# Monday, September 21, 2026 *Today’s Prayer for Saint Matthew, apostle and evangelist.* [[#☀️ Morning Offering|Morning Offering]] | [[#🕰️ Liturgy of the Hours|Liturgy of the Hours]] | [[#📖 Daily Readings & Verse|Daily Readings]] | [[#🕊️ Today's Meditation|Today's Meditation]] > ***[[day-21-daily-prayer-for-seminarians-and-priests|Day 21 - Let us pray for seminarians Luke McClure and Brian McCutcheon]]*** # ☀️ Morning Offering > [!quote] Carmelite Morning Offering (St. Thérèse) > O my God, I offer You all my actions of this day for the intentions and for the glory of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. I desire to sanctify every beat of my heart, my every thought, my simplest works, by uniting them to Its infinite merits; and I wish to make reparation for my sins by casting them into the furnace of Its merciful love. O my God, I ask of You for myself and for those whom I hold dear the grace to know You, and to know and fulfill perfectly Your holy will, to accept for love of You the joys and sorrows of this passing life, so that we may one day be united together in Heaven for all eternity. Amen. [[20260922-morning-offering|Next →]] ## 🕰️ Liturgy of the Hours > [!links] Universalis & Office > - [Office of Readings](http://www.universalis.com/20260921/readings.htm) | [Morning Prayer (Lauds)](http://www.universalis.com/20260921/lauds.htm) > - [Evening Prayer (Vespers)](http://www.universalis.com/20260921/vespers.htm) | [Night Prayer (Compline)](http://www.universalis.com/20260921/compline.htm) ## 📖 Daily Readings & Verse > [!cite] Daily Readings > **Verse:** "As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax office; and He said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed Him."Matthew 9:9 > > **Resources:** [USCCB Readings](http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/092126.cfm) | [Daily Reflections (Evangeli.net)](https://evangeli.net/gospel) ## 🕊️ Today's Meditation > [!abstract]- Daily Reflection > "For me, prayer is a surge of the heart; it is a simple look turned toward heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy."St. Therese of Lisieux > > “There is no such thing as a dull, futile, or useless experience. Every sorrow loses its sting, because everything is an opportunity to glorify God. Saint Paul wrote, “For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities: for when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Cor 12:10). Once you have learned to find contentment in adversity, all of life becomes changed with light and hope and joy.”–J. Augustine Wetta, O.S.B, p. 103 > [!abstract]- Divine Intimacy Meditation > [[309-the-gift-of-knowledge|Meditation #309, The Gift of Knowledge - O Holy Spirit, teach me the nothingness of earthly things]] ## 🏛️ Saint of the Day: St. Matthew > [!info]+ The Cloud of Witnesses > > > St. Matthew the Apostle (1st c.) was a Jew who also went by the name of Levi. He was from Galilee and served in Capernaum as a tax collector for Herod Antipas before becoming a disciple of Jesus. It was in the home of St. Matthew that Jesus dined with the "sinners and tax collectors."  Under Jesus' influence St. Matthew was led to repentance for the evil he had done as a tax-collector, a position despised by his fellow Jews. He repaid those he cheated four-fold, sold all his possessions, and followed Christ as one of the twelve Apostles. St. Matthew preached among the Jews for fifteen years following the Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus. He is the author of the Gospel that bears his name, which he wrote to convince the Jews that Jesus Christ was the Messiah promised to Israel. According to tradition, St. Matthew the Apostle brought the Gospel to Syria, Media, Persia, Parthia, and finished his preaching in Ethiopia with a martyr’s death. He is the patron of guards, bankers, accountants, security forces, and stock brokers. His feast day is September 21st. ## 🕯️ Monthly Devotion: Month ofOur Lady of Sorrows (Mater Dolorosa) > [!attention]- Focus: Month ofOur Lady of Sorrows (Mater Dolorosa) > > > Opening prayer of Novena to Our Lady of Sorrows:O, Mother most holy and sorrowful, Queen of Martyrs, you who stood by your Son as He agonized on the cross; by the sufferings of your life, by that sword of pain that pierced your heart, by your perfect joy in heaven, look down on me kindly as I kneel before you, sympathizing with your sorrows and offering you my petition with childlike trust.Dear Mother, since your Son refuses you nothing, ask of His Sacred Heart to mercifully grant what I ask, through the merits of His sacred passion, along with those of your sufferings at the foot of the cross.Mother most merciful, to whom shall I go in my misery if not to you who pities us poor, sinful exiles in this valley of tears? In our name, offer Jesus but one drop of His most precious blood, but one pang of His loving heart. Remind Him that you are our sweetness, our life, and our hope, and your prayer will be heard.Amen. ## 🙏 Daily Prayers > [!todo]- Daily Prayers > **Spiritual Communion:** My Jesus, I believe that You are present in the most Blessed Sacrament. I love You above all things and I desire to receive You into my soul. Since I cannot now receive You sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. > > **Prayer for the Dead:** In Your hands, O Lord, we humbly entrust our brothers and sisters. In this life You embraced them with Your tender love; deliver them now from every evil and bid them eternal rest. > > **For the Holy Father:** Almighty and everlasting God, have mercy upon Thy servant, our Supreme Pontiff, and direct him, according to Thy loving kindness, in the way of eternal salvation. --- [[20260920-morning-offering|← Previous]] | [[Calendar|Liturgical Calendar]] | [[20260922-morning-offering|Next →]]