Fourth Week of Advent
From Dom Guéranger's The Liturgical Year.
Prope est jam Dominus: venite adoremus.
De Isaia Propheta.
Cap. lxvi.
Audite verbum Domini, qui tremitis ad verbum ejus. Dixerunt fratres vestri odientes vos, et abjicientes propter nomen meum: Glorificetur Dominus, et videbimus in lætitia vestra: ipsi autem confundentur. Vox populi de civitate, vox de templo, vox Domini reddentis retributionem inimicis suis. Antequam parturiret, peperit; antequam veniret partus ejus, peperit masculum. Quis audivit unquam tale? Et quis vidit huic simile? Numquid parturiet terra in die una? aut parietur gens simul, quia parturivit et peperit Sion filios suos? Numquid ego qui alios parere facio, ipse non pariam, dicit Dominus? Si ego, qui generationem cæteris tribuo, sterilis ero, ait Dominus Deus tuus? Lætamini cum Jerusalem, et exsultate in ea omnes qui diligitis eam: gaudete cum ea gaudio universi, qui lugetis super eam: ut sugatis et repleamini ab ubere consolationis ejus: ut mulgeatis, et deliciis affluatis ab omnimoda gloria ejus. Quia haec dicit Dominus: Ecce ego declinabo super eam quasi fluvium pacis, et quasi torrentem inundantem gloriam Gentium, quam sugetis: ad ubera portabimini, et super genua blandientur vobis. Quomodo si cui mater blandiatur, ita ego consolabor vos, et in Jerusalem consolabimini. Videbitis, et gaudebit cor vestrum, et ossa vestra quasi herba germinabunt: et cognoscetur manus Domini servis ejus, et indignabitur inimicis suis. Quia ecce Dominus in igne veniet, et quasi turbo quadrigæ ejus: reddere in indignatione furorem suum, et increpationem suam in flamma ignis: quia in igne Dominus dijudicabit: et in gladio suo ad omnem carnem; et multiplicabuntur interfecti a Domino.
The Lord is now nigh: come, let us adore.
From the Prophet Isaias.
Ch. lxvi.
Hear the word of the Lord, you that tremble at his word. Your brethren that hate you, and cast you out for my name’s sake, have said: Let the Lord be glorified, and we shall see in your joy: but they shall be confounded. A voice of the people from the city, a voice from the temple, the voice of the Lord that rendereth recompense to his enemies. Before she was in labour, she brought forth; before her time came to be delivered, she brought forth a man-child. Who hath ever heard such a thing? And who hath seen the like of this? Shall the earth bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be brought forth at once, because Sion hath been in labour, and hath brought forth her children? Shall not I that make others to bring forth children, myself bring forth, saith the Lord? Shall I, that give generation to others, be barren, saith the Lord thy God? Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all you that love her: rejoice for joy with her, all you that mourn for her: that you may suck and be filled with the breasts of her consolations: that you may milk out and flow with delights, from the abundance of her glory. For thus saith the Lord: Behold I will bring upon her as it were a river of peace, and as an overflowing torrent the glory of the Gentiles, which you shall suck: you shall be carried at the breasts and upon the knees they shall caress you. As one whom the mother caresseth, so will I comfort you, and you shall be comforted in Jerusalem. You. shall sec and your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like an herb, and the hand of the Lord shall be known to his servants, and he shall be angry with his enemies. For behold the Lord will come with fire, and his chariots are like a whirlwind: to render his wrath in indignation, and his rebuke with flames of fire: for the Lord shall judge by fire: and by his sword unto all flesh; and the slain of the Lord shall be many.
Thy. presence, O Jesus, will give fruitfulness to her that was barren, and the despised Sion shall suddenly bring forth a people which the world is too small to hold. But all the glory of this fruitfulness belongs to Thee, O divine Word! The psalmist had foretold it when, speaking to Jerusalem as to a queen, he said to her: ‘Instead of thy fathers, sons are born to thee; thou shalt make them princes over all the earth: they shall remember thy name throughout all generations; therefore shall people praise thee for ever and ever, yea for ever and ever.’[1] But for this end it was necessary that God Himself should come down in person. He alone could make a Virgin-Mother; He alone could raise up children to Abraham out of the very stones. 'Yet. one little while,’ as He says by one of His prophets, 'and I will move heaven and earth, and I will move all nations.’[2] And by another ‘From the rising of the sun even to the going down, My name is great among the Gentiles; and in every place there is sacrifice, and there is offered to My name a clean oblation.’[3] There will soon be, then, but one sacrifice; for the Lamb, who is to be offered therein, will be born a few hours hence; and since sacrifice is the bond of union among men, when there shall be but one sacrifice there will be but one people.
