The Mystery Of Advent. Part Four.

Text is taken from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal.

Illustrations are taken from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,
unless otherwise stated.

Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe “at St. Bernard.”, 
328 West 14th Street, New York, United States of America.

Illustration from the Blog 
THE SOCIETY OF ST. HUGH OF CLUNY

In this way, The Church makes pass before our eyes the magnificent procession which, all down the ages, goes before Jesus Christ. There we see Jacob, Judah, Moses, David, Micheas, Jeremias, Ezechiel, Daniel, Joel, Zacharias, Habacuc, Osea, Aggeus, Malachias, and, above all, Isaias, Saint John The Baptist [with whom three out of the four Advent Gospels are concerned], Saint Joseph, and the Glorious Virgin Mary, who sums up in herself all Messianic hopes, seeing that their fulfilment hung on her fiat: "Be it done unto me according to Thy word. All these Holy Souls yearned for The Redeemer, and, in their fervent longing, they besought Him to hasten the day when He would Come.

As we follow The Masses and Office of Advent, we are impressed by these urgent and pressing appeals to The Messias:

"Come, Lord, nor tarry longer [Gradual for The Fourth Sunday]". 

"The Lord is nigh, come, let us adore Him." 

"Come, Lord, and save us." 

"The King Who is to come; O come, let us adore Him." 

"Show forth Thy power, O Lord, and Come [Collect for the Fourth Sunday]." 

English: Stained-Glass Window,
St John the Baptist's Anglican Church,

Ashfield, New South Wales, Australia. 

Illustrates Jesus' description of Himself: "I am the Good Shepherd" 

(from the Gospel of John, Chapter 10, Verse 11).

The Memorial Window is also captioned: 

"To The Glory of God and in Loving Memory of William Wright. 

Died 6th November, 1932. Aged 70."

Français: Vitrail de l'église anglicane Saint Jean Baptiste d'Ashfield (site de l'église), 

en Nouvelle Galles du Sud (Australie). 

Le vitrail illustre la description de Jésus par lui même dans le livre de Jean (chapitre 10, verset 11). On lit aussi sur ce vitrail: (« Dédié à la gloire de Dieu, et à la mémoire de William Wright, 

mort le 6 Novembre 1932 à l'âge de 70 ans »).

Source: A derivative work of File: St. Johns, Ashfield. StainedGlass, GoodShepherd.jpg

Author: Stained glass: Alfred Handel, d. 1946[2], Photo:Toby Hudson.

(Wikimedia Commons)

[All the following are from The Greater Antiphons] [The Great O Antiphons]

"O Wisdom, come and teach us the way of Prudence." 

"O God, guide of The House of Israel, come, stretch forth Thy hand and redeem us."

"O Root of Jesse; come to deliver us and tarry not."

"O Key of David and Sceptre of The House of Israel, come and release the captive plunged in darkness and the shadow of death."

"O Morning Star; Brightness of Eternal Light, come and enlighten those who are plunged in darkness and the shadow of death."

"O King and Desire of Nations, come and save man, whom Thou hast made from the slime of the Earth."

"O Emmanuel [God with us], Our King and our Lawgiver, O Lord, Our God."

Our Lady of Coromoto, 

(Spanish: Nuestra Señora de Coromoto,)

Patroness of Venezuela.

Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe “at St. Bernard.”, 
328 West 14th Street, New York, United States of America.

Illustration from the Blog 
THE SOCIETY OF ST. HUGH OF CLUNY

The longed-for Messias is The Son of God, Himself, The Great Royal Deliverer, Who is to conquer Satan and Reign over His people for ever, Whom all Nations shall serve. The very reason why we should utter "Come", crying to Our Lord, "O, Thou corner stone, uniting in Thyself the two peoples, Come," is that The Divine Mercy extends, not only to Israel, but to all The Gentiles, as well.

"And when He Comes, we shall all be guided together by this Divine Shepherd." "He shall feed His flock," says Isaias, " . . . He shall gather together the lambs with His Arm, and shall take them up in his Bosom." He, even Our Lord God.

THIS CONCLUDES THE ARTICLE ON THE MYSTERY OF ADVENT.

Available (in U.K.) from

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The Mystery Of Advent. Part Three.

Non-Italic Text is taken from The Liturgical Year by Abbot Gueranger, O.S.B.
(Translated from the French by Dom Laurence Shepherd, O.S.B.)
Advent. Volume 1. St. Bonaventure Publications, www.libers.com
Originally published 1949.
Republished by St. Bonaventure Publications, July 2000.

Italic text is taken from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal.

Illustrations are taken from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,
unless otherwise stated.

The first three Great O Antiphons (which commence on 17 December) are shown on this Verso
 of folio 30 from The Poissy Antiphonal, a certified Dominican Antiphonal of 428 folios from Poissy, France, written 1335-1345, with a complete annual Cycle of Chants for The Divine Office 
(Temporal, Sanctoral and Commons) and a Hymnal. 
Date: 1335 - 1345.

Source: La Trobe University Library, Medieval Music Database, 

The Poissy Antiphonal, folio 30v.

Author: Unknown.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Church aspires also to The Second Coming, the consequence of The First, which consists, as we have just seen, in the visit of The Bridegroom to The Bride. This Coming takes place, each year, at The Feast of Christmas, when the new Birth of The Son of God delivers the Faithful from that yoke of bondage, under which the enemy would oppress them. [Collect for Christmas Day.]

