# Thursday, December 31, 2026 *Today’s Prayer for Saint Sylvester I, pope.* [[#☀️ Morning Offering|Morning Offering]] | [[#🕰️ Liturgy of the Hours|Liturgy of the Hours]] | [[#📖 Daily Readings & Verse|Daily Readings]] | [[#🕊️ Today's Meditation|Today's Meditation]] > ***[[day-31-daily-prayer-for-seminarians-and-priests|Day 31 - Let us pray for the priests of my parish]]*** # ☀️ 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. ## 🕰️ Liturgy of the Hours > [!links] Universalis & Office > - [Office of Readings](http://www.universalis.com/20261231/readings.htm) | [Morning Prayer (Lauds)](http://www.universalis.com/20261231/lauds.htm) > - [Evening Prayer (Vespers)](http://www.universalis.com/20261231/vespers.htm) | [Night Prayer (Compline)](http://www.universalis.com/20261231/compline.htm) ## 📖 Daily Readings & Verse > [!cite] Daily Readings > **Verse:** "Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, Here I am. "If you take away from the midst of you the yoke, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. And the Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your desire with good things, and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.""Isaiah 58:9-11 > > **Resources:** [USCCB Readings](http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/123126.cfm) | [Daily Reflections (Evangeli.net)](https://evangeli.net/gospel) ## 🕊️ Today's Meditation > [!abstract]- Daily Reflection > "For prayer is nothing else than being on terms of friendship with God."St. Teresa of Avila > > “The more you trust God, the happier you will be…The great spiritual masters tell us that the path to both happiness and holiness is found in fidelity to the duty of the present moment. If you take care of the little things, the big things will take care of themselves. Be faithful to the duty of the present moment. Do it for the Lord, and be at peace.”—Father John Catoir, p.172 > [!abstract]- Divine Intimacy Meditation > [[35-let-us-make-good-use-of-time|35. Let Us Make Good Use of Time]] ## 🏛️ Saint of the Day: Pope St. Sylvester > [!info]+ The Cloud of Witnesses > > > Pope St. Sylvester (c. 250-335 A.D.) was born in Rome and raised as a Christian under the care of pious parents, and the religious instruction of a devout priest. He was later ordained to Holy Orders in Rome, and witnessed the outbreak of Christian persecution under the Emperor Diocletian. During this time he became well-known as a good and holy priest, so much so that when the Pope died, Sylvester was appointed the new Bishop of Rome. Little is known about Pope St. Sylvester other than the many important events in Church history that occurred under his pontificate. He was the reigning pope during the Council of Nicea which condemned the Arian heresy and established the Nicene Creed; he was the Holy Father who converted and baptized the Roman Emperor Constantine; Rome's greatest churches were built under his direction by Constantine, including St. John Lateran, St. Peter's, and Santa Croce; and the Church saw the beginnings of temporal prosperity and the establishment of the Christian Roman Empire. Sylvester was Pope from 314 A.D. until his death in 335 A.D. His feast day is December 31st. ## 🕯️ Monthly Devotion: Month of The Immaculate Conception > [!attention]- Focus: Month of The Immaculate Conception > > > Prayer to Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception:Most holy Virgin, who wast pleasing to the Lord and became His Mother, immaculate in body and spirit, in faith and in love, look kindly on the wretched who implore thy powerful patronage. The wicked serpent, against whom was hurled the first curse, continues fiercely to attack and ensnare the unhappy children of Eve. Do thou, then, O Blessed Mother, our queen and advocate, who from the first instant of thy conception didst crush the head of the enemy, receive the prayers which, united with thee in our single heart, we implore thee to present at the throne of God, that we may never fall into the snares which are laid out for us, and may all arrive at the port of salvation; and, in so many dangers, may the Church and Christian society sing once again the hymn of deliverance and of victory and of peace.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. --- [[20261230-morning-offering|← Previous]] | [[Calendar|Liturgical Calendar]]