Universalis
Wednesday 21 January 2026    (other days)
Saint Agnes, Virgin, Martyr 
 on Wednesday of week 2 in Ordinary Time

Using calendar: Latin America - Brazil. You can change this.

Office of Readings

If you have already recited the Invitatory Psalm today, you should use the alternative opening.
Based on the liturgy for the Common of One Virgin Martyr.
Dómine, lábia mea apéries.
  Et os meum annuntiábit laudem tuam.
Lord, open our lips.
  And we shall praise your name.
Ps 66 (67)

“Notum sit vobis quoniam gentibus missum est hoc salutare Dei” (Act 28, 28).

Regem mártyrum Dóminum, veníte, adorémus.
(repeat antiphon*)
2Deus misereátur nostri et benedícat nobis;*
  illúminet vultum suum super nos,
3ut cognoscátur in terra via tua,*
  in ómnibus géntibus salutáre tuum.
  (repeat antiphon*)
4Confiteántur tibi pópuli, Deus;*
  confiteántur tibi pópuli omnes.
5Læténtur et exsúltent gentes,†
  quóniam iúdicas pópulos in æquitáte*
  et gentes in terra dírigis.
  (repeat antiphon*)
6Confiteántur tibi pópuli, Deus,*
  confiteántur tibi pópuli omnes.
7Terra dedit fructum suum;*
  benedícat nos Deus, Deus noster,
8benedícat nos Deus,*
  et métuant eum omnes fines terræ.
  (repeat antiphon*)
Glória Patri et Fílio*
  et Spirítui Sancto.
Sicut erat in princípio et nunc et semper*
  et in sǽcula sæculórum.
Amen.
(repeat antiphon*)
Invitatory PsalmPsalm 66 (67)
The Lord is the king of martyrs: come, let us adore him.
(repeat antiphon*)
O God, take pity on us and bless us,
  and let your face shine upon us,
so that your ways may be known across the world,
  and all nations learn of your salvation.
  (repeat antiphon*)
Let the peoples praise you, O God,
  let all the peoples praise you.
Let the nations be glad and rejoice,
  for you judge the peoples with fairness
  and you guide the nations of the earth.
  (repeat antiphon*)
Let the peoples praise you, O God,
  let all the peoples praise you.
The earth has produced its harvest:
  may God, our God, bless us.
May God bless us,
  may the whole world revere him.
  (repeat antiphon*)
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.
(repeat antiphon*)

* If you are reciting this on your own, you can choose to say the antiphon once only at the start of the psalm and not repeat it.

Hymnus
Igne divíni rádians amóris
córporis sexum superávit Agnes,
et super carnem potuére carnis
claustra pudícæ.
Spíritum celsæ cápiunt cohórtes
cándidum, cæli super astra tollunt;
iúngitur Sponsi thálamis pudíca
sponsa beátis.
Virgo, nunc nostræ miserére sortis
et, tuum quisquis célebrat tropǽum,
ímpetret sibi véniam reátus
atque salútem.
Redde pacátum pópulo precánti
príncipem cæli dominúmque terræ,
donet ut pacem pius et quiétæ
témpora vitæ.
Láudibus mitem celebrémus Agnum,
casta quem sponsum sibi legit Agnes,
astra qui cæli moderátur atque
cuncta gubérnat. Amen.
Hymn
The martyrs living now with Christ
In suffering were tried,
Their anguish overcome by love
When on his cross they died.
Across the centuries they come,
In constancy unmoved,
Their loving hearts make no complaint,
In silence they are proved.
No man has ever measured love,
Or weighed it in his hand,
But God who knows the inmost heart
Gives them the promised land.
Praise Father, Son and Spirit blest,
Who guides us through the night
In ways that reach beyond the stars
To everlasting light.
Francis E. Mostyn (1860-1939)

Ps 38:2-7
Ægrotantis deprecatio

“Vanitati creatura subiecta est ... propter eum qui subiecit eam in spe” (Rom 8, 20).

Ipsi intra nos gémimus, exspectántes redemptiónem córporis nostri.
2Dixi: «Custódiam vias meas,*
  ut non delínquam in lingua mea;
ponam ori meo custódiam,*
  donec consístit peccátor advérsum me».
3Tacens obmútui et sílui absque ullo bono,*
  et dolor meus renovátus est.
4Concáluit cor meum intra me,*
  et in meditatióne mea exársit ignis.
5Locútus sum in lingua mea:*
  «Notum fac mihi, Dómine, finem meum;
et númerum diérum meórum quis est,*
  ut sciam quam brevis sit vita mea».
6Ecce paucórum palmórum fecísti dies meos,*
  et spátium vitæ meæ tamquam níhilum ante te.
Etenim univérsa vánitas omnis homo constitútus est.*
  7Etenim ut imágo pertránsit homo.
Etenim vánitas est et concitátur;*
  thesaurízat et ignórat quis congregábit ea.
Glória Patri et Fílio*
  et Spirítui Sancto.
Sicut erat in princípio et nunc et semper*
  et in sǽcula sæculórum.
Amen.
Ipsi intra nos gémimus, exspectántes redemptiónem córporis nostri.

