January 2026

Jubilee Year of Saint Francis on the 800th Anniversary of His Death 

January is the month dedicated to the Holy Name of Jesus

January 18-25: Week of Prayer for Christian Unity "There is one body and one spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling"

At the Name of Jesus, every knee should bend.

MARY, HOLY MOTHER OF GOD,

SAINT MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL,

PRAY FOR US.

JESUS, BRIGHTNESS OF ETERNAL LIGHT,

HAVE MERCY ON US.

JESUS, INFINITE GOODNESS,

HAVE MERCY ON US.

JESUS, MOST POWERFUL,

HAVE MERCY ON US.

Dear faithful readers, welcome to January, the month dedicated to the Most Holy Name of Jesus, and entry into the calendar year 2026. Jesus, meek and humble of heart, have mercy on us. However, let us not be hasty about leaving the Christmas Season behind. May we keep on celebrating Christmas until February 2, when we commemorate the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord. also called Candlemas. When the days were completed for their purification according to the law of Moses, Mary and Joseph took Jesus up to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord ... The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon Him (Luke 2:22, 40). 

And we kick off the new calendar year on January 1 with the Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God, a fitting way to get things started, under the protective veil of Our Lady, the Holy Mother of God. At the same time, January 1 is the World Day of Peace with the theme “Peace be with you all: Towards an ‘unarmed and disarming’ peace.” 

Wisdom from above is first of all innocent. It is also peaceable, lenient, docile, rich in sympathy and the kindly deeds that are its fruits, impartial and sincere. The harvest of justice is sown in peace for those who cultivate peace.

(James 3:17-18)

We have the option to celebrate (and who wouldn't) the Most Holy Name of Jesus on January 3. Jesus, Son of Justice, have mercy on us. On Sunday, January 4, we celebrate the Epiphany of the Lord, so let us come with gifts to adore the Lord. After a week of "Days after Epiphany," we celebrate the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord on Sunday, January 11. On Monday, January 12, we enter the First Week of Ordinary Time. And then there is the Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children on January 22. On Sunday, January 25, we celebrate the Sunday of the Word of God, a celebration instituted by Pope Francis, a day devoted to the celebration, study and dissemination of the word of God. In between these times, there are several heavy hitter saints to commemorate, for example, Saint Cnut the Duke, a Martyr! So get ready folks, it is another busy month, especially with the commemoration of The Translation of the Black Nazarene, an image enshrined in the Church at Quiapo, Philippines and the Feast of Santo Nino. And lastly, if you haven’t picked up your copy of the Holy Rule of Saint Benedict in some time, now is the time to pick it up and start again with the Prologue to commence the first of three read throughs for 2026. If we keep to daily reading of and reflection on the Holy Rule, by the end of January we will have made it all the way to Chapter 7, "Humility," verse 34. Listen then, with the ear of your heart.

It occurred to me the other morning that together, united as we are in faith and prayer, we could consider two New Year's resolutions. First, how about making friends with a saint this year, or some other person you admire, like a pope or spiritual writer. Read things first, if available, written by him or her. Then things written about him or her. And if the person wrote letters, read some of them. I will spend the year becoming better friends with Saint Therese of Lisieux, "The Little Flower." In fact, I am already busy with her Story of a Soul, and a marvelous book by Ida Friederike Gorres, The Hidden Face: A Study of St. Therese of Lisieux. Who will your friend be this year? Or who is it that you want to become better friends with? 

Second, you might make friends with a psalm. As Cardinal Basil Hume (1923-1999) of happy memory once said, "look for friends among the psalms ... mull over [one of them] during mental prayer ... make it your friend." Are there particular words from the psalmist that sing to you? Then how about memorizing the psalm ... there are 365 days to practice. A favorite psalm of mine, one that has been a favorite since childhood, is Psalm 127, especially the first verse: Unless the Lord build the house, they labor in vain who build it. In the home where I was raised, there was a framed print of Psalm 127:1 that hung in the breezeway, a place that pretty much anyone who came to our house passed. The words of the psalmist were formative not only for our family, but for countless friends and neighbors too. More recently, Psalm 70 has had a sweet melody, melody sung in perfect pitch.

It is you, O Lord, who are my hope,

my trust, O Lord, since my youth.

On you have I leaned from my birth,

from my mother's womb you have been my help,

My hope has always been in you.

