"Work hard every day at increasing your purity of heart, which consists in appraising things and weighing them in the balance of God's will." St. Francis de Sales
Today's Meditation
“Many people seem to worry themselves a great deal more over the things they cannot help than over the things that they can. … This want of proportion is doubtless observable in myself. Do I think more of the accidents of birth, fortune, and personal appearance than of the self that I have created? For I myself am responsible for myself. ‘To be born a gentleman is an accident; to die one is an achievement.’ Other things, then, I may not be able to help; but myself, I can. As I am at this very moment, as my character is—truthful or untruthful, pure or impure, patient or impatient, slow to wrath or quick-tempered, eager, enthusiastic, energetic, or lazy and dull and wasteful of time—I have no one to thank but myself … the fact remains that I myself alone am responsible for my own character; for character is an artificial thing that is not born, but made.”
—Fr. Bede Jarrett, p. 371-372
Recommended Reads
Liturgy of the Hours
Divine Office
Office of Readings- Lauds (Morning) ≻
- Terce (Mid-Morning) ≻
- Sext (Mid-Day) ≻
- None (Afternoon) ≻
- Vespers (Evening) ≻
- Compline (Night) ≻
- Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary ≻
Recommended Reads
Daily Verse
"[I pray] that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation resulting in knowledge of him. May the eyes of [your] hearts be enlightened, that you may know what is the hope that belongs to his call, what are the riches of glory in his inheritance among the holy ones, and what is the surpassing greatness of his power for us who believe, in accord with the exercise of his great might." Ephesians 1:17-19
St. Fergus of Scotland
Saint of the Day
St. Fergus of Scotland (d. 730 A.D.), also known as St. Fergustian or Fergus the Pict, Bishop of the Gaels, was a bishop serving in the north of Scotland. Little is known of his life. He is believed to have been trained as a bishop in Ireland, ministering there for many years before traveling as a missionary to Scotland. He went throughout the Scottish countryside preaching the Gospel, setting up churches dedicated to St. Patrick of Ireland, and working to convert the pagan people to Christianity. He also traveled to St. Peter's Basilica to participate in the Council of Rome in 721 A.D. He died around the year 730 A.D. and is buried in Glamis, Angus, in Scotland. Nearby is St. Fergus' Well. The site is believed to be where St. Fergus presided over religious services before the first church of Glamis was built. His feast day is March 30th.
Recommended Reads
Month of St. Joseph
Devotion of the Month
The Church traditionally dedicates the month of March to the special veneration of St. Joseph, whose feast day is March 19th. "He was chosen by the eternal Father as the trustworthy guardian and protector of his greatest treasures, namely, his divine Son and Mary, Joseph’s wife," says St. Bernardine of Siena. "He carried out this vocation with complete fidelity until at last God called him, saying ‘Good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your Lord.’" Due to St. Joseph's leadership of the Holy Family, he has been declared the protector and patron of the universal Catholic Church.
Find a Devotional or Sacramental
Daily Prayers
Prayer for the Dead
In your hands, O Lord, we humbly entrust our brothers and sisters.
In this life you embraced them with your tender love;
deliver them now from every evil and bid them eternal rest.
The old order has passed away: welcome them into paradise,
where there will be no sorrow, no weeping or pain,
but fullness of peace and joy with your Son and the Holy
Spirit forever and ever. Amen.
Prayer of Spiritual Communion
My Jesus, I believe that You are present in the most Blessed Sacrament. I love You above all things and I desire to receive You into my soul. Since I cannot now receive You sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace You as if You were already there, and unite myself wholly to You. Never permit me to be separated from You. Amen.
Prayer for the Holy Father
Almighty and everlasting God, have mercy upon Thy servant, Pope Francis, our Supreme Pontiff, and direct him, according to Thy loving kindness, in the way of eternal salvation; that, of Thy gift, he may ever desire that which is pleasing unto Thee and may accomplish it with all his might. Through Christ Our Lord. Amen. Our Father. Hail Mary.