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. Bartholomew, Apostle
Monday, August 24, 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. Bartholomew, Apostle
Rank: Double of the Second Class
Color: red
Quote for the day
Our Lord Jesus Christ
“Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no guile.”
John 1:47, 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.
August intention
The Immaculate Heart of Mary
The Immaculate Heart of Mary is wholly ordered to God: pure, recollected, obedient, and steadfast beneath the Cross. Entrust this month to Our Lady and ask her to teach you to keep the words of Christ, hate sin, and remain faithful when fidelity costs you.
Intention
In reparation for offenses against Our Lady; for the conversion of sinners; and for purity, recollection, fidelity to Catholic truth, and perseverance beneath the Cross.
A faithful act
Offer all your daily duties to God through Mary before beginning them, and guard a short period of silence in imitation of her recollection.
Prayer
Immaculate Heart of Mary, take this month's prayer, work, and suffering into thy hands and lead us faithfully to Jesus.
Monday remembrance
The Holy Souls in Purgatory
Begin the working week with an act of mercy toward the faithful departed. Their helplessness calls forth charity, while their purification reminds the living to repent before death.
Intention
For the most abandoned soul in Purgatory and for deceased relatives, benefactors, priests, and those who have no one to pray for them.
A faithful act
Offer the first difficulty of the week for the Holy Souls and pray the De profundis.
Prayer
Eternal rest give unto them, O Lord; and let perpetual light shine upon them.
Roman Martyrology
Roman Martyrology - August 24
apostle St. Bartholomew, who preached the Gospel of Christ in India. He passed thence into the Greater Armenia, where, after converting many to the faith, he was flayed alive by the barbarians, and beheaded by order of king Astyages, and thus he terminated his martyrdom. His sacred body was first carried to the island of Lipara, then to Benevento, and finally to Rome in the island of the Tiber, where it is venerated by the pious faithful. — At Carthage, three hundred holy martyrs, in the time of Valerian and Gallienus. Among other torments inflicted on them, a pit filled with burning lime was prepared by order of the governor, who, live coals with incense being brought to him, said to the confessors: "Choose one of these two things; to offer incense to Jupiter on these coals, or to cast yourselves into the lime." Armed with faith, and confessing Christ to be the Son of God, they quickly precipitated themselves into the pit, and amidst the vapors of the lime were reduced to dust. From this circumstance this blessed troop obtained the appellation of White Mass. — At Nepi, St. Ptolemy, bishop, disciple of the blessed apostle Peter. Being sent by him to preach the Gospel in Tuscany, he died a glorious martyr of Christ in the city of Nepi. — In the same place, St. Eomanus, bishop of that city, who was the disciple of St. Ptolemy, and his companion in martyrdom. — At Ostia, St. Aurea, virgin and martyr, who was plunged into the sea with a stone tied to her neck. Her body, being cast on the shore, was buried by blessed Nounus. — In Isauria, St. Tatio, martyr, who received the crown of martyrdom by being beheaded in the persecution of Domitian, under the governor Urbanus. — The same day, St. Eutychius, disciple of the blessed Evangelist John. He preached the Gospel in many countries, was subjected to imprisonment, to stripes and fire, and finally he rested in peace. — Also, t. George Limniota, monk. Because he reprehended the impious emperor Leo for breaking holy images and burning the relics of the saints, he had his hands cut off and his head burned by order of the tyrant, and went to our Lord to receive the recompense of a martyr. — At Rouen, St. Owen, bishop and confessor. — At Nevers, St. Patrick, abbot.
Highlighted saint
St. Bartholomew
Apostle and witness to Christ without guile.
St. Bartholomew is honored among the apostles sent by Christ to preach the Gospel, and is traditionally identified with Nathanael, of whom Our Lord said: Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no guile.
His feast calls the Church back to apostolic simplicity. The disciple must receive truth plainly, confess Christ without duplicity, and bear witness where he is sent.
Virtue to practice
Apostolic sincerity.
Error to resist
The double-mindedness that wants Christ without the simplicity of a true disciple.
For the pilgrim in exile
Ask St. Bartholomew for a heart without guile. The Lord can build much with a soul that receives truth plainly.
Imitate today
- Reject duplicity in faith and speech.
- Receive Christ's call with sincerity.
- Pray for missionary courage.
Sources
- John 1:45-51, Douay-Rheims.
- Roman Martyrology, 1916 Baltimore edition, August 24.
From Matins
The Apostle without guile, sent to bear witness.