Come then quickly, O Church of God, that art to unite us all into one; come and be born into our world. And since for us thy children thou art already born, may the Lamb, thy Spouse, pour out upon thee the river of peace announced by the prophet: may He open out upon thee the glory of the Gentiles, as an overflowing torrent; may the nations cluster round thee as their common mother, and be filled with the abundance of thy glory, with the breasts of thy consolations; and thou carry them on thy heart and caress them in thy tender love. O Jesus! it is Thou that hast inspired our mother with this wonderful love; it is Thou that consolest us, and enlightenest us, by her. Come to her and visit her; come, and, by the new birth Thou art about to take among us, renew her life within her. Give her, during this year also, firmness of faith, the grace of the Sacraments, the efficacy of prayer, the gift of miracles, the succession of her hierarchy, power of government, fortitude against the princes of the world, love of the cross, victory over satan, and the crown of martyrdom. During this new year make her, as ever, Thy beautiful bride; make her faithful to Thy love, and more than ever successful in the great work Thou hast entrusted to her; for each year brings us nearer to the day when Thou wilt come for the last time, not in the swathing bands of infancy, but on a cloud with great majesty, to render Thy rebuke with flames of fire, and destroy those that have despised or have not loved Thy Church, which Thou wilt then raise up and admit into Thy eternal kingdom.
Hymn of the Birth of Christ
(Taken from the poet Prudentius. VIII, kal. januArias)
Emerge, dulcis Pusio,
Quem Mater edit castitas,
Parens et expers conjugis,
Mediator, et duplex genus.
Ex ore quamlibet Patris
Sis ortus, et verbo editus,
Tamen paterno in pectore
Sophia callebas prius.
Quæ prompta cœlum condidit,
cœlum, diemque et cætera,
Virtute Verbi effecta sunt
Hæc cuncta: nam Verbum Deus.
Sed ordinatis sæculis,
Rerumque digesto statu,
Fundator ipse et artifex
Permansit in Patris sinu.
Donec rotata annalium
Trans volverentur millia,
Atque ipse peccantem diu
Dignatus orbem viseret.
Nam cæca vis mortalium
Venerans inanes naenias,
Vel æra, vel saxa algida,
Vel ligna credebat Deum.
Hæc dum sequuntur, perfidi
Prædonis in jus venerant,
Et mancipatam fumido
Vitam barathro immerserant.
Stragem sed istam non tulit
Christus cadentum gentium
Impune; ne forsan sui
Patris periret fabrica.
Mortale corpus induit,
Ut, excitato corpore,
Mortis catenam frangeret,
Hominemque portaret Patri.
Sentisne, Virgo nobilis,
Matura per fastidia,
Pudoris intactum decus
Honore partus crescere?
O quanta rerum gaudia
Alvus pudica continet;
Ex qua novellum sæculum
Procedit et lux aurea.
Come forth, sweet Babe!
Child of chastity, Child of a Virgin Mother!
Come, O thou, our Mediator,
Man and God.
Though thou didst come, in time,
from the mouth of the most high Father, and becamest incarnate at the angel’s word;
yet hadst thou, O eternal Wisdom, dwelt for ever in the bosom of thy Father.
This eternal Wisdom manifested itself
when it made heaven, light, and the other creatures;
by the power of the Word were all these made,
for the Word is God.
But having thus created the world,
and fixed the laws of the universe,
this creator and maker
still left not his Father’s bosom.
Until at length thousands of years
rolled on,
and then he deigned to visit
the world grown old in sin.
For man, blinded with passion,
paid adoration to empty vanities,
and believed that brass,
or stiff blocks of stone and wood, were God.
Abandoned to idolatry,
they became the slaves of the treacherous enemy,
and plunged their enslaved souls
into the dark abyss.
But the Son of God compassionated
this destruction of his fallen creatures;
for it was the ruin
of his Father’s image.
He took to himself a mortal body,
that by the resurrection of that body
he might break the chain of death,
and raise up man to his Father.
Thou forebodest his sufferings,
O noble Virgin! and yet to give birth to this thy Son
is an honour which adds
fresh lustre to thy spotless purity.
Oh that Virgin Mother,
what joy for the world does she contain within her
A new age, a golden light,
will come by her.
Prayer from the Gallican Sacramentary
(In Adventu Domini, Contestatio)
Vere dignum et justum est, nos tibi hic et ubique semper gratias agere, omnipotens Deus, per Christum Dominum nostrum, quem Joannes fidelis amicus, præcessit nascendo, praecessit in desertis eremi praedicando, praecessit baptizando, viam quoque praeparans Judici ac Redemptori. Convocavit peccatores ad pœnitentiam; et populum Salvatori acquirens, baptizavit in Jordano peccata propria confitentes;non hominis innovandi plenam conferens gratiam, sed piissimi Salvatoris admonens exspectare præsentiam: non remittens ipse peccata ad se venientibus, sed remissionem peccatorum ad futurum pollicens esse credentibus: ut descendentes in aquam poenitentiae ab illo sperarent remedium indulgentiae, quem venturum audiebant plenum dono veritatis et gratiae, Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum.
It is truly meet and just that we should here and in all places ever give thee thanks, O almighty God, through Christ our Lord, of whom John, the faithful friend, was the precursor in birth, the precursor in preaching in the wilderness, the precursor in baptism, preparing thus the way to the Judge and Redeemer. Ho called sinners to repentance; and purchasing a people for the Saviour, ho baptized in the Jordan them that confessed their sins. He conferred not the full grace which regenerates man, but taught him to look for the coming of the most merciful Saviour. He remitted not the sins of them that came unto him, but he promised the future remission of sins to believers; that thus they who went down into the waters of penance, might hope for a merciful cure and forgiveness from him, who, they were told, was to come full of the gift of truth and grace, our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Vigil of Christmas is given below in the proper of saints, December 24, p. 506.
[1] Ps. xliv.
[2] Agg. ii. 7, 8.
[3] Malach. i. 11.
From Dom Guéranger's The Liturgical Year.
Prope est jam Dominus: venite adoremus.
De Isaia Propheta.
Cap. lxiv.
Utinam dirumperes cœlos, et descenderes; a facie tua montes defluerent; sicut exustio ignis tabescerent: aquæ arderent igni, ut notum fleret nomen tuum inimicis tuis; a facie tua Gentes turbarentur. Quum feceris mirabilia, non sustinebimus: descendisti, et a facie tua montes defluxerunt. A sæculo non audierunt, neque auribus perceperunt: oculus non vidit, Deus, absque te, quae præparasti exspectantibus te. Occurristi lactanti, et facienti justitiam: in viis tuis recordabuntur tui: ecce tu iratus es, et peccavimus; in ipsis fuimus semper, et salvabimur. Et facti sumus ut immundus omnes nos, et quasi pannus menstruatae universae justitiae nostræ: et cecidimus quasi folium universi, et iniquitates nostrae quasi ventus abstulerunt nos. Non est qui invocet nomen tuum; qui consurgat, et teneat te: abscondisti faciem tuam a nobis, et allisisti nos in manu iniquitatis nostrae. Et nunc, Domine, Pater noster es tu, nos vero lutum: et fictor noster tu, et opera manuum tuarum omnes nos. Ne irascaris, Domine, satis, et ne ultra memineris iniquitatis nostræ: ecce, respice, populus tuus omnes nos. Civitas sancti tui facta est deserta, Sion deserta facta est, Jerusalem desolata est. Domus sanctificationis nostræ, et gloriæ nostræ, ubi laudaverunt te patres nostri, facta est in exustionem ignis: et omnia desiderabilia nostra versa sunt in ruinas.
The Lord is now nigh: come, let us adore.
From the Prophet Isaias.
Ch. lxiv.
O that thou wouldst rend the heavens, and wouldst come down; the mountains would melt away at thy presence; they would melt as at the burning of fire; the waters would bum with fire; that thy name might be made known to thy enemies: that the nations might tremble at thy presence. When thou shalt do wonderful things, we shall not bear them: thou didst come down, and at thy presence the mountains melted away. From the beginning of the world they have not heard, nor perceived with the ears: the eye hath not seen, O God, besides thee, what things thou hast prepared for them that wait for thee. Thou hast met him that rejoiceth, and doth justice: in thy ways they shall remember thee: behold thou art angry, and we have sinned; in them we have been always, and we shall be saved. And we are all become as one unclean, and all our justices as the rag of a menstruous woman: and we have all fallen as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. There is none that calleth upon thy name, that riseth up and taketh hold of thee: thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast crushed us in the hand of our iniquity. And now, O Lord, thou art our Father, and we are clay: and thou art our maker, and we all are the works of thy hands. Be not very angry, O Lord, and remember no longer our iniquity: behold, see, we are all thy people. The city of thy sanctuary is become a desert, Sion is made a desert, Jerusalem is desolate. The house of our holiness, and of our glory, where our fathers praised thee, is burnt with fire, and all our lovely things are turned into ruins.
O Jesus, Thou Flower of the field, Thou Lily of the valley, Thy visit is to change our barren parched earth into a garden of delights! We had lost Eden and all its lovely magnificence, by our sins; and lo! Eden is restored to us; Thou art coming, that Thou mayst set it in our hearts. O heavenly plant, tree of life, transplanted from heaven to earth, Thou first takest root in Mary, that fruitful soil; and thence Thou wilt come to us, and we must be to Thee a grateful land, cherishing the divine seed and making it fructify. Let it be so, O divine Husbandman! who didst appear to Magdalene under the form of a gardener. Thou knowest how far are our hearts from being ready for Thy working in them. Move, and break, and water this land; the season is come; our hearts long to be fertile, and to have growing within them that exquisite Flower which makes the beauty of all heaven, and comes down to hide its splendour for a time here below. O Jesus! let our souls be fertile; let them be crowned with the flowers of virtue; let them become flowers growing around Thee, O divine Flower, and forming to the heavenly Father a garden, which He may unite with that which He formed from all eternity. O Flower of heaven, Jesus! Thou art also the Dew, refresh us; Thou art the Sun, warm us; Thou art the fragrant Perfume, impart to us Thy sweetness; Thou art the sovereign Beauty, give us of Thy fair and ruddy bloom, and make us cluster round Thee in eternity, as a crown Thou hast wreathed to Thyself.
O God of our fathers! delay not, but show Thyself unto us. The city which Thou lovest is desolate; come and raise up Jerusalem; avenge the glory of her temple. This was the cry of the prophet; Thou hast heard it, and hast come to deliver Sion from her captivity, giving her a new era of glory and holiness. Thou hast come, not to destroy but to fulfil the law; and, by Thy visit, Sion has been changed into the Church, Thy bride. But why, O Thou her beloved Saviour! why hast Thou turned away Thy face? Why is this Church of Thy love left in the wilderness, weeping like Jeremias over the ruins of the sanctuary, and as Rachel over her children that had been taken from her? Why has her inheritance been delivered to the stranger? By Thy power, she had become the mother of countless children; she had nourished them; she had taught them, in Thy name, the things that pertain to the present and the future life; and these ungrateful children have turned against her. She has been driven from nation to nation, bearing away with her the heavenly treasure of faith; her mysteries have ceased to be celebrated where once they were the glory and happiness of the people; and from Thy throne above, O divine Word, Creator of the universe, Thou seest everywhere, throughout the earth, altars overturned and temples profaned. Oh! come, then, and rekindle the smouldering fire of faith.
Remember Thy apostles and Thy martyrs; remember Thy saints who have founded Churches, and honoured them by their virtues and miracles; remember Thy bride the Church, and support her during her earthly pilgrimage, until the number of Thy elect is filled up. She longs to possess Thee in the eternal light of the vision; but Thou hast given her a heart with such mother’s love, that she will not leave her children as long as there is one to save, nor cease to save until that day come when there shall no more be a militant Church, but the one sole triumphant Church, inebriated with the enjoyment of the sight and embraces of her God. But that last day has not yet come, O Jesus! there is yet time for Thee to descend from heaven and visit Thy vineyard. Restore to the branches of the tree the leaves which have fallen in the storm of iniquity. Let this tree of Thy predilection bud forth new branches; and the old ones, which have separated from it, and have seemed to force Thy justice to cast them in the fire, let them be once more grafted on the parent trunk, so torn by their rupture from her. Come, O Jesus, for the sake of Thy Church; she is dearer to Thee than was the Jerusalem of old.
Hymn Taken from the Anthology of the Greeks
(December 21)
Acervus areæ uterus tuus, Dei Mater, dignoscitur; spicam inexcultam, omnem sensum superantem, Verbum ferens ineffabiliter, quod in spelunca Bethlehem paries, eum qui omnem creaturam divina agnitione aliturus est in charitate, et a fame lethifera humanum genus liberaturus.
Innupta Virgo, unde venis? Quis te genuit? Quæ mater tua? Quomodo Creatorem fers in brachiis? Quomodo non corrupta fuisti utero? Magnas in te gratias, in terra stupenda adimpleta cernimus mysteria, o omnipancta. Prout decet speluncam adornamus, et a cœlo petimus sidus; Magi progrediuntur ab oriente orbis ad usque occidentem, salutem visuri mortalium, tuis in brachiis sicut facem prælucentem.
Lucidum Magistri palatium, quomodo venis in exiguissimam speluncam, Regem paritura Dominum, omnisancta, Virgo Dei sponsa.
Eva quidem per inobedientiæ nocumentum exsecrationem subintroduxit; tu autem, Virgo Dei Mater, per tuæ gestationis germinationem mundo florere fecistibenedictionem; unde omnes te magnificamus.Ne contristeris, Joseph, meum intuens uterum; videbis enim qui ex me nasciturus est atque gaudebis, eumque sicut Deum adorabis, aiebat Dei Mater suo sponso, dum Christum paritura veniret. Illam commemoremus dicentes: Gaude, gratia plena, Dominus tecum, et per te nobiscum.
Thy womb, O Mother of God, is the heap of wheat of the Canticle; carrying, in an ineffable manner, the ear of com, which, like no other, grew without being sown; thy Child is the Word, and thou wilt give him birth in Bethlehem’s cave: he it is will lovingly feed every creature with the knowledge of God, and free the human race from deadly hunger.
Whence comest thou, O pure Virgin? Thy father and mother, who are they? How dost thou carry thy Creator in thy arms? Mother, and yet a Virgin! These are great graces, and stupendous mysteries, which have been done in thee, all-holy creature! We adorn the cave as it behoves us, and we look for the star in the heavens: the Magi are coming from the east to our western world, to see the Saviour of men shining in thy arms as a bright torch.
O Mary! fair palace of our Master, how is it thou comest into so poor a cave, there to give birth to the King our Lord, O all-holy Virgin, bride of God?
Eve, indeed, by the crime of disobedience brought a curse into the world: but thou, Virgin-Mother of God, by the flower thou bearest, hast made blessing bloom inthe world; therefore do we all magnify thee.The Mother of God, when the birth of Christ was near, spoke thus to her spouse: Be not sad, Joseph, finding that I am Mother; for thou shalt see him who is to be born of me, and thou shalt rejoice and adore him as thy God. Let us commemorate this divine Mother, saying: Be glad, O full of grace! the Lord is with thee, and with us by thee.
Prayer from the Ambrosian Missal
(In the Mass of the first Sunday of Advent)
Deus, qui Unigenito tuo novam creaturam nos tibi esse fecisti, respice propitius in opera misericordiae tuae, et in ejus adventu ab omnibus nos maculis vetustatis emunda. Per eumdem Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.
O God, who, by thine onlybegotten Son, hast made us to be a new creature unto thyself, mercifully look on the works which thy mercy has produced, and cleanse us, in the coming of thy Son, from all the stains of our old habits. Through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
From Dom Guéranger's The Liturgical Year.
Prope est jam Dominus: venite adoremus.
De Isaia Propheta.
Cap. li.
Audite me, qui sequimini quod justum est, et quæritis Dominum: attendite ad petram unde excisi estis, et ad cavernam laci, de qua præcisi estis. Attendite ad Abraham patrem vestrum, et ad Saram, quæ peperit vos: quia unum vocavi eum, et benedixi ei, et multiplicavi eum. Consolabitur ergo Dominus Sion, et consolabitur omnes ruinas ejus, et ponet desertum ejus quasi delicias, et solitudinem ejus quasi hortum Domini. Gaudium et lætitia invenietur in ea, gratiarum actio, et vox laudis. Attendite ad me, popule meus, et tribus mea, me audite: quia lex a me exiet, et judicium meum in lucem populorum requiescet. Prope est Justus meus, egressus est Salvator meus, et brachia mea populos judicabunt: me insulæ expectabunt, et brachium meum sustinebunt. Levate in cœlum oculos vestros, et videte sub terra deorsum: quia cœli sicut fumus liquescent, et terra sicut vestimentum atteretur, et habitatores ejus sicut hæc interibunt: salus autem mea in sempiternum erit, et justitia mea non deficiet.
The Lord is now nigh: come, let us adore.
From the Prophet Isaias.
Ch. li.
Give ear to me, you that follow that which is just, and you that seek the Lord: look unto the rook whence you are hewn, and to the hole of the pit from which you are dug out. Look unto Abraham your father and to Sara that bore you; for I called him alone, and blessed him, and multiplied him. The Lord therefore will comfort Sion, and will comfort all the ruins thereof, and he will make her desert as a place of pleasure, and her wilderness as the garden of the Lord. Joy ana gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving and the voice of praise. Hearken unto me, O my people, and give ear to me, O my tribes: for a law shall go forth from me, and my judgement shall rest to be a light of the nations. My just One is near at hand, my Saviour is gone forth, and my arms shall judge the people: the islands shall look for me, and shall patiently wait for my arm. Lift up your eyes to heaven, and look down to the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish like smoke, and the earth shall be worn away like a garment, and the inhabitants thereof shall perish in like manner: but my salvation shall be for ever, and my justice shall not fail.
O Jesus, Thou Flower of the field, Thou Lily of the valley, Thy visit is to change our barren parched earth into a garden of delights! We had lost Eden and all its lovely magnificence, by our sins; and lo! Eden is restored to us; Thou art coming, that Thou mayst set it in our hearts. O heavenly plant, tree of life, transplanted from heaven to earth, Thou first takest root in Mary, that fruitful soil; and thence Thou wilt come to us, and we must be to Thee a grateful land, cherishing the divine seed and making it fructify. Let it be so, O divine Husbandman! who didst appear to Magdalene under the form of a gardener. Thou knowest how far are our hearts from being ready for Thy working in them. Move, and break, and water this land; the season is come; our hearts long to be fertile, and to have growing within them that exquisite Flower which makes the beauty of all heaven, and comes down to hide its splendour for a time here below. O Jesus! let our souls be fertile; let them be crowned with the flowers of virtue; let them become flowers growing around Thee, O divine Flower, and forming to the heavenly Father a garden, which He may unite with that which He formed from all eternity. O Flower of heaven, Jesus! Thou art also the Dew, refresh us; Thou art the Sun, warm us; Thou art the fragrant Perfume, impart to us Thy sweetness; Thou art the sovereign Beauty, give us of Thy fair and ruddy bloom, and make us cluster round Thee in eternity, as a crown Thou hast wreathed to Thyself.
Hymn of Preparation for Christmas
(Composed by St. Ambrose. It is in the Ambrosian breviary for first Vespers of Christmas, and in the ancient RomanFrench breviaries)
Veni, Redemptor gentium,
Ostende partum Virginis;
Miretur omne sæculum,
Talis decet partus Deum.
Non ex virili semine,
Sed mystico spiramine,
Verbum Dei factum est caro
Fructusque ventris floruit.
Alvus tumescit Virginis,
Claustra pudoris permanent,
Vexilla virtutum micant,
Versatur in templo Deus.
Procedit e thalamo suo,
Pudoris aula regia,
Geminæ gigas substantiae,
Alacris ut currat viam.
Egressus ejus a Patre,
Regressus ejus ad Patrem;
Excursus usque ad inferos,
Recursus ad sedem Dei.
Æqualis æterno Patri,
Carnis trophæo cingere;
Infirma nostri corporis
Virtute firmans porpeti.
Præsepe jam fulget tuum,
Lumenque nox spirat novum,
Quod nulla nox interpolet,
Fideque jugi luceat.
Gloria tibi, Domine,
Qui natus es de Virgine,
Cum Patre et sancto Spiritu,
In sempiterna sæcula.
Amen.
Come, O Redeemer of mankind!
reveal to us the Virgin’s delivery:
let all ages be in admiration:
for what other birth would have been worthy of God?
Not of man,
but of the Holy Ghost,
was the Word of God made flesh,
and the fruit of the womb ripened.
The Virgin has become Mother,
and yet the Mother is still a Virgin.
It is the banner of omnipotence which here shines;
God has come into his temple.
He comes forth from the royal palace of virginity,
as from his bride-chamber,
that he may exultingly run the way,
as a giant, who is both God and Man.
He comes forth from the Father;
he returns to the Father;
he descends into hell;
he ascends to the throne of God.
Coequal Son of the eternal Father,
gird thee with the trophy of the flesh;
strengthening the weaknesses of our flesh
by thy unfailing power.
Thy crib is already resplendent,
and the night breathes forth a new light,
the light of faith;
let no night interrupt it, let its brightness be incessant.
Glory be to thee, O Lord,
who wast born of the Virgin!
and to the Father and the Holy Ghost,
for everlasting ages.
Amen.
Prayer from the Mozarabic Missal
(Second Sunday of Advent)
Domino Deus omnipotens, qui pro humani generis redemptione coætemum tibi coæqualemque Filium angeli annuntiatione per Mariæ Virginis uterum usque ad nos voluisti transmittere; da nobis hoc tempore adventus tui Unigeniti eamdem pacis gratiam, quam in præterita largiri dignatus es sæcula, et illi nos in occursum fidei socios numerandos, quos in fidei primordia a Joanne pœnitentiæ undis aquarum ablutos, a te postremo per Filium in Spiritu sancto et igni cognoscimus baptizatos.
Lord God omnipotent! who, for the redemption of the human race, didst deign to send even unto us, by the message of an angel and by the Virgin Mary’s womb, thy coeternal and coequal Son; grant us, in this time of the advent of thy only Son, that same grace of peace which thou hast mercifully bestowed upon the past ages, and number us among those who, at the first beginning of the faith, were acceptable to him by embracing the faith; and who, being washed in the water of penance by John, were afterwards baptized by thee, through thy Son, in the Holy Ghost and fire.
From Dom Guéranger's The Liturgical Year.
Prope est jam Dominus: venite adoremus.
De Isaia Propheta.
Cap. xli.
Ecce servus meus, suscipiam eum, electus meus, complacuit sibi in illo anima mea: dedi spiritum meum super eum, judicium Gentibus proferet. Non clamabit, neque accipiet personam, neo audietur vox ejus foris. Calamum quassatum non conteret, et linum fumigans non exstinguet: in veritate educet judicium. Non erit tristis, neque turbulentus, donec ponat in terra judicium: et legem ejus insulæ exspectabunt. Hæc dicit Dominus Deus creans cœlos, et extendens eos: firmans terram, et quæ germinant ex ea: dans flatum populo qui est super eam, et spiritum calcantibus eam. Ego Dominus vocavi te in justitia, et apprehendi manum tuam, 'et servavi te. Et dedi te in foedus populi, in lucem Gentium: ut aperires oculos cæcorum, et educeres de conclusione vinctum, de domo carceris sedentes in tenebris.
The Lord is now nigh: come, let us adore.
From the Prophet Isaias.
Ch. xli.
Behold my servant, I will uphold him; my elect, my soul delighteth in him; I have given my spirit upon him, he shall bring forth judgement to the Gentiles. He shall not cry, nor have respect to person, neither shall his voice be heard abroad. The bruised reed he shall not break, and the smoking flax he shall not quench: he shall bring forth judgement unto truth. He shall not be sad, nor troublesome, till he set judgement in the earth: and the islands shall wait for his law. Thus saith the Lord God that created the heavens, and stretched them out: that established the earth, and the things that spring out of it: that giveth breath to the people upon it, and spirit to them that tread thereon. I the Lord have called thee in justice, and taken thee by the hand, and preserved thee. And I have given thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles: that thou mightest open the eyes of the blind, and bring forth the prisoner out of prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison-house.
How sweet and peaceful is Thy entrance into this world, O Jesus! Thy voice is not heard giving its commands; and Thy hands, the hands of a yet unborn Babe, seem too weak to break the reed, so frail, that a breath would break it. What is it Thou hast come to do in this first coming? Thy heavenly Father tells us by the prophet. Thou art coming that Thou mayst be the pledge of a covenant between heaven and earth. O divine Infant! Son of God, and yet Son of man, blessed be Thy coming among us! Thy crib will be the ark which will save us; and when Thou walkest on our earth, it will be to give us light, and set us free from our prison-house of darkness. It is just, therefore, that we should rise and meet Thee on Thy approach, seeing that Thou hast come all this way to us. ‘If the sick man cannot go out some distance to meet so great a Physician,’ says St. Bernard, ‘let him, at least, make an effort to raise his head and turn towards Him as He enters. It is not required of thee, O man! to pass the seas, or ascend the clouds, or cross the Alps. The way that is shown unto thee is not a long one; go as far as thine own self, and there meet thy God: for the word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart.[1] Meet Him at least at thy heart’s compunction, and thy mouth’s confession, that thou mayst at least go out of the filth of thy guilty conscience, for into that thou surely never wouldst make the author of purity enter!’[2] Glory, then, be to Thee, O Jesus, for sparing the broken reed, that so it may regain its verdure and strength on the banks of the stream of which Thou art the source! Glory be to Thee, for having checked the breath of Thy almighty justice, and so cherishing the last spark left in the smoking flax, that it might burn up again, and give light at the Bridegroom’s feast.
Hymn in Honour of the Blessed Virgin
(Composed by St. Peter Damian)
Terrena cuncta jubilent, Astra laudibus intonent, Virginis ante thalamum, Laudes alternent dramatum.
Hæc Virgo Verbo gravida, Fit paradisi janua;
Quæ Deum mundo reddidit, cœlum nobis aperuit.
Felix ista Puerpera, Evæ lege liberrima, Concepit sine masculo, Peperit absque gemitu.
Dives Mariae gremium! Mundi gestavit pretium, Quo gloriamur redimi Soluti jugo debiti.
Quam Patris implet Filius, Sanctus obumbrat Spiritus cœlum fiunt castissima Sacræ puellae viscera.
Sit tibi laus, Altissime, Qui natus es ex Virgine; Sit honor ineffabilis Patri, sanctoque Flamini.
Amen.
May all earth and heaven be glad and resound with the praises which, in this double choir, are sung to the maternity of the Virgin.
Yea, this Virgin, Mother of the Word, is made the gate of heaven; she gave God to the world, and, by this, opened heaven to us.
This happy Mother of Jesus conceived him without humiliation, and bore him without a moan; such a Mother could not be under the law put on Eve.
O that rich treasury of Mary’s womb! it held the price which purchased our redemption, setting us free from the yoke of our debt.
The Son of the eternal Father dwelt within her; the Holy Ghost overshadowed her; what is such a Virgin’s womb but a new-made heaven?
To thee, Most High, who wast born of the Virgin, be praise! Honour ineffable be to the Father, and to the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Prayer from the Gallican Sacramentary
(In Adventu Domini, Oratio post Prophetiam)
Opifex lucis alme, plebis visitator immeritæ, qui illa prophetalium vaticiniorum oracula, quæ sæculis fuerunt nuntiata, beati Joannis ore exples, opere perficis, professione peragis; concede plebi supplici tibi sine formidine famulari; ut per viscera misericordiæ repleti scientia, veritate dirigi mereamur.
Benign Creator of the light, visiting an unworthy people! the oracles of the prophetic predictions, which were announced in the past ages, thou didst fulfil by the mouth of John, thou didst perfect by his works, thou didst accomplish by his mission. Grant to thy people, making supplication to thee, to serve thee without fear; that, through the bowels of thy mercy, we, being filled with knowledge, may deserve to be directed by truth.
[1] Rom. x. 8.
[2] First sermon for Advent.
From Dom Guéranger's The Liturgical Year.
Prope est jam Dominus: venite adoremus.
De Isaia Propheta.
Cap. xli.
Et tu Israel, serve meus, Jacob quem elegi, semen Abraham amici mei; in quo apprehendi te ab extremis terræ, et a longinquis ejus vocavi te, et dixi tibi: Servus meus es tu, elegi te, et non abjeci te, Ne timeas, quia ego tecum sum: ne declines, quia ego Deus tuus: confortavi te, et auxiliatus sum tibi, et suscepit te dextera Justi mei. Ecce confundentur et erubescent omnes qui pugnant adversum te: erunt quasi non sint, et peribunt viri qui contradicunt tibi. Quæres eos, et non invenies, viros rebelles tuos; erunt quasi non sint, et veluti consumptio homines bellantes adversum te: quia ego Dominus Deus tuus apprehendens manum tuam, dicensque tibi: Ne timeas, ego adjuvi te. Noli timere, vermis Jacob, qui mortui estis ex Israel: ego auxiliatus sum tibi, dicit Dominus, et redemptor tuus Sanctus Israel Ego posui te quasi plaustrum triturans novum, habens rostra serrantia: triturabis montes, et comminues, et colles quasi pulverem pones. Ventilabis eos, et ventus tollet, et turbo disperget eos: et tu exsultabis in Domino, in Sancto Israel lætaberis.
The Lord is now nigh: come, let us adore.
From the Prophet Isaias.
Ch. xli.
