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Feast of the Holy Family Fourth Day of Christmas Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 12/28/25 Gospel: Matthew 2:13-15, 19-23

Feast of St. John, apostle and evangelist Third Day of Christmas Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 12/27/25 Gospel: John 20:1-8

Feast of St. Stephen, First Christian Martyr Second Day of Christmas Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 12/26/25 Gospel: Matthew 10:17-22

Solemnity of Christmas Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 12/25/25 Gospel: Luke 2:1-14

Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Advent Saint of the Day: St. Adela; Eighth Century disciple of St. Boniface; she was a Frankish princess, the daughter of King Dagobert II and sister of St Irmina; after the death of her husband, she became the foundress of a monastery in France, and died in 735 A.D. Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 12/24/25 Gospel: Luke 1:67-79

Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Advent Optional Memorial of St. John of Kanty, 1390-1473; he was ordained a priest and became a professor of theology at the University of Krakow, Poland; he was sent to be a parish priest, but later returned to Krakow to teach scripture for the rest of his life; he was a serious, humble man, known to all of the poor of Krakow for his kindness; he made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, hoping to be martyred by the Turks; he made four subsequent pilgrimages to Rome, carrying his luggage on his back; when warned to watch over his health, he remarked that, for all of their austerity, the fathers of the desert lived long lives Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 12/23/25 Gospel: Luke 1:57-66

Monday of the Fourth Week of Advent Saint of the Day: St. Zeno; martyred soldier at Nicomedia (modern-day Turkey); he was seized and condemned to death for laughing while Emperor Diocletian offered a sacrifice to the Roman god Ceres; Zeno had his jaws shattered and was then beheaded Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 12/22/25 Gospel: Luke 1:46-56

Fourth Sunday of Advent Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 12/21/25 Gospel: Matthew 1:18-24

Saturday of the Third Week of Advent Saint of the Day: St. Dominic of Silos, 1000-1073; born in Navarre, Spain; when, as Benedictine abbot, he refused to surrender lands to the crown, he was exiled; he went to King Ferdinand I of Castile and Leon, who made him abbot of St. Sebastian Abbey at Silos, now called St. Dominic’s; one of the most beloved saints in Spain, Dominic also rescued Christian slaves from the Moors; the mother of St. Dominic of Guzman--founder of the Order of Preachers--visited Dominic's shrine, begging for a child; he was also noted for miracles of healing Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 12/20/25 Gospel: Luke 1:26-38

Friday of the Third Week of Advent Saint of the Day: St. Nemesius; martyred in Alexandria under the persecution of Decius; Nemesius was arrested, scourged, and burned alive; like Christ, he was killed between two criminals Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 12/19/25 Gospel: Luke 1:5-25

Thursday of the Third Week of Advent Saint of the Day: St. Auxentius; soldier in the Roman army, but refused to take part in sacrifices to pagan gods, and was persecuted for the faith; after his release from military service, he was ordained a priest and became the bishop of Mopsuestia, in Cilicia; he died in 321 Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 12/18/25 Gospel: Matthew 1:18-25

Wednesday of the Third Week of Advent Saint of the Day: St. Wivina, 1103-1170; she was a native of Oisy, Flanders, Belgium; she refused all offers of marriage until the age of 23, when she became a hermitess at GrandBigard, near Brussels; she gathered disciples, and accepted the offer of land from Count Godfrey of Brabant and built a convent over which she served as first abbess Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 12/17/25 Gospel: Matthew 1:1-17

Tuesday of the Third Week of Advent Saint of the Day: St. Adelaide, 931-999; married Lothair of Italy, and when he died, his successor and usurper, Berengar of Ivrea, tried to force her to marry his son; she escaped to Canossa, and sought the help of Otto of Germany; Otto conquered Italy, married Adelaide, and Pope John XII proclaimed the couple rulers of the Holy Roman Empire; she established many monasteries, and became interested in evangelism; she became regent for her grandson, Otto III, and died at the convent at Seltz, which she had founded Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 12/16/25 Gospel: Matthew 21:28-32

