Advent
Introduction to the Time of Advent
- Chapter 1: The History of the Time of Advent
- Chapter 2: The Mystery of the Time of Advent
- Chapter 3: The Practice During the Time of Advent
- Chapter 4: Morning and Night Prayers for the Time of Advent
- Chapter 5: On Hearing Mass During the Time of Advent
- Chapter 6: On Holy Communion During the Time of Advent
- Chapter 7: On the Office of Vespers for Sundays and Feasts During the Time of Advent
- Chapter 8: On the Office of Compline During the Time of Advent
From Dom Guéranger's The Liturgical Year.
It is true that everything in Advent is so arranged as to be a preparation for the coming of the Saviour at the feast of Christmas, and that the spirit of the faithful should be one of earnest expectation of this same Saviour; and yet, such is the happy lot of the children of the new Law, that they can, if they wish it, really, and at once, receive this God whom the Church is expecting; and thus, this familiar visit of Jesus will become itself one of the preparations for His great and solemn visit. Let those, then, who are living the life of grace, and to whom the glorious day of the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ will bring an increase of spiritual life, not omit to prepare, by Communion, for the reception they intend to give to the heavenly Spouse on the sacred night of His coming. These Communions will be interviews with their divine Lord, giving them confidence, and love, and all those interior dispositions wherewith they would welcome Him who comes to load them with fresh grace, for this Jesus is full of grace and truth.
From Dom Guéranger's The Liturgical Year.
The limits which necessity requires us to put to this volume will not admit of our inserting any of the day Office beyond Vespers and Compline; moreover, the faithful rarely assist at any other of the Canonical Hours, during this part of the liturgical year.
The Office of Vespers, or Evensong, consists firstly of five psalms with their antiphons. The antiphons of each Sunday are given farther on, in the Proper of the Time.
The Church commences with the supplication, which she makes to God at the beginning of all her Hours:
℣. Deus in adjutorium meum intende.
℟. Domine, ad adjuvandum me festina.
Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto:
Sicut erat in principio et nunc et semper, et in sæcula sæculorum. Amen. Alleluia.
Ant. Dixit Dominus.
℣. Incline unto my aid, O God.
℟. O Lord, make haste to help me.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. Alleluia.
Ant. The Lord said.
The first psalm is a prophecy of the glory of the Messias. Let us, during this season, the more earnestly proclaim the greatness of the Incarnate Word the more we see Him humbled, out of love for us, during these days which precede His divine birth.
From Dom Guéranger's The Liturgical Year.
THIS Office, which concludes the day, commences by a warning of the dangers of the night: then immediately follows the public Confession of our sins, as a powerful means of propitiating the divine justice, and obtaining God's help, now that we are going to spend so many hours in the unconscious and therefore dangerous state of sleep, which is also such an image of death.
The Lector, addressing the Priest, says to him:
℣. Jube, domne, benedicere.
℣. Pray, Father, give thy blessing.
The Priest answers:
Noctem quietam et finem perfectum concedat nobis Dominus omnipotens.
℟. Amen.
May the Almighty Lord grant us a quiet night and a perfect end.
℟. Amen.
The Lector then reads these words from the first Epistle of St Peter: