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Monday 11 December 2023    (other days)
Monday of the 2nd week of Advent 
 or Saint Damasus I, Pope 

Using calendar: Asia. You can choose a country.

Let us adore the Lord, the King who is to come.

Year: B(II). Psalm week: 2. Liturgical Colour: Violet.

Pope St Damasus I (304 - 384)

A Spaniard, he was born about 305. Joining the Roman clergy, he was elected Pope in 366, in calamitous times. He held many synods against heretics and schismatics. He promoted the cult of the martyrs. He died in 384.
  See the article in the Catholic Encyclopaedia.

Other saints: St Maria Maravillas of Jesus (1891-1974)

11 Dec (where celebrated)
Maria Maravillas was born at Madrid in 1891. She entered the El Escorial Carmel, Madrid on 12th October 1919. In 1924 she was inspired to found a Carmel at Cerro de los Angeles, alongside the monument to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. From this foundation followed nine others in Spain and one in India. She always gave first place to prayer and self-sacrifice. She had a true, passionate zeal for the glory of God and the salvation of souls. Even while living a life of poverty in the cloister she helped those who were in need, initiating apostolic, social and charitable works. In a particular way she helped those of her own order, priests, and other religious congregations. She died in the monastery of La Aldehuela, Madrid, on 11th December 1974. She was canonized on 4th May 2003 in Madrid.
Carmelite Breviary

About the author of the Second Reading in today's Office of Readings:

Second Reading: St John of the Cross (1542 - 1591)

John was born in Fontiveros, in Spain, in about 1542. He spent some time as a Carmelite friar before, in 1568, Saint Teresa of Ávila persuaded him to pioneer the reform of the Carmelite order. This was a difficult task and a dangerous one: he suffered imprisonment and severe punishment at the hands of the Church authorities. He died at the monastery of Ubeda in Andalusia on 14 December 1591: the monks there had initially treated him as the worst of sinners, but by the time he died they had recognised his sanctity and his funeral was the occasion of a great outburst of enthusiasm.
  His works include two major mystical poems – he is considered one of the great poets of the Spanish language – and detailed commentaries on them and the spiritual truths they convey. He was canonized in 1726 and declared a Doctor of the Church in 1926.

Liturgical colour: violet

Violet is a dark colour, ‘the gloomy cast of the mortified, denoting affliction and melancholy’. Liturgically, it is the colour of Advent and Lent, the seasons of penance and preparation.
Mid-morning reading (Terce)(Isaiah 10:20-21) ©
That day, the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the House of Jacob will truly rely on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God.
Noon reading (Sext)(Isaiah 10:24,27) ©
The Lord of Hosts says this: My people who live in Zion, do not be afraid. On that day the burden will fall from your shoulder and the yoke will cease to weigh on your neck.
Afternoon reading (None)(Isaiah 13:22-14:1) ©
Its time is almost up, its days will not last long. Yes, the Lord will have pity on Jacob, and Israel will be saved.

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Office of Readings for 2nd Monday of Advent

Morning Prayer for 2nd Monday of Advent

Evening Prayer for 2nd Monday of Advent

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Scripture readings taken from The Jerusalem Bible, published and copyright © 1966, 1967 and 1968 by Darton, Longman & Todd, Ltd and Doubleday, a division of Random House, Inc, and used by permission of the publishers. For on-line information about other Random House, Inc. books and authors, see the Internet web site at http://www.randomhouse.com.
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