Psalm 38 (39)
A prayer in sickness

We groan inwardly and await the redemption of our bodies.
I said, “I will watch my ways,
  I will try not to sin in my speech.
I will set a guard on my mouth,
  for as long as my enemies are standing against me.”
I stayed quiet and dumb, spoke neither evil nor good,
  but my pain was renewed.
My heart grew hot within me,
  and fire blazed in my thoughts.
Then I spoke out loud:
  “Lord, make me know my end.
Let me know the number of my days,
  so that I know how short my life is to be.”
All the length of my days is a handsbreadth or two,
  the expanse of my life is as nothing before you.
For in your sight all men are nothingness:
  man passes away, like a shadow.
Nothingness, although he is busy:
  he builds up treasure, but who will collect it?
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.
We groan inwardly and await the redemption of our bodies.

How to listen

Ps 38:8-14

Exáudi oratiónem meam, Dómine; pércipe lácrimas meas.
8Et nunc quæ est exspectátio mea, Dómine?*
  Spes mea apud te est.
9Ab ómnibus iniquitátibus meis érue me,*
  oppróbrium insipiénti ne ponas me.
10Obmútui et non apériam os meum,*
  quóniam tu fecísti.
11Amove a me plagas tuas:*
  ab ictu manus tuæ ego deféci.
12In increpatiónibus, propter iniquitátem, corripuísti hóminem,†
  et tabéscere fecísti sicut tínea desiderabília eius.*
  Etenim vánitas omnis homo.
13Exáudi oratiónem meam, Dómine,*
  et clamórem meum áuribus pércipe.
Ad lácrimas meas ne obsurdéscas,†
  quóniam ádvena ego sum apud te,*
  peregrínus sicut omnes patres mei.
14Avértere a me, ut refrígerer,*
  priúsquam ábeam et non sim ámplius.
Glória Patri et Fílio*
  et Spirítui Sancto.
Sicut erat in princípio et nunc et semper*
  et in sǽcula sæculórum.
Amen.
Exáudi oratiónem meam, Dómine; pércipe lácrimas meas.

Psalm 38 (39)

Lord, hear my prayer: do not be deaf to my tears.
What, now, can I look forward to, Lord?
  My hope is in you.
Rescue me from all my sins,
  do not make me a thing for fools to laugh at.
I have sworn to be dumb, I will not open my mouth:
  for it is at your hands that I am suffering.
Aim your blows away from me,
  for I am crushed by the weight of your hand.
You rebuke and chastise us for our sins.
Like the moth you consume all we desire
  – for all men are nothingness.
Listen, Lord, to my prayer:
  turn your ear to my cries.
Do not be deaf to my weeping,
  for I come as a stranger before you,
  a wanderer like my fathers before me.
Turn away from me, give me respite,
  before I leave this world,
  before I am no more.
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.
Lord, hear my prayer: do not be deaf to my tears.

Ps 51:3-11
Contra calumniatorem

“Qui gloriatur, in Domino glorietur” (1 Cor 1, 31).

Ego autem sperávi in misericórdia Dei in ætérnum.
3Quid gloriáris in malítia,*
  qui potens es iniquitáte?
4Tota die insídias cogitásti;*
  lingua tua sicut novácula acúta, qui facis dolum.
5Dilexísti malítiam super benignitátem,†
  mendácium magis quam loqui æquitátem.*
  6Dilexísti ómnia verba perditiónis, lingua dolósa.
7Proptérea Deus déstruet te in finem;†
  evéllet te et emigrábit te de tabernáculo*
  et radícem tuam de terra vivéntium.
8Vidébunt iusti et timébunt*
  et super eum ridébunt:
«9Ecce homo, qui non pósuit Deum refúgium suum,†
  sed sperávit in multitúdine divitiárum suárum*
  et præváluit in insídiis suis».
10Ego autem sicut virens olíva in domo Dei.†
  Sperávi in misericórdia Dei*
  in ætérnum et in sǽculum sǽculi.
11Confitébor tibi in sǽculum, quia fecísti;†
  et exspectábo nomen tuum, quóniam bonum est,*
  in conspéctu sanctórum tuórum.
Glória Patri et Fílio*
  et Spirítui Sancto.
Sicut erat in princípio et nunc et semper*
  et in sǽcula sæculórum.
Amen.
Ego autem sperávi in misericórdia Dei in ætérnum.

