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
Finding of St. Stephen, Martyr
Tuesday, August 3, 2027
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
Finding of St. Stephen, Martyr
Rank: Semi-Double
Color: red
Quote for the day
Holy Scripture
“Give me wisdom the assistant of thy seats, and repel me not from thy children. […] Send her from thy holy heavens, and from the seat of thy greatness, that she may be with me, and may labour with me, that I may know what is acceptable with thee.”
Wisdom 9:4, 10, Original 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.
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 - August 3
At Jerusalem, the finding of the body of most blessed Stephen, first martyr, and of the Saints Gamaliel, Nicodemus, and Abibo, through a divine revelation made to the priest Lucian, in the time of the emperor Honorius. — At Constantinople, the birthday of St. Hermellus, martyr. — In the East Indies, near Persia, the martyrdom of holy monks and other Christians who were put to death after suffering various torments, during the persecution of the Church of God by king Abenner. — At Naples, in Campania, St. Aspren, bishop, who was cured of a sickness by the apostle St. Peter, and after being baptized, was made bishop of that city. — At Autun, the demise of St. Euphronius, bishop and confessor. — At Anagni, St. Peter, bishop, who rested in the Lord after gaining great renown for monastical observance and for pastoral vigilance. — At Philippi, in Macedonia, St. Lydia, a dealer in purple, who was the first to believe in the Gospel when the apostle St. Paul preached in that city. — At Beroea, in Syria, the holy women Marana and Cyra. A
Highlighted saint
Finding of St. Stephen
The protomartyr's relics honored by the Church.
The Finding of St. Stephen honors the discovery of the relics of the first martyr, whose witness began the long procession of Christian blood shed for Christ.
St. Stephen preached Christ before his judges, saw the heavens opened, and prayed for his persecutors while being stoned. His relics teach that the bodies of the saints are not refuse of the past, but members of Christ, temples of the Holy Ghost, and pledges of resurrection.
Virtue to practice
Reverence for martyrdom and holy relics.
Error to resist
The cold rationalism that despises relics, bodies, and visible signs of sanctity.
For the pilgrim in exile
Let St. Stephen teach reverence for holy remains and holy witness. The Church remembers the bodies of her martyrs because Christ redeems the whole man.
Imitate today
- Honor the saints with gratitude rather than curiosity.
- Pray for courage under contradiction.
- Forgive enemies without surrendering truth.
Sources
- St. Andrew Daily Missal, August 3.
- Roman Martyrology, 1916 Baltimore edition, August 3.
From Matins
The first martyr found, honored, and still fruitful.
Matins - Third Nocturn - Finding of the Body of St. Stephen, the First Martyr
Roman Breviary, St. Augustine, and St. Jerome, Proper lessons for the Finding of St. Stephen
“Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”
Doctrine taught
- The Breviary begins with St. Stephen's witness in Acts: his rebuke of hardened hearts, his vision of Christ standing at the right hand of God, his prayer for his murderers, and his burial by devout men.
- The proper lessons recount the discovery of the bodies of St. Stephen, Gamaliel, Nicodemus, and Abibon, and the honor given to the first martyr's relics.
- St. Augustine records miracles worked through St. Stephen's relics, while St. Jerome's Gospel lesson places martyrdom within Our Lord's warning that prophets, wise men, and scribes would be persecuted.
For the pilgrim in exile
Honor the bodies and memory of the saints. St. Stephen teaches bold confession, forgiveness of persecutors, reverence for holy relics, and hope that Christ still works through His martyrs for the strengthening of the Church.
Full Breviary lessons
Seventh Lesson - St. Jerome's Homily
The Lesson is taken from the Holy Gospel according to Matthew (xxiii. 34). At that time: JESUS said unto the Scribes and Pharisees: Behold, I send unto you Prophets, and wise men, and Scribes; and some of them ye shall kill and crucify. And so on.
Homily on this passage by St. Jerome, Priest [at Bethlehem.] (Bk. iv. Commentary on Matth. xxiii.) We have already remarked that the Lord's words, "Fill ye up the measure of your fathers," refer in the first place to Himself, Whom the Jews afterwards put to death. In a secondary sense it may likewise be applied to His disciples, of whom He saith, "Behold, I send unto you Prophets, and wise men, and Scribes." Here observe that, according to the Apostle writing to the Corinthians, there are diversities of gifts among Christ's followers. Some are Prophets of that which is to come; some are wise men, who know the due season for rebuke and exhortation; some are Scribes learned in the law. And of these they stoned Stephen, slew Paul with the sword, crucified Peter, and scourged the Disciples mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles.
Eighth Lesson - St. Jerome's Homily
It is a subject of dispute among commentators who is meant by Zacharias the son of Barachias. We read of several persons of the name of Zacharias. But here, in order to prevent any mistake, it is particularly said, "Whom ye slew between the temple and the altar." I have read various opinions in various places upon this question, and I will give each. First, some hold that Zacharias the son of Barachias is the eleventh of the twelve Minor Prophets; and this opinion is supported by the father's name. But the Bible nowhere telleth us that this Prophet was slain between the temple and the altar; and it is hardly possible that he can have been, for in his time it could scarcely be said that even the ruins of the temple were in existence. Secondly, others maintain that this Zacharias was Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist. This interpretation is derived from the dreams of the Apocryphal Gospels, wherein it is asserted that he was martyred for preaching Christ's coming.
Ninth Lesson - Conclusion of St. Jerome's Homily
A third school will have it that this Zacharias, the son of Barachias, was that Zacharias of whom we read, in the story of the Kings, that he was slain by Joash, king of Judah, between the temple and the altar. Against this it is to be remarked, that that Zacharias was not the son of Barachias, but of Jehoiada the priest; whence it is written, "Joash remembered not the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done to him." The question therefore ariseth, if this opinion be true, why, the name and manner of death both agreeing with this explanation, Zacharias is called the son, not of Jehoiada, but of Barachias. In Hebrew "Barachias" signifieth "the Blessed of the LORD," and "Jehoiada" "Righteousness." In the Gospel used by the Nazarenes, the name of Jehoiada is used instead of Barachias.
Sources
- The Roman Breviary, translated by John, Marquess of Bute, 1908, vol. III, Summer, Proper Office for the Finding of St. Stephen, lessons i-ix, printed pp. 780-786.
- 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 first martyr remembered in his relics.
Matins - Finding of St. Stephen
Breviary witness
- The Breviary remembrance of the Finding of St. Stephen turns the faithful toward the protomartyr who preached Christ, forgave his persecutors, and whose body was honored by the Church.
- His relics teach that martyrdom touches the whole man: soul, body, memory, and the hope of resurrection.
For the pilgrim in exile
Honor holy bodies and holy witness. The faith is not a ghostly idea, but the redemption of souls and bodies in Christ.
Sources
- Roman Breviary, Matins lessons for August 3, Finding of St. Stephen.
- St. Andrew Daily Missal, August 3.
Meditation
Growth After Pentecost
After Pentecost the Church teaches the soul how grace matures. Consolation is not enough. The Spirit of truth forms endurance, obedience, hatred of heresy, reverence for true worship, and courage to confess Christ when the world calls fidelity narrow.
Related paths
Walk the day through the City.
Today's chapters
Read with the feast.
Prayer
The day should become prayer.
O Lord, make my charity patient without weakness, firm without harshness, and always ordered toward the salvation of souls.
Thought for the pilgrim
Charity is clearest when it remains joined to truth.
Practice
The day should become obedience.
Perform hidden acts of charity without seeking notice or return.
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 90:11 and Matthew 18:10, Douay-Rheims.