City of God in Exile
Main Gate

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.

Daily observance

St. John Chrysostom, Bishop, Confessor, and Doctor

Tuesday, January 27, 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. John Chrysostom, Bishop, Confessor, and Doctor

Rank: Double

Color: white

Quote for the day

St. John Chrysostom

“Let no one mourn that he has fallen again and again: for forgiveness has risen from the grave.”

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.

Tuesday remembrance

The Holy Angels

God has appointed His angels as ministers of His providence. Honor them by greater purity, recollection, and prompt obedience to grace, never forgetting that their whole service leads the soul to God.

Intention

For protection against temptation, guidance in duty, and the defense of children, travelers, and souls in spiritual danger.

A faithful act

Before a difficult duty or conversation, ask your Guardian Angel to help you act without sin and for God's glory.

Prayer

Holy Angel, my guardian, keep me from sin and direct me in the faithful accomplishment of today's duties.

Roman Martyrology

Roman Martyrology - January 27

At Constantinople, St. John, bishop, who was surnamed Chrysostom, on account of his golden flow of eloquence. He greatly promoted the interests of the Christian religion by his preaching and exemplary life, and after many toils, closed his life in banishment. His sacred body was brought to Constantinople on this day, in the reign of Theodosius the younger; it was afterwards taken to Rome and placed in the basilica of the Prince of the Apostles. This illustrious preacher of the Word of God Pius X. declared and appointed heavenly patron of sacred orators. — At Sora, St. Julian, martyr, who, being arrested in the persecution of Antoninus, was beheaded, because a pagan temple had fallen to the ground whilst he was tortured. Thus did he win the crown of martyrdom. — In Africa, St. Avitus, martyr. — In the same country, the holy martyrs, Datius, Reatrus, and their companions, who suffered in the persecution of the Vandals. — Also, the holy martyrs Dativus, Julian, Vincent, and twenty-seven others. — At Rome, St. Vitalian, pope. — At Le Mans, the demise of St. Julian, the first bishop of that city, who was sent thither by St. Peter to preach the Gospel. — In the monastery of Bobacum, St. Maur, abbot. — At Brixen, St. Angela Merici, virgin, foundress of the Order of the Nuns of St. Ursula, whose principal aim is to direct young girls in the ways of the Lord. By an indult of Pius VII. her feast is celebrated on the 31st of May.

Read and verify the full entry

Highlighted saint

St. John Chrysostom

Golden-mouthed doctor and preacher of repentance.

St. John Chrysostom, bishop of Constantinople and Doctor of the Church, preached Scripture with a fatherly fire that did not flatter sin.

He rebuked luxury, defended the poor, corrected abuses, and endured exile rather than make his mouth serve powerful people more than God.

His feast teaches that beautiful speech is not enough. Words become Catholic when they lead souls to repentance, reverence, mercy, and obedience. A preacher who never wounds vanity may be pleasing, but he is not healing the soul.

Virtue to practice

Preaching made truthful, merciful, and courageous.

Error to resist

The eloquence that flatters vice or uses sacred words without conversion.

For the pilgrim in exile

Ask St. John Chrysostom for words that burn clean. True speech wounds vanity so that charity may heal the soul. Today, let Scripture correct your whole conduct before you use doctrine to correct someone else.

Imitate today

  • Let Scripture correct your habits.
  • Practice mercy toward the poor.
  • Speak truth without courting human favor.

Sources

  • St. Andrew Daily Missal, January 27.
  • Roman Martyrology, 1916 Baltimore edition, January 27.

From Matins

The golden mouth that would not bless corruption.

Matins - Second Nocturn - St. John Chrysostom, Bishop, Confessor, and Doctor of the Church

Roman Breviary, Proper lessons for St. John Chrysostom

“He ceased not to war against vice.”

Doctrine taught

  • The Breviary remembers St. John Chrysostom as the golden-mouthed preacher forced to the see of Constantinople against his will.
  • As bishop he labored against public moral decay, noble corruption, and the abuse of the poor, drawing hatred from powerful enemies.
  • Exile, cruelty, and imperial opposition could not make him sanctify vice with silence; he received the Holy Eucharist, signed himself with the Cross, and died under persecution.

For the pilgrim in exile

Ask St. John Chrysostom for speech that serves souls, not human favor. Sacred eloquence must preach repentance, defend the poor, and refuse to flatter power.

Study St. John Chrysostom

Sources

  • The Roman Breviary, translated by John, Marquess of Bute, 1908, vol. I, Winter, Second Nocturn for St. John Chrysostom, lessons iv-vi, printed pp. 720-721.
  • 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

The golden mouth in exile.

Matins - St. John Chrysostom, Bishop, Confessor, and Doctor

Breviary witness

  • The Breviary honors St. John Chrysostom as bishop, confessor, and Doctor, famous for sacred eloquence and fearless correction of vice.
  • His witness teaches that preaching must serve Scripture, repentance, the poor, and the worship of God, even when truth brings exile.

For the pilgrim in exile

Let words become accountable to truth. Sacred eloquence is not ornament; it is a summons to conversion.

Sources

  • Roman Breviary, Matins lessons for January 27, St. John Chrysostom.
  • St. Andrew Daily Missal, January 27.

Gospel of the day

You are the light of the world.

St. John Chrysostom, Bishop, Confessor, and Doctor - Matthew 5:13-19

“So let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works.”

What Our Lord teaches

  • The Doctor of the Church must give light by doctrine, preaching, and holiness of life.
  • St. John Chrysostom teaches that sacred eloquence is meant to expose vice, defend the poor, and lead souls to repentance.
  • The tongue becomes holy when it serves truth before it serves comfort, reputation, or cleverness.

Virtue to practice

Let speech serve truth, mercy, and conversion.

Error to resist

The beautiful word that avoids moral correction and leaves the soul unchanged.

For the pilgrim in exile

Ask St. John Chrysostom for speech with fire and order. A Catholic word should give light, not applause alone.

Sources

  • Matthew 5:13-19, Douay-Rheims.
  • Traditional Roman Gospel from the common of Doctors.

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.

Prayer

The day should become prayer.

O Lord, govern my speech when error must be named. Let me correct with charity, courage, and sobriety, never with bitterness or theatrical anger.

Thought for the pilgrim

Correction must be medicinal, not vain.

Practice

The day should become obedience.

Before correcting anyone, ask whether your words seek victory for truth or satisfaction for self.

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.
  • Psalm 90:11 and Matthew 18:10, Douay-Rheims.
Browse the Roman Martyrology