Читать книгу Exciting Holiness - Brother Tristram - Страница 25
ОглавлениеMarch
1 March
David
White
Bishop of Menevia, Patron of Wales
England: Lesser Festival – Scotland: Commemoration – Wales: II
David, or Dewi, was a monk and a bishop in the sixth century. He was reputed to be an exemplar of the ascetic, spiritual life but was also highly regarded for his kindness and compassion to others, particularly the poor and the sick. He is believed to have founded the monastery at Menevia, now St Davids, and also at least a dozen other monasteries. He is said to have based his Rule for his monasteries on that of the Egyptian desert monks, with a strong emphasis on hard work, abstinence from alcohol and refraining from unnecessary speech. He died in about the year 601 and has been regarded as the patron saint of Wales since at least the twelfth century.
Collect
Almighty God,
who called your servant David
to be a faithful and wise steward of your mysteries
for the people of Wales:
in your mercy, grant that,
following his purity of life and zeal for the gospel of Christ,
we may with him receive the crown of everlasting life;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Or (Wales)
God our Father,
you gave Saint David to the people of Wales
to uphold the faith:
encouraged by his example,
may we joyfully hold fast to the things
which lead to eternal life;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
to whom with you and the Holy Spirit
be all honour and glory,
now and for ever.
A reading from the book Ecclesiasticus.
Whoever fears the Lord will do this,
and whoever holds to the law will obtain wisdom.
She will come to meet him like a mother,
and like a young bride she will welcome him.
She will feed him with the bread of learning,
and give him the water of wisdom to drink.
He will lean on her and not fall,
and he will rely on her and not be put to shame.
She will exalt him above his neighbours,
and will open his mouth in the midst of the assembly.
He will find gladness and a crown of rejoicing,
and will inherit an everlasting name.
This is the word of the Lord.
Ecclesiasticus 15.1–6
Responsorial Psalm
R: Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you;
[before you were born, I consecrated you].
Preserve me, O God, for in you have I taken refuge;
I have said to the Lord, ‘You are my lord, all my good depends on you.’
All my delight is upon the godly that are in the land,
upon those who are noble in heart. R
The Lord himself is my portion and my cup;
in your hands alone is my fortune.
My share has fallen in a fair land;
indeed, I have a goodly heritage. R
I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel,
and in the night watches he instructs my heart.
I have set the Lord always before me;
he is at my right hand; I shall not fall. R
From Psalm 16
A reading from the First Letter of Paul to the Thessalonians.
Though we had already suffered and been shamefully mistreated at Philippi, as you know, we had courage in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in spite of great opposition. For our appeal does not spring from deceit or impure motives or trickery, but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the message of the gospel, even so we speak, not to please mortals, but to please God who tests our hearts. As you know and as God is our witness, we never came with words of flattery or with a pretext for greed; nor did we seek praise from mortals, whether from you or from others, though we might have made demands as apostles of Christ. But we were gentle among you, like a nurse tenderly caring for her own children. So deeply do we care for you that we are determined to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you have become very dear to us.
You remember our labour and toil, brothers and sisters; we worked night and day, so that we might not burden any of you while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. You are witnesses, and God also, how pure, upright, and blameless our conduct was toward you believers. As you know, we dealt with each one of you like a father with his children, urging and encouraging you and pleading that you lead a life worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.
This is the word of the Lord.
1 Thessalonians 2.2–12
Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew.
Jesus told his disciples, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life?
‘For the Son of Man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay everyone for what has been done.’
This is the Gospel of the Lord.
Matthew 16.24–27
Post Communion
God, shepherd of your people,
whose servant David revealed the loving service of Christ
in his ministry as a pastor of your people:
by this eucharist in which we share
awaken within us the love of Christ
and keep us faithful to our Christian calling;
through him who laid down his life for us,
but is alive and reigns with you, now and for ever.
Or (Wales)
Almighty God,
awaken in us the zeal of your servant David
that we may follow you in singleness of heart;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
2 March
Chad
White
Bishop of Lichfield, Missionary
England: Lesser Festival – Scotland: Commemoration
20 May – Wales: V
Chad was born in Northumbria, the youngest of four sons, all of whom became both priests and monks. They entered the monastery on the isle of Lindisfarne and were taught by St Aidan. Chad’s brother Cedd had founded the abbey at Lastingham and, on his brother’s death, Chad was elected abbot. During the confusion in ecclesiastical discipline between the Celtic-oriented, Anglo-Saxon hierarchy and the pressure from Rome for conformity, Chad became Bishop of York for a time. He graciously stepped back with the arrival in Britain of Theodore, who doubted the validity of indigenous consecrations. This was eventually rectified and Chad became Bishop of Mercia, a huge diocese the centre of which he moved from Repton to Lichfield. Chad travelled extensively and became much loved for his wisdom and gentleness in otherwise difficult situations. The plague was prevalent at this time and Chad died on this day in the year 672.
Collect
Almighty God,
from the first fruits of the English nation who turned to Christ,
you called your servant Chad
to be an evangelist and bishop of his own people:
give us grace so to follow his peaceable nature,
humble spirit and prayerful life,
that we may truly commend to others
the faith which we ourselves profess;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
A reading from the book Ecclesiasticus.
My child, perform your tasks with humility;
then you will be loved by those whom God accepts.
The greater you are, the more you must humble yourself;
so you will find favour in the sight of the Lord.
For great is the might of the Lord;
but by the humble he is glorified.
Neither seek what is too difficult for you,
nor investigate what is beyond your power.
Reflect upon what you have been commanded,
for what is hidden is not your concern.
Do not meddle in matters that are beyond you,
for more than you can understand has been shown to you.
For their conceit has led many astray,
and wrong opinion has impaired their judgement.
This is the word of the Lord.
Ecclesiasticus 3.17–24
Responsorial Psalm
R: Great is the might of the Lord;
[by the humble he is glorified].
How lovely is your dwelling place,
O Lord of hosts!
My soul has a desire and longing to enter the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh rejoice in the living God. R
The sparrow has found her a house
and the swallow a nest where she may lay her young:
at your altars, O Lord of hosts,
my King and my God. R
Blessed are they who dwell in your house:
they will always be praising you.
Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
in whose heart are the highways to Zion. R
Who going through the barren valley
find there a spring,
and the early rains will clothe it with blessing.
