Third Sunday Of Advent.

Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,

unless otherwise stated.

Illustrations, unless otherwise stated, from UNA VOCE OF ORANGE COUNTY
(from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal, 1952 Edition), who reproduce them 
with the kind permission of ST. BONAVENTURE PRESS

Third Sunday of Advent.

Station at Saint Peter's Basilica, Rome.

Indulgence of 10 years and 10 Quarantines.

Privileged Sunday of the Second-Class.

Semi-Double.

Rose, or Violet, Vestments.

Interior of Saint Peter's Basilica, Rome.

Artist: Giovanni Paolo Panini (1692–1765).

Date: 1731.

Current location: Saint Louis Art Museum,

Saint Louis, Missouri, United States.

Source/Photographer: Saint Louis Art Museum official site.

(Wikimedia Commons)

"The Lord is now at hand, come let us adore Him."

THE FIRST COMING:

It is Mary who gives us Jesus: "Blessed art thou, Mary . . . those things shall be accomplished in thee, which were spoken to thee by The Lord" (Antiphon at the Magnificat).

It is from Bethlehem [Editor: Literally, "the House of Bread"] that the King, the Ruler, shall go forth, Who is to bring Peace to all the Nations (Second Responsory) and Who will deliver His people from the power of their enemies (Fourth Responsory).

In a special way, our Souls will share in this deliverance during the Christmas Celebrations, which mark the Anniversary of the entrance into the world of Christ, the Vanquisher of Satan."Grant, we beseech Thee," The Church Prays, "that the new Birth of Thine only-begotten Son may set us free, whom the old bondage doth hold under the yoke of sin" (Third Mass, Christmas Day).

I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of The Lord.

In the same way that Saint John the Baptist prepared the Jews for the coming of The Messias, so he prepares us for the union, closer every year, which Our Lord forms with our Souls at Christmas. "Make straight the way of The Lord," cried the forerunner of Christ. So, let us make straight the way into our hearts, that Our Saviour may enter and give us His Graces of Life and Freedom.

THE SECOND COMING:

It is to Our Lord's Coming, at the end of the world, that Saint Gregory alludes in his explanation of the Gospel: "John," he says, "the forerunner of The Redeemer, goes before Our Lord in the spirit and power of Elias, who will be the forerunner of Christ as Judge" (Ninth Lesson).

So also in the Introit and Epistle, taken literally, the allusion is Our Lord's Coming for the Judgement. If we feel great joy at the approach of the Christmas Feast, reminding us once more of the Lowly Infant in The Manger, how much more should the thought of His Coming, in all the splendour of His Power and Majesty, fill us with a Holy Sense of Triumph, since, only then, will our Redemption be fully accomplished.

Receive, O merciful Father, these Holy Sacrifices (Te igitur).

Saint Paul writes to his Christians: "Rejoice in The Lord always: Again, I say, Rejoice . . . The Lord is nigh." As on Mid-Lent Sunday, the Priest may Celebrate in Rose-Coloured Vestments. [Permission for this practice, in use at Rome for the Blessing of the Golden Rose on Laetare Sunday (or Mid-Lent Sunday), is granted to all Priests who desire it for the Celebration of Mass and Office on that day: Whence the custom has extended to Gaudete Sunday, or Mid-Advent Sunday, since, on both days, The Church sings of our deliverance by Christ from the bondage of sin.]

Rose is a paler kind of Violet; it expresses some relaxation in Penance, owing to the Joy of the Heavenly Jerusalem, into which Our Lord will lead us when Time shall be no more.

"Rejoice, O Jerusalem, with great Joy, for there shall come unto thee a Saviour" (Second Antiphon of Vespers). Let us greatly desire this Coming, which the Apostle tells us is near. We should long, with a Holy Impatience, that it may quickly come to pass. "Stir up, O Lord, Thy Might, [the Apocalypse tells us that The Lord will appear, and, with Him, millions of Saints, and on His garment He will bear the words: King of Kings and Lord of Lords (First Responsory). The Lord of Hosts will come with Great Might (Fourth Responsory). His Kingdom will be without end and all Nations shall serve Him (Sixth Responsory)], and come to save us." (Alleluia). "Come, Lord, and tarry not." "Per Adventum tuum, libera nos, Domine."

Every Parish Priest says Mass for the people of his Parish.