Monday of the Third Week of Advent Saint of the Day: St. Maria Crocifissa Di Rosa, 1813-1855; left school at the age of 17 to manage her widowed father's household; she took care of the spiritual needs of young girls working in her father's mills, and she volunteered to work in the Brescia hospital during the 1836 cholera epidemic; later, she founded a home for girls and a school for deaf mutes; in 1840, her spiritual director made her Superior of a group of religious who cared for the sick, the Handmaids of Charity of Brescia Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 12/15/25 Gospel: Matthew 21:23-27

Third Sunday of Advent Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 12/14/25 Gospel: Matthew 11:2-11

Saturday of the Second Week of Advent Memorial of St. Lucy, virgin and martyr, 283-304. lived a Christian life; but she rejected the advances of a Roman soldier, and was arrested, and martyred; Lucy is the patron saint of eye ailments Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 12/13/25 Gospel: Matthew 17:9-13

Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe Friday of the Second Week of Advent Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 12/12/25 Gospel: Luke 1:26-38

Thursday of the Second Week of Advent Optional Memorial of Pope St. Damasus I, 304-384; when Damasus was elected pope, a minority elected and consecrated another deacon, Ursinus, as pope; supporters of the antipope even managed to get Damasus accused of a grave crime—probably sexual—as late as A.D. 378; he had to clear himself before both a civil court and a Church synod; as pope, his lifestyle was simple in contrast to other ecclesiastics of Rome, and he was fierce in his denunciation of Arianism and other heresies; during his pontificate, Christianity was declared the official religion of the Roman state, and Latin became the principal liturgical language as part of the pope’s reforms Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 12/11/25 Gospel: Matthew 11:11-15

Wednesday of the Second Week of Advent Saint of the Day: St. Mennas; an Athenian from Greece, sent to Alexandria on an imperial commission by Emperor Galerius; successful, he proclaimed himself a Christian; before Hermogenes, a judge, Mennas sang a four-hour musical defense of Christianity; his eyes were gouged out and his tongue cut off; according to legend, his eyes and tongue were miraculously restored, which led to the conversion of Hermogenes; Mennas was beheaded in 312 A.D. Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 12/10/25 Gospel: Matthew 11:28-30

Tuesday of the Second Week of Advent Optional Memorial of St. Juan Diego, 1474-1548; it was to Juan Diego that Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared at Tepeyac Hill in 1531; Juan Diego later lived near the shrine constructed at Tepeyac, revered as a holy, unselfish, and compassionate catechist, who taught by word and especially by example Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 12/09/25 Gospel: Matthew 18:12-14

Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary Monday of the Second Week of Advent Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 12/8/25 Gospel: Luke 1:26-38

Second Sunday of Advent Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 12/7/25 Gospel: Matthew 3:1-12

Saturday of the First Week of Advent Optional Memorial of St. Nicholas, 270-343; bishop of Myra, a city in Lycia, a province of Asia Minor; legend tells the best-known story about Nicholas concerning his charity toward a poor man who was unable to provide dowries for his three daughters of marriageable age; rather than see them forced into prostitution, Nicholas secretly tossed a bag of gold through the poor man’s window on three separate occasions, thus enabling the daughters to be married; over the centuries, this particular legend evolved into the custom of gift-giving on the saint’s feast; in the English-speaking countries, Saint Nicholas became, by a twist of the tongue, Santa Claus Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 12/6/25 Gospel: Matthew 9:35-10:1, 5-8

Friday of the First Week of Advent Saint of the Day: St. John the Wonder-Worker; Eighth Century bishop of Polybatum, in Phrygia; he was a defender of sacred images in the face of the ascendancy of the Iconoclasts, which placed him in considerable danger with the Ionoclast Emperor Leo V the Armenian, but he performed so many miracles that the ruler did not dare to persecute him; he died in 750 Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 12/5/25 Gospel: Matthew 9:27-31

