Notre Dame de Rouen. The façade of the Gothic Church in France. Photographer: Hippo1947. Licence: SHUTTERSTOCK.

Tuesday 20 December 2016

Vigil of Saint Thomas. Apostle. 20 December.


Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless otherwise stated.

Vigil of Saint Thomas.
Apostle.
20 December.

Simple.

Violet Vestments.


The tomb of Saint Thomas the Apostle, in Mylapore, India.
Photo: 1 June 2013.
Source: Own work.
(Wikimedia Commons)

Like nearly all The Feasts of The Apostles, that of Saint Thomas is preceded by a Vigil, which will enable our Souls to prepare for it in a Holy Manner. The Gospel recalls the vocation of this great Apostle, who had the happiness of hearing continually The Word of Christ and of enjoying His intimacy. "I have called you friends because I have made known to you all that I have heard from My Father."

"God," adds the Epistle, "has chosen him from among all men. He has given him His Commandments, The Law of Life and of Instruction."

Wherefore, the Offertory declares that he had been chosen by Jesus to be one of The Twelve Princes, who would govern His Church: "The Lord has crowned him with glory and honour and has given him authority over the works of His hands."

"The Lord", the Epistle also says, "has given him his share of inheritance among The Twelve Tribes."
The Country of The Parthians and Persians was allotted to Saint Thomas when The Apostles divided The World among themselves. Let us prepare for tomorrow's Solemnity in union with The Holy Church.

Mass: Ego autem.
Commemoration: Of The Feria.
Third Collect: Deus qui de beátae.

If The Vigil falls on one of The Ember Days,  The Mass is that of The Ember Day, with Commemoration of The Vigil, but without its Gospel at the end of Mass.

Christmas Card, 1880.




Christmas Card, 1880.
This image is available from
The United States Library of Congress's
Prints and Photographs division,
under the digital ID cph.3a49785.
(Wikimedia Commons)

"The Six-Five Special's Coming Down The Line, The Six-Five Special's Right On Time".



Illustration: PINTEREST


"The Six-Five Special".
Available on YouTube at


Low-Resolution screen-shot of the title screen of
the BBC 1957 TV programme "Six-Five Special".
Source: longroadmusicontv.blogspot.com/
Portion Used: Whole Screen.
(Wikipedia)

The following Text is from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia.

The Six-Five Special was a British television programme launched in February 1957, when both television and rock and roll were in their infancy in Britain.

Jack Good was the original producer. Josephine Douglas and (initially) disc jockey Pete Murray were its presenters, with Murray using the catchphrase "Time to jive on the old six five". Its resident band was Don Lang and his Frantic Five. The show opened with film of a steam train accompanied by the programme's theme song, played and sung by the Frantic Five, which began with the words "The Six-Five Special's comin' down the line, The Six-Five Special's right on time . . ."

BBC executives originally wanted a magazine format; however, Good wanted a show with music and lots of movement. The original sets were dispensed with and the empty studio space filled with the milling audience and performers. Television at that time was completely live as recording technology was limited, so once the programme started everything ran in an impromptu way. The running order was sketched out on Friday morning, and then only one complete run-through happened immediately before transmission on Saturday evening.

The show was originally scheduled to last just six weeks but, as a result of its popularity, the series became open-ended. The BBC interfered with Good's vision of the show by including educational and information elements, which Good wanted to drop, as they diluted the music. The relationship between Good and the BBC became strained, and he resigned in early 1958.

Good joined the ITV company, ABC, to create Oh Boy!, the show he'd wanted to make. It featured non-stop music and lost the public-service-inspired elements as part of its more frenzied pace, trouncing Six-Five Special in the ratings. The BBC, never keen on the show, took this as vindication and pulled it from the schedules. It was to be half a decade before Top of the Pops restored BBC coverage of contemporary popular music in general and "pop" in particular.

The Great O Antiphons. 20 December.


Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless otherwise stated.




