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