Universalis

Universalis Psalms, readings and prayers from the Liturgy of the Hours

The Feast of the Ascension— A panel showing the Ascension, from the Armadio degli argenti (c.1450) by Fra Angelico (c.13...
14/05/2026

The Feast of the Ascension

— A panel showing the Ascension, from the Armadio degli argenti (c.1450) by Fra Angelico (c.1395-1455).

In other years: St Matthias, Apostle— Painting of Saint Matthias by Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640), circa 1611. Museo del...
14/05/2026

In other years: St Matthias, Apostle

— Painting of Saint Matthias by Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640), circa 1611. Museo del Prado Collection.
 
He was not one of the Twelve; but after the treachery and death of Judas Iscariot, someone was needed to take his place. Two candidates were selected, and lots were drawn to see which of them should be made one of the Twelve: the choice fell on Matthias. Nothing is known for certain about his subsequent history.
Drawing lots to select a candidate for an office sounds strange to us, but it was a recognised Jewish custom: for example, the priest who was to enter the Temple sanctuary and burn incense there was not chosen by some rota but by lot. Random events, independent of any obvious natural or human cause, were seen as a direct expression of God’s will. Drawing lots was not a substitute for human decision – human beings had chosen Matthias as a candidate, human beings decided which priests were eligible on which days – but a way of putting the final choice into the hands of God.
When we attain some high or responsible position, we may be tempted to congratulate ourselves on being the best candidate for the job. We would do well to remember that we have got there because of the people we have met and the things we have found ourselves doing, and, more fundamentally, because of the gifts and talents that God has given us. These things are essentially random: like Matthias, we have been chosen by lot.

Saints Nereus and Achilleus, Martyrs— Flavia Domitilla with Saints Nereus and Achilleus (1608), by Peter Paul Rubens (15...
12/05/2026

Saints Nereus and Achilleus, Martyrs

— Flavia Domitilla with Saints Nereus and Achilleus (1608), by Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640), at Santa Maria in Vallicella, Rome.
 
Many saints and martyrs died forgotten, and intercede for us anonymously in Heaven: we shall not know them until the day of judgement. Others are one degree less anonymous: we know their names, and we know that people whose judgement we trust regarded them as saints, but that is all.
Such are Saints Nereus and Achilleus. Pope St Damasus I dedicated his life to establishing and strengthening the Church after the great persecutions, and took much care over the restoration of the Roman catacombs and the proper burial of the martyrs there. He composed a funerary inscription for Nereus and Achilleus, which is too literary to be of much use as an historical document, but does say that they were Roman soldiers who became Christians, refused to serve any longer, and were therefore executed. They were buried in Rome, in the catacomb of St Domitilla. The fact that enough was known about them to identify them suggests that there must still have been a living memory of their martyrdom, which would put their deaths early in the fourth century.
Some legendary “Acts” of the martyrs exist, which make them servants of Flavia Domitilla, a noble Christian woman of the late first century. On the whole, it is likely that the composer of these Acts sought to fill in the gaps in history with what seemed most plausible and most edifying. We, who have a more bureaucratic idea of history, find it difficult to accept such motives, and so we are thrown back on saying that Nereus and Achilleus did exist, did die for their faith, are truly to be venerated as saints – and that this is all that we really need to know. As we pray to be given the strength of purpose that they had, we should be reminded that our own acts of witness are still valuable even if they are not spectacular, even if they do not result in every detail of our biographies being passed down through the ages.

In other years: Saint John of Avila (c.1500-1569)— A portrait (1580) from the workshop of El Greco.   John was bor...
10/05/2026

In other years: Saint John of Avila (c.1500-1569)

— A portrait (1580) from the workshop of El Greco.
 
John was born in Almodóvar del Campo, in the Spanish province of Ciudad Real, around 1500. As a priest he travelled throughout Andalusia, drawing crowds by his preaching. His enemies, disturbed by his success and challenged by his teaching, denounced him for heresy, and he made no attempt to avoid imprisonment or trial, but preached the Catholic faith even more fervently.
He played an important part in the setting up of the Council of Trent, where his voice was heard through the treatises he wrote for its guidance even though he was not well enough to attend; and wrote a further work to guide the Bishop of Córdoba in the implementation of the Council’s reforms. He spent his last years in Montilla, and there he fell asleep in the Lord on 10 May 1569.