English: Workshop of The Della Robbia (Early-16th-Century)
Madonna with Child, The Holy Spirit and two Cherubims, enamelled terracotta.
Français: Atelier des Della Robbia (début du XVIe siècle.
Vierge à l'Enfant avec le Saint Esprit et deux chérubins, terre cuite émaillée.
Current location: Louvre Museum, Paris, France.
Accession Number: Campana 32.
Source/Photographer: Jastrow (2006).
(Wikimedia Commons)




O Clavis David,
The Great O Antiphon
for 20 December.
Gregorian Chant notation from The Liber Usualis (1961), p. 341.
Latin lyrics sung by The Cantarte Regensburg.

Available on YouTube at

20 December: Isaias xxii. 22; Apocalypse iii. 7; Luke i. 79.

O Clavis David,
et sceptrum domus Israel;
qui aperis, et nemo claudit,
claudis, et nemo aperit:
veni, et educ vinctum de domo carceris,
sedentem in tenebris, et umbra mortis.


O Key of David,
and Sceptre of the House of Israel,
who openest and no man shutteth,
who shuttest and no man openeth;
come and bring forth from his prison-house,
the captive that sitteth in darkness and
in the shadow of death.

V. Rorate.

"Rorate caeli desuper, et nubes pluant justium . . ."


"Ye heavens, drop down from above, and let the clouds rain down the Just One."

Monday 19 December 2016

"The Shortening Winter's Day".







"The Shortening Winter's Day".
Illustration: KING AND MCGAW

The following Text is from Wikipedia.

Joseph Farquharson DL RA (4 May 1846 – 15 April 1935) was a Scottish painter, chiefly of landscapes. He is most famous for his snowy Winter landscapes, often featuring sheep and often depicting dawn or dusk. He was born in Edinburgh, Scotland and died at Finzean, Aberdeenshire, Scotland.


Self-Portrait.
Date: 1882.
Source: 1882.
Author: 
Joseph Farquharson (1846–1935).
(Wikimedia Commons)

" Mary, Did You Know . . ? "




Illustration: PINTEREST.


Illustration: PINTEREST

"Mary Did You Know ?".
Sung by 
Clay Aiken.
Available on YouTube at

The Great O Antiphons. 19 December.


Text and Illustrations taken from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless otherwise stated.



"Madonna and Child",
(1501-1504).
Brügge Cathedral,
"Onze-Lieve-Vrouwkerk", Belgium.
Photo: 7 February 2005.
Author: Elke Wetzig (elya).
(Wikimedia Commons)




"O Radix Jesse".
The Great O Antiphon
for 19 December.
Available on YouTube at

19 December: Isaias xi. 10.

O Radix Jesse,
qui stas in signum populorum,
super quem continebunt reges os suum,
quem Gentes deprecabuntur:
veni ad liberandum nos,
jam noli tardare.


O Root of Jesse,
Who standest for an ensign of the people,
before whom kings shall keep silence,
and unto Whom the Gentiles shall make their supplication:
come to deliver us,
and tarry not.

V. Rorate.

"Rorate caeli desuper, et nubes pluant justium . . ."

"Ye heavens, drop down from above, and let the clouds rain down the Just One."

Sunday 18 December 2016

"I Will Lead The Blind In A Way That They Know Not. I Will Turn The Darkness Before Them Into Light. I Will Not Forsake Them."


Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless otherwise stated.

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.



Saint John the Baptist Preaching The Baptism of Penance.
Artist: Rene de Cramer.
“Copyright Brunelmar/Ghent/Belgium”.
Used with Permission.

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."

[Editorial Comment: Do Not Be Disheartened. Do Not Despair. The World May Look Bleak And The Church Attacked From All Sides (And Within), But We Have Been Promised Deliverance. See what Isaias says, above.]

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 Word. Allusion is made to The First Coming in the Introit, Gospel, Offertory and Communion, and to The Second Coming in the Epistle; 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; Our Lady.



Artist: Rene de Cramer.
“Copyright Brunelmar/Ghent/Belgium”.
Used with Permission.

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." 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" [Editor: Saint John the Baptist] 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 lay up, by means of Penance, a treasure of good works, the greater in proportion to the ravage of sin which caused it [Third Nocturn].

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 Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint Gabriel, Prophet Isaias, Saint John the Baptist.
Artist: Rene de Cramer.
"Copyright Brunelmar/Ghent/Belgium".
Used with Permission.

