Episodes

  • December 25: Nativity of the Lord—Solemnity

    December 25: Nativity of the Lord—Solemnity
    Dec 24 2024
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    December 25: Nativity of the Lord—Solemnity

    Quote:
    In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that the whole world should be enrolled. This was the first enrollment, when Quirinius was governor of Syria. So all went to be enrolled, each to his own town. And Joseph too went up from Galilee from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David that is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. While they were there, the time came for her to have her child, and she gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. ~Luke 2:1–7

    Prayer:
    Most Holy Savior of the World, You are the Light that scattered the darkness. You chose to be born in the most humble conditions, elevating humility as a means of great holiness. As we celebrate Your birth, I pray that You will also be born in my life, and through me, into the world. May this Christmas be a time in which I come to know You more fully and intimately, joining the shepherds in their adoration of You, so that I can share in the abundant new life You came to bestow. Holy Savior, have mercy on me. Jesus, I trust in You.

    Source of content: mycatholic.life
    Copyright © 2024 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.

    Main image public domain
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    11 mins
  • December 23: Saint John of Kanty (Cantius), Priest—Optional Memorial

    December 23: Saint John of Kanty (Cantius), Priest—Optional Memorial
    Dec 22 2024
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    December 23: Saint John of Kanty (Cantius), Priest—Optional Memorial

    c. 1390–1473
    Patron Saint of teachers, students, priests, pilgrims, Lithuania, and Poland
    Canonized by Pope Clement XIII on July 16, 1767
    Liturgical Color: Violet

    Quote:
    Fight all false opinions, but let your weapons be patience, sweetness and love. Roughness is bad for your own soul and spoils the best cause. ~Saint John of Kanty

    Prayer:
    Saint John Cantius, though you were a great intellectual, your humility and deep faith, coupled with your genuine love for those whom you ministered to, had a lasting effect upon the people of your community, and upon all of Poland. Please pray for me, that I will learn from your life and imitate your virtues so that I, too, will one day be counted among the saints. Saint John Cantius, pray for me. Jesus, I trust in You.

    Source of content: mycatholic.life
    Copyright © 2024 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.

    Photo: Saint John Kanty Parish, Buffalo, NY
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    10 mins
  • December 21: Saint Peter Canisius, Priest and Doctor—Optional Memorial

    December 21: Saint Peter Canisius, Priest and Doctor—Optional Memorial
    Dec 20 2024
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    December 21: Saint Peter Canisius, Priest and Doctor—Optional Memorial

    1521–1597
    Patron Saint of the Catholic press, Germany, and writers of catechisms
    Canonized and declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Pius XI on May 21, 1925
    Liturgical Color: Violet

    Quote:
    There I felt that a great consolation and the presence of grace had been granted to me through these intercessors [Peter and Paul]. They confirmed my mission in Germany and seemed to transmit to me, as an apostle of Germany, the support of their benevolence. You know, Lord, in how many ways and how often on that same day you entrusted Germany to me, which I was later to continue to be concerned about and for which I would have liked to live and die. ~Journal entry of Saint Peter Canisius after a papal blessing and prayer in Saint Peter’s Basilica

    Prayer:
    Saint Peter Canisius, God called you into His service at a crucial time when the Church in Germany and all of Europe was experiencing confusion and was in need of reform. Your deep faith in Christ, coupled with your theological knowledge, enabled you to be a holy instrument of conversion for countless people for centuries afterward. Please pray for me, that I will learn from your example and become an apostle to those to whom I am sent. Saint Peter Canisius, pray for me. Jesus, I trust in You.

    Source of content: mycatholic.life
    Copyright © 2024 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.

    Image: SchiDD, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia
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    14 mins
  • December 14: Saint John of the Cross, Priest and Doctor—Memorial

    December 14: Saint John of the Cross, Priest and Doctor—Memorial
    Dec 13 2024
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    December 14: Saint John of the Cross, Priest and Doctor—Memorial

    c. 1542–1591
    Patron Saint of contemplatives, mystical theology, and Spanish poets
    Canonized by Pope Benedict XIII on December 27, 1726
    Declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Pius XI in 1926
    Commonly referred to as the “Mystical Doctor”
    Liturgical Color: White

    Quote:
    In order to expound and describe this dark night, through which the soul passes in order to attain to the Divine light of the perfect union of the love of God, as far as is possible in this life, it would be necessary to have illumination of knowledge and experience other and far greater than mine; for this darkness and these trials, both spiritual and temporal, through which happy souls are wont to pass in order to be able to attain to this high estate of perfection, are so numerous and so profound that neither does human knowledge suffice for the understanding of them, nor experience for the description of them; for only he that passes this way can understand it, and even he cannot describe it. ~Prologue of Ascent to Mount Carmel, Saint John of the Cross

    Prayer:
    Saint John of the Cross, through the sufferings you endured in your youth and as a friar, God purified you and called you deeper. You responded, and through you the Carmelites were reformed, and from you came a wealth of spiritual treasures in your teachings. Please pray for me, that I will never shy away from the sufferings of the Cross but will see those sufferings as the means of my deeper union with our loving God. Saint John of the Cross, pray for me. Jesus, I trust in You.

    Source of content: mycatholic.life
    Copyright © 2024 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.