They will go from strength to strength
and appear before God in Zion. R
From Psalm 84
A reading from the First Letter of Paul to Timothy.
Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness; fight the good fight of the faith; take hold of the eternal life, to which you were called and for which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
In the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you to keep the commandment without spot or blame until the manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ, which he will bring about at the right time – he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords. It is he alone who has immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see; to him be honour and eternal dominion. Amen.
This is the word of the Lord.
1 Timothy 6.11b–16
Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke.
When Jesus noticed how the guests chose the places of honour, he told them a parable. ‘When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not sit down at the place of honour, in case someone more distinguished than you has been invited by your host; and the host who invited both of you may come and say to you, “Give this person your place”, and then in disgrace you would start to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit down at the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he may say to you, “Friend, move up higher”; then you will be honoured in the presence of all who sit at the table with you. For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.’
This is the Gospel of the Lord.
Luke 14.7–11
Post Communion
Holy Father,
who gathered us here around the table of your Son
to share this meal with the whole household of God:
in that new world where you reveal
the fullness of your peace,
gather people of every race and language
to share with Chad and all your saints
in the eternal banquet of Jesus Christ our Lord.
3 March
John and Charles Wesley
Evangelists, Hymn Writers
Scotland: Commemoration
See 24 May
4 March
Adrian of May Island
Adrian of May Island, Abbot, and his Companions, Martyrs
Scotland: Commemoration
If celebrated otherwise, Common of Martyrs
Adrian, who according to tradition was of Hungarian descent, settled with many companions in Fife to evangelize the Picts. During the Viking raids he is said to have softened the raider’s fury and to have converted some. A fierce raid in 875 obliged him to retire with his companions to the island of May in the Firth of Forth. There they were killed by the Danes. The island, with a monastery founded by King David i, became an important centre of pilgrimage.
5 March
Non
Mother of David of Wales
Wales: V
If celebrated otherwise, Common of Religious
According to Rhygyfarch’s Life of St David, Non (whom he assumes was a nun) was raped by Sant, King of Ceredigion. She gave birth to a son: Dewi Sant or St David. The Welsh version of her story says that he was her only child, but Irish tradition also makes her the mother of two daughters, Mor and Magna. She is said to have moved to Brittany, where her cult is centred on Dirinon. Her tomb can be seen there and her life was the subject of a Breton mystery play performed at Dirinon in her honour. In Brittany her protection during childbirth has long been invoked by pregnant women. Non’s holy well and the ruins of her chapel are just outside St Davids. She is also connected with Llannon (Ceredigion), Llannon (Carmarthenshire) and traditionally with Altarnon in Cornwall.
Collect
God our Father,
who entrusted your only begotten Son
to the care of an earthly mother
that she might guide his first steps in the paths of faith and love:
grant that we who revere the mother of our patron David
may work to bring up a new generation
in the fear and love of your name;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
to whom with you and the Holy Spirit
be all honour and glory,
now and for ever.
5 March
Kieran of Seirkieran
Bishop and Monk
Ireland: Commemoration
If celebrated otherwise, Common of Religious
Kieran or Ciaran was both bishop and monk. Born in West Cork, but from an Ossory family, he appears to have travelled to Europe, where he was ordained. On his return to Ireland, he settled at Seir (Saighir) near Birr, first as a hermit and then as abbot of the large monastery there. He also had a hermitage on the island of Cape Clear, off West Cork. Fascinating tales of his life surrounded by the animals of his neighbouring woods have often been retold. He died on this day in about the year 545.
Collect
Lord God,
maker of all things wise and wonderful,
all creatures great and small,
we recall with thanksgiving your servant, Kieran,
who lived close to your creation:
make us mindful of our responsibility
for the good earth in which you have placed us,
and guide us to preserve that which you have given
for the well being of the world;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
6 March
Baldred
Hermit and Bishop
Scotland: Commemoration
If celebrated otherwise, Common of Missionaries
Baldred, thought to have been a devoted disciple of Kentigern, whom he may have succeeded as Bishop of Glasgow, lived as a hermit on the Bass Rock, off the coast of East Lothian. However, he engaged in missionary work on the mainland and became known as the apostle of East Lothian. He died on this day in the year 608.
7 March
Perpetua, Felicity and their Companions
Red
Martyrs at Carthage
England: Lesser Festival – Scotland: Commemoration – Wales: V
The moving, contemporary account of these early third-century African martyrs proved to be of great significance in the life of the early Church. Vibia Perpetua was a young, married noblewoman of Carthage and Felicity was her personal slave. Saturus was possibly a priest and there were two other men, Saturninus and Revocatus, the latter also a slave. Felicity was pregnant. It seems most of them were catechumens when arrested and only baptized later in prison, where Perpetua had a vision in which she climbed a great ladder into paradise. They were condemned as Christians by the Roman authorities and dispatched to the public arena, there to be mauled by wild animals. They all survived and were then taken to be executed by the sword. Before this, they exchanged the Kiss of Peace and affirmed their faith in Christ, the Son of God. The account of their martyrdom was widely circulated in secret throughout the Christian congregations and proved both to give renown to their courage and to give encouragement to their fellow Christians in the face of adversity. They were martyred for their faith on this day in the year 203.
Collect
Holy God,
who gave great courage to Perpetua, Felicity and their companions:
grant that we may be worthy to climb the ladder of sacrifice
and be received into the garden of peace;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
A reading from the Song of Songs.
Set me as a seal upon your heart,
as a seal upon your arm;
for love is strong as death,
passion fierce as the grave.
Its flashes are flashes of fire,
a raging flame.
Many waters cannot quench love,
neither can floods drown it.
If one offered for love
all the wealth of one’s house,
it would be utterly scorned.
This is the word of the Lord.
Song of Songs 8.6, 7
Responsorial Psalm
R: Many waters cannot quench love,
[neither can the floods drown it].
Save me, O God, by your name
and vindicate me by your power.
Hear my prayer, O God;
give heed to the words of my mouth. R
For strangers have risen up against me,
and the ruthless seek after my life;
they have not set God before them. R
Behold, God is my helper;
it is the Lord who upholds my life.
An offering of a free heart will I give you
and praise your name, O Lord, for it is gracious. R
From Psalm 54
A reading from the Revelation to John.
