Friday after Ash Wednesday, (commemoration of Saints Perpetua and Felicity, Martyrs)

Office of Readings | Morning Prayer | Evening Prayer | Night Prayer | Mass(Saints Perpetua and Felicity (- 203))

Saturday after Ash Wednesday, (commemoration of Saint John of God, Religious)

Office of Readings | Morning Prayer | Evening Prayer | Night Prayer | Mass(St John of God (1495 - 1550))

1st Sunday of LentOffice of Readings | Morning Prayer | Evening Prayer | Night Prayer | Mass(St Frances of Rome (1384 - 1440))

She was born in Rome in 1384 and was married at the age of 13. Although she had wanted to be a nun, she was happily married for 40 years and had three sons. She distributed gifts to the poor and ministered to the sick. She was remarkable for her humility and detachment, her obedience and patience in adversity (including her husband’s banishment, the death of two of her sons from plague, and the loss of all her property). She was a mystic and contemplative, part of the great flourishing of mysticism in that period, and after her husband’s death she retired to a convent she had founded, where she died on 9 March 1440. See the articles in the Catholic Encyclopaedia and Wikipedia.