(Psalm 70:5-6)

Now with our voices. The first is one of my favorites from Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, a voice that is fitting for this month dedicated to the Holy Name of Jesus.

Write what you will, I shall not relish it unless it tells of Jesus. Talk or argue about what you will, I shall not relish it if you exclude the name of Jesus. Jesus to me is honey in the mouth, music in the ear, a song in the heart.

Again, it is medicine. Does one of us feel sad? Let the name of Jesus come into his heart, from there let it spring to his mouth, so that shining like the dawn it may dispel all darkness and make a cloudless sky. Does someone fall into sin? Does his despair even urge him to suicide? Let him invoke this life-giving name and his will to live will once be renewed ...

(Bernard of Clairvaux, 1050-1193, On the Song of Songs, 15:III, 6-IV, 7)

And from The Little Flower ...

Jesus deigned to teach me this mystery. He set before me the book of nature; I understood how all the flowers He has created are beautiful, how the splendor of the rose and the whiteness of the Lily do not take away the perfume of the violet or the delightful simplicity of the daisy. I understood that if all flowers wanted to be roses, nature would lose her springtime beauty, and the fields would no longer be decked out with little wild flowers.

And so it is in the world of souls, Jesus' garden. He willed to create great souls comparable to Lilies and roses, but He has created smaller ones and these must be content to be daisies or violets destined to give joy to God's glances when He looks down at His feet. Perfection consists in doing His will, in being what He wills us to be.

(Saint Therese of Lisieux, 1873-1897, Story of a Soul, Manuscript A, Ch. I)

And finally, we hear from our holy father Saint Benedict, from his Holy Rule, all words to inspire and encourage us as we enter a new year, a new beginning ...

First of all, every time you begin a good work, you must pray to God to bring it to perfection.

(Rule of Saint Benedict, Prologue 4)

Let us get up then, at long last, for the Scriptures rouse us when they say: It is high time for us to arise from sleep (Romans 13:11). Let us open our eyes to the light that comes from God and our ears to the voice from heaven that every day calls out this charge: If you hear His voice today, do not harden your hearts (Psalm 94:8).

(Rule of Saint Benedict, Prologue 8-9)

But as we progress in this way of life and in faith, we shall run on the path of God's commandments, our hearts overflowing with the inexpressible delight of love.

(Rule of Saint Benedict, Prologue 49)

Your way of acting should be different from the world's way;

the love of Christ must come before all else.

(Rule of Saint Benedict, 4:20-21)

Place your hope in God alone.

(Rule of Saint Benedict, 4:41)

God loves a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9:7).

(Rule of Saint Benedict, 5:16)

In a flood of words you will not avoid sin (Proverbs 10:19) ... The tongue holds the key to life and death (Proverbs 18:21) ... We absolutely condemn in all places any vulgarity and gossip and talk leading to laughter, and we do not permit a disciple to engage in words of that kind.

(Rule of Saint Benedict, 6:4-5, 8)

I have not come to do my own will, but the will of Him who sent me (John 6:38).

(Rule of Saint Benedict, 7:32)

For all the saints, pray for us!