I heard a loud voice in heaven, proclaiming,
‘Now have come the salvation and the power
and the kingdom of our God
and the authority of his Messiah,
for the accuser of our comrades has been thrown down,
who accuses them day and night before our God.
But they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony,
for they did not cling to life even in the face of death.
Rejoice then, you heavens
and those who dwell in them!’
This is the word of the Lord.
Revelation 12.10–12a
Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew.
Jesus said to his disciples, ‘They will hand you over to be tortured and will put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of my name. Then many will fall away, and they will betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because of the increase of lawlessness, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.’
This is the Gospel of the Lord.
Matthew 24.9–13
Post Communion
Eternal God,
who gave us this holy meal
in which we have celebrated the glory of the cross
and the victory of your martyrs Perpetua, Felicity and their companions:
by our communion with Christ
in his saving death and resurrection,
give us with all your saints the courage to conquer evil
and so to share the fruit of the tree of life;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
8 March
Edward King
White
Bishop of Lincoln
England: Lesser Festival
Born in London in 1829, Edward King, both as a priest and then as a bishop, was revered for the holiness of his life and the wisdom of his counsel. He was chaplain, then principal, of Cuddesdon Theological College, followed by a dozen years as a professor of theology in Oxford, during which time he exercised a great influence on a generation of ordinands. In 1885, he was consecrated Bishop of Lincoln, a position he held until his death in 1910. His advocacy of Catholic principles in ritual as well as theology involved him in controversy, but his significant gift to the Church was his example as a pastoral and caring bishop to clergy and laity alike.
Collect
God of peace,
who gave such grace to your servant Edward King
that whomever he met he drew to Christ:
fill us, we pray, with tender sympathy and joyful faith,
that we also may win others
to know the love that passes knowledge;
through him who is the shepherd and guardian of our souls,
Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
A reading from the prophecy of Ezekiel.
Thus says the Lord God: I myself will search for my sheep, and will seek them out. As shepherds seek out their flocks when they are among their scattered sheep, so I will seek out my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places to which they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land; and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the watercourses, and in all the inhabited parts of the land. I will feed them with good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel shall be their pasture; there they shall lie down in good grazing land, and they shall feed on rich pasture on the mountains of Israel.
I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will make them lie down, says the Lord God. I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them with justice.
This is the word of the Lord.
Ezekiel 34.11–16
Responsorial Psalm
R: I will search for my sheep, says the Lord,
[and I will seek them out].
I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart,
in the company of the faithful and in the congregation.
The works of the Lord are great,
sought out by all who delight in them. R
His work is full of majesty and honour
and his righteousness endures for ever.
He appointed a memorial for his marvellous deeds;
the Lord is gracious and full of compassion. R
He sent redemption to his people;
he commanded his covenant for ever;
holy and awesome is his name. R
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;
a good understanding have those who live by it;
his praise endures for ever. R
From Psalm 111
A reading from the Letter to the Hebrews.
Let mutual love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it. Remember those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them; those who are being tortured, as though you yourselves were being tortured. Let marriage be held in honour by all, and let the marriage bed be kept undefiled; for God will judge fornicators and adulterers. Keep your lives free from the love of money, and be content with what you have; for he has said, ‘I will never leave you or forsake you.’ So we can say with confidence,
‘The Lord is my helper;
I will not be afraid.
What can anyone do to me?’
Remember your leaders, those who spoke the word of God to you; consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and for ever.
This is the word of the Lord.
Hebrews 13.1–8
Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew.
Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.’
This is the Gospel of the Lord.
Matthew 5.10–12
Post Communion
God, shepherd of your people,
whose servant Edward King revealed the loving service of Christ
in his ministry as a pastor of your people:
by this eucharist in which we share
awaken within us the love of Christ
and keep us faithful to our Christian calling;
through him who laid down his life for us,
but is alive and reigns with you, now and for ever.
8 March
Duthac
Bishop of Ross
Scotland: Commemoration
If celebrated otherwise, Common of Bishops
Duthac was born in Scotland, studied in Ireland, and on his return to Scotland became Bishop of Ross in the eleventh century. He was renowned for his missionary zeal, his compassion, his ready espousal of poverty and the austerity of his life. He was described as the ‘saint reckoned to be the most venerated in the land of Ross’. His relics, kept at Tain, were an object of pilgrimage throughout the Middle Ages. He died in 1068.
8 March
Felix
Bishop, Apostle to the East Angles
England: Commemoration
If celebrated otherwise, Common of Missionaries
Born in Burgundy at the beginning of the seventh century, Felix reputedly converted the exiled King Sigebert of the East Angles and, after the King’s return to Britain, was consecrated bishop and then persuaded by the King to follow him to effect the conversion of his subjects. He was commissioned by Honorius, Archbishop of Canterbury, to this work and made Dunwich the centre of his new See. He established schools and monasteries and ministered in his diocese for seventeen years. He died in the year 647.
8 March
Geoffrey Studdert Kennedy
Priest, Poet
England: Commemoration
If celebrated otherwise, Common of Pastors
Born in 1883, Studdert Kennedy was a young vicar in Worcester who became an army chaplain during the First World War. His warm personality soon earned the respect of soldiers, who nicknamed him ‘Woodbine Willie’ after the brand of cigarettes he shared with them. After the First World War, he became a writer and regular preacher, drawing large crowds, who were attracted by his combination of traditional sacramental theology with more unconventional theological views. He worked tirelessly for the Christian Industrial Fellowship, but his frail health gave way and he died (still a young man) on this day in 1929.
10 March
Kessog
Monk, Bishop, Martyr
Scotland: Commemoration
If celebrated otherwise, Common of Martyrs
The memory of many of the missionaries who brought the Christian faith to Scotland during the Dark Ages is preserved mainly in the dedications of churches in their honour. The name of Kessog (or Mackessock) is thus preserved as a missionary bishop who laboured in the lands of Lennox among the Picts towards the end of the seventh century. He lived in a cell on Monk’s Island, Loch Lomond. According to tradition, he was born of Irish royal descent in Cashel, capital of Munster, and is said to have been martyred near Luss on Loch Lomondside around the year 700.
