The liturgical calendar gives us what you might call spiritual weather. Ordinary weather sets the tone for the day. I am a different person on rainy days, on sunny days, on humid days or windy ones. Or rather, I am the same person but I build my life on a different foundation each time: and so does everybody I meet, because the weather is the same for all of us.

The spiritual weather is the same not just for the people we come across in the street but for almost everyone across the world. Like rain or sunshine, it is a foundation for life. The day is built differently when it is built upon a martyr or a teacher, upon a contemplative or a saint who went out and did things. It is different when the saint is someone like me, whom perhaps I ought to emulate, and different when I feel able to stand back and admire from a safe distance.

(This is why we have the About Today pages in Universalis: and in the apps and programs you will even see pictures to set the scene more clearly. If you are on Instagram, follow the handle universalispublishing.)

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