| Dies | 13 SUN | 14 MON | 15 TUE | 16 WED | 17 THU | 18 FRI | 19 SAT | 20 SUN |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Officium | Dominica XVI post Pentecosten | In Exaltatione Sanctæ Crucis | Septem Dolorum Beatæ Mariæ Virginis | Feria IV Quatuor Temporum Septembris | In Impressione Sacrorum Stigmatum S. Francisci Confessoris | S. Josephi a Cupertino Confessoris | Ss. Januarii Episcopi et Sociorum Martyrum | Ss. Eustachii et Sociorum Martyrum |
| CLASSIS | Semiduplex | Duplex majus | Duplex II | Feria major | Duplex | Duplex | Duplex | Duplex |
| Color* | Viridis | Rubeum | Albus | Purpura | Albus | Albus | Rubeum | Rubeum |
| MISSA | Miserére mihi | Nos autem gloriári | Stabant juxta | Exsultáte Deo | Mihi autem | Diléctio Dei | Salus autem | Sapiéntiam Sanctórum |
| Orationes | 2a. Sexta die infra Octavam Nativitatis Beatæ Mariæ Virginis \ 3a. A cunctis | 2a. Septima die infra Octavam Nativitatis Beatæ Mariæ Virginis | 2a. S. Nicomedis Martyris | 2a. Ss. Cornelii Papæ et Cypriani Episcopi, Martyrum \ 3a. Ss. Euphemiæ, Luciæ et Geminiani Martyrum | NA | 2a. Feria VI Quatuor Temporum Septembris | 2a. Sabbato Quatuor Temporum Septembris \ 3a. In Vigilia S. Matthæi Apostoli | 2a. Dominica XVII post Pentecosten |
| NOTAE | Gl. Cr. \ Pref. de Trinitatis | Gl. Cr. \ Pref. de Sancta Cruce | Gl. Seq. Stabat Mater. Cr. \ Pref. de B.M.V. — Et te in Transfixione | Sine Gl. et Cr. \ Lectiones propr. \ Pref. de Communis \ Benedicamus Domino | Gl. Cr. \ Pref. de Communis | Gl. Cr. \ Pref. de Communis \ Ev. Feriae ad fin. Missae | Gl. Cr. \ Pref. de Communis \ Ev. Feriae ad fin. Missae | Gl. Cr. \ Pref. de Trinitatis \ Ev. Dominicæ ad fin. Missae |
| Nota Bene/Vel/Votiva | Dominica præcedit diem infra Octavam; dies infra Octavam commemoratur. | Dies VII infra Octavam Nativitatis B.M.V. commemoratur. | De die Octava Nativitatis B.M.V. nihil fit in Missa Septem Dolorum. | Quatuor Tempora Septembris. Dies traditionaliter ieiunii. Missae votivae non permittuntur. | Feria Quatuor Temporum commemoratur. Dies traditionaliter ieiunii et abstinentiæ. | Feria Quatuor Temporum commemoratur. Vigilia S. Matthæi anticipatur, quia die 20 Septembris Dominica occurrit. | Festum Duplex præcedit Dominicam; Dominica commemoratur. |
* Color: Albus = White; Rubeum = Red; Viridis = Green; Purpura = Purple; Niger = Black. [] = in Missa privata.
Sunday, 13 September 2026 — Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost
The Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost presents Our Lord at the house of a leading Pharisee, where He first heals the man afflicted with dropsy and then exposes the human appetite for rank and precedence. The command to take the lowest place is not a lesson in social diffidence but in supernatural truth: man possesses nothing before God that he has not received, and grace finds its proper dwelling where pride has ceased to occupy the throne. “Every one that exalteth himself shall be humbled; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.” The Mass Miserére mihi begins in precisely this posture of dependence upon divine mercy.
The sixth day within the Octave of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary is commemorated. The juxtaposition is especially fitting. Mary is exalted above every merely human creature precisely because she never attempted to exalt herself. The ancilla Domini receives everything from God and refers everything back to Him. Her humility is therefore not self-contempt but perfect truth before the Creator.