16 March
Boniface of Ross
Bishop
Scotland: Commemoration
If celebrated otherwise, Common of Bishops
The name of Cuiritan, or Boniface, is linked with two important Christian sites in Scotland: Restenneth in Angus, where he baptized the Pictish king Nechtan in 710, and founded a monastery; and Rosemarkie on the Black Isle, where in 716 he refounded a monastery at a place originally associated with St Moluag. He is said to have come from Italy, even perhaps from Rome. He was certainly of the Roman, rather than the Celtic, tradition – all his foundations are dedicated to St Peter – so Nechtan’s Christianity sought its inspiration from the south rather than from the Celtic west. He was famous for founding churches. The date of his death is not known.
17 March
Patrick
White
Bishop, Missionary, Patron of Ireland
England: Lesser Festival – Ireland: Festival – Scotland: IV – Wales: V
Patrick was a Romano-Briton born in about the year 390 of Christian parents in the latter years of the Roman Empire in Britain. The exact place of his birth – named by him in his Confession as Banaven Taberniae – has never been identified. Claims from places in West Britain as far apart as Dumbarton and Cornwall have been made; present day opinion favours the neighbourhood of Carlisle.
He was captured by Irish raiders when he was sixteen years old and taken to Ireland as a slave. After six years, he escaped and seems to have gone to continental Europe. He eventually found his way back to his own family, where his previously-nominal Christian faith grew and matured. He returned to Gaul and was there trained as a priest and much influenced by the form of monasticism evolving under Martin of Tours. When he was in his early forties, he returned to Ireland as a bishop, ministering first at Saul near Downpatrick, and later making his base at Armagh, which became the centre of his See. He evangelized the people of the land by walking all over the island, gently bringing men and women to a knowledge of Christ. Although he faced fierce opposition and possible persecution, he continued his missionary journeys.
Patrick left two pieces of writing which are accepted as genuine, his Confession and a Letter to Coroticus. These are of immense value as they reveal Patrick the man, humble and aware that all he achieved was by the grace of Christ. Irish Christians today, of all traditions, equally identify with this holy man and draw inspiration from his life and writings.
Despite being unsuccessful in his attempts to establish the diocesan system he had experienced in Gaul, his monastic foundations proved to be the infrastructure required to maintain the faith after his death, which occurred on this day in the year 461.
Collect
Almighty God,
who in your providence chose your servant Patrick
to be the apostle of the Irish people:
keep alive in us the fire of the faith he kindled
and strengthen us in our pilgrimage
towards the light of everlasting life;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Or (Ireland)
Almighty God,
in your providence you chose your servant Patrick
to be the apostle of the Irish people,
to bring those who were wandering in darkness and error
to the true light and knowledge of your Word:
grant that walking in that light
we may come at last to the light of everlasting life;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Or (Wales)
Almighty God,
in your providence you chose your servant Patrick
to be the apostle of the Irish people,
to baptize those who were wandering in darkness and error
and to bring them to the true light and knowledge of your Word:
keep us in that light
and bring us to everlasting life;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
to whom with you and the Holy Spirit
be all honour and glory,
now and for ever.
A reading from the book Deuteronomy.
Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak;
let the earth hear the words of my mouth.
May my teaching drop like the rain,
my speech condense like the dew;
like gentle rain on grass,
like showers on new growth.
For I will proclaim the name of the Lord;
ascribe greatness to our God!
The Rock, his work is perfect,
and all his ways are just.
A faithful God, without deceit,
just and upright is he;
yet his degenerate children have dealt falsely with him,
a perverse and crooked generation.
Do you thus repay the Lord,
O foolish and senseless people?
Is not he your father, who created you,
who made you and established you?
Remember the days of old,
consider the years long past;
ask your father, and he will inform you;
your elders, and they will tell you.
When the Most High apportioned the nations,
when he divided humankind,
he fixed the boundaries of the peoples
according to the number of the gods;
the Lord’s own portion was his people,
Jacob his allotted share.
This is the word of the Lord.
Deuteronomy 32.1–9
Or:
A reading from the book Tobit.
Blessed be God who lives for ever,
because his kingdom lasts throughout all ages.
For he afflicts, and he shows mercy;
he leads down to Hades in the lowest regions of the earth,
and he brings up from the great abyss,
and there is nothing that can escape his hand.
Acknowledge him before the nations, O children of Israel;
for he has scattered you among them.
He has shown you his greatness even there.
Exalt him in the presence of every living being,
because he is our Lord and he is our God;
he is our Father and he is God for ever.
He will afflict you for your iniquities,
but he will again show mercy on all of you.
He will gather you from all the nations
among whom you have been scattered.
If you turn to him with all your heart and with all your soul,
to do what is true before him,
then he will turn to you
and will no longer hide his face from you.
So now see what he has done for you;
acknowledge him at the top of your voice.
Bless the Lord of righteousness,
and exalt the King of the ages.
In the land of my exile I acknowledge him,
and show his power and majesty to a nation of sinners:
‘Turn back, you sinners, and do what is right before him;
perhaps he may look with favour upon you and show you mercy.’
As for me, I exalt my God,
and my soul rejoices in the King of heaven.
This is the word of the Lord.
Tobit 13.1b–7
Responsorial Psalm
R: I will exalt you, O God my King,
[and bless your name for ever and ever].
Every day will I bless you
and praise your name for ever and ever.
Great is the Lord and highly to be praised;
his greatness is beyond all searching out. R
One generation shall praise your works to another
and declare your mighty acts.
They shall speak of the majesty of your glory,
and I will tell of all your wonderful deeds. R
They shall speak of the might of your marvellous acts,
and I will also tell of your greatness.
They shall pour forth the story of your abundant kindness
and joyfully sing of your righteousness. R
The Lord is gracious and merciful,
long-suffering and of great goodness.
The Lord is loving to everyone
and his mercy is over all his creatures. R
All your works praise you, O Lord,
and your faithful servants bless you.
They tell of the glory of your kingdom
and speak of your mighty power, R
To make known to all peoples your mighty acts
and the glorious splendour of your kingdom.
Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom;
your dominion endures throughout all ages. R
From Psalm 145
A reading from the Second Letter of Paul to the Corinthians.
