A Catholic guide for saints, prayer, and practical devotional reading.
Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Ordinary Time. A clean reading layout for church, prayer, or preparation.
The Roman Catholic readings for this date are shown below on-site. Use plain reading mode if you want clearer modern wording, or switch back to the original Douay-Rheims wording at any time.
On-site scripture text: Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition. Plain mode is a built-in reading aid that modernizes older wording for easier understanding while keeping the same Roman Catholic reading references for the day.
Micah 5:1-4a
Read this as the first big movement of the day. Notice what God is doing, who is speaking, and what part of the story or teaching should stay with you.
Full on-site text is not available for this reference yet, so use the reference above and the official link below.
Psalm 13:6ab, 6c
The psalm is meant to be prayed, not rushed. If the wording feels older, focus on the main movement of the prayer: trust, praise, sorrow, gratitude, or hope.
Full on-site text is not available for this reference yet, so use the reference above and the official link below.
Matthew 1:1-16, 18-23
The Gospel is the center of the reading set. Pay close attention to what Jesus says, what Jesus does, and what response he is asking for.
1The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham:
2Abraham begot Isaac. And Isaac begot Jacob. And Jacob begot Judas and his brothers and sisters.
3And Judas begot Phares and Zara of Thamar. And Phares begot Esron. And Esron begot Aram.
4And Aram begot Aminadab. And Aminadab begot Naasson. And Naasson begot Salmon.
5And Salmon begot Booz of Rahab. And Booz begot Obed of Ruth. And Obed begot Jesse.
6And Jesse begot David the king. And David the king begot Solomon, of her that had been the wife of Urias.
7And Solomon begot Roboam. And Roboam begot Abia. And Abia begot Asa.
8And Asa begot Josaphat. And Josaphat begot Joram. And Joram begot Ozias.
9And Ozias begot Joatham. And Joatham begot Achaz. And Achaz begot Ezechias.
10And Ezechias begot Manasses. And Manesses begot Amon. And Amon begot Josias.
11And Josias begot Jechonias and his brothers and sisters in the transmigration of Babylon.
12And after the transmigration of Babylon, Jechonias begot Salathiel. And Salathiel begot Zorobabel.
13And Zorobabel begot Abiud. And Abiud begot Eliacim. And Eliacim begot Azor.
14And Azor begot Sadoc. And Sadoc begot Achim. And Achim begot Eliud.
15And Eliud begot Eleazar. And Eleazar begot Mathan. And Mathan begot Jacob.
16And Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.
18Now the generation of Christ was in this wise. When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child, of the Holy Ghost.
19Whereupon Joseph her husband, being a righteous man, and not willing publicly to expose her, was minded to put her away privately.
20But while he thought on these things, look the angel of the Lord appeared to him in his sleep, saying: Joseph, son of David, fear not to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her, is of the Holy Ghost.
21And she shall bring forth a son: and you shall call his name JESUS. For he shall save his people from their sins.
22Now all this was done that it might be fulfilled which the Lord spoke by the prophet, saying:
23Look a virgin shall be with child, and bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.
This page uses the Catholic Readings API for the day's references and liturgical celebration data, while the on-site scripture text is rendered from the public-domain Douay-Rheims Bible distributed through the Open Bibles project.