Fourth Sunday Of Advent.

Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal (1945 Edition),

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

Fourth Sunday of Advent.

Station at the Church of The Twelve Apostles.

Indulgence of 15 years and 15 Quarantines.

Privileged Sunday of the Second-Class.

Semi-Double.

Violet Vestments.

John preaching the Baptism of Penance.

Like the whole Liturgy of this Season, the purpose of the Mass for the Fourth Sunday of Advent is to prepare us for the twofold coming of Christ: His coming in mercy at Christmas; and in justice at the end of the world.

Allusion is made to the first coming in the Introit; while the Collect, Gradual, and Alleluia, can be applied to either of the two.

In this Mass, we meet once again with the three great figures that are before the mind of the Church throughout Advent: Isaias; Saint John the Baptist; and Our Lady. The Prophet Isaias foretells of Saint John the Baptist that he will be: "A voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight His paths . . . and all flesh shall see the salvation of God."

English: Church of the Twelve Holy Apostles.

View from the Vittoriano, Rome, Italy.

Italiano: Santi XII Apostoli.

Latin: SS. XII Apostolorum.

Photo: 3 December 2008.

Source: Own work.

Author: Pippo-b.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Church of the Twelve Holy Apostles (Italian: Santi Dodici Apostoli, Latin: SS. XII Apostolorum) is a 6th-Century Roman Catholic Parish and Titular Church and Minor Basilica in Rome, Italy, dedicated originally to Saint James and Saint Philip and, later, to all Apostles. Today, the Basilica is under the care of the Conventual Franciscans, whose headquarters in Rome 

are in the adjacent building.

The Cardinal Priest of the Titulus XII Apostolorum is Angelo Scola. Among the previous Cardinal Priests are Pope Clement XIV, whose tomb by Canova is in the Basilica, and Henry Benedict Stuart.

And "the word of the Lord was made unto John, the son of Zachary, in the desert. And he came into all the country about the Jordan, preaching the Baptism of Penance for the remission of sins" (Gospel).

"John," Saint Gregory explains, "told those who hurried in crowds to be Baptised: "Ye brood of vipers, who hath told you to flee from the wrath to come ?" Now the wrath to come is the final chastisement, which the sinner will not be able to escape unless he have recourse now to the lamentations of Penance.

The friend of the Bridegroom warns us to bring forth not fruits merely of Penance but worthy fruits. These words are a call to each man's conscience, bidding him to lay up by means of Penance a treasure of good works, the greater in proportions to the ravage of sin which caused it (Third Nocturn).

The Baroque Ceiling of the Basilica of Santi Apostoli, Rome, Italy.

Photo: 15 August 2005.

Source: http://flickr.com/photos/antmoose/34649457/.

Author: Anthony Majanlahti.

(Wikimedia Commons)

And Saint Leo says: "God Himself teaches us by the Prophet Isaias: I will lead the blind in a way that they know not, and I will turn the darkness before them into light and I will not forsake them."

The Apostle, Saint John, makes clear to us the way in which this Mystery is fulfilled when he says: "And we know that the Son of God is come. And He hath given us understanding, that we may know the true God and may be in His true Son" (Second Nocturn).

The Liturgy continues: Because of the great love that God has manifested towards us, He has sent on Earth His only-begotten Son to be born of the Virgin Mary. Also, in the Communion sentence, the Church recalls to us the Prophecy of Isaias: "Behold, a Virgin shall conceive and bear a Son: And His name shall be called Emmanuel."

And, again, in the Offertory, she combines in a single salutation the words addressed to Our Lady by the Archangel and by Saint Elizabeth. Saint Gregory writes: "Gabriel, whose name means "Strength of God", is sent to Mary, since he comes to announce the Messias, whose will it is, to appear in humiliation and abasement, in order to subdue all the powers of the air.

"It was fitting that He should be heralded by Gabriel, the "Strength of God"; He, who was to come as the Lord of Might, the All-Powerful and Unconquerable in battle, to crush the powers of the air in universal defeat" (Sermon 35).

In the Collect, just as we are reminded of the display of Our Lord's "Great Might", which will take place at the time of His second coming, when, as Supreme Judge, He will come in the splendour of His Divine Majesty to render to each according to his works, so we find an allusion to this same great power manifested in His first coming. It was as one clothed in His weak and mortal human nature that Our Lord put the Devil to flight.

As we think of Our Lord as nigh at hand in one or other of His "comings", let us say, with the Church: "Come, Lord Jesus, and tarry not."

