Catholic may lose comfort, reputation, safety, and even life, but he may not hand over the faith as though it were his own property.
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 today's hardships without surrendering truth.
Sources
- St. Andrew Daily Missal, January 22.
- Roman Martyrology, 1916 Baltimore edition, January 22.
From Matins
The martyrs whom cruelty and false kindness could not conquer.
Matins - Second Nocturn - Ss. Vincent and Anastasius, Martyrs
Roman Breviary, Proper lessons for Ss. Vincent and Anastasius
“The indomitable soul of Vincent, armed with faith and hope in Christ Jesus, remained unconquered.”
Doctrine taught
- The Breviary remembers St. Vincent enduring torture without yielding to threats, promises, or the calculated kindness offered after cruelty had failed.
- The light that filled his prison shows bodily defeat reversed by divine consolation; even the attempted dishonor of his remains could not prevent Christian burial.
- St. Anastasius adds monastic confession under Persian power, bearing bonds and torment before martyrdom with seventy other Christians.
For the pilgrim in exile
Do not let cruelty or flattery purchase surrender. The martyrs teach faith and hope steady enough to recognize temptation even when it arrives disguised as relief.
Sources
- The Roman Breviary, translated by John, Marquess of Bute, 1908, vol. I, Winter, Second Nocturn for Ss. Vincent and Anastasius, lessons iv-vi, printed pp. 704-705.
- Bute 1908 is used here as an accessible pre-Pius X Breviary witness and is cited distinctly from the 1936-1937 Benziger / Burns Oates edition.
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, keep me near Thy Cross when comfort, acceptance, and ease invite me elsewhere. Let fidelity be stronger than the desire to belong.
Thought for the pilgrim
The faithful remain at the Cross when the multitude walks past it.
Practice
The day should become obedience.
Stand with difficult Catholic truths today even when silence would be easier.
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 ordinarily come from eligible Catholic sources issued no later than December 31, 1954: Scripture, Fathers, Doctors, saints, Roman Pontiffs, traditional catechisms, approved devotional works, and received liturgical texts. Legitimate additions promulgated under Pope Pius XII may be retained when identified precisely; this does not adopt the reformed Holy Week or later rubrical changes.
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.
- St. Andrew Daily Missal, Dom Gaspar Lefebvre, O.S.B., 1953 edition; proper Mass or devotion named in this entry.
- Philippians 2:9-11, Douay-Rheims.
- 1 Corinthians 11:23-29, Douay-Rheims.