Psalm 51 (52)
Against calumny

I trust in the goodness of God for ever and ever.
Why do you take pride in your malice,
  you expert in evil-doing?
All day long you plan your traps,
  your tongue is sharp as a razor –
  you master of deceit!
You have chosen malice over kindness;
  you speak lies rather than the truth;
  your tongue is in love with every deceit.
For all this, in the end God will destroy you.
  He will tear you out and expel you from your dwelling,
  uproot you from the land of the living.
The upright will see and be struck with awe:
  they will deride the evil-doer.
“Here is the man who did not make God his refuge,
  but put his hope in the abundance of his riches
  and in the power of his stratagems.”
But I flourish like an olive in the palace of God.
  I hope in the kindness of God,
  for ever, and through all ages.
I shall praise you for all time for what you have done.
  I shall put my hope in your name and in its goodness
  in the sight of your chosen ones.
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.
I trust in the goodness of God for ever and ever.
℣. Tribulátio et angústia invenérunt me.
℟. Mandáta tua meditátio mea est.
℣. Anguish and distress have taken hold of me.
℟. Yet will I delight in your commands.
Lectio prior
De libro Deuteronómii 7, 6-14; 8, 1-6

Israel, populus electus

In diébus illis: Locútus est Móyses pópulo dicens:
  7,6«Pópulus sanctus es Dómino Deo tuo. Te elégit Dóminus Deus tuus, ut sis ei pópulus peculiáris de cunctis pópulis, qui sunt super terram. 7Non quia cunctas gentes número vincebátis, vobis iunctus est Dóminus et elégit vos, cum ómnibus sitis pópulis paucióres, 8sed quia diléxit vos Dóminus et custodívit iuraméntum, quod iurávit pátribus vestris, edúxit vos in manu forti et redémit te de domo servitútis, de manu pharaónis regis Ægýpti. 9Et scies quia Dóminus Deus tuus ipse est Deus, Deus fidélis, custódiens pactum et misericórdiam diligéntibus se et his, qui custódiunt mandáta eius, in mille generatiónes 10et reddens odiéntibus se prótinus, ita ut dispérdat eos et ultra non dífferat, prótinus eis restítuens, quod meréntur. 11Custódi ergo mandáta et præcépta atque iudícia, quæ ego mando tibi hódie, ut fácias.
  12Si audiéritis hæc iudícia et custodiéritis ea et fecéritis, custódiet et Dóminus Deus tuus tibi pactum et misericórdiam, quam iurávit pátribus tuis, 13et díliget te et benedícet tibi ac multiplicábit te benedicétque frúctui ventris tui et frúctui terræ tuæ, fruménto tuo atque vindémiæ, óleo et pártui armentórum et increménto óvium tuárum super terram, pro qua iurávit pátribus tuis, ut daret eam tibi. 14Benedíctus eris præ ómnibus pópulis. Non erit apud te stérilis utriúsque sexus, tam in homínibus quam in grégibus tuis.
  8,1Omne mandátum, quod ego præcípio tibi hódie, cave diligénter ut fácias, ut possítis vívere et multiplicémini ingressíque possideátis terram, pro qua iurávit Dóminus pátribus vestris. 2Et recordáberis cuncti itíneris, per quod addúxit te Dóminus Deus tuus his quadragínta annis per desértum, ut afflígeret te atque tentáret, et nota fíerent, quæ in tuo ánimo versabántur, utrum custodíres mandáta illíus an non. 3Afflíxit te penúria et dedit tibi cibum manna, quem ignorábas tu et patres tui, ut osténderet tibi quod non in solo pane vivat homo, sed in omni verbo, quod egréditur de ore Dómini. 4Vestiméntum tuum, quo operiebáris, nequáquam defécit, et pes tuus non intúmuit his quadragínta annis. 5Recógites ergo in corde tuo quia, sicut érudit homo fílium suum, sic Dóminus Deus tuus erudívit te, 6ut custódias mandáta Dómini Dei tui et ámbules in viis eius et tímeas eum».
First Reading
Deuteronomy 7:6-14,8:1-6