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

Basilica of The Twelve Apostles, Rome. (Part One)

Italic Text, Illustrations and Captions, are taken from Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia,
unless otherwise stated.

The Lenten Station is held at the Basilica of The Twelve Apostles on Friday of Ember Week in Lent.

Français : Basilique des Saints-Apotres à Rome.

English: Basilica of The Twelve Apostles, Rome.

Photo: August 2010.

Source: Own work.

Author: LPLT.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Church of the Twelve Holy Apostles (Italian: Santi XII Apostoli, Latin: SS. XII Apostolorum) is a 6th-Century Roman Catholic Parish and Titular Church and Minor Basilica in Rome, Italy, dedicated originally to Saint James and Saint Philip and, later, to all Apostles. Today, the Basilica is under the care of the Conventual Franciscans, whose headquarters in Rome are in the adjacent building.

The Cardinal Priest of the Titulus XII Apostolorum is Angelo Scola. Among the previous Cardinal Priests are Pope Clement XIV, whose tomb by Canova is in the Basilica, and Henry Benedict Stuart.

Built by Pope Pelagius I to celebrate a Narses victory over the Ostrogoths, and dedicated by Pope John III to Saint John the Apostle and Saint Philip the Apostle, the Basilica is listed as 'Titulus SS Apostolorum' in the Acts of the Synod of 499 A.D. Santi Apostoli was ruined by the earthquake of 1348, and left abandoned.

English: View of the Church from the Vittoriano

Italian: Santi Apostoli, Roma, dal Vittoriano.

Photo: December 2008.

Source: Own work.

Author: Pippo-b

(Wikimedia Commons)

In 1417, Pope Martin V, whose Colonna family owned the adjacent Palazzo Colonna, restored the Church, while the facade was built at the end of the same century by Baccio Pontelli. It was frescoed by Melozzo da Forlì, whose wall-paintings at Santi Apostoli were renowned for their innovative techniques of foreshortening and came to be regarded as Melozzo's masterpiece.

Pope Clement XI instigated dramatic renovations of the Church. Melozzo's frescoes were either destroyed or moved partly to the Quirinal and partly to the Vatican Museums. A new Baroque interior was designed by Carlo Fontana and Francesco Fontana, and was completed in 1714. The Church was later restored again, with the facade completed by Giuseppe Valadier in 1827.

This Church has three Naves, divided by a row of Corinthian Pillars, supporting the Ceiling, on the middle of which was painted, in 1707, the Triumph of the Order of Saint Francis, by Baciccio. There are also frescoes of the Evangelists by Luigi Fontana. The use of perspective is very good, and the Angels appear to come out of the Vault. Above the Sanctuary is a fresco from 1709 by Giovanni Odazzi, representing the "Fall of Lucifer and his Angels".

Artist: Giovanni Battista Gaulli (8 May 1639 – 2 April 1709), also known as Baciccio.

Title: Apotheosis of the Franciscan Order.

Date: 1707.

Current location: Basilica Santi XII Apostoli, Rome

Source: Web Gallery of Art: Image Info about artwork

(Wikimedia Commons)

To the right of the High Altar are the tombs of Count Giraud de Caprières (died 1505) and Cardinal Raffaele Riario (died 1474), tentatively attributed to Michelangelo. To the left, is a monument to Cardinal Riario, by the School of Andrea Bregno and possible designed by Andrea Bregno, himself. There is also a Madonna by Mino da Fiesole.

On the wall, to the right of the Portico of the ancient Church, is an antique bas-relief of an eagle, surrounded by an oak crown, that it holds in its talons. Opposite, is the monument of the engraver, Giovanni Volpato, executed and erected by his friend and countryman, Antonio Canova. It consists of a large bas-relief, representing "Friendship", in the form of a woman weeping before the bust of the deceased Volpato.

On a Pier of the Nave, on the right-hand side, near the first Chapel, is enshrined the heart of Maria Klementyna Sobieska, wife of the Old Pretender, James Francis Edward Stuart. Her tomb is in Saint Peter's Basilica. Her monument is by Filippo della Valle. Her husband used to pray here every morning. James III was Laid In State here in 1766, before he was buried with his wife at Saint Peter's.

Basilica Santi XII Apostoli, Rome.

Photo: 10/12/2006.

Source: Own work.

Author: Lalupa

(Wikimedia Commons)

PART TWO FOLLOWS.