Universalis: Today

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Christ is the chief shepherd, the leader of his flock: come, let us adore him.

Year: C(I). Psalm week: 2. Liturgical Colour: White.

Saint Fergal (c.700 - 784)

Fergal (Ferghil, Vergil, Virgil) was an Irish monk, possibly educated at Clonbroney under St Samthann and going on to become Abbot of Aghaboe. Like many Irish monks of the time, he set off on his ‘pilgrimage of the love of Christ’, in 723. He passed through France and southern Germany. He was invited to Bavaria by Duke Odilo and founded the monastery of Chiemsee. Eventually he became Abbot of St Peter’s at Salzburg. He engaged in controversy with St Boniface, but on Boniface’s martyrdom he became his successor as Bishop of Salzburg in 766 or 767. He is remembered as Apostle of the Slovenes; he also had a keen interest in mathematics and astronomy.

Other saints: The Holy Crucifix of the Cathedral of Goa

Goa & Daman

This feast is linked to a miraculous event involving the famous Crucifix of the Cathedral of the Archdiocese of Goa (Sé Cathedral). According to tradition, in the year 1619, a farmer was praying in the cathedral when he witnessed the miraculous movement of the eyes of the crucified Christ on the cross. This event is believed to have occurred on November 27, and it inspired widespread devotion to the crucifix.

The crucifix was venerated as a symbol of Christ’s love and suffering, and the Archdiocese began to commemorate this miracle annually as a memorial. The devotion also highlights the significance of the crucifix as a central symbol of the Catholic faith, reminding the faithful of Christ’s redemptive sacrifice.

This day is marked with special prayers and Masses, drawing pilgrims and the faithful to venerate the Holy Crucifix in thanksgiving for the miracle and as an expression of their faith.

About the author of the Second Reading in today's Office of Readings:

Second Reading: St John Chrysostom (349 - 407)

John was born in Antioch. After a thorough education, he took up the ascetic life. He was ordained to the priesthood, and became a fruitful and effective preacher.

He was elected Patriarch of Constantinople in 397, and was energetic in reforming the ways of the clergy and the laity alike. He incurred the displeasure of the Emperor and was twice forced into exile. When the second exile, to Armenia, had lasted three years, it was decided that he should be sent still further away, but he died on the journey, worn out by his hardships.

His sermons and writings did much to explain the Catholic faith and to encourage the living of the Christian life: his eloquence earned him the surname “Chrystostom” (the Greek for “golden mouth”).

Liturgical colour: white

White is the colour of heaven. Liturgically, it is used to celebrate feasts of the Lord; Christmas and Easter, the great seasons of the Lord; and the saints. Not that you will always see white in church, because if something more splendid, such as gold, is available, that can and should be used instead. We are, after all, celebrating.

In the earliest centuries all vestments were white – the white of baptismal purity and of the robes worn by the armies of the redeemed in the Apocalypse, washed white in the blood of the Lamb. As the Church grew secure enough to be able to plan her liturgy, she began to use colour so that our sense of sight could deepen our experience of the mysteries of salvation, just as incense recruits our sense of smell and music that of hearing. Over the centuries various schemes of colour for feasts and seasons were worked out, and it is only as late as the 19th century that they were harmonized into their present form.