Since it is by God’s mercy that we are engaged in this ministry, we do not lose heart. We have renounced the shameful things that one hides; we refuse to practise cunning or to falsify God’s word; but by the open statement of the truth we commend ourselves to the conscience of everyone in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For we do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus’ sake. For it is the God who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies. For while we live, we are always being given up to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may be made visible in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you.
This is the word of the Lord.
2 Corinthians 4.1–12
Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew.
Jesus said to his disciples, ‘See, I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of them, for they will hand you over to councils and flog you in their synagogues; and you will be dragged before governors and kings because of me, as a testimony to them and the Gentiles. When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given to you at that time; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
‘Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death; and you will be hated by all because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next; for truly I tell you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.’
This is the Gospel of the Lord.
Matthew 10.16–23
Or:
Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John.
The disciples were urging Jesus, ‘Rabbi, eat something.’ But he said to them, ‘I have food to eat that you do not know about.’ So the disciples said to one another, ‘Surely no one has brought him something to eat?’ Jesus said to them, ‘My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work. Do you not say, “Four months more, then comes the harvest”? But I tell you, look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting. The reaper is already receiving wages and is gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, “One sows and another reaps.” I sent you to reap that for which you did not labour. Others have laboured, and you have entered into their labour.’
This is the Gospel of the Lord.
John 4.31–38
Post Communion
Holy Father,
who gathered us here around the table of your Son
to share this meal with the whole household of God:
in that new world where your reveal
the fullness of your peace,
gather people of every race and language
to share with Patrick and all your saints
in the eternal banquet of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Or (Ireland)
Hear us, most merciful God,
for that part of the Church
which through your servant Patrick you planted in Ireland,
that it may hold fast the faith entrusted to the saints
and in the end bear much fruit to eternal life;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
18 March
Cyril of Jerusalem
Bishop of Jerusalem, Teacher of the Faith
England, Scotland: Commemoration – Wales: V
If celebrated otherwise, Common of Teachers
Born in about the year 315, probably in Caesarea, Cyril became Bishop of Jerusalem when he was about thirty-four years old. There he nurtured both the resident Christian population and the many pilgrims, following the end of the era of persecution, who were beginning to make their way from all over Christendom to the places associated with Christ. Cyril taught the faith in line with the orthodoxy of the Council of Nicæa and the credal statement that became associated with it. Though he found difficulty with the word in that creed which described Jesus as being ‘of one substance with the Father’, nevertheless he took the side of the Nicene Party against the Arians, who denied the divinity of Christ. His teaching through his Catechetical Lectures, intended for those preparing for baptism, show him to be a man profoundly orthodox and sound, and his liturgical innovations to celebrate the observance of Holy Week and Easter are the foundation of Christian practices to this day. He died in the year 386.
Collect (Wales)
Almighty God,
who inspired your bishop Cyril
to lead many to the font of baptism,
there to die in Christ and to be born anew in him:
grant to all who are to be baptized [at Easter]
grace to turn from evil
and boldly to profess their faith in Jesus Christ,
your Son, our Lord,
whom by the power of the Spirit
you raised to live with you,
his God and Father,
for ever and ever.
19 March
Joseph of Nazareth
White
England, Ireland: Festival – Scotland: IV – Wales: IV
In the gospel of Matthew, Joseph is depicted as a good man, a working carpenter, who trusted in God. He received God’s messenger who shared with him God’s will for him and for Mary, to whom he was engaged to be married. Luke’s gospel describes how Joseph took the new-born child as if he were his own. He was with Mary when, on the fortieth day after the birth, Jesus was presented in the Temple, ‘where every first-born male is designated as holy to the Lord’. The adoption of Jesus by Joseph also established Jesus in the descent of David, to accord with the prophecy that Israel’s deliverer would be of the House and lineage of David.
Collect
God our Father,
who from the family of your servant David
raised up Joseph the carpenter
to be the guardian of your incarnate Son
and husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary:
give us grace to follow him
in faithful obedience to your commands;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
A reading from the Second Book of Samuel
The word of the Lord came to Nathan: Go and tell my servant David: Thus says the Lord: Are you the one to build me a house to live in? I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent and a tabernacle. Wherever I have moved about among all the people of Israel, did I ever speak a word with any of the tribal leaders of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, ‘Why have you not built me a house of cedar?’ Now therefore thus you shall say to my servant David: Thus says the Lord of hosts: I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep to be prince over my people Israel; and I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may live in their own place, and be disturbed no more; and evildoers shall afflict them no more, as formerly, from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel; and I will give you rest from all your enemies.
Moreover the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house. When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever. I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me. When he commits iniquity, I will punish him with a rod such as mortals use, with blows inflicted by human beings. But I will not take my steadfast love from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me; your throne shall be established for ever.
This is the word of the Lord.
2 Samuel 7.4–16
Responsorial Psalm
R: I will be a father to him,
[and he shall be a son to me].
The Lord said: I will make him my firstborn,
the most high above the kings of the earth.
The love I have pledged to him will I keep for ever,
and my covenant will stand fast with him. R
My covenant will I not break
nor alter what has gone out of my lips.
Once for all have I sworn by my holiness
that I will not prove false to David. R
His seed shall endure for ever
and his throne as the sun before me;
It shall stand fast for ever as the moon,
the enduring witness in the heavens. R
From Psalm 89
A reading from the Letter of Paul to the Romans.
The promise that Abraham would inherit the world did not come to him or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith. If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. For the law brings wrath; but where there is no law, neither is there violation.
For this reason it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham (for he is the father of all of us, as it is written, ‘I have made you the father of many nations’) – in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. Hoping against hope, he believed that he would become ‘the father of many nations,’ according to what was said, ‘So numerous shall your descendants be.’
This is the word of the Lord.
Romans 4.13–18
Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew.
The birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.’
All this took place to fulfil what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: ‘Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,’ which means, ‘God is with us.’ When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus.
This is the Gospel of the Lord.