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).



The Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint Gabriel, Prophet Isaias, Saint John the Baptist.
Artist: Rene de Cramer.
"Copyright Brunelmar/Ghent/Belgium".
Used with Permission.

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.

Mass: Roráte caeli.

Sing Up, Mother ! They Don't Make 'Em Like This Any More.



"The Sunshine Of Your Smile".
Sung by: John McCormack (1916).
Available on YouTube at


"The Sunshine Of Your Smile".

Dear face that holds so sweet a smile for me
Were you not mine, how dark the world would be !
I know no light above that could replace
Love's radiant sunshine in your dear, dear face

Give me your smile, the love-light in your eyes
Life could not hold a fairer Paradise !
Give me the right to love you all the while
My world for ever, the sunshine of your smile !

Shadows may fall upon the land and sea
Sunshine from all the world may hidden be
But I shall see no cloud across the sun
Your smile shall light my life, till life is done !

Give me your smile, the love-light in your eyes,
Life could not hold a fairer Paradise !
Give me the right to love you all the while
My world for ever, the sunshine of your smile !



The front page of the Sheet Music for
"The Sunshine Of Your Smile", published in 1913.
Date: 4 May 2013.
Source: Own work.
Author: Richard J Myers.
(Wikimedia Commons)


"Then You'll Remember Me".
Sung by: 
John McCormack (1916).
From Balfe's "The Bohemian Girl".
Available on YouTube at

This is a pure example of Victorian music and sensibility. McCormack's rendering of
the lovely old Aria is perfect, and captures the earnest, albeit finger-wagging,
sense of morality and propriety so characteristic of the age.
Michael W. Balfe's opera was first performed in London in 1842, and , musically speaking,
is absolutely a product of its time, even though its narrative inspiration would seem to be
an old Cervantes story, La Gitanilla, an "exemplary novel" of the kind made popular
by the great Spanish author, and which charmed the "Urbanites" of earlier Centuries
who took their pleasure in pastoral romances.

"Then You'll Remember Me ".

When other lips and other hearts
their tales of love shall tell
In language whose excess imparts
the pow'r they feel so well
There may perhaps in such a scene
some recollection be
Of days that have as happy been
and you'll remember me
And you'll remember, you'll remember me

When coldness or deceit shall slight
The beauty now they prize
And deem it but a faded light
which beams within your eyes
When hollow hearts shall wear a mask
't'will break your own to see
In such a moment I 
but ask
that you'll remember me
That you'll remember
you'll remember me



Illustration: IMSLP



"When You And I Were Young, Maggie".
Sung by: John McCormack.
Available on YouTube at

It was originally a poem written by the Canadian school teacher George Washington Johnson. Margaret "Maggie" Clark was his pupil. They fell in love and were married in 1864, but Maggie's health deteriorated and she died on 12 May 1865 of tuberculosis.
During the struggle with her illness, George walked to a nearby hill overlooking an old mill, and composed the poem. It was published in 1864 in a collection of his poems entitled "Maple Leaves". James Butterfield set the poem to music (published in 1866) and it became popular all over the world. George Washington Johnson married twice more, and died in 1917 in Pasadena, California.


"When You And I Were Young, Maggie".

I wandered today to the hill, Maggie
To watch the scene below
The creek and the creaking old mill, Maggie,
As we used to long ago

The green grove's gone from the hill, Maggie,
Where first the daisies sprung
The creaking old mill is still, Maggie,
Since you and I were young.

They say that I'm feeble with age, Maggie, 
My steps are less sprightly than then
My face is a well-written page, Maggie,
But time alone was the pen.

They say we are aged and grey, Maggie, 
As spray by the white breakers flung
But to me you're as fair as you were, Maggie,
When you and I were young.

And now we are aged and grey, Maggie,
And the trials of life nearly done, 
Let us sing of the days that are gone, Maggie, When you and I were young.


Illustration: EBAY

The Great O Antiphons. 18 December.


Text and Illustrations taken from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless otherwise stated.




