The week opens with the martyrdom of St Eustace and his Companions overriding the Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost, passes through the apostolic feast of St Matthew and the Marian Feast of Our Lady of Ransom, and closes with the Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost, upon which SS. Cosmas and Damian are commemorated. Martyrdom, apostolic conversion, episcopal charity, deliverance and healing provide the spiritual thread of the week.
| Dies | 20 SUN | 21 MON | 22 TUE | 23 WED | 24 THU | 25 FRI | 26 SAT | 27 SUN |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Officium | Ss. Eustachii et Sociorum Martyrum | S. Matthæi Apostoli et Evangelistæ | S. Thomæ de Villanova Episcopi et Confessoris | S. Lini Papæ et Martyris | Beatæ Mariæ Virginis de Mercede | Feria VI infra Hebdomadam XVII post Pentecosten | Ss. Cypriani et Justinæ Martyrum | Dominica XVIII post Pentecosten |
| CLASSIS | Duplex | Duplex II | Duplex | Semiduplex | Duplex majus | Feria | Simplex | Semiduplex |
| Color* | Rubeum | Rubeum | Albus | Rubeum | Albus | Viridis | Rubeum | Viridis |
| MISSA | Sapiéntiam Sanctórum | Os justi | Státuit ei | Si díligis me | Salve, sancta Parens | Justus es | Salus autem | Da pacem |
| Orationes | 2a. Dominica XVII post Pentecosten | NA | 2a. Ss. Mauritii et Sociorum Martyrum | 2a. S. Theclæ Virginis et Martyris; 3a. A cunctis | NA | 2a. A cunctis; 3a. ad libitum | 2a. A cunctis; 3a. ad libitum | 2a. Ss. Cosmæ et Damiani Martyrum; 3a. A cunctis |
| NOTAE | Gl. Cr.; Pref. de Trinitatis; Ev. Dominicæ ad fin. Missæ | Gl. Cr.; Pref. de Apostolis | Gl. Cr.; Pref. de Communis | Gl.; Pref. de Communis | Gl. Cr.; Pref. de B.M.V. — Et te in Festivitate | Sine Gl. et Cr.; Pref. de Communis | Gl.; Pref. de Communis | Gl. Cr.; Pref. de Trinitatis |
| Nota Bene/Vel/Votiva | Festum Duplex præcedit Dominicam; Dominica commemoratur. | Missæ votivæ vel Requiem permittuntur | In Anglia hodie etiam celebratur B.M.V. de Walsingaha in calendario nationali hodierno. | Missæ votivæ vel Requiem permittuntur | Missæ votivæ vel Requiem permittuntur | Dominica præcedit festum Semiduplex; Ss. Cosmas et Damianus commemorantur. |
* Color: Albus = White; Rubeum = Red; Viridis = Green; Purpura = Purple; Niger = Black. [] = in Missa privata.
Sunday, 20 September 2026 — SS. Eustace and Companions, Martyrs; Commemoration of the Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost
The week begins in red. In our Ordo the Double feast of St Eustace and his Companions takes precedence over the Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost, which is commemorated. The Mass Sapiéntiam Sanctórum honours those whose wisdom consisted finally in preferring Christ to life itself. The traditional passio identifies Eustace with the Roman soldier Placidus, converted after beholding the sign of the Cross between the antlers of a stag, and subsequently martyred with his family. Much of the narrative reaches us through hagiographical tradition, but the liturgical point requires no embellishment: martyrdom is the final act of the first commandment.
That makes the displaced Sunday unusually apt. Its Gospel asks which is the great commandment of the Law, and Christ answers that God must be loved with the whole heart, soul and mind. The Sunday is not lost: it is commemorated, its Gospel is read at the end of Mass, and its teaching becomes embodied in the martyrs before us. They loved God not as one allegiance among several, but as the good before which every lesser good must yield.
Monday, 21 September 2026 — St Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist
The red of martyrdom remains, but today it belongs to an Apostle. The Gospel gives us one of the most abrupt conversions in Scripture. Matthew is sitting at the receipt of custom when Christ says simply, “Follow me.” Matthew rises and follows. There is no negotiation, probationary period or attempt to reconcile the old occupation with the new vocation. Grace calls; Matthew leaves his place and goes after Christ.
The Mass Os justi praises the wisdom of the just man, while the Preface of the Apostles places Matthew within the foundation laid by Christ for His Church. The publican becomes an Apostle; the man accustomed to keeping accounts becomes the Evangelist who records the genealogy, teaching and Kingship of the Messias. His feast is therefore a feast of vocation in its starkest form. Conversion is not principally the improvement of the life one already possesses. Sometimes Christ says Sequere me, and what existed before must simply be left behind.
Tuesday, 22 September 2026 — St Thomas of Villanova, Bishop and Confessor
St Thomas of Villanova was an Augustinian friar, preacher and theologian who became Archbishop of Valencia in the sixteenth century. Episcopal dignity did not alter the austerity of his life. He became renowned for his care of the poor, using the resources attached to his office for their relief and insisting that charity required more than indiscriminate giving: the poor should be helped towards the restoration of stable and dignified lives wherever possible.
