Memorial of St. Francis Xavier, Priest (178) white Is 26:1–6 • Ps 118:1 and 8–9, 19–21, 25–27a • Mt 7:21, 24–27 St. Francis Xavier (1506–1552) built his house on the strong foundation and rock of faith in, and love for, Jesus Christ. While a Jesuit missionary in Japan, Francis discovered that he needed to connect […]

Advent Weekday (179) violet Is 29:17–24 • Ps 27:1, 4, 13–14 • Mt 9:27–31 Optional Memorial of St. John Damascene, Priest and Doctor of the Church / white St. John Damascene was a Syrian monk. He authored the Fountain of Wisdom, a summary of the teachings of the Greek Fathers, and is honored as a […]

Advent Weekday (180) violet Is 30:19–21, 23–26 • Ps 147:1–2, 3–4, 5–6 • Mt 9:35—10:1, 5a, 6–8

Second Sunday of Advent (5) violet Is 40:1–5, 9–11 • Ps 85:9–10, 11–12, 13–14 • 2 Pt 3:8–14 • Mk 1:1–8 Creed Psalter Week II

Memorial of St. Ambrose, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (181) white Is 35:1–10 • Ps 85:9ab and 10, 11–12, 13–14 • Lk 5:17–26 St. Ambrose (340–397) was baptized and ordained both presbyter and bishop in one week. He let nothing get in his way. His way of settling conflict brought him to be elected […]

Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary (689) white Patronal Feastday of the United States of America Holyday of Obligation Gn 3:9–15, 20 • Ps 98:1, 2–3ab, 3cd–4 • Eph 1:3–6, 11–12 • Lk 1:26–38 Gloria and the Creed Proper Psalter Purísima Concepción de María (Nicaragua)Today we honor Mary because God favored […]

Advent Weekday (183) violet Is 40:25–31 • Ps 103:1–2, 3–4, 8 and 10 • Mt 11:28–30 Optional Memorial of St. Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin / white It is legend that in December 1531, Mary appeared to the peasant Juan Diego on the hillside of Tepeyac, once the site of an Aztec temple dedicated to human sacrifice, […]

Advent Weekday (184) violet Is 41:13–20 • Ps 145:1 and 9, 10–11, 12–13ab • Mt 11:11–15 Optional Memorial of Our Lady of Loreto / white In 2019, Pope Francis approved the inclusion of the optional Memorial of Our Lady of Loreto to the General Roman Calendar. The house in which tradition holds Mary was born, […]

Advent Weekday (185) violet Is 48:17–19 • Ps 1:1–2, 3, 4 and 6 • Mt 11:16–19 Optional Memorial of St. Damasus I, Pope / white Pope Damasus presided over the Council of Rome, which codified the canon of Scripture and commissioned the Vulgate translation of the Bible from St. Jerome. His vision and patronage helped […]

Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe (690A, or 707–712) white Zec 2:14–17 or Rv 11:19a; 12:1–6a, 10ab • Jdt 13:18bcde, 19 • Lk 1:26–38 or Lk 1:39–47 Gloria and the Creed Proper Psalter The story of the origins of the miraculous image of Our Lady of Guadalupe is well known. Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin was a […]

Third Sunday of Advent (8) violet or rose Is 61:1–2a, 10–11 • Lk 1:46–48, 49–50, 53–54 • 1 Thes 5:16–24 • Jn 1:6–8, 19–28 Creed Psalter Week III

Memorial of St. John of the Cross, Priest and Doctor of the Church (187) white Nm 24:2–7, 15–17a • Ps 25:4–5ab, 6 and 7bc, 8–9 • Mt 21:23–27 St. John of the Cross was a Carmelite priest, spiritual director, writer, mystic, and reformer who lived during the early years of the Counter-Reformation. His prose and […]

Advent Weekday (188) violet Zep 3:1–2, 9–13 • Ps 34:2–3, 6–7, 17–18, 19 and 23 • Mt 21:28–32

Advent Weekday (189) violet Is 45:6b–8, 18, 21c–25 • Ps 85:9ab and 10, 11–12, 13–14 • Lk 7:18b–23 Simbang Gabi, Las Parrandas, and Los Posadas begin

Advent Weekday (193) violet Gn 49:2, 8–10 • Ps 72:1–2, 3–4ab, 7–8, 17 • Mt 1:1–17 The O Antiphons begin at Evening Prayer

Advent Weekday (194) violet Jer 23:5–8 • Ps 72:1–2, 12–13, 18–19 • Mt 1:18–25

Advent Weekday (195) violet Jgs 13:2–7, 24–25a • Ps 71:3–4a, 5–6ab, 16–17 • Lk 1:5–25

