The week ahead – from 18 to 24 January

Candlemas, the feast of the Purification of Mary and the Presentation of the Lord. Purification. The celebration and sanctification of transitions. The hundredth episode!!

Sunday of the Word of God. Reading; listening; commentaries. Lectio Divina. Saint Thomas Aquinas. Another Creed in Slow Motion interview. Episode notes.

What! No wedding feasts?? Universalis to the rescue. Plus a constellation of saints across the centuries and across the world: Publius, Marianne, Wulfstan, Henry, Henry, Cyprian, (Agnes, Fabian, Sebastian), Francis, and the Holy Child. Episode notes.

The Three Kings, the crib, and the reality of Christianity. The meaning of our past. Baptism of the Lord. Baptism. Commemorating our own baptism. The uncanonised Henry Edward Manning. Episode notes.

The Epiphany. Melchizedek and the Magi. Episode notes.

The Christmas feasts. The Holy Family. The Finding in the Temple. St Thomas Becket. The Mother of God. Episode notes.

The O Antiphons concluded. Ahaz: prayer vs. bothering God. Christmas starts the night before. Which is more important, Christmas or Easter? Incarnation, rescue and love. Stephen (and Paul). John. Episode notes.

The rose vestments on the 3rd Sunday of Advent. The beginning of the final countdown to Christmas. The ancient O Antiphons. The Latin hymns, and our project to record them. Episode notes.

More Isaiah. Rejoicing. Joy and pleasure and the true meaning of Christmas. Church liturgy and family liturgy. The story of the flaming Christmas pudding. How the Gospels this week explain Isaiah. The Immaculate Conception. Our Lady of Guadalupe and Saint Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin. Episode notes.

Looking forward to the unknown Chr–––––s which is coming, just as the Jews looked forward to the unsuspected glory of the Nativity. Isaiah teaches us by looking beyond the turbulent history of his time. His daily prophecies, day by day. Subscribing to Universalis and giving it as a gift. Saint Francis Xavier; Saint Nicholas. Episode notes.