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. Evaristus, Pope and Martyr
Monday, October 26, 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. Evaristus, Pope and Martyr
Rank: Simple
Color: red
Quote for the day
Thomas a Kempis
“Nothing, how little so ever it be, if it is suffered for God's sake, can pass without merit in the sight of God.”
Roman Martyrology
Roman Martyrology - October 26
At Rome, in the time of the emperor Adrian, St. Evaristus, pope and martyr, who enriched the Church of God with his blood. — In Africa, the holy martyrs Rogatian, priest, and Felicissimus, who received the bright crown of martyrs, in the persecution of Valerian and Gallienus. They are mentioned by St. Cyprian in his epistle to the Confessors. — At Nicomedia, the holy martyrs Lucian, Florius and their companions. — The same day, St. Quodvultdeus, bishop of Carthage. By the Arian king Genseric, he and his clergy were put on board of leaking boats without oars or sails, but beyond all expectations he landed at Naples, and there in exile died a confessor. — At Narbonne, St. Rusticus, bishop and confessor, who flourished in the time of the emperors Valentinian and Leo. — At Salerno, St. Gaudiosus, bishop. — At Pavia, St. Fulk, bishop. — At Hildesheim, in Saxony, St. Bernward, bishop and confessor, who was ranked among the saints by Celestine III. — Also, St. Quadragesimus, sub-deacon, who raised a dead man to life.
Highlighted saint
St. Evaristus
Pope and martyr who enriched the Church with his blood.
The Martyrology honors St. Evaristus at Rome, pope and martyr in the time of Adrian, saying that he enriched the Church of God with his blood.
His feast teaches the cost of apostolic office. The Church is not strengthened by management alone, but by shepherds who belong to Christ even unto blood.
Virtue to practice
Apostolic fidelity unto blood.
Error to resist
The managerial view of the Church that forgets martyrdom, doctrine, and sacrifice.
For the pilgrim in exile
Ask St. Evaristus for reverence toward office without illusions about comfort. Christ's shepherds are safest when they know the office belongs to Him.
Imitate today
- Pray for shepherds to be faithful under pressure.
- Honor the martyrs of Roman succession.
- Prefer sacrifice to betrayal of office.
Sources
- St. Andrew Daily Missal, October 26.
- Roman Martyrology, 1916 Baltimore edition, October 26.
Breviary Witness
The pope who enriched the Church with his blood.
Matins - St. Evaristus
Breviary witness
- The Martyrology honors St. Evaristus as pope and martyr at Rome in the time of Adrian, saying that he enriched the Church of God with his blood.
- His witness places apostolic office beneath sacrifice. The Church is guarded by doctrine and order, but also by blood freely given for Christ.
For the pilgrim in exile
Pray for shepherds who will suffer rather than betray. Sacred office is safest when it remembers martyrdom.
Sources
- Roman Breviary, Matins remembrance for October 26, St. Evaristus.
- Roman Martyrology, 1916 Baltimore edition, October 26.
Meditation
Growth After Pentecost
The Time after Pentecost teaches perseverance after the great feasts. Many souls receive light and then return to forgetfulness. The pilgrim must instead turn light into rule: morning prayer, the Angelus, Rosary, examination, custody of speech, and fidelity to the duty before him.
Related paths
Walk the day through the City.
Today's chapters
Read with the feast.
Prayer
The day should become prayer.
O Lord, bring this day to judgment before Thy mercy. Show me where I obeyed, where I resisted, where I loved, and where I must begin again.
Thought for the pilgrim
The day must end beneath truth.
Practice
The day should become obedience.
End the day with thanksgiving, examination, contrition, and a firm purpose for tomorrow.
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.