English: Christ is born.
Deutsch: Christi Geburt.
Artist: Lorenzo Lotto (1480–1556).
Date: 1523.
Current location: National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., U.S.A.
Source/Photographer: The Yorck Project: 10.000 Meisterwerke der Malerei.
DVD-ROM, 2002. 
ISBN 3936122202. Distributed by DIRECTMEDIA Publishing GmbH.
Permission: [1]
(Wikimedia Commons)




"O Adonai".
The Great O Antiphon
for 18 December.
Available on YouTube at

18 December: Exodus iii. 2, xx. 1.

O Adonai,
et dux domus Israel,
qui Moysi in igne flammae rubi apparuisti,
et ei in Sina legem dedisti:
veni ad redimentum nos in brachio extento.


O Adonai,
and Leader of the House of Israel,
who didst appear to Moses in the flame of
the burning bush,
and didst give unto him the Law on Sinai:
come and with an outstretched arm redeem us.

V. Rorate.

"Rorate caeli desuper, et nubes pluant justium . . ."


"Ye heavens, drop down from above, and let the clouds rain down the Just One."

Saturday 17 December 2016

The Commencement Of The Great Antiphons. 17 December.


Text is from The Liturgical Year
by Abbot Guéranger, O.S.B.
Volume 1.
Advent.



The Church enters today on the seven days which precede The Vigil of Christmas, and which are known in The Liturgy under the name of The Greater Ferias. The Ordinary of The Advent Office becomes more Solemn; The Antiphons of The Psalms, both for Lauds and The Hours of The Day, are Proper, and allude expressly to The Great Coming.

Every day, at Vespers, is sung a Solemn Antiphon, consisting of a fervent Prayer to The Messias, Whom it addresses by one of The Titles given Him in The Sacred Scriptures.

In The Roman Church, there are seven of these Antiphons, one for each of The Greater Ferias. They are commonly called The "O"s of Advent, because they all begin with that interjection. In other Churches, during The Middle Ages, two more Antiphons were added to these seven; one to Our Blessed Lady, "O Virgo Virginum"; and the other to The Angel Gabriel, "O Gabriel"; or to Saint Thomas the Apostle, whose Feast comes during The Greater Ferias; it began "O Thoma Didyme". [It is more modern than "O Gabriel"; but, dating from the 13th-Century, it was almost universally substituted for it.]


There were even Churches where twelve Great Antiphons were sung; that is, besides the nine we have just mentioned, "O Rex Pacifice" to Our Lord, "O Mundi Domina" to Our Lady, and "O Hierusalem" to The City of The People of God.

The Canonical Hour Of Vespers has been selected as the most appropriate time for this Solemn Supplication to Our Saviour, because, as The Church sings on one of her Hymns, it was in the evening of the World ("vergente mundi vespere") that The Messias came amongst us.

The Antiphons are sung at "The Magnificat", to show us that The Saviour, Whom we expect, is to come to us by Mary. They are sung twice, once before and once after the Canticle, as on Double Feasts, and this to show their great Solemnity.



In some Churches, it was formerly the practice to sing them thrice; that is, before the Canticle, before the Gloria Patri, and after the "Sicut erat". Lastly, these admirable Antiphons, which contain the whole pith of The Advent Liturgy, are accompanied by a Chant replete with melodious gravity, and by Ceremonies of great expressiveness, though, in these latter, there is no uniform practice followed.

Let us enter into the spirit of The Church; let us reflect on the great day which is coming; that, thus, we may take our share in these, the last and most earnest, solicitations of The Church, imploring her Spouse to come, to which He at length yields.

Saturday In Ember Week Of Advent.


Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless stated otherwise.

Saturday in Ember Week Of Advent.

Station at Saint Peter's.

Indulgence of 10 Years and 10 Quarantines.

Violet Vestments.




Saturday is the most solemn of The Ember Days, because that was the day on which The Church Ordained her Priests in the great Basilica of Saint Peter. This Ordination in the tenth month of the Roman year (called, for that reason, December) was the only one formerly known in Rome. Hence, it was an important date.

Everything in The Mass, moreover, bears the character of a very ancient Liturgy. It calls to mind, with its numerous Lessons, intermingled with Responses and Prayers, the earliest form of the introductory part of The Mass.

