New Lectionary to be launched in England and Wales for Advent 2024

The Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments has confirmed the approval by the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales for the new Lectionary. 

The Lectionary, which includes the scripture readings for Mass and the sacraments, will come into use in Catholic parishes in England and Wales from Advent 2024.  

Cardinal Arthur Roche, Prefect of the Dicastery, wrote to Cardinal Vincent Nichols, President of the Bishops’ Conference, confirming the new translation of the Lectionary, which has been done in collaboration with the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland.  

He said: 

“The use of the English Standard Version – Catholic Edition, already in use in India, along with the Abbey Psalms and Canticles will help to ensure that the Word of the Lord reaches God’s holy people without alloy. 

“The collaboration of the Episcopal Conference with the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland is another notable feature of this project which highlights the importance of different episcopal conferences within a small geographical area working together for the overall good of the Catholic population in the British Isles.  

“What has now been achieved ensures that a stable version of the Lectionary will endure in Great Britain for years to come. Both Conferences are to be commended for this cooperation.” 

The Lectionary was revised after the Second Vatican Council. Paragraph 51 of Second Vatican Council document Sacrosanctum Concilium said: “The treasures of the bible are to be opened up more lavishly, so that richer fare may be provided for the faithful at the table of God’s word.” 

Archbishop Emeritus George Stack of Cardiff, Chair of the Department for Christian Life and Worship, welcomed the dicastery’s ‘confirmatio’ for the Lectionary:  

“As we mark the sixtieth anniversary of the Second Vatican Council we can see that the Lectionary is one of the great fruits of the Council. It fulfils the mandate of the Council Fathers to open up the scriptures for the faithful so that Sunday by Sunday Christ himself speaks to us in the word.  

“The new Lectionary gives us an opportunity to hear that word with fresh ears as we engage with a text which is intended for public proclamation and reflects up to date biblical scholarship.  

“I hope that parishes and other communities will engage in preparation for the Lectionary so that all the faithful will hear the word of God with deepened faith and understanding.” 

The Lectionary will be in use from Advent 2024 and will be published by the Catholic Truth Society (CTS). 

To love you more dearly – New Prayer and Liturgy Directory launched by CES and Bishops’ Conference

Cover of Prayer and Liturgy Directory

from Catholic Education Service

A new Prayer and Liturgy Directory for Catholic schools, colleges and academies in England and Wales has been launched at a conference in York.

The directory was presented to dioceses on 17 October by a host of speakers including Dr Sue Price, Director of Pastoral Outreach at the Margaret Beaufort Institute of Theology, and its editors Martin Foster, Director of the Liturgy Office for the Bishops’ Conference; and the Revd Professor Peter McGrail, Subject Lead for Theology, Philosophy and Religious Studies at Liverpool Hope University.

Titled To love You more dearly and published by the Bishops’ Conference and the CES, it is the first such document to support prayer and liturgy coordinators, senior leadership teams and governors and others in implementing the understanding of the Catholic Church in prayer and liturgy.

Communal prayer forms a major part of the spiritual life of the school and to pupils’ moral and spiritual development, with participants invited to recognise God’s action in their lives and that of the school. For example, this can include classroom prayer at the beginning or end of the day, and prayer at the start of a staff meeting.

The Directory has been approved by the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, and was subject to a number of wide-scale consultations with practitioners which helped to shape and develop the text.

In the preface the Most Revd George Stack, Emeritus Archbishop of Cardiff and Chairman of the Department for Christian Life and Worship, and the Rt Revd Marcus Stock, Bishop of Leeds and Chairman of the Department for Education and Formation, write: “In Catholic schools and colleges across England and Wales, teachers and other adult members of the school community have long supported the life of prayer and liturgy within their schools with imagination and dedication.

“We hope that this directory will affirm what is good practice, while also setting a high bar to which all can aspire.”

Topics covered include the use of music; celebrating sacraments; devotions and more. Sections can also be used to provide focused guidance as follows:

  • in developing school policies and systems
  • in directly planning prayer and liturgy
  • as a focus for evaluating practice
  • in staff formation
  • as reference points for Catholic school inspectors to support their judgments

Part of a series, the document follows on from To know You more clearly, its Religious Education counterpart published earlier this year.

The title of the new Prayer and Liturgy Directory, To love You more dearly, is taken from a prayer by St Richard of Chichester, a Bishop in the 13th century remembered for his generosity to the poor, mercy shown to sinners, and reform of the liturgical life of his diocese.

Supporting resources for schools, based on the directory, are currently being prepared.

