Prayerfully meditate on the daily readings of the Bible that are read in every Mass. This page updates daily to offer today’s readings of the Roman Calendar in English, available through the USCCB.
Also view our daily Lenten reflections on the Mass readings by clicking here. We have Year B and Year C available.
Lift up your heart to the Lord, and praise His Holy Name! 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.
Alleluia!
Prayer to Jesus
I believe, Jesus,
That you are really here and present to me. I recognize my nothingness and I humbly bring myself into your presence, knowing that if You will it, You can give me the graces I need to grow in faith and adoration for you. Look into my soul and see the condition of it. Please listen to my pleas for help. You are my God and I humbly give you praise and adoration as my Lord and my Master. I submit to your absolute authority in my life. Please, Lord, look on me with eyes of mercy and see all the areas of my life that are in most need of your grace. I am unworthy to be in your presence because I am a sinner and I have offended you so many times with my pride and indifference. I have many defects that I have been too weak to correct and I am deeply ashamed of them. I want to be rid of this guilt and I want my conscience freed from it. I beg you to not look at my faults but look at me with pity and pardon me of my sins. I beg you for the grace to overcome them once and for all. I know that with your grace I will be able to stop the sin and to amend my life so that I may one day merit to see You face to face. Please purify my heart and my lips, my mind and my body.
AMEN.
The Confiteor Prayer
I confess to almighty God
and to you, my brothers and sisters,
that I have greatly sinned
in my thoughts and in my words,
in what I have done,
and in what I have failed to do;
through my fault, through my fault,
through my most grievous fault;
therefore I ask blessed Mary ever-Virgin,
all the Angels and Saints,
and you, my brothers and sisters,
to pray for me to the Lord our God.
Prayer to the Eternal Father
I do not deserve that you should pay attention to me but by the merits of Jesus Christ, your Son, and my Redeemer, you have promised you will not reject my prayers. Jesus offers to You His homage, pleading to You for my soul through His past labors, through His Word, and through His Heart. It is by His tears and through His Most Precious Blood that I am able to pray to You. He adores You, and thanks You, and begs You for mercy on me and on the whole world. He begs You for graces to give me from Your eternal fruitfulness. Eternal Father, whatever Jesus says to You on my behalf, I say the same. I make all His homage to You my own and I join Him in His intention. I only dare to present myself before You by invoking His holy name and through His merits. It is by His death and resurrection that I can come before You with confidence that You will hear me. AMEN.
Prayer to the Holy Spirit
I am not capable without your inspiration to have a single good thought. I cannot even concentrate my thoughts without You helping me to control them. I cannot even raise my heart to You unless You attract it toward You. I cannot even love You unless You first put the love in my heart to give. I cannot even form a good resolution unless You convict my heart of the need for it. And I will never succeed unless You help me put it into practice by your grace. Every good thing I have You have given to me. Every spiritual grace I have received You have given to me without merit. Since I recognize your omnipotence and my nothingness I renounce right now in this moment all my own thoughts, which are not capable of guiding me toward eternal life. I recognize that I know nothing about what is necessary for my own salvation and that I am reliant completely on You for all grace. I am painfully aware that my own affections lead me toward evil and that they cannot be trusted. Please come, Holy Spirit, fill me with your presence. I abandon myself to You in order that You may guide me and illuminate my heart and mind. Help me pray my mental prayer well and to be committed to this every day. Help me grow in love for You and in virtue so that I may overcome the sins that afflict me right now. Inflame my heart and convert my will. I beg You to give me a heart that desires your holy will for my life and not my own selfish will.
AMEN.
Daily Readings in the Universal Church
for April 12, 2026
Select date
Second Sunday of Easter (Divine Mercy Sunday)
Acts of the Apostles 2,42-47.
Awe came upon everyone, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles.
All who believed were together and had all things in common;
they would sell their property and possessions and divide them among all according to each one's need.
Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple area and to breaking bread in their homes. They ate their meals with exultation and sincerity of heart,
praising God and enjoying favor with all the people. And every day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.
Psalms 118(117),2-4.13-15.22-24.
"His mercy endures forever."
Let the house of Aaron say,
“His mercy endures forever.”
Let those who fear the LORD say,
“His mercy endures forever.”
I was hard pressed and was falling,
but the LORD helped me.
My strength and my courage is the LORD,
and he has been my savior.
The joyful shout of victory
in the tents of the just:
The stone which the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone.
By the LORD has this been done;
it is wonderful in our eyes.
This is the day the LORD has made;
let us be glad and rejoice in it.
First Letter of Peter 1,3-9.
to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you
who by the power of God are safeguarded through faith, to a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the final time.
In this you rejoice, although now for a little while you may have to suffer through various trials,
so that the genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that is perishable even though tested by fire, may prove to be for praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Although you have not seen him you love him; even though you do not see him now yet believe in him, you rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy,
as you attain the goal of (your) faith, the salvation of your souls.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 20,19-31.
When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
(Jesus) said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you."
And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the holy Spirit.
Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained."
Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came.
So the other disciples said to him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nailmarks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe."