Israel, the chosen people

These are the words that Moses spoke beyond Jordan to the whole of Israel:
  You are a people consecrated to the Lord your God; it is you that the Lord our God has chosen to be his very own people out of all the peoples on the earth.
  If the Lord set his heart on you and chose you, it was not because you outnumbered other peoples: you were the least of all peoples. It was for love of you and to keep the oath he swore to your fathers that the Lord brought you out with his mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know then that the Lord your God is God indeed, the faithful God who is true to his covenant and his graciousness for a thousand generations towards those who love him and keep his commandments, but who punishes in their own persons those that hate him. He is not slow to destroy the man who hates him; he makes him work out his punishment in person. You are therefore to keep and observe the commandments and statutes and ordinances that I lay down for you today.
  Listen to these ordinances, be true to them and observe them, and in return the Lord your God will be true to the covenant and the kindness he promised your fathers solemnly. He will love you and bless you and increase your numbers; he will bless the fruit of your body and the produce of your soil, your corn, your wine, your oil, the issue of your cattle, the young of your flock, in the land he swore to your fathers he would give you. You will be more blessed than all peoples. No man or woman among you shall be barren, no male or female of your beasts infertile.
  All the commandments I enjoin on you today you must keep and observe so that you may live and increase in numbers and enter into the land that the Lord promised on oath to your fathers, and make it your own. Remember how the Lord your God led you for forty years in the wilderness, to humble you, to test you and know your inmost heart – whether you would keep his commandments or not. He humbled you, he made you feel hunger, he fed you with manna which neither you nor your fathers had known, to make you understand that man does not live on bread alone but that man lives on everything that comes from the mouth of the Lord. The clothes on your back did not wear out and your feet were not swollen, all those forty years.
  Learn from this that the Lord your God was training you as a man trains his child, and keep the commandments of the Lord your God, and so follow his ways and reverence him.
Responsorium
1 Io 4, 10 b. 16 a; cf. Is 63, 8 b. 9 b
℟. Deus diléxit nos et misit Fílium suum propitiatiónem pro peccátis nostris;* Et nos, qui credídimus, cognóvimus caritátem, quam habet Deus in nobis.
℣. Dóminus factus est nobis salvátor; in dilectióne sua ipse redémit nos.* Et nos.
Responsory
1 Jn 4:10,16; cf. Is 63:8-9
℟. God first loved us and sent his Son to be the sacrifice that takes our sins away,* and we have known and put our faith in God’s love towards us.
℣. The Lord has proved himself our Saviour; he has redeemed us in his love,* and we have known and put our faith in God’s love towards us.
Lectio altera
Ex Tractátu sancti Ambrósii epíscopi De virgínibus (Lib. 1, cap. 2. 5. 7-9: PL 16 [edit. 1845], 189-191)

Nondum idonea pœnæ et iam matura victoriæ

Natális est vírginis, integritátem sequámur; natális est mártyris, hóstias immolémus. Natális est sanctæ Agnétis. Hæc duódecim annórum martýrium fecísse tráditur. Quo detestabílior crudélitas, quæ nec minúsculæ pepércit ætáti, immo magna vis fídei, quæ étiam ab illa testimónium invénit ætáte.
  Fuítne in illo corpúsculo vúlneri locus? Et quæ non hábuit quo ferrum recíperet, hábuit quo ferrum vínceret. At istíus ætátis puéllæ torvos étiam vultus paréntum ferre non possunt, et acu distrícta solent puncta flere quasi vúlnera.
  Hæc inter cruéntas carníficum impávida manus, hæc stridéntium grávibus immóbilis tráctibus catenárum, nunc furéntis mucróni mílitis totum offérre corpus, mori adhuc néscia, sed paráta; vel si ad aras invíta raperétur, téndere Christo inter ignes manus atque in ipsis sacrílegis focis trophǽum Dómini signáre victóris; nunc ferrátis colla manúsque ambas insérere néxibus, sed nullus tam ténuia membra póterat nexus inclúdere.
  Novum martýrii genus? Nondum idónea pœnæ et iam matúra victóriæ; certáre diffícilis, fácilis coronári; magistérium virtútis implévit, quæ præiudícium vehébat ætátis. Non sic ad thálamum nupta properáret, ut ad supplícii locum læta succéssu, gradu festína virgo procéssit, non intórto crine caput compta sed Christo; non flósculis redimíta, sed móribus.
  Flere omnes, ipsa sine fletu. Mirári pleríque quod tam fácile vitæ suæ pródiga, quam nondum háuserat, iam quasi perfúncta donáret. Stupére univérsi quod iam Divinitátis testis exsísteret, quæ adhuc árbitra sui per ætátem esse non posset. Effécit dénique ut ei de Deo crederétur cui de hómine adhuc non crederétur, quia quod ultra natúram est, de Auctóre natúræ est.
  Quanto terróre egit cárnifex ut timerétur, quantis blandítiis ut suadéret, quantórum vota ut sibi ad núptias perveníret. At illa: «Et hæc Sponsi iniúria est exspectáre placitúrum; qui me sibi prior elégit, accípiet. Quid, percússor, moráris? Péreat corpus, quod amári potest óculis, quibus nolo». Stetit, orávit, cervícem infléxit.
  Cérneres trepidáre carníficem, quasi ipse addíctus fuísset; trémere percussóris déxteram, pallére ora aliéno timéntis perículo, cum puélla non timéret suo. Habétis ígitur in una hóstia duplex martýrium, pudóris et religiónis. Et virgo permánsit et martýrium obtínuit.
Second Reading
From a treatise On Virgins by Saint Ambrose, bishop