SAINTS BASIL THE GREAT AND GREGORY NAZIANZEN,

SAINT GENEVIEVE,

SAINT MUNCHIN, 

SAINT KURIAKOSE ELIAS CHAVARA,

BLESSED STEPHANA QUINZANI OP,

SAINT ELIZABETH ANN SETON,

SAINT JOHN NEUMANN, BISHOP,

SAINT CNUT THE DUKE, MARTYR,

SAINT NATHALAN,

SAINT PETER THOMAS,

SAINT APOLIINARIS,

SAINT ANGELA OF FOLIGNO,

SAINT GREGORY OF NYSSA,

SAINT ADRIAN OF CANTERBURY,

SAINT ANDREW CORSINI,

SAINT ANDRE BESSETTE,

SAINT RAYMOND OF PENYAFORT,

SAINT HILARY OF POITIERS, BISHOP, DOCTOR,

SAINT KENTIGERN OR MUNGO,

SAINT SAVA,

SAINTS MAUR AND PLACID,

SAINT ITA,

SAINT REMIGIUS, REMY OR REMI,

SAINT FURSA OR FURSEY,

SAINT JOSEPH VAZ,

SAINT ANTHONY, ABBOT,

OUR LADY OF ARABIA,

SAINT WULSTAN,

SAINT FAOLAN,

SAINT HENRY OF UPPSALA,

THE JESUIT MARTYRS OF THE REFORMATION,

BLESSED ANDREW PESCHIARA OP,

POPE SAINT FABIAN, MARTYR,

SAINT SEBASTIAN, MARTYR,

BLESSED CYPRIAN MICHAEL TANSI,

SAINT PAUL OF THEBES,

BLESSED ANGELO PAOLI,

SAINT AGNES, VIRGIN, MARTYR,

SAINT PUBLIUS,

POPE SAINT MARCELLUS,

BLESSED ANTHONY DELLA CHIESA OP,

SAINT VINCENT, DEACON, MARTYR,

BLESSED HENRY SUSO OP,

SAINT MARIANNE COPE,

SAINT FRANCIS DE SALES, BISHOP,

SAINTS TIMOTHY AND TITUS,

SAINTS ROBERT, ALBERIC, AND STEPHEN,

SAINT ANGELA MERICI, VIRGIN,

SAINT THOMAS AQUINAS, PRIEST, DOCTOR,

SAINT JOHN BOSCO, PRIEST,

SAINT HYACINTHA OF MARISCOTTI,

BLESSED ANN OF THE ANGELES MONTEAGUDO OP,

BLESSED GONSALVO OF AMARANTE OP,

BLESSED BERNARD SCAMMACCA OP,

SAINT AELRED OF RIEVAULX,

SAINT MARGUERITE BOURGEOYS OP,

SAINT BENET (BENEDICT) BISCOP,

SAINT PAUL,

BLESSED EDWARD OLDCORNE,

SAINT HENRY DE OSSO,

BLESSED MARCOLINO OF FORLI OP,

BLESSED ARCHANGELA GIRLANI,

BLESSED VILLANA DE' BOTTI,

SAINT GILDAS THE WISE,

SAINT AEDAN OF FERNS,

SAINT ALBAN ROE,

SAINT THOMAS GREEN,

VENERABLE MARY WARD, 

PRAY FOR US.

JESUS, CROWN OF ALL SAINTS,

HAVE MERCY ON US.

This month's photo: On heaven and on earth.

© Gertrude Feick 2026

Monday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time

The Month of January Dedicated to the Holy Name of Jesus

Saints: Saint Fursa or Fursey (-c.650); Saint Joseph Vaz (1651-1711); Pope Saint Marcellus I (255-309); Saint Priscilla, Roman Matron (1st century)

Readings of the Day

Rule of Saint Benedict: Ch 3:1-6 Summoning the Brothers for Counsel

Mass: Heb 5:1-10; Resp Ps 110; Mk 2:18-22

Sit at my right hand.

MARY, QUEEN OF PEACE,

SAINT MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL,

PRAY FOR US.

JESUS, KING OF GLORY,

HAVE MERCY ON US.

All the earthly shall bow down before you, O God, 

and shall sing to you, shall sing to your name, O Most High!

(Entrance Antiphon, Mass)

Welcome to Monday and we know how Mondays go. Monday is Monday wherever one finds herself. Reflecting on what I might include in today's reflection, it came to me during Lauds when we sung Psalm (66) 67: "The earth has yielded its increase; God, our God, has blessed us. God has blessed us; let all the ends of the earth fear Him." Thanks be to God. United in faith and prayer, we go forth. Thank you for being there, faithful readers. And one last thing (kind of ☺), today we commemorate Saint Priscilla, Roman matron of the first century. The catacombs of Saint Priscilla on the Via Salaria in Rome are awesome. They are full of frescoes, so well preserved they look like they were painted yesterday. One fresco is said to be the earliest image of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Then there is the one of the three young men in the fiery furnace, and ... Check those catacombs out if you get the chance. They are my favorite ones to visit. And the Benedictine Sisters of Saint Priscilla look after the sacred site. 

Try to gather more frequently to give thanks to God and to praise Him. For when you come together frequently, Satan's powers are undermined, and the destruction that he threatens is done away with in the unanimity of your faith. Nothing is better than peace, in which all warfare between heaven and earth is brought to an end. 

(From a letter to the Ephesians by Saint Ignatius of Antioch, bishop and martyr, 

in Office of Readings, Second Week in Ordinary Time, Monday) 

SAINT FURSA,

SAINT JOSEPH VAZ,

POPE SAINT MARCELLUS,

SAINT PRISCILLA,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: Near the path overlooking the Mattole River, last Friday. He guides me along the right path.

