Catholic Morning Offering, Thursday, July 17, 2026

Starting the morning off with God is the key to strength and success in your day!

Join me in praying the Catholic morning offering, as well as hear meditations, learn about the saint of the day,  and hear today's Scripture readings from Holy Mass.

To sign up to receive a daily email of the Morning Offering through The Catholic Company, go to https://www.morningoffering.com/

Excerpts from the English translation of The Roman Missal © 2010, International Commission on English in the Liturgy Corporation. All rights reserved.

The Morning Glory Consecration Prayer is excerpted from "33 Days to Morning Glory:  A Do-It-Yourself Retreat in Preparation for Marian Consecration" by Michael E. Gaitley, MIC, © 2011 Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception of the B.V.M., p. 137.

If you have any comments, please email me at Deanna.pierre25@gmail.com.

Transcript

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Starting the morning off with God is the key to strength and success in your day. Good morning. Today is Friday, July 17, 2026. Please join me in praying the morning offering prayer and prayers for our Holy Father. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, amen. O Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer you my prayers, works, joys, and sufferings of this day, for all the intentions of your sacred heart, in union with the holy sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world, for the salvation of souls, the reparation of sins, the reunion of all Christians, and in particular for the holy intentions of the Holy Father this month, amen. Prayers for the Holy Father Almighty and everlasting God, have mercy upon thy servant, Pope Leo XV, our Supreme Pontiff, and direct him according to thy loving kindness in the way of eternal salvation, that of thy gift he may ever desire that which is pleasing unto thee, and may accomplish it with all his might, through Christ our Lord, amen. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death, amen. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end, amen. In the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, amen. Quote from Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta Everybody today seems to be in such a terrible rush, anxious for greater developments and greater riches and so on, so that children have very little time for their parents. Parents have very little time for each other, and in the home begins the disruption of peace in the world. Meditation of the day, an excerpt from A Year with Mary by Archbishop Fulton Sheen, page 15. There is actually only one person in all humanity of whom God has one picture and in whom there is a perfect conformity between what he wanted her to be and what she is, and that is his own mother. Most of us are a minus sign in the sense that we do not fulfill the high hopes the Heavenly Father has for us. But Mary is the equal sign, the ideal that God had of her, that she is, and in the flesh. The model and the copy are perfect. She is all that was foreseen, planned, and dreamed. The melody of her life is played just as it was written. Scripture verse of the day. Blessed is anyone who endures temptation. Such a one has stood the test and will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him. James chapter one verse twelve. Saint of the day. The saint of the day for july seventeenth is Saint Alexius of Rome. Saint Alexius died in four hundred seventeen AD. He was a native of Rome, the son of a distinguished Roman senator. His parents arranged a marriage for him, but he had a divine calling to a higher vocation. On the night of his wedding, with permission from his fiancee, he secretly fled to Edessa in Syria to live in poverty and obscurity as a holy ascetic. He disguised himself as a beggar, unrecognized by all, even accepting alms from his own servants who were sent to look for him. Saint Alexius lived in this way for seventeen years. A vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the church near his dwelling identified him as a man of God. When the fame of his sanctity spread in Edessa, he moved back to Rome so that he could continue his hidden life. He lived as a beggar under the very stairs of his father's palace, his true identity completely unknown to anyone. He lived in this way for another seventeen years. He was befriended by other Christians, shared his alms with the poor, and taught catechism to children. It was only after his death that his identity was revealed through a document that he secretly carried on his person. He was then venerated as a saint, and his father's palace was converted into a church in his honor. Saint Alexius, pray for us. Readings for Holy Mass for Friday of the fifteenth week in ordinary time A reading from the book of the Prophet Isaiah, chapter thirty eight, verses one through six, twenty one through twenty two, and seven through eight. When Hezekiah was mortally ill, the prophet Isaiah, son of Amos, came and said to him, Thus says the Lord, put your house in order, for you are about to die, you shall not recover. Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord. O Lord, remember how faithfully and wholeheartedly I conducted myself in your presence, doing what was pleasing to you. And Hezekiah wept bitterly. Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah, Go, tell Hezekiah, Thus says the Lord, the God of your father David, I have heard your prayer and seen your tears, I will heal you. In three days you shall go up to the Lord's temple. I will add fifteen years to your life, I will rescue you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will be a shield to this city. Isaiah then ordered a poultice of figs to be taken and applied to the boil that he might recover. Then Hezekiah asked, What is the sign that I shall go up to the temple of the Lord? Isaiah answered, This will be the sign for you from the Lord, that he will do what he has promised. See, I will make the shadow cast by the sun on the stairway to the terrace of Ahaz, go back the ten steps it has advanced. So the sun came back the ten steps it had advanced. The word of the Lord Responsorial Psalm Isaiah chapter thirty eight. You saved my life, O Lord, I shall not die. Once I said, In the noontime of life I must depart, to the gates of the netherworld I shall be consigned for the rest of my years. You saved my life, O Lord, I shall not die. I said, I shall see the Lord no more in the land of the living, no longer shall I behold my fellow men among those who dwell in the world. You saved my life, O Lord, I shall not die. My dwelling, like a shepherd's tent, is struck down and borne away from me. You have folded up my life, like a weaver who severs the last thread. You have saved my life, O Lord, I shall not die. Those live whom the Lord protects. Yours is the life of my spirit. You have given me health and life. You saved my life, O Lord, I shall not die. A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Matthew, chapter twelve verses one through eight. Jesus was going through a field of grain on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat them. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, See, your disciples are doing what is unlawful to do on the Sabbath, he said to them, have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? How he went into the house of God and ate the bread of offering, which neither he nor his companions, but only the priests could lawfully eat. Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests serving in the temple violate the Sabbath and are innocent? I say to you, something greater than the temple is here. If you knew what this meant, I desire mercy, not sacrifice, you would not have condemned these innocent men, for the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath The Gospel of the Lord. Prayer of Spiritual Communion In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, amen. 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. I embrace you as if you were already there, and unite myself wholly to you. Never permit me to be separated from you. Amen. Morning Glory Consecration Prayer. Mary, my mother, I give myself totally to you as your possession and property. Please make of me, of all that I am and have, whatever most pleases you. Let me be a fit instrument in your immaculate and merciful hands for bringing the greatest possible glory to God. Amen. Prayer to Saint Joseph. O glorious Saint Joseph, chosen by God to be the guardian of the Holy Family, whose protection is so great, so strong, in union with the Blessed Virgin Mary and our Savior Jesus Christ, send down from heaven a blessing from God to protect us from any harm, strengthen us in body, soul, and spirit. We ask this through thy powerful intercession. Holy Family, pray for us, amen. Guardian angel prayer. O Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom God's love commits me here, ever this day be at my side, to light and guard, to rule and guide. Amen. Prayer to Saint Michael the Archangel. Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle, be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him we humbly pray, and do thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host, by the power of God, cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits, who prowl throughout the world, seeking the ruin of souls, amen. The three Hail Marys Devotion The first Hail Mary, in honor of God the Father. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death, amen. The second Hail Mary in honor of God the Son. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death, amen. The third Hail Mary, in honor of God, the Holy Spirit. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death, amen. O my mother, preserve my soul from mortal sin during this day. Amen. Memori to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thy intercession, was left unaided. Inspired by this confidence I fly unto thee, O Virgin of Virgins, my mother, to thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O mother of the Word incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy mercy hear and answer me. Amen. Act of Faith. O my God, I firmly believe that you are one God in three divine persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I believe that your divine Son became man, died for our sins, and that He will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe these and all the truths which the Holy Catholic Church teaches, because you have revealed them who can neither deceive nor be deceived. In this faith I intend to live and die. Amen. Act of hope. O my God, relying on your almighty power, infinite mercy and promises, I hope to obtain pardon for my sins, the help of your grace, and the life everlasting, through the merits of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Redeemer. Amen. Act of love. O my God, I love you above all things with my whole heart and soul, because you are all good and worthy of all love. I love my neighbor as myself for the love of you. I forgive all who have injured me and ask pardon of all whom I have injured. Amen. Prayer for the poor souls in purgatory. O gentle heart of Jesus, ever present in the Blessed Sacrament, ever consumed with burning love for the poor captive souls in purgatory, have mercy on them. Be not severe in thy judgment, but let some drops of thy precious blood fall upon the devouring flames. Merciful Savior, send thy angels to conduct them to a place of refreshment, light, and peace. Amen. Act of resignation to the divine will. O Lord my God, from this moment do I accept from thy hands with burning love and sincere contrition, with a calm and willing disposition, whatsoever death thou shalt choose to send me with its pains and griefs. Amen. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, amen. Starting the morning off with God is the key to strength and success in your day.