Too young to be punished, yet old enough for a martyr's crown

Today is the birthday of a virgin; let us imitate her purity. It is the birthday of a martyr; let us offer ourselves in sacrifice. It is the birthday of Saint Agnes, who is said to have suffered martyrdom at the age of twelve. The cruelty that did not spare her youth shows all the more clearly the power of faith in finding one so young to bear it witness.
  There was little or no room in that small body for a wound. Though she could scarcely receive the blow, she could rise superior to it. Girls of her age cannot bear even their parents’ frowns and, pricked by a needle, weep as for a serious wound. Yet she shows no fear of the blood-stained hands of her executioners. She stands undaunted by heavy, clanking chains. She offers her whole body to be put to the sword by fierce soldiers. She is too young to know of death, yet is ready to face it. Dragged against her will to the altars, she stretches out her hands to the Lord in the midst of the flames, making the triumphant sign of Christ the victor on the altars of sacrilege. She puts her neck and hands in iron chains, but no chain can hold fast her tiny limbs.
  A new kind of martyrdom! Too young to be punished, yet old enough for a martyr’s crown; unfitted for the contest, yet effortless in victory, she shows herself a master in valour despite the handicap of youth. As a bride she would not be hastening to join her husband with the same joy she shows as a virgin on her way to punishment, crowned not with flowers but with holiness of life, adorned not with braided hair but with Christ himself.
  In the midst of tears, she sheds no tears herself. The crowds marvel at her recklessness in throwing away her life untasted, as if she had already lived life to the full. All are amazed that one not yet of legal age can give her testimony to God. So she succeeds in convincing others of her testimony about God, though her testimony in human affairs could not yet be accepted. What is beyond the power of nature, they argue, must come from its creator.
  What menaces there were from the executioner, to frighten her; what promises made, to win her over; what influential people desired her in marriage! She answered: “To hope that any other will please me does wrong to my Spouse. I will be his who first chose me for himself. Executioner, why do you delay? If eyes that I do not want can desire this body, then let it perish.” She stood still, she prayed, she offered her neck.
  You could see fear in the eyes of the executioner, as if he were the one condemned; his right hand trembled, his face grew pale as he saw the girl’s peril, while she had no fear for herself. One victim, but a twin martyrdom, to modesty and to religion; Agnes preserved her virginity, and gained a martyr’s crown.
Responsorium
℟. Diem festum beátæ Agnétis celebrémus, quáliter passa sit ad memóriam revocémus;* In iuventúte sua mortem pérdidit et vitam invénit.
℣. Solum enim vitæ diléxit Auctórem.* In iuventúte.
Responsory
℟. Let us keep the feast of blessed Agnes, and recall the kind of suffering she endured:* in the full flower of her youth she died, and found life.
℣. She chose to love the Author of life alone;* in the full flower of her youth she died, and found life.
Oremus.
  Omnípotens sempitérne Deus, qui infírma mundi éligis ut fórtia quæque confúndas, concéde propítius, ut, qui beátæ Agnétis, mártyris, tuæ natalícia celebrámus, eius in fide constántiam subsequámur.
Per Dóminum nostrum Iesum Christum, Fílium tuum,
qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitáte Spíritus Sancti, Deus,
per ómnia sǽcula sæculórum.
Amen.
Let us pray.
Almighty, ever-living God,
  you choose what is weak in the world to shame what is strong.
Grant that, as we celebrate the martyrdom of Saint Agnes,
  we may follow her example of steadfastness in faith.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
Benedicámus Dómino.
– Deo grátias.
Let us praise the Lord.
– Thanks be to God.

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