Evening Prayer Ember Wednesday

As it is written 

in the prophet Isaiah,

See, I am 

sending my messenger 

ahead of you 

who will 

prepare your way. 

Mark 1:2

Ember Wednesday

  

            Remember 

            your word 

     to your servant, 

       because you have 

         given me hope. 

       

         Psalm 119: 49

Mother Mary, you have started on a journey and you know not where it will lead. “Sufficient unto the day....” We none of us could go on if we knew all that lay ahead, least of all you, because faith and courage, love and hope, and endurance, are apportioned day by day as needed. Right now you are facing birth in unknown place far from home and comfort - your first birth with all the attendant fear and excitement. Faithful daughter of Abraham, was this verse your prayer too as you journeyed with your beloved Joseph to Bethlehem? 

St John of the Cross, Discalced Carmelite and mystic (1542-1591)

Forget your people and your father's house and head with me into the unknown future. 

Detail of the Blessed Virgin from the Ghent altarpiece. 

The end of  a very long road.

St Lucy (Santa Lucia) whose name means light and who was martyred in 304 in Syracuse, Sicily during the reign of terror of Diocletian

              The people who walked in darkness 

                    have seen a great light;

those who lived in a land of deep darkness -  

on them, the light has shined. Isaiah 9:2b

Congratulations to the inimitable Fr Rempfer Whitehouse on the 58th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood today! 

#2 3 Advent

Sing to the Lord with the harp,

with the harp and the voice of song, 

With trumpets and the sound of the horn, 

shout with joy before the Lord, the King. 

Psalm 98:6-7

III Advent

Saturday, First Vespers of III Advent

Let us live righteous and godly lives, 

looking for that blessed hope,

 the coming 

of the Lord, hallelujah. 

Advent antiphon: Psalm 42