Monday, 14 September 2026 — The Exaltation of the Holy Cross
The Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross turns the Church’s gaze towards the instrument of shame that became the throne of the Redeemer and the standard of Christian victory. The Mass begins, Nos autem gloriári oportet in Cruce Domini nostri Jesu Christi — “But God forbid that we should glory, save in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.” What the world reads as defeat, the Church venerates as triumph, because upon the Cross Christ conquered sin, death and the devil by the very act in which His enemies imagined Him conquered.
The feast has ancient associations both with the dedication of the Constantinian basilicas at Jerusalem and with the restoration of the relic of the True Cross after its recovery from the Persians. Yet the liturgical point is larger than archaeology. The Church does not venerate wood as an isolated relic, but the Cross because it is inseparable from the saving Passion of Christ. Red therefore replaces the green of the season; the proper Preface of the Holy Cross is used, and the seventh day within the Octave of Our Lady’s Nativity is commemorated. Mary, whose life begins the human preparation for the Incarnation, already points towards the purpose for which the Word took flesh: the sacrifice of Calvary.
Tuesday, 15 September 2026 — The Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary
The day after the Exaltation of the Cross the Church deliberately places the Mother beside it. The Feast of the Seven Sorrows contemplates not an abstract catalogue of griefs but Mary’s unique participation, by compassion, in the Passion of her divine Son. Simeon’s prophecy of the sword reaches its terrible fulfilment at Calvary, where the Mother who gave Christ His human flesh stands beneath the Cross while that flesh is offered for the redemption of the world. The sequence Stabat Mater gives liturgical voice to this mystery: the faithful do not merely observe Mary’s sorrow but ask to be drawn through it into a deeper conformity with the Crucified.
The Mass is Stabant juxta Crucem Jesu Mater ejus. White is worn because the feast is of the Blessed Virgin, and the Marian Preface takes the proper clause Et te in Transfixione. St Nicomedes, Martyr, is commemorated. Although 15 September is also the Octave Day of the Nativity of Our Lady, the proper rubric is explicit that nothing is made of the Octave in the Mass of the Seven Sorrows. The liturgical sequence is itself eloquent: Mary’s birth, celebrated a week ago, leads now to the Cross, just as every grace she received was ordered finally to Christ and His saving work.
Wednesday, 16 September 2026 — Ember Wednesday in September
The first of the September Ember Days interrupts the succession of festal Masses with the older Roman discipline of quarterly prayer and fasting. The Mass Exsultáte Deo is celebrated in purple, without Gloria or Creed. Its ancient station is at St Mary Major, and its additional lessons give the Mass something of the character of a vigil: the Church listens at greater length to the Word of God while consecrating the new season to Him. The September Ember Days were traditionally linked with thanksgiving for the fruits of the earth, penitence, and prayer for those to be ordained; together they insist that the material order, the ecclesiastical order and the interior life all stand under divine providence.
Saints Cornelius and Cyprian are commemorated rather than celebrated as the principal Mass. Cornelius, Pope, and Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage, were united in defence of Catholic discipline amid persecution and controversy and were eventually united in martyrdom. Saints Euphemia, Lucy and Geminian are also commemorated. Thus the austerity of the Ember feria is surrounded by the witness of the martyrs: fasting is not an exercise in self-improvement, but a school of freedom in which the Christian learns to prefer God to appetite, comfort and fear.
Thursday, 17 September 2026 — The Impression of the Sacred Stigmata of St Francis
The Church commemorates the extraordinary conformity of St Francis of Assisi to the Crucified Christ when, on Mount La Verna in 1224, according to the traditional account, the wounds of the Passion were impressed upon his body. The Mass begins with the Apostle’s words, Mihi autem absit gloriári, nisi in Cruce Domini nostri Jesu Christi — “God forbid that I should glory, save in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The feast therefore belongs naturally within the liturgical atmosphere created by the Exaltation of the Cross and the Seven Sorrows of Our Lady earlier in the week.