Matthew 1.18–end
Post Communion
Heavenly Father,
whose Son grew in wisdom and stature
in the home of Joseph the carpenter of Nazareth
and on the wood of the cross
perfected the work of the world’s salvation:
help us, strengthened by this sacrament of his passion,
to count the wisdom of the world as foolishness,
and to walk with him in simplicity and trust;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
20 March
Cuthbert
White
Bishop of Lindisfarne, Missionary
England: Lesser Festival – Scotland: Commemoration
4 September – Wales: V
Cuthbert was probably born in the Scottish lowlands around the year 640. At the age of eight a prophetic remark from a playmate turned his mind to sober and godly thoughts, and his upbringing as a shepherd gave him ample time for prayer. One night he saw in the sky a dazzling light and angels carrying a soul up to heaven, and resolved to dedicate his life to God. Some years later Cuthbert came to Melrose Abbey asking to be admitted as a monk. It was from here that he began his missionary work, which he continued from Lindisfarne when he became abbot there. Consecrated bishop in 685, he remained an indefatigable traveller and preacher, walking all over his diocese, and spending time as a hermit on Farne Island in between. After only a year, however, he felt his end coming and resigned his office, dying on Farne in the company of a few of his monks.
Collect
Almighty God,
who called your servant Cuthbert from following the flock
to follow your Son and to be a shepherd of your people:
in your mercy, grant that we, following his example,
may bring those who are lost home to your fold;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
A reading from the prophecy of Ezekiel.
Thus says the Lord God: I myself will search for my sheep, and will seek them out. As shepherds seek out their flocks when they are among their scattered sheep, so I will seek out my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places to which they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land; and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the watercourses, and in all the inhabited parts of the land. I will feed them with good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel shall be their pasture; there they shall lie down in good grazing land, and they shall feed on rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will make them lie down, says the Lord God. I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them with justice.
This is the word of the Lord.
Ezekiel 34.11–16
Responsorial Psalm
R: I will search for my sheep, says the Lord,
[and I will seek them out].
The Lord is my shepherd;
therefore can I lack nothing.
He makes me lie down in green pastures
and leads me beside still waters. R
He shall refresh my soul
and guide me in the paths of righteousness
for his name’s sake. R
Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff, they comfort me. R
You spread a table before me
in the presence of those who trouble me;
you have anointed my head with oil
and my cup shall be full. R
Surely goodness and loving mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. R
Psalm 23
A reading from the Second Letter of Paul to the Corinthians.
As we work together with him, we urge you also not to accept the grace of God in vain. For he says, ‘At an acceptable time I have listened to you, and on a day of salvation I have helped you.’ See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation!
We are putting no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labours, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love, truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; in honour and dishonour, in ill repute and good repute. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet are well known; as dying, and see – we are alive; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.
This is the word of the Lord.
2 Corinthians 6.1–10
Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew.
Jesus said to his disciples, ‘What do you think? If a shepherd has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. So it is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost.’
This is the Gospel of the Lord.
Matthew 18.12–14
Post Communion
Holy Father,
who gathered us here around the table of your Son
to share this meal with the whole household of God:
in that new world where you reveal
the fullness of your peace,
gather people of every race and language
to share with Cuthbert and all your saints
in the eternal banquet of Jesus Christ our Lord.
21 March
Thomas Cranmer
Red
Archbishop of Canterbury, Reformation Martyr
England: Lesser Festival – Scotland: Commemoration
Wales: see also 21 March below
Born in Aslockton in Nottinghamshire in 1489, Thomas Cranmer, from an unspectacular Cambridge academic career, was recruited for diplomatic service in 1527. Two years later he joined the team working to annul Henry VIII’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon. He was made Archbishop of Canterbury in 1533 and duly pronounced the Aragon marriage annulled. By now a convinced Church reformer, he married in 1532 while clerical marriage was still illegal in England. He worked closely with Thomas Cromwell to further reformation, but survived Henry’s final, unpredictable years to become a chief architect of Edwardian religious change, constructing two editions of the Book of Common Prayer, in 1549 and 1552, the Ordinal in 1550 and the original version of the later Thirty-Nine Articles.
Cranmer acquiesced in the unsuccessful attempt to make Lady Jane Grey Queen of England. Queen Mary’s regime convicted him of treason in 1553 and of heresy in 1554. Demoralized by imprisonment, he signed six recantations, but was still condemned to the stake at Oxford. Struggling with his conscience, he made a final, bold statement of Protestant faith. Perhaps too fair-minded and cautious to be a ready-made hero in Reformation disputes, he was an impressively learned scholar, and his genius for formal prose has left a lasting mark on Anglican liturgy. He was burnt at the stake on this day in the year 1556.
Collect
Father of all mercies,
who through the work of your servant Thomas Cranmer
renewed the worship of your Church
and through his death revealed your strength in human weakness:
by your grace strengthen us to worship you
in spirit and in truth
and so to come to the joys of your everlasting kingdom;
through Jesus Christ our Mediator and Advocate,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
A reading from the prophecy of Isaiah.
Thus says the Lord,
he who created you, O Jacob,
he who formed you, O Israel:
Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name, you are mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you.
For I am the Lord your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour.
This is the word of the Lord.
Isaiah 43.1–3a
Responsorial Psalm
R: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
[I have called you by name, you are mine].
Let my cry come before you, O Lord;
give me understanding, according to your word.
Let my supplication come before you;
deliver me, according to your promise. R
My lips shall pour forth your praise,
when you have taught me your statutes.
My tongue shall sing of your word,
for all your commandments are righteous. R
Let your hand reach out to help me,
for I have chosen your commandments.
I have longed for your salvation, O Lord,
and your law is my delight. R
Let my soul live and it shall praise you,
and let your judgements be my help.
I have gone astray like a sheep that is lost;
O seek your servant,
for I do not forget your commandments. R
From Psalm 119
A reading from the Second Letter of Paul to Timothy.
Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendant of David – that is my gospel, for which I suffer hardship, even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But the word of God is not chained. Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, so that they may also obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory. The saying is sure:
If we have died with him, we will also live with him;
if we endure, we will also reign with him;
if we deny him, he will also deny us;
if we are faithless, he remains faithful –
for he cannot deny himself.
Remind them of this, and warn them before God that they are to avoid wrangling over words, which does no good but only ruins those who are listening. Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved by him, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly explaining the word of truth.
This is the word of the Lord.
2 Timothy 2.8–15
Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John.
Jesus said to the Pharisees, ‘I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away – and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep.’
This is the Gospel of the Lord.
