This Lectionary Readings site comes highly recommended…

David Crystal: History

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 were included, along with the optional saint memorials. I followed the calendar presented in Universalis. The ‘Readings for Today’ were based on London time (GMT).

I hoped the recordings would be useful to priests and to those leading services of Word and Communion who, for whatever reason, had no reader available, whether in church with a congregation or streaming Mass online. They were also intended to help those running courses on liturgical or biblical themes, or those who wanted a resource to hear them privately, as part of what has been called a ‘home liturgy’, especially if they had a visual impairment that prevented or limited a comfortable reading experience. The texts also helped if someone was unable to attend Mass, or had no Mass leaflet or Missal available. And they could of course be used as a teaching aid for readers who were 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. This was also a useful facility to find a favourite reading, if someone couldn’t remember the day but could recall some words – and it was also helpful when searching for an appropriate text for an occasion, such as a wedding or funeral.

Link to site:

https://lectionaryreadings.co.uk/GBR/About

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