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,