Saint Marie of the Incarnation (1599-1672)— Portrait of Mother Mary of the Incarnation (1672), attributed to Hugues Pomm...
30/04/2026

Saint Marie of the Incarnation (1599-1672)

— Portrait of Mother Mary of the Incarnation (1672), attributed to Hugues Pommier (1637-1686). Archives of the Ursulines of Quebec.
 

Canada

Born in Tours, France, Marie married and had a son before her husband, Claude Martin, died. He left behind a struggling business that Marie was able to make profitable before selling. Free to pursue her religious inclinations, she experienced a mystical vision on 24 March 1620, that set her on a new path of devotional intensity. After working with a Spiritual Director for many years, she decided to enter the Ursuline Convent in Tours to try her vocation. She abandoned her son to the care of her family, but the emotional pain of the separation would remain with her. Later, when her son become a monk, they corresponded candidly about their spiritual and emotional trials.
Sometime near 1638, Marie de l’Incarnation was guided by visions to go to Canada and found a convent. Marie, along with two Ursulines and Madame de la Peltrie, landed at Québec City in August 1639. They managed to found the first hospital in Canada as well as an Ursuline Congregation.
She was canonized by Pope Francis on 3 April 2014.

Pope St Pius V (1504 - 1572)— 16th-century portrait of Pope Pius V by Scipione Pulzone (1550-1598). Collection of Palazz...
30/04/2026

Pope St Pius V (1504 - 1572)

— 16th-century portrait of Pope Pius V by Scipione Pulzone (1550-1598). Collection of Palazzo Colonna.
 
He was born near the Italian town of Alexandria, on the Adriatic, and joined the Dominicans and taught theology. He was made a bishop and fought to reform the moral laxity of the clergy. He was elected Pope in 1566. He strenuously promoted the Catholic Reformation that was started by the Council of Trent. He encouraged missionary work and reformed the liturgy.

In other years: St Isidore of Seville (560 - 636)— A painting (1655) by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (1617-1682), at Sevill...
04/04/2026

In other years: St Isidore of Seville (560 - 636)

— A painting (1655) by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (1617-1682), at Seville Cathedral.
 
He was born in Seville in about 560 and after his father’s death he was educated by his brother Leander, Archbishop of Seville. He was instrumental in converting the Visigothic kings from the A***n heresy; he was made Archbishop of Seville after his brother’s death; and he took a prominent part in councils at Toledo and Seville. The Council of Toledo, in particular, laid great emphasis on learning, with all bishops in the kingdom commanded to establish seminaries and to encourage the teaching of Greek and Hebrew, law and medicine. He promoted the study of Aristotle, long before the Arabs discovered him and centuries before 13th-century Christian philosophers discovered him through the Arabs.
He embarked on the project of writing an encyclopaedia of universal knowledge but did not live to complete it.

In other years: Saint Francis of Paola (1436 - 1507)— Saint Francis of Paola, in an etching by Marco Pitteri. 18th Centu...
02/04/2026

In other years: Saint Francis of Paola (1436 - 1507)

— Saint Francis of Paola, in an etching by Marco Pitteri. 18th Century.
 
He was born in Paola in Calabria. He founded an order of hermits which later became the Order of Minims (“minimi,” meaning “least,” because they were to be the least of the religious orders). He died on Good Friday, 2 April 1507, at Plessis in France.

The Feast of the Annunciation— The Annunciation (1712), by Paolo de Matteis (1662-1728), Saint Louis Art Museum.
25/03/2026

The Feast of the Annunciation

— The Annunciation (1712), by Paolo de Matteis (1662-1728), Saint Louis Art Museum.

Saints Perpetua and Felicity (- 203)— The martyrdom of Perpetua, Felicity and others, from the Menologion of Basil II, c...
07/03/2026

Saints Perpetua and Felicity (- 203)

— The martyrdom of Perpetua, Felicity and others, from the Menologion of Basil II, c.1000.
 
They were martyred at Carthage in 203 during the persecution of Septimius Severus. With so many martyrs of the third and fourth centuries we have to say “they were martyred but nothing else is known about them.” That is not the case here. We have a detailed contemporary account of their arrest, trial, sufferings and martyrdom, written partly by the saints themselves and partly by an eye-witness. Devotion to them spread rapidly and they are mentioned in the Roman Canon of the Mass.

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