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
St. Praxedes, Virgin
Tuesday, July 21, 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
St. Praxedes, Virgin
Rank: Simple
Color: white
Quote for the day
St. John Vianney
“Nothing makes us more like Our Lord than carrying His Cross.”
Roman Martyrology
Roman Martyrology - July 21
At Rome, the holy virgin Praxedes, who was brought up in all chastity and in the knowledge of the divine law. Assiduously attending to watching, prayer and fasting, she rested in Christ, and was buried near her sister Pudentiana, on the Salarian road. — At Babylon, the holy prophet Daniel. — At Marseilles, the birthday of St. Victor, a soldier. Because he refused to serve in the army and sacrifice to idols, he was thrust into prison, where he was visited by an angel, then subjected to various torments, and finally being crushed under a millstone, he ended his martyrdom. With him also suffered three soldiers, Alexander, Felician, and Longinus. — At Troyes, St. Julia, virgin and martyr. — In the same place, the martyrdom of the saints Claudius, Justus, Jucundinus, and five companions, in the time of the emperor Aurelian. — At Comana, in Armenia, the holy bishop and martyr Zoticus,who was crowned under Severus. — At Strasburg, St. Arbogastus, a bishop, renowned for miracles. — In Syria, the holy monk John, a companion of St. Simeon.
Highlighted saint
St. Praxedes
Roman virgin remembered for charity toward martyrs.
St. Praxedes is remembered in Roman devotion as a holy virgin associated with the care of Christians and the reverent gathering of martyrs' blood and remains during persecution.
Her feast teaches that not every witness is made by public speech. Some souls serve Christ by hidden reverence, works of mercy, and fidelity to the suffering members of His Body.
Virtue to practice
Hidden mercy toward Christ's suffering members.
Error to resist
The coldness that forgets the suffering faithful once danger or death has passed.
For the pilgrim in exile
Ask St. Praxedes for reverent charity. In every age, the Church needs souls who quietly gather, honor, and protect what persecution tries to scatter.
Imitate today
- Honor the martyrs and the persecuted members of Christ.
- Practice hidden works of mercy without display.
- Treat the bodies and sufferings of the faithful with reverence.
Sources
- St. Andrew Daily Missal, July 21.
- Roman Martyrology, 1916 Baltimore edition, July 21.
Breviary Witness
Hidden charity toward the martyrs.
Matins - St. Praxedes
Breviary witness
- The Breviary remembrance of St. Praxedes keeps before the faithful a Roman virgin associated with charity toward Christians suffering under persecution.
- Her witness teaches reverence for the martyrs and hidden service to Christ's suffering members.
For the pilgrim in exile
Do not despise hidden works of mercy. Some of the Church's most faithful service is quiet, reverent, and known fully to God alone.
Sources
- Roman Breviary, Matins lessons for July 21, St. Praxedes.
- Roman Martyrology, 1916 Baltimore edition, July 21.
Meditation
The Church Made Public
Pentecost teaches that the Holy Ghost does not create private religious enthusiasm detached from doctrine, worship, and authority. He gathers, sends, teaches, and strengthens the visible Church. The remnant must therefore seek fire without disorder and zeal without novelty.
Related paths
Walk the day through the City.
Today's chapters
Read with the feast.
Prayer
The day should become prayer.
O Lord, pardon my faults, raise my heart from discouragement, and teach me to begin again under Thy mercy.
Thought for the pilgrim
The pilgrim is formed by returning to God again and again.
Practice
The day should become obedience.
Make a brief examination of conscience before sleep and end the day with an act of 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, pp. xvii–xxviii.