The Church’s prayer today
United States Roman Calendar · Year B → Year C at Advent · Cycle I. Liturgical color: violet.
Scripture for the liturgy
Is 30:19-21, 23-26/Mt 9:35—10:1, 5a, 6-8 (180)
These references follow the annual calendar, including permitted reading choices. Optional memorials ordinarily retain the weekday readings. Daily reading pages for this future year may not yet be published. Use these references with the USCCB Bible, or open the annual calendar.
Permitted observances today
- Saint John Damascene, Priest and Doctor of the ChurchOptional Memorial · white
On charity toward our neighbour
Mary was so full of charity while she lived on earth that she came to the help of the needy without even being asked: as she did precisely at the marriage of Cana, when she asked her Son for the miracle of the wine, laying before him the distress of that family, Vinum non habent — They have no wine. (John 2) Oh, what haste she made when it was a question of relieving her neighbour! When she went on an office of charity to the house of Elizabeth, abiit in montana cum festinatione — she went into the hill country with haste. (Luke 1)
Hear a saint remembered today
Moreover we proclaim the holy Virgin to be in strict truth the Mother of God. For inasmuch as He who was born of her was true God, she who bare the true God incarnate is the true mother of God.
Make this prayer your own
O mother of mercy, you are full of charity towards all; do not forget my miseries. You already see them. Commend me to that God who denies you nothing. Obtain for me the grace to be able to imitate you in holy charity, both towards God and towards my neighbour. Amen.
St. Alphonsus de Liguori · The Glories of Mary · On the Charity of Mary towards Our NeighbourOne faithful act
Choose one neighbour you can help today. Ask Mary for charity, then put that love into a practical act of service.
Pray for a neighbourCalendar scope and local observance
Dates, ranks, and reading references follow the official calendar for the dioceses of the United States, with Ascension on Sunday. Diocesan, parish, patronal, and religious-family calendars may differ. Consult your parish for Mass schedules and obligations. The Marian meditation is a devotional aid accompanying the day.