About

The idea for this site arose during the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. Priests were streaming Masses online and many were having to do the readings themselves, which during the Easter Triduum was a great strain on the voice. I was asked by local parishioners to record the readings for Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Easter Vigil, and the recordings ended up being circulated in various dioceses.

One thing then led to another. A request for Sunday readings followed, as well as for daily readings. This website was the result. All the daily readings of the three-year cycle in the UK liturgical calendar are now included, along with the optional saint memorials. I follow the calendar presented in Universalis. I'm happy to add readings for local memorials in other parts of the world upon request. Note that the 'Readings for Today' are based on London time (GMT), so if you live in a part of the world where the 'day' begins or ends at other times, you may need to scroll down the Readings page to find the appropriate ones.

I hope the recordings will be useful to priests and to those leading services of Word and Communion who, for whatever reason, have no reader available, whether in church with a congregation or streaming Mass online. They could also be used by those running courses on liturgical or biblical themes, or as a resource for anyone wanting to hear them privately, as part of what is being called a 'home liturgy', especially if they have a visual impairment that prevents or limits a comfortable reading experience. The texts could also help if someone is unable to attend Mass, or has no Mass leaflet or Missal available. And they can of course be used as a teaching aid for readers who are learning English as a second language.
 
The search facility does more than find a reading for a particular day. It also allows a full search of all the readings, so that any reading that refers to a particular word or phrase - such as Barnabas, or bread of life - can be found. It's also a useful facility to find a favourite reading, when we can't remember the day but we do recall some words - or when searching for an appropriate text for an occasion, such as a wedding or funeral.

The recordings on this site are freely available, and no permission is needed to share them with others. I have sometimes been asked if the site receives donations, and the answer is no, but donations will always be welcome at the John Bradburne Memorial Society, to help support their work in the leprosy settlement of Mutemwa in Zimbabwe: John Bradburne Memorial Society.

The text of the readings is taken from the Jerusalem Bible, published and copyright 1966, 1967 and 1968 by Darton Longman and Todd Ltd and Doubleday & Co Inc, and used by permission of the publishers. Excerpts from the English translation and chants of The Roman Missal © 2010, International Commission on English in the Liturgy Corporation. All rights reserved.