John 10.11–15
Post Communion
God our Redeemer,
whose Church was strengthened
by the blood of your martyr Thomas Cranmer:
so bind us, in life and death, to Christ’s sacrifice
that our lives, broken and offered with his,
may carry his death and proclaim his resurrection in the world;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
21 March
Thomas Cranmer, Hugh Latimer, Nicholas Ridley, and Robert Ferrar
Red
Bishops, Teachers of the Faith and Martyrs
Wales: V
See also 21 March above, and 16 October
Robert Ferrar was born around 1500 in Halifax in Yorkshire. An Augustinian canon, he was prior of Nostell, near Pontefract, and surrendered it peacefully at the Dissolution of the Monasteries. He married, and was perhaps chaplain to Thomas Cranmer, and later to the Duke of Somerset. On the accession of Edward VI Somerset became Protector, and in 1548 Ferrar was made Bishop of St Davids. He worked to further the reform of the Church in Wales, but was obstructed by his cathedral chapter, and after the fall of Somerset he was imprisoned. When Mary i became Queen he was deprived of his See, condemned as a heretic, and burned at Carmarthen on 30 March 1555, one of only three burnings to take place in Wales under Mary. He remarked that if he were seen to stir from the pain of burning, then the doctrines for which he died need not be believed, but he stood in the flames holding out his hands till they were burned to stumps, and he was then struck on the head, ending his suffering.
Collect
Father of all mercies,
who through the work of your servants
Thomas, Hugh, Nicholas and Robert
renewed the worship and teaching of your Church,
and through their deaths
lit a candle which we trust will never be put out:
strengthen us by your grace to worship you in spirit and in truth,
and so come to the joys of your everlasting kingdom;
through Jesus Christ our Mediator and Advocate,
who is alive and reigns with you
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
22 March
Thomas Ken
Bishop of Bath and Wells, Non-Juror, Hymn Writer
Scotland: Commemoration
See 8 June
24 March
Macartan
Bishop
Ireland: Commemoration
If celebrated otherwise, Common of Bishops
Tradition names Macartan as the ‘strong man’ of St Patrick, who established the church in Clogher and spread the gospel in Tyrone and Fermanagh. An eighth-century manuscript of the gospels, associated with a silver shrine, Domnach Airgid, in the Royal Irish Academy, is linked with the early Christian life of Clogher diocese. Macartan is thought to have died in about the year 505.
Collect
Heavenly Father,
we thank you for Macartan, faithful companion of Saint Patrick,
and builder of your church in Clogher:
build up your church
through those whom you call to leadership in this generation,
and strengthen your church
to proclaim the gospel of reconciliation and peace;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
24 March
Walter Hilton of Thurgarton
Augustinian Canon, Mystic
England: Commemoration
If celebrated otherwise, Common of Religious
Born in 1343, Walter Hilton studied Canon Law at Cambridge but after a period as a hermit, he joined the community of Augustinian Canons at Thurgarton in Nottinghamshire in about 1386. Highly regarded in his lifetime as a spiritual guide, he wrote in both Latin and English and translated several Latin devotional works. Controversy with ‘enthusiasts’ and with the Lollard movement gave a sharper definition to his exposition of the aims, methods and disciplines of traditional spirituality. Amongst his major works, Ladder of Perfection (Book Two) declares that contemplation, understood in a profoundly Trinitarian context as awareness of grace and sensitivity to the Spirit, may and should be sought by all serious Christians. He died on this day in the year 1396.
24 March
Paul Couturier
Priest, Ecumenist
England, Scotland: Commemoration
If celebrated otherwise, Common of Pastors
Born in 1881 at Lyons in France, Paul Couturier was destined from early years for the priesthood. His concern for Christian unity began as a result of his work with Russian refugees in Lyons, and was fostered through his profession at the Benedictine priory at Amay in Belgium, a community devoted to the growth of understanding between the Eastern and Western Churches. He commended the observance of a Week of Prayer for Unity and, in the 1930s, widened his contacts to incorporate people of the Anglican, Lutheran and Reformed traditions. Celebrating the eucharist each day brought into focus his whole life of work and prayer for unity within the Church. The growing circle of friends and followers became an ‘invisible monastery’, praying for ‘the visible unity of the Kingdom of God, such as Christ willed and by the means which he wills’. He died in 1953.
24 March
Oscar Romero
Archbishop of San Salvador, Martyr
England: Commemoration – Wales: V
If celebrated otherwise, Common of Martyrs
Oscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdamez was born in a small village in El Salvador in 1917. Ordained priest, he was known as a quiet and unassuming pastor. By 1977, amidst the political and social turmoil suffered by his country, he was therefore seen as a neutral choice to be its Archbishop. Courageously, however, he began to speak out against violence, and his homilies supported the demands of the poor for economic and social justice. He refused to be silenced and continued to preach even under threat of assassination. On this day in 1980, whilst presiding at Mass, Archbishop Romero was assassinated by a gunman. He has since been widely regarded as a martyr for the faith.
Collect (Wales)
Almighty God,
whose servant Oscar [Romero]
was a prophet of a future not our own:
give us grace to pray and work
for the kingdom which lies beyond us,
until the day when we shall see you face to face
in your Son Jesus Christ our Lord
who is alive and reigns with you
and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
25 March
The Annunciation of Our Lord
Gold or White
England: Principal Feast – Ireland: Principal Holy Day – Scotland: II – Wales: II
The story of the announcement of the coming of God made flesh in the person of his Son, Jesus the Christ, the Anointed One, is heard in today’s proclamation of the good news from the gospel of Luke. The feast marks the conception of Christ in the womb of Mary and has been celebrated in the Church since at least the late fourth century. The perfect humanity and the complete divinity of Jesus is affirmed, following the controversies around those orthodox assertions, which themselves led to the acknowledgement of Mary as Theotokos, God-bearer, which in the West became translated as Mother of God. The celebration thus took on strong associations with the person of Mary, and became known in England as Lady Day. In recent years, the Church has re-affirmed the day as a Feast of our Lord, on which his virgin-mother still has a unique place of honour.
Collect
We beseech you, O Lord,
pour your grace into our hearts,
that as we have known the incarnation of your Son Jesus Christ
by the message of an angel,
so by his cross and passion
we may be brought to the glory of his resurrection;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
A reading from the prophecy of Isaiah.
The Lord spoke to Ahaz, saying: Ask a sign of the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven. But Ahaz said, I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test. Then Isaiah said: ‘Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary mortals, that you weary my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel.’