But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend; in whom I have taken thee from the ends of the earth, and from the remote parts thereof have called thee, and said to thee: Thou art my servant, I have chosen thee, and have not cast thee away. Fear not, for I am with thee; turn not aside, for I am thy God: I have strengthened thee, and have helped thee, and the right hand of my just One hath upheld thee. Behold all that fight against thee shall be confounded and ashamed: they shall be as nothing, and the men shall perish that strive against thee. Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find the men that resist thee: they shall be as nothing, and as a thing consumed the men that war against thee: for I am the Lord thy God, who take thee by the hand, and say to thee: Fear not, I have helped thee. Fear not, thou worm of Jacob, you that are dead of Israel: I have helped thee, saith the Lord, and thy Redeemer, the holy One of Israel. I have made thee as a new thrashing wain with teeth like a saw: thou shalt thrash the mountains, and break them in pieces: and shalt make the hills as chaff. Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them: and thou shalt rejoice in the Lord, in the holy One of Israel thou shalt be joyful.
It is thus Thou raisest us up from our abject lowliness, O eternal Son of the Father! It is thus Thou consolest us under the fear we so justly feel by reason of our sins. Thou sayest to us: Israel, my servant!Jacob, whom I have chosen! seed of Abraham, in whom I have called thee from the remote farts of the earth! fear not, for I am with thee. But, O divine Word, how low Thou hast had to come, that Thou mightest be thus with us! We could never have come to Thee, for between us and Thee there was fixed an immense chaos. Nay, we had not so much as the desire to see Thee, so dull of heart had sin made us: and had we desired it, our eyes could never have borne the splendour of Thy majesty. Then it was, that Thou didst descend to us in person, yet so that our weakness could look fixedly upon Thee, because veiled under the cloud of Thy Humanity. 'Who could doubt,’ says St. Bernard,[1] ‘of there being some great cause pending, seeing that so great a Majesty deigned to come down, from so far off, into so unworthy a place? Oh yes, there is some great thing at stake, for the mercy is great, and the commiseration is extreme, and the charity is abundant. And why, think you, did He come? He came from the mountain to seek the hundredth sheep that was lost. O wonderful condescension, a God seeking! O wonderful worth of man, that he should be sought by God! If man should therefore boast, he is surely not unwise; for he boasts not for aught that he sees in himself as of himself, but for his very Maker making such account of him. All the riches and all the glory of the world, and all that men covet in it, all is less than his glory, nay, is nothing, when compared to it. What is man, O Lord, that Thou shouldst magnify him? or why dost Thou set Thy Heart upon him?'[2] Delay not, then, good Shepherd! show Thyself to Thy sheep. Thou knowest them; not only hast Thou seen them from heaven, Thou also lookest on them with love, from the womb of Mary where Thou still art concealed. They also wish to know Thee; they are impatient to behold Thy divine features, to hear Thy voice and to follow Thee to the pastures that Thou hast promised them.
Hymn for the Time of Advent
(Composed by St Ambrose. It is in the Ambrosian breviary for the sixth Sunday of Advent)
Mysterium Ecclesiæ,
Hymnum Christo referimus,
Quem genuit Puerpera
Verbum Patris in filio.
Sola in sexu fœmina
Electa es in sæculo:
Et meruisti Dominum
Sancto portare in utero.
Mysterium hoc magnum est;
Mariae quod concessum est,
Ut Deum per quem omnia
Ex se videret prodire.
Vere gratia plena es,
Et gloriosa permanes,
Quia ex te natus est Christus
Per quem facta sunt omnia.
Rogemus ergo, populi,
Dei Matrem et Virginem,
Ut ipsa nobis impetret,
Pacem et indulgentiam.
Gloria tibi, Domine,
Qui natus es de Virgine,
Cum Patre et sancto Spiritu,
In sempiterna sæcula.
Amen.
It is a mystery of the Church,
it is a hymn that we sing to Christ,
the Word of the Father,
become the Son of a Virgin.
Among women, thou alone, O Mary!
wast chosen in this world,
and wast made worthy to carry in thy holy womb
him who is thy Lord.
This is a great mystery, that is given to Mary:
that she should see the
God, who created all things,
become her own Child!
How truly art thou full of grace,
ever glorious Virgin!
for of thee is born the Christ,
by whom all things were made.
Come then, ye people,
let us pray to the Virgin Mother of God,
that she would obtain for us
peace and indulgent mercy.
Glory be to thee, O Lord,
who wast born of the Virgin!
and to the Father and the Holy Ghost,
for everlasting ages.
Amen.
Prayer from the Ambrosian Missal
(In the Mass of the fifth Sunday of Advent)
Deus, qui hominem delapsum in mortem conspiciens, unigeniti Filii tui adventu redimere voluisti; præsta, quæsumus, ut, qui ejus gloriosam Incarnationem fatentur, ipsius etiam Redemptoris consortia mereantur. Qui tecum vivit et regnat in sæcula sæculorum. Amen.
O God, who, seeing man fallen a prey to death, didst resolve to redeem him by the coming of thine only-begotten Son; grant, we beseech thee, that they who confess his glorious Resurrection, may deserve to be for ever with their Redeemer. Who, with thee, liveth and reigneth for ever. Amen.
[1] First sermon of Advent.
[2] Job vii. 17.