The Mass Státuit ei places before us the bishop as steward rather than proprietor. Ecclesiastical office is received for service, not possession. That theme is particularly suited to this Nuntiatoria edition: what is entrusted must be guarded and handed on. SS. Maurice and his Companions are commemorated. According to the ancient tradition of the Theban Legion, they chose fidelity to Christ rather than obedience to commands incompatible with their Faith. Bishop and martyrs together reveal the same principle from different directions: authority is holy when it remains obedient to the authority of God.
Wednesday, 23 September 2026 — St Linus, Pope and Martyr
Roman tradition places St Linus immediately after St Peter in the succession of the Roman Church. The historical record of these first generations is sparse, as one would expect of a Church living within an often hostile pagan empire, but that very obscurity is instructive. The foundations of the visible Church were laid not by celebrity but by succession, fidelity and blood. Linus received something he had not invented and handed it to those who came after him.
St Thecla, Virgin and Martyr, is commemorated. The ancient traditions surrounding her associate her closely with the preaching of St Paul and celebrate her constancy in virginity and confession of Christ. Whatever difficulties belong to the later hagiographical development of her story, her cult is very ancient. Linus and Thecla therefore bring us close to the first Christian generations, when apostolic preaching was still a living memory and fidelity to what had been received could carry an immediate cost.
Thursday, 24 September 2026 — Our Lady of Ransom
The Feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Ransom — Beata Maria Virgo de Mercede — arose from the Christian struggle to redeem captives held in slavery under Muslim powers around the Mediterranean. The Order of Our Lady of Mercy, associated especially with St Peter Nolasco, made the liberation of Christian captives its particular work, its members famously being willing to offer themselves in place of prisoners whose Faith was endangered.
The Mass Salve, sancta Parens places the work beneath Our Lady’s protection. Ransom is already a profoundly Christian word. Man himself has been redeemed — bought back — by the Precious Blood of Christ. The historical liberation of captives therefore becomes an image of the greater deliverance accomplished by the Redeemer. In England the date now also carries the national feast of Our Lady of Walsingham. The two titles converge naturally: Mary points always to the Incarnation by which the ransom of mankind became possible, whether contemplated at England’s Nazareth or invoked for Christians in captivity.
Friday, 25 September 2026 — Feria
After the concentration of saints and feasts, the calendar opens into a simple feria. The green returns and the Mass Justus es, taken from the Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost, is heard again without Gloria or Creed. There is a salutary ordinariness here. The liturgy does not require every day to possess an historical anniversary or an extraordinary saint. Much of Christian life consists precisely in continuing faithfully when nothing remarkable is happening.
The Gospel’s command remains the same: love God wholly and the neighbour rightly. The feria turns that command from festal proclamation into daily discipline. Saints are not made only on the days subsequently assigned to their feasts. They are made on innumerable ordinary Fridays through prayer said when distracted, duties performed when unnoticed, temptations resisted when nobody sees, and charity practised without applause.
Saturday, 26 September 2026 — SS. Cyprian and Justina, Martyrs
The traditional passio of SS. Cyprian and Justina presents one of the more dramatic conversion narratives in the old calendar. Cyprian is depicted as a practitioner of magical arts whose attempts against the Christian virgin Justina fail before her Faith and use of the sign of the Cross. Confronted with the impotence of the powers he had served, he converts to Christ and is eventually united with Justina in martyrdom. The historical details of the narrative are difficult to establish, but the theological point for which the Roman liturgy preserved their memory is unmistakable.
Christianity does not oppose occult power with a stronger form of occult power. It exposes its fraud beneath the sovereignty of Christ. The Mass Salus autem gives the answer: “the salvation of the just is from the Lord.” The feast is Simple, yet its lesson is anything but slight. Evil fascinates by presenting itself as secret knowledge and hidden power. The martyrs answer with the Cross.
Sunday, 27 September 2026 — Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost; Commemoration of SS. Cosmas and Damian, Martyrs
Today the order of precedence changes. Unlike the previous Sunday, the saints occurring today are Semidouble; the Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost therefore remains principal and SS. Cosmas and Damian are commemorated. The altar returns to green and the Introit petitions, Da pacem, Dómine — “Give peace, O Lord, to them that wait for Thee.” The Collect immediately establishes where such peace begins: God Himself must direct the heart, because without Him man cannot please Him.
The Gospel of the paralytic makes the order of divine healing explicit. Before Christ tells the man to rise, He tells him that his sins are forgiven. The scribes regard the claim as blasphemy; Christ heals the body precisely to demonstrate His authority to forgive the soul. The physical miracle is visible evidence of an invisible and greater restoration.
The commemoration of SS. Cosmas and Damian could hardly be better placed. Christian tradition remembers them as physicians who practised their art without demanding payment and finally suffered martyrdom. Medicine and redemption meet at the altar, but without confusion. Physicians may treat the body; Christ alone possesses sovereign authority over sin. The Church honours the physician while refusing to make medicine a substitute for salvation.
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