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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.

Daily observance

Ss. Tiburtius and Susanna, Martyrs

Friday, August 11, 2028

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

Ss. Tiburtius and Susanna, Martyrs

Rank: Simple

Color: red

Quote for the day

St. Paul

“The word of the cross, to them indeed that perish, is foolishness; but to them that are saved, it is the power of God.”

1 Corinthians 1:18, 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.

Friday remembrance

The Passion and Sacred Heart of Jesus

Friday keeps Calvary before the Christian soul. Unite the day's labor and suffering to the Passion of Christ, remembering that His Sacred Heart was opened for sinners and that love proves itself by sacrifice and obedience.

Intention

In reparation for sin; for the conversion of sinners; and for those who suffer, are persecuted, or will die this day.

A faithful act

Keep the Church's Friday abstinence and add hidden self-denial in memory of the Passion.

Prayer

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, through Thy bitter Passion, have mercy on us and on poor sinners.

Roman Martyrology

Roman Martyrology - August 11

At Rome, between the two laurels situated about three miles from the city, the birthday of St. Tiburtius, martyr, under the judge Fabian, in the persecution of Diocletian. After he hard walked barefoot on burning coals and confessed Christ with increased constancy, he was put to the sword. — Also, at Rome, the holy virgin Susanna, a woman of noble race, and niece of the blessed Pontiff Caius. She merited the palm of martyrdom by being beheaded in the time of Diocletian. — At Gomana, in Pontus, St. Alexander, bishop, surnamed Carbonarius, who added to a consummate knowledge of philosophy an eminent degree of Christian humility. He was promoted to the See of that church by St. Gregory Thaumaturgus, and became illustrious, not only by preaching, but also by suffering martyrdom by fire. — The same day, the martyrdom of St. Rufinus, bishop of the Marsi, and his companions, under the emperor Maximinus. — At Evreux, in France, St. Taurinus, bishop. Being made bishop of that city by the blessed pope Clement, he propagated the Christian faith by the preaching of the Gospel, and the many labors he sustained for it. Celebrated for glorious miracles, he slept in the Lord. — At Cambrai, in France, St. Gaugericus, bishop and confessor. — In the province of Valeria, St. Equitius, abbot, whose sanctity is attested by the blessed pope Gregory. — At Todi, St. Digna, virgin.

Read and verify the full entry

Highlighted saint

Ss. Tiburtius and Susanna

Martyrs of Rome, steadfast under pressure.

During the persecution of Diocletian, St. Tiburtius walked barefoot upon burning coals and confessed Christ with still greater constancy before he was put to the sword.

St. Susanna, a Roman virgin of noble family and niece of Pope St. Caius, received the palm of martyrdom by beheading. Together these saints show that neither physical torment nor social position can excuse denial of Christ.

St. Susanna especially reminds Catholic homes that chastity, modesty, and consecrated fidelity are not private preferences. They belong to the honor of Christ and must be guarded even when the age mocks them.

Virtue to practice

Chaste firmness under pressure.

Error to resist

The fear of man that trades purity or fidelity for acceptance.

For the pilgrim in exile

Let these Roman martyrs steady you. The world often begins by asking for a little silence, a little compromise, a little surrender of modesty. The Catholic answer must remain calm, clear, and faithful to Christ.

Imitate today

  • Ask for courage under pressure from family, society, or authority.
  • Guard purity in speech, dress, entertainment, and affection.
  • Honor lesser-known martyrs as friends of the faithful in exile.

Sources

  • St. Andrew Daily Missal, August 11.
  • Roman Martyrology, 1916 Baltimore edition, August 11.

From the Roman Martyrology

The martyrs who answered fire and rank with a firmer confession.

Martyrology - Martyrology Notice - Ss. Tiburtius and Susanna, Martyrs

Roman Martyrology, Notice for August 11

“After he had walked barefoot on burning coals and confessed Christ with increased constancy, he was put to the sword.”

Doctrine taught

  • The Martyrology remembers St. Tiburtius confessing Christ with greater constancy after walking barefoot upon burning coals, and receiving the sword when torment could not obtain apostasy.
  • It remembers St. Susanna as a Roman virgin of noble race and a kinswoman of Pope St. Caius who received the palm of martyrdom by beheading.
  • Their notices unite bodily courage, chastity, and freedom from the fear of status or authority. Neither pain nor social advantage can make denial of Christ lawful.

For the pilgrim in exile

Ask these martyrs for chastity and firmness under pressure. Refuse the small compromises by which the world first trains a soul to fear suffering more than sin.

Sources

  • The Roman Martyrology, Baltimore: John Murphy Company, 1916, August 11, printed p. 240; local checked transcription at content/martyrology/roman-martyrology-1916-raw.txt, lines 8233-8269.

Meditation

Growth After Pentecost

The green season is not empty time. It is growth under grace. The pilgrim must ask whether the seed of doctrine is becoming virtue, whether prayer is becoming habit, whether zeal is becoming charity, and whether Catholic truth is governing ordinary choices.

Prayer

The day should become prayer.

O Lord, bless every natural good, but do not let me confuse it with the life of grace. Draw my family, my work, and my affections beneath the Catholic Faith.

Thought for the pilgrim

Natural kindness is not the same as supernatural fidelity.

Practice

The day should become obedience.

Thank God for natural goods and order their use to grace and truth.

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.
  • John 19:30-37, Douay-Rheims.
Browse the Roman Martyrology