© Gertrude Feick 2023

Tuesday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Saints: Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein), Martyr, Co-Patron Saint of Europe (1891-1942); Saint Nathy; Saint Felim (6th century)

Readings of the Day

Rule of Saint Benedict: Ch 56 The Abbot's Table

Mass: Ezk 2:8-3:4; Resp Ps 119; Mt 18:1-5, 10, 12-14

Yes, your decrees are my delight.

MARY, QUEEN OF PEACE,

HEART OF MARY, SANCTUARY OF THE DIVINE TRINITY,

PRAY FOR US.

Free me from the net they have set for me, for you are my refuge.

(Psalm 31:5)

It was at Lauds this morning that I knew it was good day to turn to the psalms, as are all days. The psalmist sings to us with words of solace, compassion, assistance, and challenge too. Today is an especially good day to turn to the psalms as we commemorate Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein). Born as she was into a Jewish family, Edith would have been familiar with the psalms. At 14, Edith became an atheist, then a scholar of philosophy, studying under Edmund Husserl in Freiburg, Germany. A seeker of the truth, Edith read the autobiography of Saint Teresa Avila and exclaimed, "This is the truth." Subsequently, Edith was baptized into the faith in 1922, and eventually entered the Carmel in Cologne, taking the name Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. She was moved to a Carmel in the Netherlands during the growing Nazi threat. After all Jewish converts to the faith were arrested, Teresa Benedicta of the Cross was taken to Auschwitz and killed on August 9, 1942. Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord.

When you seek truth you seek God, whether you know it or not.

(Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross)

SAINT TERESA BENEDICTA OF THE CROSS,

SAINT NATHY,

SAINT FELIM,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: More greenery to delight in. I gasp with open mouth.

© Gertrude Feick 2022

Friday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time

Year of the Family "Amoris Laetitia The Joy of Love"

Saint: Blessed Edward Poppe (d. 1924)

Readings of the Day

Rule of Saint Benedict: Ch 7:62-70 Humility

Mass: 1 Kgs 19:9a, 11-16; Resp Ps 27; Mt 5:27-32

Of you my heart speaks; you my glance seeks.

MARY, QUEEN OF PEACE, 

PRAY FOR US.

Shine like lights in the world, as you hold onto the word of life. 

Alleluia. Alleluia.

(Gospel acclamation, Mass)

There are a couple of things I read within the last 24 hours that brought a smile to my face. The first is a remark about silence, from Blessed Rafael Arnaiz Baron. It may help us as we conclude Saint Benedict's chapter 7 on humility and continue to ascend the steps of humility. On silence, then, Rafael said, "Brother, do not make noise, I am speaking with God" (God Alone: A Spiritual Biography of Blessed Rafael Arnaiz Baron, p. 42). Heart of Jesus, our peace and reconciliation, have mercy on us.

The second comes from the second reading in today's Office of Readings. It appears this week, in these days when the psalms have been coming through loud and clear. As often is the case, the one prayed fits the mood or emotional state. It started early this week when we began with Psalm 39, the psalmist singing too about silence and humility: "I said, 'I will watch my ways, lest I sin with my tongue, I will set a curb on my mouth ..." (Ps 39:2). It is true what Saint Augustine says about the psalms.

Though all Scripture is fragrant with God's grace. the Book of Psalms has a special attractiveness ...

In the Book of Psalms there is profit for all, with healing power for our salvation ... All who read it may find the cure for their own individual failings. All with eyes to see can discover in it a complete gymnasium for the soul, a stadium for all virtues, equipped for every kind of exercise; it is for each to choose the kind he judges best to help him gain the prize.

(From the explanations of the Psalms by Saint Ambrose, bishop, in Office of Readings, Tenth Week in Ordinary Time, Friday)

Look then to the Book of Psalms, for, "in one short reading you can amass a treasure for the memory ... you will find the glory of charity more than a match for the parade of power" (Saint Augustine). So as we did this morning, we sing with one of my favorite psalms: Not to us, Lord, not to us but to your name give the glory because of your faithfulness and love ... Those who fear the Lord trust in the Lord, who is their help and their shield (Ps 115:1,11). 