The Soul that is penetrated with it finds itself filled with a Holy Impatience, and, with The Church, it aspires to the New Birth of The Only Begotten Son of God, Who comes to deliver us from the yoke of sin (Second Collect).


"While, with confidence, she awaits The Lord Jesus, Who shall deliver us from our enemies, destroying Anti-Christ with the brightness of His Coming" (Epistle).

The Gospel brings before us the image of Saint John the Baptist, The Precursor, who prepares our Souls each year for The Coming of The Saviour. The same Gospel is again found in The Mass of the following day, because, formerly, the Ordination, taking place in the evening, lasted well into the night, thus encroaching on the Sunday, provided it with its Liturgy.

Mass: Veni, et osténde.
After The Kyrie eleison, the Bishop confers The Tonsure.
After The First Lesson, the Bishop Ordains The Door-Keepers.
After The Second Lesson, the Bishop Ordains The Readers.
After The Third Lesson, the Bishop Ordains The Exorcists.
After The Fourth Lesson, the Bishop Ordains The Acolytes.
After The Fifth Lesson, the Bishop Ordains The Sub-Deacons.
After The Epistle, the Bishop Ordains The Deacons.
After The Tract, the Bishop Ordains The Priests.


The Four Seasons of the Year begin with the Liturgical periods known as Ember Weeks. They are known since the 5th-Century A.D., but they were fixed to their present dates by Pope Saint Gregory VII in the 12th-Century.

The Ember Days are Three Fast Days, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday, intended to Consecrate to God the various Seasons in Nature, and to prepare those who are about to be Ordained.

The Gospel recalls Gabriel's mission to Mary to inform her that she was about to become The Mother of God.

No human voice, but an Angel's, must make known the Mystery of such message. Today, for the first time, are heard the words: "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee." They are heard and believed. "Behold," says Mary, "the handmaid of The Lord, be it done to me according to thy word" (Third Lesson). During seven Centuries, now, Isaias had foretold this Virgin Motherhood (Epistle, Communion).



Circa 1950: The Vicar and Sunday School Children go out into the fields
to Bless the crops. 
The little boy is carrying a symbolic Tree of Plenty.
Picture Credit: Hulton Archive/Getty Images.
Illustration: ABOUT RELIGION


Rogation Days.

Rogation Days, like their distant cousins, The Ember Days, are days set aside to observe a change in the Seasons. Rogation Days are tied to the Spring planting. There are Four Rogation Days: The Major Rogation, which falls on 25 April, and Three Minor Rogations, which are Celebrated on the Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday immediately before Ascension Thursday.

For an Abundant Harvest.

As The Catholic Encyclopedia notes, Rogation Days are "Days of Prayer, and formerly,
also of Fasting, instituted by The Church to appease God's anger at man's transgressions,
to ask protection in calamities, and to obtain a good and bountiful harvest."


Illustration: ABOUT RELIGION

Origin of the Word.

Rogation is simply an English form of the Latin "Rogatio", which comes from the verb "Rogare", which means "to ask." The primary purpose of The Rogation Days is to ask God to Bless the fields and the Parish (the geographic area) that they fall in.
The Major Rogation likely replaced the Roman feast of "Robigalia", on which
(The Catholic Encyclopedia notes) "the heathens held processions and supplications to
their gods." While the Romans directed their prayers for good weather and an abundant harvest
to a variety of gods, the Christians made the Tradition their own, by replacing Roman
polytheism with monotheism, and directing their Prayers to God.
By the time of Pope Saint Gregory the Great (540 A.D. - 604 A.D.),
the Christianised Rogation Days were already considered an ancient custom.

The Litany, Procession, and Mass.

The Rogation Days were marked by the recitation of The Litany of The Saints, which would
normally begin in, or at, a Church. After Saint Mary was invoked, the Congregation would
proceed to walk the boundaries of the Parish, while reciting the rest of The Litany (and repeating
it as necessary or supplementing it with some of The Penitential or Gradual Psalms). Thus,
the entire Parish would be Blessed, and the boundaries of the Parish would be marked. The procession would end with a Rogation Mass, in which all in the Parish were expected to take part.


