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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

Ss. John Fisher, Bishop and Martyr, and Thomas More, Martyr

Thursday, July 9, 2026

Season: Time after Pentecost

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. John Fisher, Bishop and Martyr, and Thomas More, Martyr

Rank: Double

Color: red

Quote for the day

St. Thomas More

“Yet I earnestly pray Almighty God that He may so strengthen me in this orthodox judgment which I hold, that I may persevere in it unto death.”

Pope Pius XI, Saevis agitata, May 19, 1935, Acta Apostolicae Sedis 28 (1936), printed p. 197; editorial translation from the Latin.

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.

July intention

The Most Precious Blood of Jesus

The price of our redemption forbids a careless life. Remember the Precious Blood poured out upon Calvary and offered upon Catholic altars, and ask that no grace purchased at so great a cost be received in vain.

Intention

For reverence toward the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the conversion of sinners, and the deliverance of souls from slavery to mortal sin.

A faithful act

Offer the day's sacrifices for sinners who are far from confession and sanctifying grace.

Prayer

Most Precious Blood of Jesus, cleanse us from sin, strengthen the weak, and bring wandering souls home.

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 - July 9

At Rome, in the place called the Drop-ever-falling, the birthday of St. Zeno, and ten thousand two hundred and three other martyrs. — At Gortyna, in Crete, in the persecution of Decius, under the governor Lucius, St. Cyril, a bishop, who was thrown into the flames without being injured, though his bonds were burnt. The judge, struck with awe at so great a miracle, set him at liberty, but as the saint began again immediately to preach the faith of Christ with zeal, he was beheaded. — In the town of Thora, on lake Velino, in Italy, the martyrdom of the Saints Anatolia and Audax, under the emperor Decius. Anatolia, a virgin consecrated to Christ, cured, through the whole province of Picenum, Now Ancona. many persons laboring under various infirmities, and made them believe in Christ. By order of the judge Fustinian, she was condemned to various kinds of punishments. She was cured of the sting of a serpent to which she had been exposed; a miracle which converted Audax to the faith. Finally she was transpierced with a sword, whilst her hands were extended in prayer. Audax was committed to prison, and being without delay sentenced to capital punishment, obtained the crown of a martyr. — At Alexandria, the holy martyrs Patermuthius, Copres, and Alexander, who were put to death under Julian the Apostate. — At Briel, in Holland, the martyrdom of the nineteen martyrs of Gorcum. For vindicating the authority of the Roman Church, and the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, they endured various ignominies and torments from the Calvinist heretics, and ended their suffering by being put to death. In the year 1867, Pius IX. placed them among the holy martyrs. — At Martula, St. Brixius, bishop. Under the judge Marcian, after having suffered much for the confession of our Lord, and converted to Christ a great multitude of people, he rested in peace. — At Citta-di-Castello, St. Veronica Giuliani, a Capuchin nun, abbess of the monastery of that town. Born at Mercatelli, in the diocese of Urania, she became illustrious by her great love for suffering and other virtues, and by her heavenly gifts. She was inscribed among holy virgins by pope Gregory XVI.

Read and verify the full entry

Highlighted saint

Ss. John Fisher and Thomas More

Martyrs against false supremacy.

St. John Fisher and St. Thomas More suffered death rather than accept a false claim against the divine constitution of the Church.

Their witness joins doctrine to conscience: fidelity to Christ required public refusal, loss of honors, imprisonment, and martyrdom.

They did not treat authority as whatever power could enforce. Lawful authority comes from God and must remain under God. When earthly power demands betrayal of the Church, conscience must obey Christ before men.

Virtue to practice

Conscience formed by Catholic truth.

Error to resist

The false prudence that obeys power when power commands betrayal.

For the pilgrim in exile

Ask these martyrs for a conscience that cannot be purchased by safety, office, reputation, or pressure to conform. A Catholic conscience is not private stubbornness; it is truth obeyed before God.

