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