Sunday School Children Celebrate Rogation Day in 1953.
A photo at Market Lavington Museum, Wiltshire, England.
Illustration: MARKET LAVINGTON MUSEUM

Optional Today.

Like The Ember Days, Rogation Days were removed from The Liturgical Calendar when it was revised in 1969, coinciding with the introduction of The Mass of Paul VI (The Novus Ordo).
Parishes can still Celebrate them, though very few in The United States do; but, in portions of Europe, The Major Rogation is still Celebrated with a Procession. As The Western World has become more industrialised, Rogation Days and Ember Days, focused as they are on agriculture and the changes of the Seasons, have seemed less "relevant." Still, they are good ways to keep us in touch with nature and to remind us that The Church's Liturgical Calendar is tied to the changing Seasons.

Celebrating The Rogation Days.

If your Parish does not celebrate The Rogation Days, there's nothing to stop you from Celebrating them yourself. You can mark the Days by reciting The Litany of The Saints. And, while many
modern Parishes, especially in The United States, have boundaries that are too extensive to walk,
you could learn where those boundaries are and walk a portion of them, getting to know your surroundings, and maybe your neighbours, in the process. Finish it all off by attending
daily Mass and Praying for good weather and a fruitful harvest.


Saint Michael's Church, Bunwell, Norfolk, England, has always been the centre of Village Life. 
In this picture, taken on Rogation Sunday, April 1967, the Rector, Rev. Samuel Collins,
followed by the Choir, Parishioners, and The New Buckenham Silver Band, walk
The Parish Boundaries and pause to Bless the stream.
Illustration: BUNWELL HERITAGE GROUP

References in The Liturgy, connecting The Annunciation with Advent, date back to very early times. Many Churches observed this Feast on 18 December, in preference to 25 March, the latter date often falling in Lent.

Furthermore, this First Joyful Mystery of The Blessed Virgin is in keeping with the spirit of joy, which is so characteristic of the second half of The Season of Advent, when The Lord, Who is nigh, is so eagerly awaited (Second Gradual). Who, having appeared in the humility of His First Coming to save us (Collect), will come again like a King, full of glory (First Gradual), to take vengeance on His enemies and to deliver us forever (Offertory).


The following Text is from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia.

In The Liturgical Calendar of The Western Christian Churches, Ember Days are four separate Sets of Three Days within the same Week  —  specifically, the Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday  —  roughly equidistant in the circuit of the Year, that are set aside for Fasting and Prayer.



These Days set apart for Special Prayer and Fasting were considered especially suitable for The Ordination of Clergy. The Ember Days are known in Latin as the "quattuor anni tempora" (the "Four Seasons of The Year"), or, formerly, as the "jejunia quattuor temporum" ("Fasts of The Four Seasons").

The Four Quarterly Periods, during which The Ember Days fall, are called The Embertides.

"Christmas Is Coming, The Goose Is Getting Fat". Have You Finished Baking ? Are The Cards Posted ? Which Mass Are You Going To ?




Illustration: PINTEREST


"Christmas Shopping".
Author: Frank Dadd.
Permission: Free for non-commercial use. See below. Click here to report copyright issues.
This image (or other media file) is in the public domain because its copyright has expired.
However - you may not use this image for commercial purposes and you may not alter the image
or remove the WikiGallery watermark.
This applies to the United States, Canada, the European Union and those countries
with a copyright term of life of the author plus 70 years.
(Wikigallery.org)


"Christmas is coming,
the Goose is getting fat . . ."
Sung by: John Denver and The Muppets.
Available on YouTube at


Artist: Muriel Dawson
(1897-1974).
Illustration: PINTEREST


Illustration: PINTEREST


"My Favourite Time of Year".
The Florin Street Band.
Available on YouTube at




Postmen of The British Empire.
English Postman. 1904.
Postcard from the private collection of Jennifer Drury.
Illustration: PINTEREST


Illustration: PINTEREST



Illustration: PINTEREST


Found on flickr.com
Illustration: PINTEREST


King's College Choir,
Cambridge, England.
Christmas Carols.
24 December 2011.
Available on YouTube at


The Great O Antiphons. 17 December.


Text and Illustrations taken from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless otherwise stated.