To love You more dearly was drafted and edited by experts including Martin Foster, Director of the Liturgy Office for the Bishops’ Conference; the Revd Professor Peter McGrail, Subject Lead for Theology, Philosophy and Religious Studies at Liverpool Hope University; Philip Robinson, Chief Inspector of the Catholic Schools Inspectorate; Catherine Bryan, Deputy Director of the CES; Dr Nancy Walbank, CES Religious Education Adviser; Elaine Arundell, Primary RE Adviser for the Archdiocese of Westminster, and of the National Board of RE Inspectors and Advisers (NBRIA); Matthew Dell, Senior Lecturer in RE at St Mary’s University, and of Association of Teachers of Catholic Religious Education (ATCRE); Deacon Paul Mannings of the Archdiocese of Liverpool, and of NBRIA; Jane Porter of the Association of Catholic Chaplains in Education (ACCE), and Cardinal Newman School, in Luton; and Peter Ward of NBRIA.

Download and read To love You more dearly

Mass for His Majesty King Charles III on his Coronation

The Bishops’ Conference requests that on Friday 5 May 2023 each parish celebrates Mass for His Majesty the King to mark his Coronation. At the end of Mass (after the Prayer after Communion and before the Final Blessing) the Prayer for the King is said. Parishes may also wish to sing a hymn of thanksgiving (the Te Deum or other hymn) followed by the chant Domine, salvum fac and/or the National Anthem.

At Sunday Masses on 7 May parishes may wish to include an intention for the King and the Royal Family in the Prayer of the Faithful and at the end of Mass say the Prayer for the King followed by the chant Domine, salvum fac and/or the National Anthem.

The Bishops’ Conference has also produced a Prayer Card for Coronation of King Charles III and ask that from Wednesday 3 May until Friday 5 May each Catholic in our lands pray for His Majesty and the Queen.

Calendar Notes 2024

The annual Calendar Notes are now available. They cover the liturgical year 2023-24 and highlight all the important dates and any significant changes to the calendar or to the Cycle of Prayer. At the same time draft Calendar Notes are provided for 2024-25.

Calendar Notes

Novena for the Repose of the Soul of Pope Benedict

Following the funeral of a Pope it is the custom that nine days (Novemdiales) of official mourning are marked in Rome and throughout the Church.

In addition to the celebration of Mass, Bishops may encourage for the intention of his soul:

  • The celebration of the Liturgy of the Hours,
  • Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and other devotions,
  • Opportunities to learn and reflect on the writings of Pope Benedict,
  • Works of mercy and care for the poor and most vulnerable.
  • The nine days may also be observed with a Novena of prayer.

Prayers are taken from the Roman Missal, except where indicated. The scripture readings include those chosen for the Funeral of Pope Benedict.

The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee

To mark the Platinum Jubilee of Her Majesty the Queen the Bishops’ Conference asks that, at all Sunday Masses on 4–5 June 2022, each parish prays for the Queen by including an intention in the Prayer of the Faithful and by reciting at the end of Mass (after the Prayer after Communion and before the Final Blessing) the Prayer for the Queen.

Calendar Notes 2023

The annual Calendar Notes are now available. They cover the liturgical year 2022-23 and highlight all the important dates and any significant changes to the calendar or to the Cycle of Prayer. At the same time draft Calendar Notes are provided for 2023-24

Liturgical Calendar 2021-2022

The monthly Calendar pages for the liturgical year 2021-22 are now uploaded onto the Liturgy Office website

For those who interested by such things there is the coincidence of a pair of liturgical dates which has not happened since the revision of the Calendar after the Second Vatican Council and was not foreseen in the norms for calendars. In 2022 the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus falls on Friday 24 June which is usually the Solemnity of the Nativity of St John the Baptist. The Congregation for Divine Worship has issued guidance and the Sacred Heart will be celebrated on Friday 24 and the Nativity of St John the Baptist is transferred to Thursday 23 June. Further details can be found in the annual Calendar Notes. There are also details there of what is done in 2022 where a Solemnity is celebrated on a Saturday for Evening Prayer and Mass in the evening.

A developing feature of the website are the Sanctoral pages which provide information about the celebration of the Proper of Saints. Included here are the details, and where available texts, for new celebrations which have been added to the Calendar. A number of celebrations were added recently and links to them are included in the monthly pages. These include:

In addition approved English texts are available for:

The Sanctoral section is work in progress. It will include additional material as it becomes available but the majority of the celebrations will not be considered until after the Lectionary is published.

St John XXIII & St John Paul II – Liturgical texts

The English translation of the liturgical texts for St John XXIII on 11 October and St John Paul II on 22 October have received the confirmatio of the Holy See and are now available for download from the Liturgy Office website:

Also received from the Holy See were the texts for the Feast of St Mary Magdalene including the new Preface.

Ash Wednesday – Praying at Home

For the first Lockdown last March the Liturgy Office and members of the Spirituality Committee produced material to help people pray at home during Lent, Triduum and Easter.

That material will be available again but here are two resources for Ash Wednesday which follow the pattern of last year’s material:

Praying at Home

A short time of prayer for families or individuals.

Praying at Home – Ash Wednesday

the PDF has two formats – A5 and A4 folded

A Mini-Retreat

Ideas for praying through the Day

Proudly powered by WordPress
Theme: Esquire by Matthew Buchanan.