Thursday of the First Week of Advent Optional Memorial of St. John Damascene, 676-749; spent most of his life in the Monastery of Saint Sabas near Jerusalem, and all of his life under Muslim rule, indeed protected by it; famous for his writings against the iconoclasts, for his treatise, "Exposition of the Orthodox Faith," and for being one of the two greatest poets of the Eastern Church Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 12/4/25 Gospel: Matthew 7:21, 24-27

Wednesday of the First Week of Advent Memorial of St. Francis Xavier, 1506-1552; an early member of the Society of Jesus; after his ordination he was appointed apostolic nuncio in the East; he traveled to Goa, Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, China, and Japan establishing missionary outposts and converting hundreds of thousands; Pius X named him patron of foreign missions Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 12/3/25 Gospel: Matthew 15:29-37

Tuesday of the First Week of Advent Saint of the Day: St. Chromatius; a native of Aquileia, Italy, and participated in the Synod of Aquileia that condemned Arianism in 381; seven years later, he became bishop of the see; Chromatius was known and revered as a scholar and was described by St. Jerome as “a most learned and most holy man”; he was also a friend of St. John Chrysostom; Chromatius died in 406 A.D. Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 12/2/25 Gospel: Luke 10:21-24

Monday of the First Week of Advent Saint of the Day: St. Edmund Campion, 1540-1581; English convert who became a Jesuit, and preached up to three times per day, riding from town to town on horseback, winning many converts; in 1581 he was captured by Elizabethan authorities, and tortured on a rack before being sentenced to death; in December 1581, he was executed by drawing and quartering at Tyburn, London Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 12/1/25 Gospel: Matthew 8:5-11

First Sunday of Advent Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 11/30/25 Gospel: Matthew 24:37-44

Saturday of the 34th Week in Ordinary Time Saint of the Day: St. Radbod of Utrecht, 850-917; he was educated by his Uncle Gunther, the bishop of Cologne, Germany, and became bishop of Utrecht, Holland in 900; he distinguished himself for his aid to the poor and for his poetry; he was forced to move his see to France after an invasion by the Danes, and he died there Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 11/29/25 Gospel: Luke 21:34-36

Friday of the 34th Week in Ordinary Time Saint of the Day: St. James of the Marches, 1391-1476; born in Ancona, studied law, and joined the Franciscans in 1416; he became an effective and forceful preacher; he worked as a missionary in Italy and in Germany, Bohemia, Poland, and Hungary, and in 1426 was named inquisitor against the Fraticelli by Pope St. Martin V; in 1462 he became involved with the Inquisition because of a sermon he preached at Brescia; the case was referred to Rome, and no decision was ever rendered; he died in Naples, where he spent the last three years of his life Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 11/28/25 Gospel: Luke 21:29-33

Thursday of the 34th Week in Ordinary Time - Thanksgiving Day in the United States Saint of the Day St. James Interecisus; in the Fifth Century, he was a favorite of King Yezdigerd I of Persia, and James was a Christian; but James renounced his faith when the king began a persecution of Christians; when Yezdigerd died, James repented and once again professed Chrstianity; when he refused to apostasize, he was executed by having his body cut apart in pieces--thus, his name, "Intercisus"--cut in pieces--and he was beheaded. Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 11/27/25 Gospel: Luke 17:11-19

Wednesday of the 34th Week in Ordinary Time Saint of the Day: St. Leonard of Port Maurice; born in Port Maurice, Italy, and joined the Franciscans of the Strict Observance in 1697; after ordination in 1703, he began preaching through Tuscany in Italy, and attracted huge crowds; he erected almost 600 Stations of the Cross through the lands; in 1744, Leonard was sent by Pope Benedict XIV to preach on Corsica, returning to Rome in 1751 after receiving a summons from the pope; he died at his friary in 1751 Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 11/26/25 Gospel: Luke 21:12-19

Tuesday of the 34th Week in Ordinary Time Optional Memorial of St. Catherine of Alexandria; became Christian after receiving a vision; debated 50 pagan philosophers, who became Christian, along with 200 soldiers and members of the emperor's family, and all were martyred; Catherine touched the spiked wheel on which she was to be executed, and it shattered; she was beheaded in about 310 A.D. Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 11/25/25 Gospel: Luke 21:5-11