    Museo Nacional de Arte, Public domain, via Wikimedia
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    18 mins
  • December 13: Saint Lucy of Syracuse, Virgin and Martyr—Memorial

    December 13: Saint Lucy of Syracuse, Virgin and Martyr—Memorial
    Dec 12 2024
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    December 13: Saint Lucy of Syracuse, Virgin and Martyr—Memorial

    c. 283–c. 304
    Patron Saint of blind people, martyrs, peasants, penitent prostitutes, poor people, sick children, authors, cutlers, farmers, glassmakers, glaziers, gondoliers, laborers, lawyers, maidservants, notaries, eye doctors, porters, printers, saddlers, sailors, salesmen, seamstresses, tailors, upholsterers, weavers, and writers.
    Invoked against dysentery, epidemics, hemorrhages, throat infections, fire, poverty, and spiritual blindness.
    Pre-Congregation canonization
    Liturgical Color: Red

    Quote:
    December 13: At Syracuse, in Sicily, the birthday of St. Lucy, virgin and martyr, in the persecution of Diocletian. By the order of the ex-consul Paschasius, she was delivered to profligates, that her chastity might be insulted; but when they attempted to lead her away, they could not succeed, either with ropes or with many yoke of oxen. Then pouring hot pitch, rosin, and boiling oil over her body without injuring her, they finally plunged a sword into her throat, and thus completed her martyrdom. ~Official Roman Martyrology

    Prayer:
    Saint Lucy, you grew deep in faith at a young age, committed yourself to your God, and never turned back. Please pray for me, that I will have your strength, wisdom, and charity so that I will unwaveringly fulfill the will of God, choosing Him above all else. Saint Lucy, pray for me. Jesus, I trust in You.

    Source of content: mycatholic.life
    Copyright © 2024 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.


    Images, public domain via Wikimedia: Main
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    12 mins
  • December 12: Our Lady of Guadalupe—USA Feast

    December 12: Our Lady of Guadalupe—USA Feast
    Dec 11 2024
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    December 12: Our Lady of Guadalupe—USA Feast

    Patroness of the Americas

    Quote:
    Let not your heart be disturbed. Do not fear that sickness, nor any other sickness or anguish. Am I not here, who is your Mother? Are you not under my protection? Am I not your health? Are you not happily within my fold? What else do you wish for? Do not grieve nor be disturbed by anything. ~Our Lady of Guadalupe to Juan Diego

    Prayer:
    Dearest Mother, Queen of Heaven and Earth, Ever-Virgin and Lady of Guadalupe, your love for the people of Central America led you to appear to a humble Christian and entrust him with a sacred task. His willingness to fulfill your will led to the conversion of countless people who will now spend their eternity with you in Heaven. Please pray for me, and for the Americas, that we will never turn away from your divine Son and will always rely upon your motherly intercession. Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for me. Jesus, I trust in You.

    Source of content: mycatholic.life
    Copyright © 2024 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.


    Main image: Wikimedia
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    13 mins
  • December 11: Saint Damasus I, Pope—Optional Memorial

    December 11: Saint Damasus I, Pope—Optional Memorial
    Dec 6 2025
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    December 11: Saint Damasus I, Pope—Optional Memorial

    c. 305–384
    Patron Saint of archeologists
    Pre-Congregation canonization
    Liturgical Color: White

    Quote:
    You who read, whoever you are, recognize the equal merit of the two to whom Damasus the bishop has dedicated this inscription after their rewards. The Jewish people stoned Stephen when he was instructing them on a better course, he who carried off the trophy from the enemy: the faithful deacon first laid hold of martyrdom. When a raving gang was pressing holy Tarsicius to reveal to the uninitiated the sacraments of Christ that he was carrying, he wished rather to release his spirit, struck down, than to betray the heavenly limbs to mad dogs. ~An epitaph written by Pope Saint Damasus

    Prayer:
    Pope Saint Damasus, you lived during a transformative time in the history of the Church. Through you, God navigated the Church of your day, leading toward a fuller image of the Kingdom of Heaven. Please pray for me, that I, in my own way, will make myself more fully available to God so that He can use me to help navigate His Church through the challenges it faces in my day and age. Pope Saint Damasus, pray for me. Jesus, I trust in You.

    Source of content: mycatholic.life
    Copyright © 2024 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.


    Main image: public domain, via Wikimedia
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    14 mins
  • December 10: Our Lady of Loreto—Optional Memorial

    December 10: Our Lady of Loreto—Optional Memorial
    Dec 6 2025
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    December 10: Our Lady of Loreto—Optional Memorial

    Patron Saint of aviators and builders

    Quote:
    I was indeed happy when on the way to Loreto. Our Lady had chosen an ideal spot in which to place her Holy House. Everything is poor, simple, and primitive; the women still wear the graceful dress of the country and have not, as in the large towns, adopted the modern Paris fashions. I found Loreto enchanting. And what shall I say of the Holy House? I was overwhelmed with emotion when I realized that I was under the very roof that had sheltered the Holy Family. I gazed on the same walls Our Lord had looked on. I trod the ground once moistened with the sweat of St. Joseph’s toil, and saw the little chamber of the Annunciation, where the Blessed Virgin Mary held Jesus in her arms after she had borne Him there in her virginal womb. I even put my Rosary into the little porringer used by the Divine Child. How sweet those memories! ~Autobiography of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux

    Prayer:
    Our Lady of Loreto, your home was a sacred place. Within it, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Within your home, you raised your divine Son and saw Him grow in grace and virtue. The love you shared with your Son in that home was pure and perfect in every way. Please pray for me, that my home will more fully reflect the grace and virtue that abounded in your home so that my home will become more like your Holy House. Our Lady of Loreto, pray for me. Jesus, I trust in You.

    Source of content: mycatholic.life
    Copyright © 2024 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.


    Main image: public Domain via Metmuseum
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    12 mins