FIRST
READING: Zechariah
2: 14 - 17 Or
Revelation 11:
19; 12:
1 - 6, 10
14
Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult
with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem!
15
The LORD has taken away the judgments against you, he has cast out
your enemies. The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst; you
shall fear evil no more.
16
On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: "Do not fear, O Zion;
let not your hands grow weak.
17
The LORD, your God, is in your midst, a warrior who gives victory; he
will rejoice over you with gladness, he will renew you* in his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing.
Or
19
Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant
was seen within his temple; and there were flashes of lightning,
voices, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail
1
And a great portent appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun,
with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve
stars;
2
she was with child and she cried out in her pangs of birth, in
anguish for delivery.
3
And another portent appeared in heaven; behold, a great red dragon,
with seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems upon his heads.
4
His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven, and cast them to
the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to
bear a child, that he might devour her child when she brought it
forth;
5
she brought forth a male child, one who is to rule all the nations
with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his
throne,
6
and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place
prepared by God, in which to be nourished for one thousand two
hundred and sixty days.
10
And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now the salvation
and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his
Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown
down, who accuses them day and night before our God.
PSALM:
Judith 13:
18 - 19
18
And Uzziah said to her, "O daughter, you are blessed by the Most
High God above all women on earth; and blessed be the Lord God, who
created the heavens and the earth, who has guided you to strike the
head of the leader of our enemies.
19
Your hope will never depart from the hearts of men, as they remember
the power of God.
GOSPEL:
Luke 1:
26 - 38 Or Luke
1: 39 - 47
26
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of
Galilee named Nazareth,
27
to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of
David; and the virgin's name was Mary.
28
And he came to her and said, "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is
with you!"
29
But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and considered in her
mind what sort of greeting this might be.
30
And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have
found favor with God.
31
And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you
shall call his name Jesus.
32
He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and
the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David,
33
and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his
kingdom there will be no end."
34
And Mary said to the angel, "How shall this be, since I have no
husband?"
35
And the angel said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the
child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.
36
And behold, your kinswoman Elizabeth in her old age has also
conceived a son; and this is the sixth month with her who was called
barren.
37
For with God nothing will be impossible."
38
And Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be
to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her.
Or
39
In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country,
to a city of Judah,
40
and she entered the house of Zechari'ah and greeted Elizabeth.
41
And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in her
womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit
42
and she exclaimed with a loud cry, "Blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of your womb!
43
And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to
me?
44
For behold, when the voice of your greeting came to my ears, the babe
in my womb leaped for joy.
45
And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of
what was spoken to her from the Lord."
46
And Mary said, "My soul magnifies the Lord,
47
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
