31 January
John Bosco
Priest, Founder of the Salesian Teaching Order
England: Commemoration
If celebrated otherwise, Common of Pastors
Born in 1815 to a peasant family, John Bosco spent most of his life in the area of Turin in Italy. He had a particular call to help young men and pioneered new educational methods, for example, in rejecting corporal punishment. His work with homeless youths received the admiration even of anticlerical politicians and his promotion of vocational training, including evening classes and industrial schools, became a pattern for others to follow. To extend the work, he founded in 1859 a religious community, the Pious Society of St Francis de Sales, usually known as the Salesians. It grew rapidly and was well-established in several countries by the time of his death on this day in 1888.
February
1 February
Brigid
White
Abbess of Kildare
England, Scotland: Commemoration – Ireland: Festival – Wales: V
Brigid (also known as Bride) was a contemporary of Patrick who founded a religious community at Kildare. Little else is known about her for sure. Her spirituality strongly influenced the formation of the Church throughout Ireland, immediately after Patrick’s time. The Church developed through communities of monks and nuns, and her pre-eminence led to her being regarded as a second patron saint. There are no contemporary writings about Brigid, and the stories about her include pagan elements, for there was a Celtic pagan mother-goddess who had a similar name. But we can be sure that Brigid was a remarkable person and through the grace of God gave unique leadership in her own troubled times. The list of the saints of the Celtic church in Ireland is so male-dominated that the revered place given to Brigid of Kildare is itself a testimony to her leadership and holiness.
Collect (Ireland)
Father,
by the leadership of your blessed servant Brigid
you strengthened the Church in Ireland:
as we give you thanks for her life of devoted service,
inspire us with new life and light,
and give us perseverance to serve you all our days;
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)
Almighty God,
who enkindled in the heart of Bridget
the living flame of your love:
stir the cold embers of our hearts
and lead us to the well-springs of 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 prophecy of Hosea.
‘Come, let us return to the Lord;
for it is he who has torn, and he will heal us;
he has struck down, and he will bind us up.
After two days he will revive us;
on the third day he will raise us up,
that we may live before him.
Let us know, let us press on to know the Lord;
his appearing is as sure as the dawn;
he will come to us like the showers,
like the spring rains that water the earth.’
What shall I do with you, O Ephraim?
What shall I do with you, O Judah?
Your love is like a morning cloud,
like the dew that goes away early.
This is the word of the Lord.
Hosea 6.1–4
Responsorial Psalm
R: Come, bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord,
[you that by night stand in the house of the Lord].
Lift up your hands towards the sanctuary
and bless the Lord.
The Lord who made heaven and earth
give you blessing out of Zion. R
Psalm 134
A reading from the First Letter of John.
We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life – this life was revealed, and we have seen it and testify to it, and declare to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us – we declare to you what we have seen and heard so that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.
This is the word of the Lord.
1 John 1.1–4
Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John.
Jesus said to the Pharisees, ‘Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.
‘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. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.’
This is the Gospel of the Lord.
John 10.7–16
Post Communion
God of truth,
whose Wisdom set her table
and invited us to eat the bread
and drink the wine of the kingdom:
help us to lay aside all foolishness
and to live and walk in the way of insight,
that we may come with Brigid
to the eternal feast of heaven;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
2 February
The Presentation of Christ
Gold or White
in