Now, therefore, after ascending all these steps of humility, the monk will quickly arrive at that perfect love of God which casts out fear. Through this love, all that he once performed with dread, he will now begin to observe without effort, as though naturally, from habit, no longer out of fear of hell, but out of love for Christ, good habit and delight in virtue, All this the Lord will by the Holy Spirit graciously manifest in his workman now cleansed of vices and sins.

(Rule of Saint Benedict, 7:67-70)

BLESSED EDWARD POPPE,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: Some beauty comes in pairs. Hear, O Lord, the sound of my call. Dear faithful reader, Mr. JA. Why not consider sending along a photo of one of your favorite flowers seen while walking ... United in faith and prayer, thank you for being there. 

© Gertrude Feick 2022

Saturday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

Year of Saint Joseph

Year of the Family "Amoris Laetitia The Joy of Love"

National Back to School Month

Saint: Pope Saint Pius X (1835-1914); 200th Anniversary of the Birth of Saint Andrew Kim Taegon, Korea's First Native-Born Priest (1821-1846)

Readings of the Day

RB: Ch 63:7-22

Mass: Ruth 2:1-3, 8-11; 4:13-17; Resp Ps 128; Mt 23:1-12

See how the Lord blesses those who fear Him.

Two things for today. First, why not read and reflect on the Book of Ruth. A beautiful story of fidelity, it is not long, only four short chapters. I love Ruth, and especially something she said to Naomi: "Do not ask me to abandon or forsake you! for wherever you go I will go, wherever you lodge I will lodge, your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Wherever you do die I will die, and there be buried. May the Lord do so and so to me, and more besides, if aught but death separate me from you?" (Ruth 1:16-17). 

Second, considering the words of Pope Saint Pius X below, why not pray with the psalms? Do you have a favorite psalm? If you don't have a favorite psalm, find one and make a new friend with it. 😊

The psalms have a wonderful power to awaken in our hearts the desire for every virtue ... Indeed, who could fail to be moved by those many passages in the psalms which set forth so profoundly the infinite majesty of God, his omnipotence, his justice and goodness and clemency, too deep for words, and other infinite qualities of his that deserve our praise? Who could fail to be roused to the same emotions by the prayers of thanksgiving to God for blessings received, by the petitions, so humble and confident, for blessings still awaited, by the cries of a soul in sorrow for sin committed? Who could not be fired with love as he looks on the likeness of Christ, the redeemer, here so lovingly foretold? His was the voice Augustine heard in every psalm, the voice of praise, of suffering, of joyful expectation, of present distress.

(From the apostolic constitution Divino afflatu of Pope Saint Pius X, in Office of Readings, August 21, 2021)

POPE SAINT PIUS X,

SAINT JOSEPH,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: How's this for a dinner plate dahlia!

© Gertrude Feick 2021

SAINT BRUNO (c. 1032-1101); BLESSED MARIE ROSE DUROCHER (1811-1849)

FIRST FRIDAY OF THE MONTH

Readings of the day: RB 7:55

Mass: Baruch 1:15-22; Resp. Psalm 79; Luke 10:13-16

I was struck this morning during Vigils with Psalm 79(80) which also serves as today’s Responsorial Psalm. Maybe it was a wake-up call. My first thought was of the tax collector who raised his eyes to heaven, beat his breast and prayed: “O God, be merciful to me a sinner.” Then I went to the Psalm:

Do not hold past iniquities against us;

may your compassion come quickly,

for we have been brought very low.

Help us, God our savior for the glory of your name,

Deliver us, pardon our sins for your name’s sake.

Living and true God, if today I hear YOUR voice, harden not my heart.

Grant me the grace to heed your voice, ask for forgiveness,

and embrace your merciful love and compassion.

Those who keep God’s word with a good and perfect heart patiently bear fruit.

(Communion Antiphon, Mass)

SAINT BRUNO

BLESSED MARIE ROSE DUROCHER,

PRAY FOR US.

Twenty-Sixth Week in Ordinary Time

 Readings of the day: RB 7:44-48

Mass: Zechariah 8:20-23; Resp. Psalm 87; Luke 9:51-56

The psalmist reminds us of something we can easily forget, namely, God is with us. 

May we be aware of God’s presence this day,

especially when we are troubled, anxious, worried, or distressed.

Remember your word to your servant, O Lord, by which you have given me hope.

This is my comfort when I am brought low.

(Communion Antiphon, Mass)