In order to help us grow in our faith, the Church encourages many different types of devotions and dedications. Our Mother Church also encourages us to use these devotions to delve deeper into our faith. One way She does this is by encouraging weekly and monthly devotions dedicated to a particular saint or article of faith.
I first learned of many of these devotions when I was discerning a religious vocation with the Little Sisters of the Poor. They had (and I assume still do) special prayers and practices for each day of the week or month of the year. After leaving that religious congregation, I discovered that it was universally practiced in the Catholic Church and not just their order.
Here are the weekly devotions:
Sunday: The Holy Trinity
Monday: The Souls in Purgatory
Tuesday: Our Guardian Angels
Wednesday: Saint Joseph
Thursday: The Eucharist
Friday: The Passion of Jesus (Divine Mercy) and/or The Sacred Heart of Jesus
Saturday: The Immaculate Heart of Mary
And the Monthly Devotions:
January: The Holy Childhood of Jesus
February: The Holy Family
March: Saint Joseph
April: The Blessed Sacrament
May: Our Lady
June: Sacred Heart of Jesus
July: The Precious Blood of Jesus
August: The Immaculate Heart of Mary (the Assumption of Mary)
September: The Seven Sorrows of Mary
October: The Holy Angels and the Holy Rosary
November: The Poor Souls in Purgatory
December: The Immaculate Conception
Over the coming weeks and months, I will do my best to expound a little on the history and particulars of each devotion. In the meantime, in case you missed it, here’s a little primer on Why Honoring the Lord’s Day is Important and Ten Ways to Honor the Lord’s Day.
One more thing: for those of you who may want to know (or can’t ever remember) what days each of the Rosary Mysteries are prayed here they are:
Sunday: The Glorious Mysteries
Monday: The Joyful Mysteries
Tuesday: The Sorrowful Mysteries
Wednesday: The Glorious Mysteries
Thursday: The Luminous or Joyful Mysteries
Friday: The Sorrowful Mysteries
Saturday: The Joyful Mysteries (or Glorious Mysteries after 3pm)
A suggestion: This isn’t traditional, but over the years I have developed a habit of focusing on one Mystery over the seasons. For example: During Advent and Christmas I prayed the Joyful Mysteries every day. During Lent I pray the Sorrowful Mysteries everyday. During the Easter season I pray the Glorious Mysteries every day. And during Ordinary time I rotate the Mysteries as listed above.
Doing this has helped me enter deeper into the season and mystery that is being celebrated. You may want to give it a try to see if it helps you. 🙂
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Tweetable: Weekly & Monthly Devotions
This is a good project. I was happy to see the dedication of each day listed – these are the ones I’ve traditionally observed. When I could still sing and had Mondays off, I went to my parish church and chanted the Requiem Mass propers for the Poor Souls. Purgatory has been a much neglected teaching post Vatican II. My hope has been to obtain the release of so many souls that I will have an army in heaven praying for my salvation.
When I was in my late teens, I read a book called “Purgatory Explained”. Ever since, I’ve been strongly dedicated to praying for the Poor Souls.
What a beautiful thing it was for you to sing the Requiem Mass Propers. I’m sure you do have an army in heaven praying for you!
I’m looking forward to this series! I can’t imagine all you must have learned while you were with the Little Sisters.
Thanks for stopping by — and for kicking off this series!
Dianna Kennedy…recently posted…Teach Your Children Well: Saints and Scripture Sunday
Thanks, Dianna. I was lucky that the Little Sisters are are very solid community and tried to instill knowledge of the faith in those (who like myself) discerned a vocation with them.
Having said that, I am STILL learning. 🙂 I don’t think we will ever get a grasp of all there is to know about our Catholic faith. 🙂
Carol,
Thank you for listing the daily devotions. This helps me understand day by day Catholic beliefs better. I know that Monday is dedicated to the Souls in Purgatory. I read where every Monday is dedicated to the Souls in Purgatory and that on some Mondays The Holy Spirit is also included. What Mondays would this be? Also, I was wondering, is this daily devotion schedule changed during Holy Week? If so, I assume that it would begin again after Easter Sunday? Thank you so much for any help you can give me to understand better!
Hi Steve, thanks for the comment. It is up to you, but yes, usually the daily devotions are suspended during Holy Week and then pick up after Easter Sunday.
As for Mondays, I don’t think there is a particular Monday set aside as devotion to the Holy Spirit. You can just pick one or Make Mondays a dual dedication of the Holy Souls and the Holy Spirit. It is up to you. I hope that helps.
Thank you so much for answering my questions! God bless you!
My pleasure!