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
23rd Sunday after Pentecost
Sunday, November 12, 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
23rd Sunday after Pentecost
Rank: Semi-Double Sunday
Color: green
Impeded feast: St. Martin I, Pope and Martyr. The temporal observance has precedence. The precise commemoration rule remains tied to the relevant proper and rubric.
Quote for the day
The Didache
“Bless those who curse you, and pray for your enemies, and fast for those who persecute you.”
Roman Martyrology
Roman Martyrology - November 12
The birthday of St. Martin, pope and martyr. Because he had convoked a council at Rome, and condemned the heretics Sergius, Paul and Pyrrhus, he was taken prisoner treacherously by order of the heretical emperor Constans, carried to Constantinople and banished to Chersonesus, where he ended his life, consumed with afflictions endured for the Catholic faith, and with a reputation for many miracles. His body was subsequently transferred to Rome, and deposited in the church of the Saints Silvester and Martin. — In Asia, the martyrdom of the Saints Aurelius and Publius, bishops. — In the diocese of Sens, St. Paternus, martyr. — At Ghent, St. Livinus, bishop and martyr. — In Poland, the holy martyrs Benedict, John, Matthew, Isaac and Christinus, hermits. — At Witebsk, in Poland, the martyrdom of St. Josaphat, of the Order of St. Basil, archbishop of Polotzk, who was cruelly murdered by the schismatics, through hatred of Catholic unity and truth. He was cononized by Pius IX. in 1867. — At Avignon, St. Rufus, first bishop of that city. — At Cologne, the decease of St. Cunibert, bishop. — At Tarazona, in Spain, blessed Emilian, a priest who wrought numberless miracles, and whose wonderful life was written by St. Braulio, bishop of Saragossa. — At Constantinople, St. Nilus, abbot who resigned the office of governor of the city to become a monk, and was distinguished for learning and sanctity, in the time of Theodosius the Younger. — Also, at Constantinople, St. Theodore Studita, who became celebrated throughout the whole Catholic Church by his vigorous defence of the faith against the Iconoclasts. — At Alcala, in Spain, St. Didacus, confessor, of the Order of Minorites, who was renowned for his humility. Inscribed on the catalogue of the saints by Sixtus V., his feast is kept on the thirteenth of this month.
Highlighted saint
St. Martin I
Pope and martyr who suffered for Catholic doctrine.
The Martyrology records that Pope St. Martin convoked a council at Rome and condemned the heretics Sergius, Paul, and Pyrrhus.
For the Catholic faith he was treacherously taken by order of the heretical emperor Constans, carried to Constantinople, banished to Chersonesus, and consumed by afflictions.
Virtue to practice
Doctrinal fidelity under imperial pressure.
Error to resist
The compromise that treats heresy as a political inconvenience rather than poison to souls.
For the pilgrim in exile
Ask St. Martin for courage when truth becomes costly. Catholic doctrine is not protected by silence before powerful error.
Imitate today
- Defend Christological truth clearly.
- Pray for popes and bishops under coercion.
- Suffer rather than flatter heresy.
Sources
- St. Andrew Daily Missal, November 12.
- Roman Martyrology, 1916 Baltimore edition, November 12.
From Matins
The daughter delayed and the Gentile soul healed on the way.
Matins - Third Nocturn - 23rd Sunday after Pentecost
St. Jerome, Priest, Commentary on St. Matthew
“The Lord healed one, even while He was on the road to heal another.”
Doctrine taught
- The Breviary reads the woman with the issue of blood as a figure of the Gentiles receiving mercy while Israel's restoration is delayed.
- St. Jerome sees the Lord's mercy on the road as a sign that the Gentiles are not excluded from healing.
- Faith touches Christ even from behind, and grace turns hidden misery into public healing.
For the pilgrim in exile
Do not measure mercy by visible privilege. The soul that seems outside may touch Christ by faith and be healed while history waits.
Sources
- The Roman Breviary, translated by John, Marquess of Bute, 1908, vol. IV, Autumn, Third Nocturn for the 23rd 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
A pope who suffered for Catholic doctrine.
Matins - St. Martin I
Breviary witness
- The Martyrology records Pope St. Martin's condemnation of heresy, his seizure by order of a heretical emperor, and his banishment to Chersonesus.
- His afflictions for the Catholic faith teach that doctrine may become costly precisely when rulers demand religious compromise.
For the pilgrim in exile
Do not let pressure make doctrine negotiable. St. Martin teaches fidelity when the price is exile, humiliation, and suffering.
Sources
- Roman Breviary, Matins lessons for November 12, St. Martin I.
- Roman Martyrology, 1916 Baltimore edition, November 12.
Gospel of the day
Only believe.
23rd Sunday after Pentecost - Matthew 9:18-26
“The maid is not dead, but sleepeth.”
What Our Lord teaches
- Christ heals the woman with the issue of blood and raises the ruler's daughter.
- Faith reaches for the hem of His garment and trusts Him beyond visible death.
Virtue to practice
Approach Christ with humble confidence in hidden suffering.
Error to resist
The crowd's unbelief that laughs at hope before God has acted.
For the pilgrim in exile
Touch the hem if that is all you can do. A timid act of faith is still faith when it reaches toward Jesus.
Sources
- Matthew 9:18-26, Douay-Rheims.
- Traditional Roman Gospel for the 23rd 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, keep the faithful in the Church's holy memory, and let this day's feast, feria, or witness draw my soul nearer to Thee.
Thought for the pilgrim
The Church's memory teaches the soul how to live in time.
Practice
The day should become obedience.
Read the day's observance slowly, then ask what virtue it requires of you.
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.