Author Archives: Steve Benner

PatrickAs a boy Patrick was taken captive by Irish raiders. After escaping, he trained as a priest, but felt a deep longing to preach the gospel in the country of his former captors. He returned as a bishop and, although faced with opposition and danger, he brought the love of Christ to the people andContinue reading “Oremus for March 17, 2026”

Antiphon https://tinyurl.com/ypfm8yec Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be consoled.Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,for they shall have their fill. Matthew 5 God of mercy,you sent Jesus Christ to seek and save the lost.We confess that we have strayed from youand turned aside from your way.We are misled by pride,for we seeContinue reading “Oremus for March 16, 2026”

Antiphon1 Ant. Rejoice, O Jerusalem; and gather round, all you who love her;*rejoice in gladness, after having been in sorrow;exult and be replenished with the consolationflowing from her motherly bosom.V. I rejoiced when they said to me, *“Let us go to the house of the Lord.”And now our feet are standing *within your gates, O Jerusalem. Isaiah 66;Continue reading “Oremus for March 15, 2026”

Fannie Lou HamerFannie Lou Hamer was born in Mississippi in 1917. Throughout her life she was known for her singing of hymns of freedom. During the 1950’s, Hamer became involved in the Civil Rights Movement. She decided to join the effort for voting rights. Hamer was recruited by the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) andContinue reading “Oremus for March 14, 2026”

Antiphon https://tinyurl.com/2up5tr2v Look to your covenant, O Lord,and forget not the life of your poor ones for ever.Arise, O God, and defend your cause,and forget not the cries of those who seek you. Psalm 74 Merciful God,we confess that we have sinned against youin thought, word, and deed,by what we have done,and by what we have leftContinue reading “Oremus for March 13, 2025”

Gregory the GreatGregory was born about 540 and became pope in a turbulent era. He used his great ability as an organiser to defend Italy against the Lombard invasions and to arrange extensive relief for the poor. He was responsible for sending Augustine to Britain, and wrote a text-book for the episcopate on pastoral care.Continue reading “Oremus for March 12, 2026”

Antiphon https://tinyurl.com/yckjdem9 Holy Father, keep in your name those you have given me,that they may be one as we are one, says the Lord. John 17 Merciful God,you pardon all who truly repent and turn to you.We humbly confess our sins and ask your mercy.We have not loved you with a pure heart,nor have we loved ourContinue reading “Oremus for March 11, 2026”

Harriet TubmanSlave births were recorded under property, not as persons with names; but we know that Harriet Ross, born sometime during 1820 on a Maryland Chesapeake Bay plantation, was the sixth of eleven children born to Ben Ross and Harriet Green. To cope with brutality and oppression, she turned to religion. Her favorite Bible storyContinue reading “Oremus for March 10, 2026”

Gregory of NyssaGregory of Nyssa was born at Caesarea in what is now Turkey around the year 330, the child of an aristocratic Christian family. Unlike his elder brother Basil, he was academically undistinguished, but ultimately proved to be the most original of the group of the theologians known as the Cappadocian Fathers. He wasContinue reading “Oremus for March 9, 2026”

Antiphon Ant. The sparrow has found herself a home, *and the turtledove a nest in which to lay her young:at your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God!Blessed are they who dwell in your house,they shall praise you for ever and e ver.V. How lovely is your dwelling place, *O Lord of hosts.My soulContinue reading “Oremus for March 8, 2026”