The Church, therefore, during Advent, Prays that she may be visited by Him Who is her Head and her Spouse; visited in her hierarchy; visited in her Members, of whom some are living, and some are dead, but may come to life again; visited, lastly, in those who are not in communion with her, and even in the very infidels, that so they may be converted to The True Light, which shines even for them.

The expressions of The Liturgy, which The Church makes use of, to ask for this loving and invisible Coming, are those which she employs when begging for The Coming of Jesus in The Flesh; for the two visits are for the same object.

English: Church of Saint-Étienne in Beauvais, France. 

Jesse Tree Window by Engrand Le Prince, 1522-1524.

Français: Vitrail de l'église Saint-Étienne de Beauvais, France, 

représentant l'arbre de Jessé. Sa réalisation, par Engrand Le Prince, date de 1522-1524.

Source: Book "Stained Glass: An Illustrated History" by Sarah Brown.

Author: Engrand Leprince.

(Wikimedia Commons)

In vain would The Son of God have come, nineteen hundred years ago, to visit and save mankind, unless He came again for each one of us and at every moment of our lives, bringing to us and cherishing within us that Supernatural life, of which He and His Holy Spirit are the sole principle.


The following is taken from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal.

SEASON OF ADVENT.
(From The First Sunday of Advent to 24 December).

Doctrinal Note.

If we read The Liturgical Texts, which The Church uses in the course of the four weeks of Advent, we see clearly that it is her intention to make us share the attitude of mind of the Patriarchs and Seers of Israel, who looked forward to the Advent of the Messias in His Twofold Coming of Grace and Glory.

During this Season, the Greek Church commemorates Our Lord's ancestors, especially Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. On The Fourth Sunday, she honours all the Patriarchs of The Old Testament; from Adam to Saint Joseph, and the Prophets, of whom Saint Matthew speaks in his genealogy of Our Lord.

The Latin Church, without honouring them in any special form of Devotion, nevertheless speaks to us of them in The Office, when quoting the promises made to them concerning The Messias.

PART FOUR FOLLOWS

Available (in U.K.) from

CENACLE CATHOLIC BOOKS

Available (in U.S.A.) from

ST. BONAVENTURE PUBLICATIONS

The Mystery Of Advent. Part Two.

Text taken from The Liturgical Year by Abbot Gueranger, O.S.B.
(Translated from the French by Dom Laurence Shepherd, O.S.B.)
Advent. Volume 1. St. Bonaventure Publications, www.libers.com
Originally published 1949.
Republished by St. Bonaventure Publications, July 2000.

Illustrations are taken from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,
unless otherwise stated.

English: The Adoration of The Shepherds.
Français: L'adoration des bergers.

Artist: Georges de La Tour (1593–1652).

Date: circa 1645.

Current location: Louvre Museum, France. 
Web-Site: www.louvre.fr

(Wikimedia Commons)

As for The Third Coming, it is most certain that it will be, most uncertain when it will be; for nothing is more certain than death, and nothing less sure than the hour of death.

When they shall say, peace and security, says the Apostle, then shall sudden destruction come upon them, as the pains upon her that is with child, and they shall not escape. So that The First Coming was Humble and Hidden, The Second is Mysterious and Full of Love, The Third will be Majestic and Terrible.

In His First Coming, Christ was judged by men unjustly; in His Second, He renders us just by His Grace; in His Third, He will Judge all things with Justice. In His First, a Lamb; in His Last, a Lion; in the one between the two, the Tenderest of Friends.' [De Adventu. Sermon III. Peter of Blois.]

An Angel with a Lamb, 
as a Symbol of Christ's Sacrifice, 
by Melozzo da Forli, 1482.

The Holy Church, therefore, during Advent, awaits in tears, and with ardour, the arrival of her Jesus in His First Coming. For this, she borrows the fervid expressions of The Prophets, to which she joins her own Supplications.

These longings for The Messias, expressed by The Church, are not a mere commemoration of the desires of the ancient Jewish people; they have a reality and efficacy of their own, an influence in the great act of God's Munificence, whereby He gave us His Own Son.

From all Eternity, the Prayers of the ancient Jewish people and the Prayers of The Christian Church ascended together to the prescient hearing of God; and it was after receiving and granting them, that He sent, in the appointed time, that Blessed Dew upon the Earth, which made it bud forth the Saviour.

The Adoration of The Lamb.

From the Ghent Altarpiece, by Jan van Eyck,1429.

The following is taken from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia.

Rorate Coeli (or Rorate Caeli), from the Book of Isaiah (Isaiah 45:8), in the Vulgate, are the opening words of a Text used in Catholic and, less frequently, Protestant Liturgy. It is also known as The Advent Prose, or, by the first words of its English translation, "Drop down ye heavens from above."

It is frequently sung as Plainsong, at Mass, and in The Divine Office, during Advent, where it gives expression to the longings of Patriarchs and Prophets, and, symbolically of The Church, for The Coming of The Messiah. Throughout Advent, it occurs daily as the Versicle and Response after the Hymn at Vespers.

“ ℣ Rorate coeli desuper et nubes pluant justum
(Drop down dew, ye heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain the just)

℟ Aperiatur terra et germinet salvatorem"
(Let the earth be opened and send forth a Saviour"). ” ]


PART THREE FOLLOWS