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
2nd Sunday after the Epiphany
Sunday, January 25, 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
2nd Sunday after the Epiphany
Rank: Semi-Double Sunday
Color: green
Impeded feast: Conversion of St. Paul, Apostle. The temporal observance has precedence. The precise commemoration rule remains tied to the relevant proper and rubric.
Quote for the day
St. John Chrysostom
“Do you fast? Give me proof of it by your works.”
Roman Martyrology
Roman Martyrology - January 25
The conversion of St. Paul the Apostle, which happened the second year after the Ascension of our Lord. — At Damascus, the birthday of St. Ananias, who baptized that apostle. After he had preached the Gospel at Damascus, Eleutheropolis, and elsewhere, he was scourged under the judge Licinius, had his flesh torn, and lastly being overwhelmed with stones, ended his martyrdom. — At Antioch, in the time of Julian the Apostate, the holy martyrs Juventinus and Maximus, who were crowned with martyrdom. On their birthday, St. John Chrysostom preached a sermon to his people. — At Clermont, in Auvergne, the Saints Projectus, bishop, and Marinus, a man of God, who were murdered by the leading men of that city. — Also, the holy martyrs Donatus, Sabinus, and Agape. — At Tomis, in Scythia, St. Bretannion, bishop, who by his great sanctity, and his zeal for the Catholic faith, shone in the Church, under the Arian emperor Valens, whom he opposed with fortitude. — At Arras, in France, St. Poppo, abbot, renowned for miracles.
Highlighted saint
The Conversion of St. Paul
Grace conquering zeal without truth.
The Conversion of St. Paul shows Christ conquering a persecutor and making him an apostle.
His conversion teaches that zeal must be converted by truth. Once conquered by Christ, Paul spent himself in preaching, suffering, and guarding the Gospel.
Virtue to practice
Zeal converted by truth.
Error to resist
The pride that clings to an old path because conversion would be humiliating.
For the pilgrim in exile
Do not despair of a hard heart, including your own. Grace can strike with light, but it still asks for obedience.
Imitate today
- Beg God to convert error into service of truth.
- Submit zeal to Christ and His Church.
- Pray for enemies of the Church.
Sources
- Acts 9:1-22, Douay-Rheims.
- St. Andrew Daily Missal, January 25.
From Matins
The persecutor struck down and raised as Apostle.
Matins - Second Nocturn - Conversion of St. Paul, Apostle
Acts of the Apostles and St. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, Acts 9 and Sermon on the Conversion of St. Paul
“Christ laid low the persecutor, that He might raise him up a teacher of His Church.”
Doctrine taught
- The Breviary begins with Saul breathing threats and slaughter, then shows him cast down by the voice of Christ: 'I am Jesus, Whom thou persecutest.'
- St. Augustine teaches that Christ smote and healed Paul, slew him and made him alive again, turning a wolf into a lamb.
- The conversion reveals grace as conquest: the persecutor becomes the chosen vessel, teacher of the Gentiles, sufferer for Christ, and preacher of the Cross.
For the pilgrim in exile
Never despair of grace, but never soften sin. St. Paul was not improved by flattery; he was converted by Christ's sovereign mercy and then spent himself for the Gospel.
Sources
- The Roman Breviary, translated by John, Marquess of Bute, 1908, vol. I, Winter, First and Second Nocturns for the Conversion of St. Paul, lessons i-vi.
- 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
Grace conquers the persecutor.
Matins - Conversion of St. Paul
Breviary witness
- The Breviary keeps St. Paul's conversion as the triumph of Christ over zeal without truth.
- The persecutor is not merely corrected; he is conquered by grace and sent as apostle.
For the pilgrim in exile
Do not despair of hard hearts. Pray that false zeal may be struck by light and changed into service of truth.
Sources
- Roman Breviary, Matins lessons for January 25, Conversion of St. Paul.
- Acts 9:1-22, Douay-Rheims.
Gospel of the day
What shall we have therefore?
Conversion of St. Paul, Apostle - Matthew 19:27-29
“Every one that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold.”
What Our Lord teaches
- The conversion of St. Paul shows that grace can conquer violent error and make a persecutor an apostle.
- Christ does not hide the cost of following Him, but promises a reward beyond earthly calculation.
Virtue to practice
Obey grace promptly when it exposes an old error or attachment.
Error to resist
The pride that clings to a former path because conversion would be humiliating.
For the pilgrim in exile
Do not despair of a hard heart, including your own. Grace can strike with light, but it still asks for the humble answer: Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?
Sources
- Matthew 19:27-29, Douay-Rheims.
- Traditional Roman Gospel for the Conversion of St. Paul.
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, recollect my scattered thoughts, govern my words, and teach me to return to Thee before the noise of the day rules my soul.
Thought for the pilgrim
Prayer keeps the day from becoming self-ruled.
Practice
The day should become obedience.
Pause at midday for a brief act of faith, hope, charity, and contrition.
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, p. xiv: Sundays after the Epiphany are semi-doubles.
- St. Andrew Daily Missal, Division of the Ecclesiastical Year, p. ix: ordinary Sundays yield to feasts of the first and second class and feasts of Our Lord, but supersede doubles and semi-doubles.
- St. Andrew Daily Missal, Liturgical Calendar, pp. xvii–xxviii.