March 25, 2013, Monday in Holy Week

Worship: 12 Noon

Is. 42:1-9; Ps. 36:5-11; Heb. 9:11-15; John 12:1-11

Feast of the Annunciation

Passover begins at sundown

            When the early Church finally set a date for the Festival of the Nativity of Christ, it chose (or ceded to) the time of the Winter Solstice, the time of the Roman festival Dies Natalis Solis Invicti, the "Birth Day of the Unconquered Sun", December 25, a time when light was gradually coming into the dark of winter. As a result of the setting of a specific date for Christmas, the festival of the Annunciation by the angel Gabriel to Mary was placed exactly nine months earlier, on March 25. Thus, although the Annunciation gospel reading from Luke 1:26-38 is generally heard as a part of the Advent pericopes, the actual festival usually falls during Lent. As we approach the Triduum, the Three Days, it may be poignant to call to mind Simeon's words to Mary when Jesus was presented in the Temple: "This child is destined for the falling and rising of many in Israel… - and a sword will pierce your own soul too."

·       Find the text of the Stabat Mater and use it for your prayers. Listen to one of the Choral settings - by pergolesi, by Szymanowski, Dvorak, Palestrina, Poulenc, Pärt.