The stigmata are not presented as a spiritual curiosity or an end in themselves. Francis had spent his life seeking conformity to the poor and crucified Christ; the visible wounds signified an interior work already accomplished through conversion, poverty, obedience, penance and charity. Christian mysticism is authenticated not by the extraordinary but by union with Christ. The white vestments of the Confessor remind us that the Cross, embraced in grace, does not terminate in suffering but in glory.
Friday, 18 September 2026 — St Joseph of Cupertino, Confessor; Ember Friday
St Joseph of Cupertino is among the most striking saints of the Counter-Reformation period. Born in 1603 into circumstances of considerable poverty and possessing little natural aptitude for academic study, he nevertheless persevered through repeated humiliation and difficulty before becoming a Conventual Franciscan priest. His life later became associated with extraordinary ecstasies and levitations, but the Church’s liturgy directs attention beyond the phenomena to their root: Diléctio Dei honorábilis sapiéntia — the love of God is honourable wisdom. His greatness consisted not in marvels but in simplicity, obedience, detachment and an intense charity that drew the soul beyond itself towards God.
The feast, being a Double, is celebrated as principal, while the Ember Friday is commemorated and its Gospel is read at the end of Mass. This preserves the penitential character of the day within the festal observance. The conjunction is particularly apt: Joseph’s mystical elevation was inseparable from self-denial. The traditional Ember fast and Friday abstinence recall that authentic contemplation is not escape from the discipline of the body but its restoration to proper order beneath the soul, and the soul beneath God.
Saturday, 19 September 2026 — SS. Januarius, Bishop, and Companions, Martyrs; Ember Saturday
St Januarius, Bishop and Martyr, is honoured with the companions who suffered during the persecution associated with Diocletian at the beginning of the fourth century. He became particularly beloved at Naples, where the ancient cult surrounding his relics and the celebrated phenomenon associated with the liquefaction of his preserved blood have made him one of Italy’s best-known saints. The Mass Salus autem justórum a Dómino places the emphasis where it belongs: the salvation of the just comes from the Lord, and martyrdom is not human heroism detached from grace but fidelity made possible by supernatural strength.
The calendar is unusually rich today. The feast is a Double, but the September Ember Saturday is commemorated, preserving the ancient Roman day of fasting, extended lessons and prayer traditionally associated with ordinations. In addition, because the Vigil of St Matthew would otherwise fall tomorrow on Sunday, it is anticipated today and forms the third commemoration. The Ember Gospel is read as the Last Gospel. Martyrdom, fasting, vocation and apostolic preparation consequently meet in a single liturgical day: the Church receives the Faith from witnesses who surrendered everything and prepares new labourers to hand on what they themselves received.
Sunday, 20 September 2026 — SS. Eustace and Companions, Martyrs; Commemoration of the Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost
In our Ordo the Double feast of St Eustace and his Companions takes precedence, and the Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost is commemorated. The Mass Sapiéntiam Sanctórum clothes the altar in red and honours the company of martyrs. According to the ancient Christian tradition surrounding him, Eustace — commonly identified with the Roman officer Placidus — was brought to conversion after the vision of a Cross between the antlers of a stag and was baptised together with his family. The later details of his passio belong substantially to hagiographical tradition, but the Church’s object in venerating him is clear: steadfast confession of Christ when earthly security, status and finally life itself are demanded as the price of fidelity.
The Sunday nevertheless remains audibly present. Its Gospel is read as the Last Gospel and gives Our Lord’s answer concerning the greatest commandment: to love God with the whole heart, soul and mind, and one’s neighbour as oneself. Christ then turns the interrogation upon the Pharisees and asks how the Messias can be both David’s son and David’s Lord. The conjunction with the martyrs is exact. Eustace and his companions embody the radical consequence of the first and greatest commandment: God is not one loyalty among several, but the supreme good by which every other allegiance is judged. The martyrs could surrender everything because they had first understood Whom they loved.
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