English: Madonna and Child.
Deutsch: Sixtinische Madonna, Szene: Maria mit Christuskind,
Hl. Papst Sixtus II. und Hl. Barbara.
Artist: Raphael (1483 - 1520).
Current location: Gemäldegalerie, Dresden, Germany.
Source/Photographer: The Yorck Project: 10.000 Meisterwerke der Malerei. DVD-ROM, 2002.
ISBN 3936122202. Distributed by DIRECTMEDIA Publishing GmbH.
Permission: [1]
(Wikimedia Commons)

The Boundless desire for The Coming of Christ, which is a feature of the whole of Advent, is expressed in The Liturgy with an impatience which grows greater, the closer we come to Christmas and, so to speak, to the World's end.

"The Lord comes from far" (First Vespers, First Sunday of Advent).

"The Lord will come" (Introit, Second Sunday of Advent).

"The Lord is nigh" (Introit. Third Sunday in Advent).

This gradation will be emphasised throughout the whole Season, ever more and more.

Thus, on 17 December, begin The Greater Antiphons, which, from their initial letters, are called the "O Antiphons", and which form an impassioned appeal to The Messias, whose prerogatives and glorious Titles they make known to us.

Dom Guéranger [Editor: He who was the author of "The Liturgical Year"] affirms that those Antiphons contain the "whole marrow" of The Advent Liturgy.

On account of their number, Honorius of Autun connects them with The Seven Gifts of The Holy Ghost, with which Our Lord was filled.




"O Sapientia.".
The Great O Antiphon
for 17 December.
Gregorian Chant notation from The Liber Usualis (1961), p. 340.
Latin lyrics sung by The Cantarte Regensburg.
Available on YouTube at

17 December: Ecclesiasticus xxiv. 5; Wisdom viii. 1

O Sapientia,

Quae ex ore Altissimi prodiisti,
attingens a fine usque ad finem,
fortiter suaviterque disponens omnia:
veni ad docendum nos viam prudentiae.

O Wisdom,

Who camest out of the mouth of The Most High,
reaching from end to end and ordering all things
mightily and sweetly:
come and teach us the way of prudence.

Versicle: Rorate.

"Rorate caeli desuper, et nubes pluant justium . . ."

"Ye Heavens, drop down from above, and let the clouds rain down The Just One."

Friday 16 December 2016

Saint Eusebius. Bishop. Martyr. Feast Day, Today, 16 December.


Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless otherwise stated.

Saint Eusebius.
Bishop and Martyr.
Feast Day 16 December.

Semi-Double.

Red Vestments.




English: The Virgin Mary in Glory,
with Archangel Gabriel, and Saint Eusebius of Vercelli (seated), Saint Sebastian, and Saint Roch.
Deutsch: Maria in Gloria mit Erzengel Gabriel und Hl. Eusebius, Hl. Sebastian und Hl. Rochus.
Artist: Sebastiano Ricci (1659–1734).
Date: 1724.
Current location: Università degli Studi, Milan, Italy.
Source: The Yorck Project: 10.000 Meisterwerke der Malerei.

DVD-ROM, 2002. ISBN 3936122202. Distributed by DIRECTMEDIA Publishing GmbH.

Author: Sebastiano Ricci (1659–1734).
(Wikimedia Commons)

Saint Eusebius was born in Sardinia in the 4th-Century A.D., at a time when Arianism was bent on undermining The Dogma of The Divinity of Christ. Having become Bishop of Vercelli, in Italy, he seconded the efforts of Pope Liberius and of his successor, Saint Damasus, whose Feast was Celebrated a few days ago. The Arians, in their irritation, obtained his exile after making him suffer much ill-treatment. He died in 371 A.D.

The Mass describes the numerous Persecutions he underwent at the hands of these heretics. Constant in the midst of trials, as the Epistle relates, he encouraged The Clergy and people of Vercelli by the Letters he wrote to them.

The Church confers on him the Title of Martyr, although he did not have to shed his blood, on account of his sufferings generously undergone and his intrepidity before death (Gospel).

Let us confess, with Saint Eusebius, The Divinity of The Messias, Whose advent we are awaiting.

Mass: Sacerdótes Dei.
Commemoration: Of The Feria.


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