Fourth Sunday of Advent (11) violet 2 Sm 7:1–5, 8b–12, 14a, 16 • Ps 89:2–3, 4–5, 27, 29 • Rom 16:25–27 • Lk 1:26–38 Creed Psater Week IV

Advent Weekday (197) violet Sg 2:8–14 or Zep 3:14–18a • Ps 33:2–3, 11–12, 20–21 • Lk 1:39–45 Optional Memorial of St. Peter Canisius, Priest and Doctor of the Church / violet St. Peter Canisius wrote a German-language catechism and founded the Jesuit College in Fribourg, Switzerland, as a response to Protestant Reformation. He avoided polemics […]

Advent Weekday (198) violet 1 Sm 1:24–28 • 1 Sm 2:1, 4–5, 6–7, 8abcd • Lk 1:46–56

Advent Weekday (199) violet Mal 3:1–4, 23–24 • Ps 25:4–5ab, 8–9, 10 and 14 • Lk 1:57–66 Optional Memorial of St. John Kanty, Priest St. John of Kanty was a Polish theologian and physicist who taught at the University of Krakow. Although his head was in the heavens, both theologically and astronomically, his heart was […]

Advent Weekday (200) violet 2 Sm 7:1–5, 8b–12, 14a, 16 • Ps 89:2–3, 4–5, 27 and 29 • Lk 1:67–79

Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord (13, 14, 15, 16) white Holyday of Obligation Vigil: Is 62:1–5 • Ps 89:4–5, 16–17, 27, 29 • Acts 13:16–17, 22–25 • Mt 1:1–25 or 1:18–25 Night: Is 9:1–6 • Ps 96:1–2, 2–3, 11–12, 13 • Ti 2:11–14 • Lk 2:1–14 Dawn: Is 62:11–12 • Ps 97:1, 6, […]

Feast of St. Stephen, The First Martyr (696) red Acts 6:8–10; 7:54–59 • Ps 31:3cd–4, 6 and 8ab, 16bc and 17 • Mt 10:17–22 Gloria Proper Psalter St. Stephen was one of the first seven deacons of the Church and is remembered as the first martyr. The faith that led him to devote himself to […]

Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph (17) white Sir 3:2–6, 12–14 • Ps 128:1–2, 3, 4–5 • Col 3:12–21 or 3:12–17 • Lk 2:22–40 or 2:22, 39–40 or, in Year B, Gn 15:1–6; 21:1–3 • Ps 105:1–2, 3–4, 5–6, 8–9 • Heb 11:8, 11–12, 17–19 • Lk 2:22–40 or 2:22, 39–40Gloria […]

Feast of the Holy Innocents, Martyrs (698) red 1 Jn 1:5—2:2 • Ps 124:2–3, 4–5, 7cd–8 • Mt 2:13–18 Gloria Proper Psalter On the Fourth Day of Christmas, we mourn the Holy Innocents. Herod had told the Magi to return to him, but they were warned in a dream not to go back to him. […]

Fifth Day within the Octave of the Nativity of the Lord (202) white 1 Jn 2:3–11 • Ps 96:1–2a, 2b–3, 5b–6 • Lk 2:22–35 Gloria Proper Psalter Optional Memorial of St. Thomas Becket, Bishop and Martyr / white St. Thomas Becket was the archbishop of Canterbury in the early twelfth century. He was murdered in […]

Sixth Day within the Octave of the Nativity of the Lord (203) white 1 Jn 2:12–17 • Ps 96:7–8a, 8b–9, 10 • Lk 2:36–40 Gloria Proper Psalter

Seventh Day within the Octave of the Nativity of the Lord (204) white 1 Jn 2:18–21 • Ps 96:1–2, 11–12, 13 • Jn 1:1–18 Gloria Proper Psalter Optional Memorial of St. Sylvester I, Pope / white Pope Sylvester’s papacy began after the conversion of Constantine ended persecutions against Christians. St. Sylvester built churches in Rome […]

Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God (18) white The Octave Day of the Nativity of the Lord Holyday of Obligation Nm 6:22–27 • Ps 67:2–3, 5, 6, 8 • Gal 4:4–7 • Lk 2:16–21 Gloria and the Creed Proper Psalter World Day of Prayer for Peace Today, the Church celebrates Mary as the […]

Memorial of Sts. Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen, Bishops and Doctors of the Church (205) white 1 Jn 2:22–28 • Ps 98:1, 2–3ab, 3cd–4 • Jn 1:19–28 Psalter Week I Sts. Basil (329–379) and Gregory (329–390) were close friends. They fought against Arianism, a fourth-century heresy that denied the full divinity of Christ. Their […]