Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe
The last Sunday before Advent · Solemnity · White
A clear crystal orb sits under Christ's left hand, and in it, the North Carolina Museum of Art points out, are the reflection of His blessing hand and an entire city. Two fingers of His right hand are raised; a gold cross rises from the orb, and a field of gold circles His head. Pius XI instituted the feast by the encyclical Quas Primas, dated 11 December 1925, in a Holy Year that marked the sixteenth centenary of the Council of Nicaea, and set it on the last Sunday of October, the Sunday before All Saints. He wrote that Christ must reign in our minds, in our wills and in our hearts, and recalled the watchword of his first encyclical: men must look for the peace of Christ in the Kingdom of Christ. In the reform of the calendar in 1969 it moved to the last Sunday of the Church's year, the Sunday before Advent, and so the year now ends where the Creed does, with Him who shall come again in glory. The Gospel turns with the three-year cycle: the Last Judgment in 2026, Christ before Pilate in 2027, the Good Thief in 2028. The world He holds has a city in it, and our street is in the city.
Pius XI, encyclical Quas Primas (1925): vatican.va
Attributed to Quinten Massys
circa 1500–1510, North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh
About this painting
The Gospel of the feast
31And when the Son of man shall come in his majesty, and all the angels with him, then shall he sit upon the seat of his majesty. 32And all nations shall be gathered together before him: and he shall separate them one from another, as the shepherd separateth the sheep from the goats: 33And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on his left. 34Then shall the king say to them that shall be on his right hand: Come, ye blessed of my Father, possess you the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
36Jesus answered: My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would certainly strive that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now my kingdom is not from hence. 37Pilate therefore said to him: Art thou a king then? Jesus answered: Thou sayest that I am a king. For this was I born, and for this came I into the world; that I should give testimony to the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.
Matthew 25:31–34 · John 18:36–37, Douay-Rheims (Challoner)
In painting
Workshop of Pacino di Bonaguida
c. 1320, miniature on vellum, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1952.8.277
The holding institution's record
El Greco
about 1600, National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh
About this painting
The day in the next three years
| 2026 | Sunday 22 November (Gospel: Matthew 25:31–46) |
|---|---|
| 2027 | Sunday 21 November (Gospel: John 18:33–37) |
| 2028 | Sunday 26 November (Gospel: Luke 23:35–43) |
The feasts of the year · The saints · The Rosary
Written and checked by the Monstrance editors; sources cited. Scripture in the Douay-Rheims (Challoner). Every painting is in the public domain, and each caption follows the record of the institution that holds it.
Today's masterwork, each morning
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