| DIES | 16 Sun | 17 Mon | 18 Tue | 19 Wed | 20 Thu | 21 Fri | 22 Sat | 23 Sun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Officium | Dominica XXIII Post Pentecosten | S. Gregorii Thaumaturgi Episcopi et Confessoris | In Dedicatione Basilicarum Ss. Apostolorum Petri et Pauli | S. Elisabeth Viduæ | S. Felicis de Valois Confessoris | In Presentatione Beatæ Mariæ Virginis | S. Cæciliæ Virginis et Martyris | S. Clementis Papæ et Martyris |
| Classis | Semiduplex | Semiduplex | Duplex majus | Duplex | Duplex | Duplex majus | Duplex | Duplex |
| Color* | Viridis | Albus | Albus | Albus | Albus | Albus | Rubeum | Rubeum |
| Missa | Dicit Dóminus | Státuit ei | Terríbilis est | Cognóvi | Justus | Salve, sancta | Loquébar | Dicit Dóminus |
| Orationes | 2a. A cunctis 3a. ad libitum | 2a. A cunctis 3a. ad libitum | NA | 2a. S. Pontiani Papæ et Martyris | NA | NA | NA | 2a. Dominica XXIV et ultima Post Pentecosten |
| Notae | Gl. Cr. Pref. de sanctissima Trinitate | Gl. Pref. de Communis | Gl. Cr.. Pref. de Communis | Gl. Pref. de Communis | Gl. Pref. de Communis | Gl. Pref. de Communis | Gl. Pref. de Communis | Gl. Cr. Pref. de sanctissima Trinitate Ev. Propr. ad fin.Missae |
| Nota Bene/Vel/Votiva | UK: S. Edmundi Ep & Conf: Missa “Statuit ei Dominus” vel “Gaudeamus” Comm. Dominica | UK: S. HUGONIS Ep et Conf; Missa “Sacerdotes tui” Comm S. Gregorii | UK: S. EDMUNDI Regis et Martyris: Missa “In virtute tua” |
16–23 November
As the liturgical year draws toward its solemn and searching close, the Church sets before us a procession of saints whose lives form a ladder stretching from earth to heaven. Their names ring like bells across the centuries—bishop, virgin, widow, martyr—each revealing a different facet of the one Face of Christ. Their feasts accompany us as the final Sundays after Pentecost press home the stark truths of judgment, perseverance, and fidelity. This week, the Church invites us to walk with them.
Sunday 16 November – Dominica XXIII Post Pentecosten: The Twenty-Third Sunday after Pentecost turns our eyes to the woman healed by touching the hem of Christ’s garment and to the ruler whose daughter He restores to life. In these final weeks of the liturgical year, the Church places before us miracles that are also metaphors. Christ heals the bleeding world. Christ raises dying souls. Christ restores what human hands cannot.
In the UK: St Edmund, Bishop & Confessor: In England, we honour St Edmund of Abingdon, Archbishop of Canterbury, a scholar and ascetic who defended ecclesial rights against secular interference. His sanctity shows that the shepherd must bleed for the flock, but never bend the knee to Caesar in matters of faith. His feast stands as a reminder that fidelity is costly—and glorious.
Monday 17 November – St Gregory Thaumaturgus, Bishop & Confessor: St Gregory the Wonderworker lived in the third century, a bishop whose very name became synonymous with miracles. Pagan temples fell silent, demons fled, and the Gospel flourished wherever he walked. His holiness was not spectacle but sanctity—miracle flowing from a life steeped in prayer.
In the UK: St Hugh, Bishop & Confessor: In the UK, we celebrate St Hugh of Lincoln, the great medieval bishop whose gentleness tamed kings and whose charity softened the hardest hearts. St Hugh reminds us that true authority is luminous with mercy and unafraid of truth.
Tuesday 18 November – The Dedication of the Basilicas of St Peter and St Paul: Two basilicas. Two Apostles. Two pillars of the Church. On this day the Church rejoices in the consecration of the earthly shrines that house their earthly remains—Peter, the Rock on whom Christ built His Church, and Paul, the Apostle of the Nations. Their feast is a defiance of the modern world’s scepticism: that Christ founded a Church; that it has visible structure; that it stands upon the testimony of men who shed their blood for the truth of the Resurrection. Rome is not an idea—it is a witness.
Wednesday 19 November – St Elizabeth, Widow: St Elizabeth of Hungary, a queen who became a servant of the poor, embodies the paradox of Christian charity: a crown is most radiant when laid at the feet of Christ. As widow and benefactress she embraced poverty with royal grace, revealing that sanctity lies not in station but in surrender. She teaches us that worldly loss can become spiritual gain, and grief can open the heart to God.
Thursday 20 November – St Felix of Valois, Confessor: St Felix, co-founder of the Trinitarians, reminds the Church of a forgotten work of mercy: the ransom of captives. His life shines with zeal for those enslaved by hostile powers, an image too fitting in an age where many are captive not to chains but to ideologies, addictions, and despair.
In the UK: St Edmund, King & Martyr: In England, the feast of takes precedence. Edmund of East Anglia, slain by the Danes in 869, is a model of Christian kingship—steadfast in truth, fearless in sacrifice. Bound to a tree and pierced with arrows, he mirrors Christ the King, reigning from the wood of the Cross. His martyrdom is England’s inheritance; his courage is her rebuke.
Friday 21 November – The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary: Today the Church celebrates the hidden beginning of Mary’s lifelong offering to God. Presented in the Temple as a child, she becomes the living sanctuary prepared for the Incarnation. Her feast is a gentle invitation: to present ourselves anew to the Lord, to renew our consecration, to let grace make of us a dwelling-place for Christ.
In Mary’s Presentation, the whole mystery of Advent stirs.
God prepares His Mother.
And through her, prepares the world.
Saturday 22 November – St Cecilia, Virgin & Martyr: St Cecilia, patron of sacred music, is the saint whose silence sings. Her martyrdom—steadfast, serene, heroic—speaks of an interior harmony that no violence could destroy. She reminds the Church that music is not entertainment but adoration: the soul lifted toward the beauty of God. Her feast calls musicians, choirs, and all the faithful to make their lives a hymn of purity and praise.
Sunday 23 November – St Clement, Pope & Martyr
St Clement, successor of St Peter and author of the earliest Christian epistle outside Scripture, stands at the dawn of the Church’s hierarchy. His teaching on order, unity, and apostolic authority resonates across the ages. His martyrdom seals his doctrine in blood.
Commemoration of the 24th and Last Sunday After Pentecost
On this final Sunday of the liturgical year, his witness becomes prophetic. The Gospel warns of judgment, tribulation, and the coming of the Son of Man. The Church kneels at the threshold of Advent, looking back to the world’s creation and forward to its consummation.
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