New Testament
The Letter to the Galatians
The Letter to the Galatians is the ninth of the 27 books of the New Testament: 6 chapters and 149 verses.
About Galatians
About Galatians · Polemical letter
Galatians is Paul at white heat: churches he founded were being told that Gentile converts must keep the Mosaic law, and this letter is his furious, loving answer that no one is justified by works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ. Written to a cluster of churches in Asia Minor, it defends both his gospel and his authority to preach it, recounting his call and his confrontation with Peter. It was written to keep Christian freedom from collapsing back into legalism, and its list of the fruit of the Spirit shows what that freedom is for.
| Testament | New Testament — book 9 of 27, 55 of 73 in the Bible |
|---|---|
| Canon | Protocanonical (in every Christian canon) |
| Chapters | 6 |
| Verses | 149, as Bless numbers them |
| Latin | Clementine Vulgate, every chapter |
| Bp. Challoner | Summaries of all 6 chapters · 9 notes |
| Catechism | 63 paragraphs cite it |
Chapter by chapter
All 6 chapters, in brief.
Bishop Richard Challoner’s summary of each chapter, from his revision of the Douay-Rheims (1749–52). Open a chapter for the full text.
Galatians 1
24 versesHe blames the Galatians for suffering themselves to be imposed upon by new teachers. The apostle's calling.
Galatians 2
21 versesThe apostle's preaching was approved of by the other apostles. The Gentiles were not to be constrained to the observance of the law.
Galatians 3
29 versesThe Spirit, and the blessing promised to Abraham cometh not by the law, but by faith.
Galatians 4
31 versesChrist has freed us from the servitude of the law. We are the freeborn sons of Abraham.
Galatians 5
26 versesHe exhorts them to stand to their Christian liberty. Of the fruits of the flesh and of the spirit.
Galatians 6
18 versesHe exhorts to charity, humility and all virtue. He glories in nothing but in the cross of Christ.
Bp. Richard Challoner · chapter summaries
In the comments
What the saints said.
9 quotations from 7 saints linked to passages of Galatians in Bless. Each names the work it comes from.
St. Francis of Assisi · on Galatians 1:12
On this theme
The Lord gave me brothers, and no one showed me what I ought to do, but the Most High Himself revealed to me that I should live according to the form of the Holy Gospel.
Testament, 1226
St. Ignatius of Antioch · on Galatians 2:20
On this theme
My Love has been crucified, and there is no fire in me desiring to be fed; but there is within me a water that lives and speaks, saying to me inwardly, Come to the Father.
Letter to the Romans, 7, c. 107
St. Bernadette Soubirous · on Galatians 2:20
On this theme
O Jesus, keep me under the standard of Your cross. Let me not just look at You crucified but have You living in my heart.
Words to a fellow sister, c. 1870
St. Catherine of Genoa · on Galatians 2:20
Attributed
My deepest me is God.
Popular saying, source unconfirmed
St. Cyprian · on Galatians 4:26
On this theme
He cannot have God for his Father who has not the Church for his mother.
On the Unity of the Church, 6, 251
St. Francis de Sales · on Galatians 5:22
On this theme
Nothing is so strong as gentleness, nothing so gentle as real strength.
Introduction to the Devout Life, III.1, 1609
3 more, on the chapter pages
- Galatians 6:3St. Francis of Assisi
- Galatians 6:9St. John of the Cross
- Galatians 6:14St. Bernadette Soubirous
Coming up
Read at Mass.
From October 29, 2026 to October 28, 2027, Galatians is read at the principal Mass on 3 days in the US calendar. The next 8 readings:
| Date | Celebration | Reading | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mary, the Holy Mother of God | Second Reading | Galatians 4:4-7 | |
| Tuesday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time | Alleluia | Galatians 6:14 | |
| computed | Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time | Alleluia | Galatians 6:14 |
| computed | Mary, the Holy Mother of God | Second Reading | Galatians 4:4-7 |
| computed | Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time | Second Reading | Galatians 3:26-29 |
| computed | Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time | Second Reading | Galatians 5:1, 13-18 |
| computed | Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time | Second Reading | Galatians 6:14-18 |
| computed | Monday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time | First Reading | Galatians 1:6-12 |
| computed | Tuesday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time | First Reading | Galatians 1:13-24 |
| computed | Wednesday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time | First Reading | Galatians 2:1-2, 7-14 |
| computed | Thursday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time | First Reading | Galatians 3:1-5 |
| computed | Friday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time | First Reading | Galatians 3:7-14 |
| computed | Saturday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time | First Reading | Galatians 3:22-29 |
| computed | Monday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time | First Reading | Galatians 4:22-24, 26-27, 31—5:1 |
| computed | St. Ignatius of Antioch, Bishop and Martyr | First Reading | Galatians 5:1-6 |
No more readings are listed here; the liturgical calendar has every date through December 31, 2028.
Citations as published in the USCCB liturgical calendar (principal Mass, first option). Dates after May 31, 2027 are computed by Bless from the US Lectionary cycle — confirm with your parish.