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
19th Sunday after Pentecost
Sunday, September 26, 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
19th Sunday after Pentecost
Rank: Semi-Double Sunday
Color: green
Impeded feast: Ss. Cyprian and Justina, Martyrs. The temporal observance has precedence. The precise commemoration rule remains tied to the relevant proper and rubric.
Quote for the day
Pope St. Pius X
“Many suffer everlasting calamity because of ignorance of those mysteries of faith which must be known and believed.”
Acerbo Nimis, n. 2
Roman Martyrology
Roman Martyrology - September 26
At Nicomedia, the birthday of the holy martyrs Cyprian, and Justina, virgin. Under the emperor Diocletian and the governor Eutholmius. Justina suffered much for the faith of Christ and converted Cyprian, who, while a magician, endeavored to bring her under the influence of his magical practices. She afterwards suffered martyrdom with him. Their bodies being exposed to the beasts, were taken away in the night by some Christian sailors, and carried to Rome. They were subsequently taken into the Constantinian basilica, and deposited near the baptistery. — At Rome, the holy martyr Callistratus, and forty-nine other soldiers, who endured martyrdorn together, in the persecution of Diocletian. The companions of Callistratus were converted to Christ on seeing him miraculously delivered from drowning in the sea, where he had been thrown sewed up in a bag. — Also, at Rome, pope St. Eusebius. — At Bologna, St. Eusebius, bishop and confessor. — At Brescia, St. Vigilius, bishop. — At Albano, St. Senator. — In the territory of Frascati, the blessed abbot Mlus, founder of the monastery of CryptaFerrata, a man of eminent sanctity. — At Citta-diCastello, St. Amantius, a priest distinguished for the gift of miracles.
Highlighted saint
Ss. Cyprian and Justina
Martyrs of conversion, chastity, and deliverance from evil.
The Martyrology records that Justina suffered much for the faith of Christ and converted Cyprian, who had tried by magical practices to bring her under his power.
They afterwards suffered martyrdom together under Diocletian. Their feast teaches the victory of grace over occult bondage, impurity, and the attempt to dominate another soul.
Virtue to practice
Chaste courage and conversion.
Error to resist
The superstition that seeks power apart from God and calls it harmless.
For the pilgrim in exile
Ask Saints Cyprian and Justina for clean freedom. Christ breaks the pride that tries to possess, manipulate, or corrupt another soul.
Imitate today
- Reject superstition and occult practices completely.
- Guard purity by prayer and resistance.
- Pray for conversions that turn enemies into saints.
Sources
- St. Andrew Daily Missal, September 26.
- Roman Martyrology, 1916 Baltimore edition, September 26.
From Matins
The King's Son, the Incarnation, and the wedding garment.
Matins - Third Nocturn - 19th Sunday after Pentecost
Pope St. Gregory the Great, Homily 38 on the Gospels
“God the Father made a marriage for God the Son, when He wedded Him to the manhood in the womb of the Virgin.”
Doctrine taught
- The Breviary reads the marriage feast as the mystery of the Incarnation and Christ's union with His holy Church.
- St. Gregory carefully confesses one Person in two natures, refusing any division of Christ into two persons.
- The wedding garment warns that entrance into the feast must be joined to conversion, charity, and fitting life.
For the pilgrim in exile
Do not treat the banquet as a right without a garment. The Incarnate King invites, but the invited soul must be clothed in grace.
Sources
- The Roman Breviary, translated by John, Marquess of Bute, 1908, vol. IV, Autumn, Third Nocturn for the 19th Sunday after Pentecost, lessons vii-ix.
- 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
Grace stronger than occult bondage.
Matins - Ss. Cyprian and Justina
Breviary witness
- The Martyrology remembers Justina's suffering for Christ and the conversion of Cyprian, who had once tried by magical practices to bring her under his power.
- Their martyrdom together teaches the victory of chastity, conversion, and divine grace over superstition and spiritual domination.
For the pilgrim in exile
Reject every occult compromise without curiosity. Christ gives freedom; false powers seek possession, impurity, and pride.
Sources
- Roman Breviary, Matins remembrance for September 26, Ss. Cyprian and Justina.
- Roman Martyrology, 1916 Baltimore edition, September 26.
Gospel of the day
Many are called, but few are chosen.
19th Sunday after Pentecost - Matthew 22:1-14
“Friend, how camest thou in hither not having on a wedding garment?”
What Our Lord teaches
- The kingdom is a wedding feast, but the invited must come clothed as God requires.
- Grace invites freely, yet does not abolish conversion.
Virtue to practice
Put on the wedding garment through repentance and charity.
Error to resist
The presumption that accepts the invitation while refusing amendment.
For the pilgrim in exile
Do not be afraid of the garment; ask for it. God does not invite you in order to shame you, but to clothe you for joy.
Sources
- Matthew 22:1-14, Douay-Rheims.
- Traditional Roman Gospel for the 19th Sunday after Pentecost.
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, do not permit me to admire truth without submitting to it. Give me the courage to obey what Thou hast already made known.
Thought for the pilgrim
Truth becomes fruitful when it is obeyed.
Practice
The day should become obedience.
Choose one known duty and obey it without delay or complaint.
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, p. xv: the third through twenty-third Sundays after Pentecost are semi-doubles; the twenty-fourth Sunday is fixed at the end of the cycle.
- St. Andrew Daily Missal, Liturgical Calendar, pp. xiii and xv: the remaining third through sixth Sundays after the Epiphany are restored before the twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost as the year requires.
- St. Andrew Daily Missal, Liturgical Calendar, pp. xvii–xxviii.