This is the word of the Lord.
Isaiah 7.10–14
Responsorial Psalm
R: We have come to do your will, O God,
[for it is by your will that we are sanctified].
Great are the wonders you have done, O Lord my God.
How great your designs for us!
There is none that can be compared with you. R
If I were to proclaim them and tell of them
they would be more than I am able to express.
Sacrifice and offering you do not desire
but my ears you have opened. R
Burnt offering and sacrifice for sin you have not required;
then said I: ‘Lo, I come.
In the scroll of the book it is written of me
that I should do your will, O my God;
I delight to do it: your law is within my heart.’ R
I have declared your righteousness in the great congregation;
behold, I did not restrain my lips,
and that, O Lord, you know. R
From Psalm 40
A reading from the Letter to the Hebrews.
It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said,
‘Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired,
but a body you have prepared for me;
in burnt-offerings and sin-offerings
you have taken no pleasure.
Then I said, “See, God, I have come to do your will, O God”
(in the scroll of the book it is written of me).’
When he said above, ‘You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt-offerings and sin-offerings’ (these are offered according to the law), then he added, ‘See, I have come to do your will.’ He abolishes the first in order to establish the second. And it is by God’s will that we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
This is the word of the Lord.
Hebrews 10.4–10
Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke.
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, ‘Greetings, favoured one! The Lord is with you.’ But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.’
Mary said to the angel, ‘How can this be, since I am a virgin?’ The angel said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.’ Then Mary said, ‘Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.’ Then the angel departed from her.
This is the Gospel of the Lord.
Luke 1.26–38
Post Communion
God most high,
whose handmaid bore the Word made flesh:
we thank you that in this sacrament of our redemption
you visit us with your Holy Spirit
and overshadow us by your power;
strengthen us to walk with Mary the joyful path of obedience
and so to bring forth the fruits of holiness;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
26 March
Harriet Monsell
Founder of the Community of St John the Baptist
England: Commemoration
If celebrated otherwise, Common of Religious
Of Irish parentage, Harriet Monsell (née O’Brien) was born in 1811. After the death of her clergyman husband, she went to work in a penitentiary at Clewer near Windsor. Here, under the guidance of the local vicar, T. T. Carter, she was professed as a religious in 1852 and became the founder and first Superior of the Community of St John the Baptist. Under her care, the community grew rapidly and undertook a range of social work in a variety of locations, with foundations in India and America by the 1880s. The sisters cared for orphans, ran schools and hospitals, and opened mission houses in parishes. In 1875 Mother Harriet retired as Superior through ill-health, moving to a small hermitage in Folkestone, where she died on Easter Day 1883.
28 March
Patrick Forbes and the Aberdeen Doctors
Patrick Forbes, Bishop, and the Aberdeen Doctors, Teachers of the Faith Scotland: Commemoration
If celebrated otherwise, Common of Teachers
Patrick Forbes was Bishop of Aberdeen from 1618 to his death in 1635, a time of upheaval for the Church in Scotland. He was widely recognized as a man ‘guid, godly and kynd’. His background was Presbyterian but he applied himself diligently to his episcopal duties. He was also Chancellor of the University of Aberdeen and, through his work there, his name is associated with several colleagues: Robert Baron, first Professor of Theology in Marichal College; William Leslie, Principal of King’s College; James Sibbald, Minister of St Nicholas’s, Aberdeen; Alexander Scroggie, Minister of Old Aberdeen; Alexander Ross, Minister of New Aberdeen; and John Forbes, second son of the bishop and Professor of Divinity in King’s College. They encouraged sound learning and personal godliness, and in the partisan atmosphere of the time found a way to transcend the confessional limits of theological thinking and to work for harmony, tolerance and mutual understanding. They strenuously opposed the National Covenant which abolished episcopacy in Scotland. For refusing to subscribe to it, John Forbes was deprived of his chair in 1639, and went into exile.
29 March
Woolos
King
Wales: V
If celebrated otherwise, Common of any Saint
Woolos or Gwynllyw was the son of Glywys, whose kingdom of Glywysing stretched from eastern Carmarthenshire to Gwent. His early military exploits led him to be known as Gwynllyw Filwr (‘Gwynllyw the Warrior’). He married Gwladys, the daughter of Brychan Brycheiniog (having first abducted her, according to earliest version of his life). Their son was Cadoc, one of the greatest of the Welsh saints. Woolos built a church on the site in Newport where the cathedral bearing his name now stands. Legend has it that he chose that particular spot because he found a white ox with a black spot on its forehead there. Woolos and Gwladys are said to have settled in a nearby hill-fort, where they spent the rest of their days devoutly ‘enjoying the fruits of their labour, and taking nothing which belonged to other persons.’
Collect
King of kings and Lord of lords,
from whom all authority on earth takes its name:
grant that we who revere the memory of your servant Woolos
may claim the crown of unfading glory;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
to whom with you and the Holy Spirit
be all honour and glory,
now and for ever.
29 March
John Keble
Priest, Tractarian, Poet
Scotland: Commemoration
See 14 July
31 March
John Donne
Priest, Poet
England: Commemoration
25 November – Wales: V
If celebrated otherwise, Common of Spiritual Writers
John Donne was born in about the year 1571 and brought up as a Roman Catholic. He was a great-great nephew of Thomas More, although this seems to have had little influence on him because, as a youth, he was sceptical about all religion. He went up to Oxford when he was fourteen, studied further at Cambridge and perhaps on the Continent, and eventually discovered his Christian faith in the Church of England. After much heart-searching, he accepted ordination and later the post of Dean of St Paul’s Cathedral. Much of his cynicism dissolved and he became a strong advocate for the discernment of Christian vocation, and in particular affirming his own vocation as a priest, loving and loved by the crucified Christ. The people of London flocked to his sermons. He died on this day in the year 1631. His love-poetry – addressed mainly to his wife – and religious poems took on a renewed life in the twentieth century and his place both as a patristic scholar and as a moral theologian are confirmed by his prolific writings and the publication of his sermons.
Collect (Wales)
Batter our hearts, three-personed God,
that we, who have been overthrown by our sins,
may at the last rise with your servant John [Donne]
and sing with him the wonders of your love;
where you live and reign,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
God for ever.