Now a week later his disciples were again inside and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, although the doors were locked, and stood in their midst and said, "Peace be with you."
Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe."
Thomas answered and said to him, "My Lord and my God!"
Jesus said to him, "Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed."
Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of (his) disciples that are not written in this book.
But these are written that you may (come to) believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through this belief you may have life in his name.
Copyright © Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, USCCB
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Going Deeper with the Daily Readings
The 7 Steps of Mental Prayer
Step 1: Statio
The first step is called Statio which involves slowing down, pausing to become aware of the Lord’s presence, asking for the help of the Holy Ghost. It’s the conscious effort to make a holy pause to listen for the breath of God to speak to us. In Statio we pause everything we are doing and turn toward the living presence of God and simply become aware of His presence. We pray the prayers to Jesus, the Eternal Father, and the Holy Spirit before we enter into our meditation. When we ask for the help of the Holy Spirit we do so by confessing that we know we are not worthy to appear before God and that we are thankful for the grace of His presence to us.
Step 2: Lectio
The second step is called Lectio. In this step we exercise our minds. We take time to prayerfully pour over a biblical text. We read it and re-read it, ruminating on it, listening for God’s voice in the midst of our study.
Step 3: Meditatio
The third step is called Meditatio. In this step you pause in a meaningful way over a passage or two that speaks to you. As you quietly listen while in the presence of God, you begin to hear what He is calling attention to. When you prayerfully read with an open heart and with patience, you become able to listen to what God is saying to you in your own life. The divine action of God often takes place in this hidden way. Sometimes you are not even aware of it in the moment.
Step 4: Oratio
The fourth step is called Oratio. In this step we dialogue with God, by asking Him questions and listening for His response to them. While prayerfully reading scripture, there are many kinds of questions you may want to ask the Lord. You may ask Him how He wants you to respond in a situation, or ways you could please Him more in your daily life.
Step 5: Contemplatio
The fifth step is called Contemplatio. This is the time of receiving a divine hug from God. You simply stop all reading, working through meaning, and and dialoging with God. In Contemplatio you just look and Him and He looks at you and you rest in the embrace of His loving presence. This is the moment of adoration. You usually enter into this phase in an imperceptibly natural way. This is because your prayer up until this point has worked your soul up to the point of receiving the grace. In the moment of pure adoration you are opening your heart to God and He is forming you to have the mind of Christ. You are receiving so much grace that you physically FEEL the tangible peace of His presence and it surrounds you, filling your heart and mind with great joy. This moment does not come from your own action or doing, it comes because you have disposed yourself properly to RECEIVE the grace God so freely wants to give.
Step 6: Actio
The sixth step is Actio. In Actio, we put our faith into action, making our lives a gift of charity for others. After asking God, what do you want me to do during Oratio, here in Actio we put what He reveals to us into obedient action.
Step 7: Gratias
The final step is Deo Gratias, or Thanking God. In this step you show tremendous gratitude to God for His amazing grace, for the beautiful gift of His presence, and for the love He gives you while in meditative prayer and throughout the day. This thankfulness is a step that can be carried out continually throughout the day, even several hours after you have had your holy hour of prayer. When you find yourself recalling that wonderful moment of awe, thank Him again. When you are again moved by His response to you in adoration, repeat again your gratitude for His loving presence in your life.
Great Spiritual Readings for Beginners in Daily Meditation
The Heart of Virtue
by Donald T. DeMarco
The Confessions
of St. Augustine
The Imitation of Christ
by Thomas a Kempis
The Friendship of Christ
by Robert Hugh Benson
After your Daily Readings
Prayers That Open Your Heart
Enter into the presence of God with these prayers:
Prayer to the Holy Spirit to Invoke an Outpouring of Grace
Litany of Obedience to the Will of God
7 Responses
I just found this site. I was looking for a novena pray for the Precious Blood. Thank you God bless. ????
I also found your site by looking for a Most precious Blood Novena.
Blessing to you.
https://marianapostolate.com/life-offering/
This has a life offering prayer with beautiful heavenly promises and several times when reading the promises I was under severe doubt. and also kept sensing my free will makes these promises almost impossible.
I knew it was the devil discouraging me to believe in this life offering. I truly believe that this life offering is authentic and the devil hates it because it reveals The Heavenly Father’s love for us and that He infinitely desires our salvation and that those promises are God pleading with us to trust and follow Him There us also a daily contrition prayer I believe will help us to trust love pray and persevere. There is also an imprimatur for the messages Jesus I trust in you
Br Alex, your wonderful link to this life-offering prayer is broken. Is there a fix, or another source for the prayer you shared with our community? Please let me know! Or if you can, post the prayer in the comments and I will upload it for our visitors as a new post.
Am blessed for sharing my heart to you for spiritual connection between us and others in one prayer
Am blessed in your heavenly presence heavenly father for listening to our every prayers for knowing our pain our joys
God bless this website, I was asked a question on The Chaplet of Divine Will. And I came across your website through the grace of God I was able to help my friend, but also got feed spiritually, with your website. God bless you.