Author Archives: Steve Benner

Cyril of JerusalemBorn in about the year 315, probably in Caesarea, Cyril became Bishop of Jerusalem when he was about thirty-four years old. There he nurtured both the resident Christian population and the many pilgrims, following the end of the era of persecution, who were beginning to make their way from all over Christendom toContinue reading “Oremus for Friday, March 18, 2022”

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, alt-hough faced with opposition and danger, he brought the love of Christ to the people andContinue reading “Oremus for Thursday, March 17, 2022”

Antiphon https://tinyurl.com/y74x99eu Within your will, O Lord, all things are established,and there is none that can resist your will.For you have made all things, the heaven and the earth,and all that is held within the circle of heaven;you are the Lord of all. Esther 4 Gracious God,our sins are too heavy to carry,too real toContinue reading “Oremus for Wednesday, March 16, 2022”

Antiphon https://tinyurl.com/9jxj8mak The Lord is the strength of his people,a saving refuge for the one he has anointed.Save your people, Lord, and bless your heritage,and govern them for ever. Psalm 28 Merciful God,we confess that we have sinned against youin thought, word, and deed,by what we have done,and by what we have left undone.We haveContinue reading “Oremus for Tuesday, March 15, 2022”

Fannie Lou HamerFannie Lou Hamer (1917-1977) was born in Mississippi in 1917. Starting at the age of six, Hamer, the youngest child of a sharecropper family, picked cotton. She was only able to attend school until the age of 13 because her family needed her labor. She married Perry Hamer at the age of 27,Continue reading “Oremus for Monday, March 14, 2022”

Antiphon Ant. I shall meditate upon your commandments which I greatly love; I will extend my hands towards your commandments which I love.V. I have said, “O Lord, my portion *is to obey your words.”With all my heart I implore your favor; *as with your promise, have mercy. Psalm 119 Merciful God,you pardon all whoContinue reading “Oremus for Sunday, March 13, 2022”

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 Saturday, March 12, 2022”

Antiphon https://tinyurl.com/ytnbfkw9 You are just, O Lord, and your judgment is right;treat your servant in accord with your merciful love. Psalm 119 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 see ourselves pure whenContinue reading “Oremus for Friday, March 11, 2022”

Harriet TubmanSlave births were recorded under property, not as persons with names; but we know that Harriet Ross, sometime during 1820 on a Maryland Chesapeake Bay plantation, was the sixth of eleven children born to Ben Ross and Harriet Green. Although her parents were loving and they enjoyed a cheerful family life inside their cabin,Continue reading “Oremus for Thursday, March 10, 2022”

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 Wednesday, March 9, 2022”