Imitate today

  • Refuse religious compromise even when it is demanded by power.
  • Keep conscience formed by Catholic truth.
  • Accept loss rather than betray the Church.

Sources

  • St. Andrew Daily Missal, July 9.
  • Sacred Congregation of Rites, decree on resuming the canonization cause of Bl. John Cardinal Fisher and Bl. Thomas More, Acta Apostolicae Sedis 23 (1931), pp. 131-132.
  • Pius XI, Saevis agitata, letters decretal of canonization, May 19, 1935.

From Matins

The orthodox judgment held unto death.

Papal Witness - Letters Decretal - Ss. John Fisher, Bishop and Martyr, and Thomas More, Martyr

Pope Pius XI and St. Thomas More, Saevis agitata

“Yet I earnestly pray Almighty God that He may so strengthen me in this orthodox judgment which I hold, that I may persevere in it unto death.”

Doctrine taught

  • Pope Pius XI presents the English schism as a violent rupture of the unity of Catholic doctrine and ecclesiastical government, and honors the martyrs who shed their blood for the Catholic faith and the primacy of the Roman Church.
  • St. John Fisher, a bishop and cardinal, and St. Thomas More, a layman and former chancellor, guarded the same inherited Roman faith when royal power demanded assent to a false ecclesiastical supremacy.
  • When pardon was offered if he would abandon what his judges called obstinacy, More prayed instead that God would strengthen him in his orthodox judgment until death. His conscience was neither private preference nor defiance for its own sake, but Catholic truth obeyed before God.

For the pilgrim in exile

Ask these martyrs for a conscience formed by Catholic doctrine and strengthened by grace. Neither office, safety, public pressure, nor the command of a ruler can make betrayal into obedience.

Study St. John Fisher

Sources

  • Pope Pius XI, Saevis agitata, Letters Decretal of the canonization of Ss. John Fisher and Thomas More, May 19, 1935, Acta Apostolicae Sedis 28 (1936), especially printed pp. 185-186 and 197.
  • The excerpt is an editorial English translation of the Latin words attributed to St. Thomas More on printed p. 197; the Latin was checked in the original Acta Apostolicae Sedis text.

Breviary Witness

Martyrs of conscience before a false supremacy.

Matins - Ss. John Fisher and Thomas More

Breviary witness

  • The traditional remembrance of these English martyrs sets conscience beneath Catholic truth, not beneath the pressure of king, parliament, or public advantage.
  • Their witness is sober and exact: lawful authority becomes tyranny when it demands betrayal of the Church and her divine constitution.

For the pilgrim in exile

Do not call prudence what is really surrender. When the faith is at stake, the Catholic conscience must be formed enough to stand alone before earthly courts.

Sources

  • St. Andrew Daily Missal, July 9.
  • Sacred Congregation of Rites, decree on resuming the canonization cause of Bl. John Cardinal Fisher and Bl. Thomas More, Acta Apostolicae Sedis 23 (1931), pp. 131-132.
  • Pius XI, Saevis agitata, letters decretal of canonization, May 19, 1935.

Meditation

Conscience Before False Supremacy

Ss. John Fisher and Thomas More lost office, liberty, and life rather than consent to a false claim against the Church. Their conscience was not private stubbornness; it was judgment formed by Catholic truth and made firm enough to obey Christ when earthly power commanded betrayal.

Prayer

The day should become prayer.

O Lord, through Thy martyrs St. John Fisher and St. Thomas More, form my conscience and keep me faithful when obedience to men would become betrayal of Thee.

Thought for the pilgrim

A conscience formed by truth cannot be purchased by safety, position, or approval.

Practice

The day should become obedience.

Name the pressures that tempt you to conceal Catholic truth, then make calm acts of fidelity before 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 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.
  • 1 Peter 1:18-19, Douay-Rheims.
  • 1 Corinthians 11:23-29, Douay-Rheims.
Browse the Roman Martyrology