Monday of the 34th Week in Ordinary Time Memorial of St. Andrew Dung-Lac and companions, the Vietnamese martyrs; Andrew Dung-Lac, a Catholic convert ordained to the priesthood, was one of 117 people martyred in Vietnam between 1820 and 1862; members of the companions group gave their lives for Christ in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, and received beatification during four different occasions between 1900 and 1951; all were canonized during the papacy of Saint John Paul II Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 11/24/25 Gospel: Luke 21:1-4

Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe; Christ the King 34th Sunday in Ordinary Time Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 11/23/25 Gospel: Luke 23:35-43

Saturday of the 33rd Week in Ordinary Time Memorial of St. Cecilia; legend has it that was a young Christian of high rank betrothed to a Roman named Valerian; through her influence, Valerian converted, and was subsequently martyred, along with his brother; Cecilia is reputed to have been struck three times on the neck with a sword, but lived for three days, and asked the pope to convert her home into a church; she died in about 230 A.D.; since the time of the Renaissance she has usually been portrayed with a viola or a small organ; she is the patroness of musicians Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 11/22/25 Gospel: Luke 20:27-40

Friday of the 33rd Week in Ordinary Time Memorial of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary; a feast of the Universal Church since the 16th Century; this celebration continues the impact of the feasts of the Immaculate Conception and of the birth of Mary Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 11/21/25 Gospel: Luke 19:45-48

Thursday of the 33rd Week in Ordinary Time Saint of the Day: St. Edmund Rich, 1175-1240; he studied at Oxford and Paris, and taught art and mathematics, and was ordained; he taught theology for eight years, and became canon and treasurer of the Salisbury Cathedral; he preached a Crusade for Pope Gregoy IX, and was made Archbishop of Canterbury; he resigned his see in 1240, and went to France, where he became a Cistercian; he died at Soissons Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 11/20/25 Gospel: Luke 19:41-44

Wednesday of the 33rd Week in Ordinary Time Saint of the Day: St. Raphael Kalinowski, 1835-1907; Polish Discalced Carmelite friar; he was a teacher, engineer, prisoner of war, royal tutor, and priest, who founded many monasteries around Poland after the suppression by the Russians Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 11/19/25 Gospel: Luke 19:11-28

Tuesday of the 33rd Week in Ordinary Time Optional Memorial of St. Rose Philippine Duchesne, 1769-1852; born in Grenoble, France, to a family of the "new rich"; at 19, she entered the convent of the Visitation of Mary; when the French revolution broke out, the convent was closed, and she began taking care of the poor and sick, opened a school for homeless children, and risked her life helping priests in the underground; when the situation cooled, Rose entered the infant Society of the Sacred Heart; but her ambition was to go to America to work with the Indians; she spent 11 weeks at sea en route to New Orleans, and seven weeks more on the Mississippi to St. Louis; the bishop had no place for Rose and her nuns to work with native Americans; he sent her to St. Charles, Missouri; when Rose was 72, a mission was founded at Sugar Creek, Kansas, among the Potawatomi and she was taken along; she was unable to learn their language, but they nicknamed her "Woman-Who-Prays-Always"; she died in 1852, at the age of 83 Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 11/18/25 Gospel: Luke 19:1-10

Monday of the 33rd Week in Ordinary Time Memorial of St. Elizabeth of Hungary, 1207-1231; at age 14, she married Louis of Thuringia; she led a life of prayer, sacrifice, and service to the poor and sick; her husband died in the Crusades, and his family believed that Elizabeth was squandering the royal purse, and kicked her out of the palace; but she was reinstated when her husband's allies returned home, since her son was the legal heir to the throne; in 1228, Elizabeth joined the Secular Franciscan Order, spending the remaining few years of her life caring for the poor in a hospital which she founded in honor of Saint Francis of Assisi; Elizabeth’s health declined, and she died before her 24th birthday in 1231 Office of Readings and Morning Prayer for 11/17/25 Gospel: Luke 18:35-43