Matins - Second Nocturn - St. Bartholomew, Apostle
Roman Breviary and St. Ambrose, Proper lessons and homily on Luke 6
“An Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile.”
Doctrine taught
- The Breviary remembers St. Bartholomew within the apostolic mission, his preaching among distant peoples, and his martyrdom for Christ.
- The Apostle's traditional identification with Nathanael places sincerity and freedom from guile beside missionary courage.
- St. Ambrose teaches that the Apostles were not chosen for worldly power, but to carry Christ's authority through humility, suffering, and truth.
For the pilgrim in exile
Let apostolic simplicity expose duplicity. Christ sends souls who will receive truth without bargaining and bear it without relying on worldly rank.
Full Breviary lessons
Fourth Lesson - The Apostolate of St. Bartholomew
The Apostle Bartholomew was a Galilaean. In the division of the world among the Apostles it fell to his lot to preach the Gospel of JESUS Christ in hither India. He went thither and preached to those nations the coming of the Lord JESUS, according to the Gospel of St Matthew. When he had turned many in that province to JESUS Christ, and had endured many toils and woes, he came into the Greater Armenia.
Fifth Lesson - Conversion and Martyrdom
There he brought to the Christian faith Polymius the King, and his wife, and likewise the inhabitants of twelve cities. This stirred up a great hatred against him among the priests of that nation. They so inflamed against the Apostle Astyages the brother of King Polymius, that he savagely ordered Bartholomew to be flayed alive and beheaded; under the which martyrdom he gave up his soul to God.
Sixth Lesson - The Relics of the Apostle
His body was buried at the town of Albanopolis in the Greater Armenia, where he had suffered. It was afterwards taken to the Island of Lipari, and thence carried to Benevento. Lastly, the Emperor Otho III. brought it to Rome, where it was laid in the Church dedicated to God in his name on the Island in the Tiber. His Feast is kept at Rome upon the 25th day of August, and is celebrated by great crowds of people at the Church above mentioned, during the eight days following.
Sources
- The Roman Breviary, translated by John, Marquess of Bute, 1908, vol. III, Summer, Proper lessons and Third Nocturn for St. Bartholomew, printed pp. 853-854.
- 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
An apostle called into Christ's chosen company.
Matins - St. Bartholomew
Breviary witness
- The Breviary honors St. Bartholomew within the apostolic foundation of the Church, traditionally joined to the Gospel figure of Nathanael.
- His witness calls the soul to sincerity before Christ, freedom from guile, and courage in the mission received from Him.
For the pilgrim in exile
Let apostolic simplicity shame duplicity. Christ can do much with a soul that does not bargain with truth.
Sources
- Roman Breviary, Matins lessons for August 24, St. Bartholomew.
- Roman Martyrology, 1916 Baltimore edition, August 24.
Gospel of the day
He chose twelve of them.
St. Bartholomew, Apostle - Luke 6:12-19
“He chose twelve of them, whom also he named apostles.”
What Our Lord teaches
- The apostolate begins in the prayer of Christ and proceeds by His choice.
- The power that heals the multitude comes from Him, not from human charisma.
Virtue to practice
Receive your place from Christ instead of inventing one from vanity.
Error to resist
The self-appointed mission detached from prayer and obedience.
For the pilgrim in exile
Let St. Bartholomew teach you a quiet apostolic heart. Christ knows how to choose and how to use the hidden faithful.
Sources
- Luke 6:12-19, Douay-Rheims.
- Traditional Roman Gospel from the common of apostles.
Meditation
Apostolic Fidelity
Today the Church recalls that Christ entrusted His doctrine, sacraments, and authority to the apostles and commanded them to hand these gifts on. Catholics therefore receive the Faith from the Church rather than inventing it privately. They must also remember that sacred office is meant to serve revealed truth: holding an office and remaining faithful to its duties are related, but they are not identical.
Related paths
Walk the day through the City.
Today's chapters
Read with the feast.
Prayer
The day should become prayer.
O Lord, when confusion, scarcity, or loneliness presses upon me, keep me from despair. Thou hast not abandoned the faithful who cling to truth.
Thought for the pilgrim
The soul in exile is not abandoned.
Practice
The day should become obedience.
Name the graces God has preserved for you in exile and thank Him for them plainly.
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, Mass of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary, pp. 1520-1524.
- Luke 2:19 and 2:35, Douay-Rheims.
- St. Andrew Daily Missal, Dom Gaspar Lefebvre, O.S.B., 1953 edition; proper Mass or devotion named in this entry.
- Psalm 129 and 2 Machabees 12:43-46, Douay-Rheims.