From Dom Guéranger's The Liturgical Year.
Regem venturum Dominum, venite, adoremus.
De Isaia Propheta.
Cap. ii.
Verbum, quod vidit Isaias filius Amos, super Juda et Jerusalem. Et erit in novissimis diebus praeparatus mons domus Domini in vertice montium, et elevabitur super colles: et fluent ad eum omnes Gentes. Et ibunt populi multi, et dicent: Venite, et ascendamus ad montem Domini et ad domum Dei Jacob: et docebit nos vias suas: et ambulabimus in semitis ejus, quia de Sion exibit lex, et verbum Domini de Jerusalem.
Come, let us adore the King our Lord, who is to come.
From the Prophet Isaias.
Ch. ii.
The word that Isaias the son of Amos saw concerning Juda and Jerusalem. And in the last days the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be prepared on the top of mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills: and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say: Come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob: and he will teach us his ways: and we will walk in his paths, for the law shall come forth from Sion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
How the Church loves to hear and say these grand words of the prophet: Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord! She repeats them in the Lauds of every feria in Advent; and her children bless the Lord, who, that we might have no difficulty in finding Him, has made Himself like to a high mountain; high, indeed, yet can we all ascend it. It is true that, at first, this mountain is, as we learn from another prophet, a small stone which is scarcely perceptible, and this to show the humility of the Messias at His birth; but it soon becomes great, and all people see it, and are invited to dwell on its fertile slopes, yea, to go up to its very summit, bright with the rays of the Sun of justice. It is thus, O Jesus, that Thou callest us all, and that Thou approachest towards all, and the greatness and sublimity of Thy mysteries are put within the reach of our littleness. We desire to join, without delay, that happy multitude of people which is journeying on towards Thee; we are already with them; we are resolved to fix our tent under Thy shadow, O Mountain ever blessed! There shelter us, and let us be out of reach of the noise of the world beneath us. Suffer us to go so far up, that we may lose all sight of that same world’s vanities. May we never forget those paths which lead even to the blissful summit, where the mountain, the figure, disappears, and the soul finds herself face to face with Him, whose vision eternally keeps the angels in rapture, and whose delight is to be with the children of men![1]
HYMN FOR THE TIME OF ADVENT
(Composed in the ninth century, and taken from the hymnarium of B. Joseph-Maria Tommasi)
Sol, astra, terra, æquora, Adventum Dei altissimi, Prolem excelsi germinis, Dives et inops concrepent:
Olim promissum patribus Partum puellæ inclytum, Natum ante luciferum,
Dei potentis Filium.
Venturum Regora gloriæ, Deum regnare regibus;
Hostem calcare improbum, Mundum sanare languidum.
Lætentur simul angeli, Omnes exsultent populi: Excelsus venit humilis, Salvare quod perierat.
Deus et homo oritur, Sanctaque regnat Trinitas; Coævus Patri Filius,
Terris descendit Dominus.
Clament prophetæ et prophetent:
Emmanuel jam prope est; Mutorum linguæ jam sonent, Claudi in occursum pergite.
Agnus et fera bestia Simul manducent paleas: Agnoscat bos et asinus Jacentem in præsepio.
Signum regale emicans Sacrum praecedit verticem; Regali nato nobili,
Reges parate munera.
O quam beatum nuntium Virgo Maria audiit! Credendo mater foeta fit,
Et virgo virum nesciit.
Omnes gentes et insulæ, Magnum triumphum plaudite,
Cursu cervorum currite:
Redemptor ecce jam venit.
Discant caecorum oculi, Clauso sedentes lumine, Noctis tenebras solvero, Lumen verum percipere.
Gens Galilæa et Græcia Credat, Persa et India: Dignando Deus homo fit, Et Verbum cum Patre manet.
Laus, honor, virtus, gloria, Deo Patri, et Filio,
Una cum sancto Spiritu,
In sempiterna sæcula.
Amen.
May the sun, and stars, and land, and sea, sound forth the coming of the most high God: may the rich and poor unite their songs of praise to the Son of the supreme Creator!
He is the Saviour promised to our fathers; the glorious offspring of a Virgin:
the Son of the mighty God born of him before the morning star.
He is the King of glory, and is coming to rule as God over kings,
trample our wicked enemy beneath his feet, and heal this sick world of ours.
Let the angels rejoice, let all nations exult; he that is high is coming in lowliness to save what had been lost.
A God-Man is born, and the holy Trinity reigns; the Son co-eternal with the Father,
our Lord, descends upon our earth.
Let the prophets cry out, and prophesy:
Emmanuel is nigh unto us. Let the tongues of the dumb speak, and ye, poor lame ones, run to meet him.
Let the lamb and the wild beast feed with each other: let the ox and the ass know him that lies in the manger.
The royal glittering standard ushers in our divine Chief:
ye kings prepare your gifts for the nome and royal Babe.
O the blessed message sent to the Virgin Mary! By believing she conceives; she is a Mother,
and a Virgin knowing not man.
All ye nations and islands applaud this grand triumph.
Run swiftly as the stag,
lo! the Redeemer is coming.
Let the eyes of the blind, who have been sitting in darkness, now learn to throw off the murky night, and open to the true light.
Let Galilee, and Greece, and Persia, and India, receive the faith: a God deigns to become man, and remains the Word with the Father.
Praise, honour, power, glory, be to God the Father, and to the Son,
together with the Holy Ghost,
for eternal ages.
Amen.
PRAYER FROM THE GALLICAN MISSAL
(In Adventu Domini, Contestatio)
Deus, cui proprium est ac singulare, quod bonus es, et nulla unquam a te es commutatione diversus; propitiare supplicationibus nostris; et Ecclesiæ tuæ misericordiam tuam, quam confitemur, ostende, manifestans plebi tuæ Unigeniti tui mirabile Sacramentum: ut universitate nationum perficiatur, quod per Verbi tui Evangelium promisisti; et habeat plenitudo adoptionis, quod praetulit testificatio veritatis. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.
O God, whose nature and property is goodness, and with whom there is no change, be propitious to our prayers, and show to thy Church that mercy of thine which we confess; show to thy people the wonderful mystery of thy only-begotten Son; that thus, what thou hast promised by the Gospel of thy Word, may be fulfilled by all nations coming to the faith, and the testimony of truth may be verified by the completion of adoption. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
[1]Prov. viii. 31.