Second Sunday of Advent

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SECOND SUNDAY IN ADVENT.

Taken from Fr. Leonard Goffine's Explanations of the Epistles and Gospels for the Sundays, Holydays throughout the Ecclesiastical Year, 1880

This day the Church not only makes mention in the office of the priest, but also in the Mass, of the two different Advents of Christ, that by His first gracious advent we may be gladdened . and by His last terrible coming at the day of judgment we may be impressed with salutary fear, with this intention she cries out at the Introit: People of Sion, behold the Lord shall come to save the nations; and the Lord shall make the glory of his voice to be heard in the joy of your heart. (Isai. XXX. 3o.) drive ear, O thou that rulest Israel: thou that leadest Joseph like a sheep. (Ps. LXXIX.) Glory etc.

PRAYER OF THE CHURCH. Stir up our hearts, O Lord, to prepare the ways of Thine only-begotten Son: that through this advent we may be worthy to serve Thee with purified minds: who Livest and reignest with God tin* Father, in union with the Holy Ghost. God for ever and ever. Amen.

EPISTLE. (Romans XV. 4 — 13.) Brethren, what things soever were written, were written for our learning, that through patience - and the comfort of the scriptures, we might have hope. Now the God of patience and of comfort grant you to be of one mind one towards another, according to Jesus Christ: that with one mind, and with one mouth, you may glorify God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Wherefore receive one another, as Christ also hath received you unto the honor of God. For I say that Christ Jesus was minister of the circumcision for the truth of God. to confirm the promises made unto the fathers. But that the Gentiles are to glorify God for his mercy, as it is written: Therefore will I confess to thee. O Lord, among the Gentiles, and will sing to thy name. And again he saith: Rejoice, ye Gentiles, with his people. And again: Praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles, and magnify him, all ye people. And again, Isaias saith: There shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise up to rule the Gentiles, in him the Gentiles shall hope. Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope, and in the power of the Holy Ghost.

What does St. Paul teach in this Epistle?

The Jews and Gentiles who had been converted to the Christian faith were disputing among themselves at Rome, in regard to abstinence and the use of certain kinds of food, reproaching each other severely; the Jews boasted that the Saviour, according to promise, was born of their nation, thus claiming Him from the Gentiles, who, in their turn, reproached the Jews for their ingratitude in having crucified Him. To restore harmony St. Paul shows that each had reason, the Jews and Gentiles alike, to praise God, to whose grace and goodness they owed all; that each had in Him a Redeemer in whom they could hope for salvation; and he warns them not to deprive themselves of that hope by contentions. By these words the Apostle also teaches that we too, have great reason to praise God, and to thank Him for calling us, whose forefathers were heathens, to the Christian faith, and to guard against losing our salvation by pride, envy, impurity &c.

Why should we read the Scriptures?

That we may know what we are to believe, and do in order to be saved, as all Scripture inspired by God is profitable to teach, to reprove, to correct, to instruct in justice; (Tim. III. 16.) that we may learn from what Christ has done for us, and the saints for Christ, to be patient in our sufferings, and to be consoled and encouraged by their example. To derive this benefit from the Scriptures, the Catholic must read them by the light of that Spirit through whose assistance they came into existence, who lives and remains for ever with the Church: that is, the light of the Holy Ghost must be sought, that their meaning may be read according to the sense of the Church and not be explained according to the reader's judgment. For he who reads the holy Scriptures by the light of his own private judgment, must, as experience shows, of necessity diverge from the right path, become entangled in manifold doubts, and at last, lose the faith entirely. For this reason the Catholic Church has very properly limited the reading of the Bible, not as has been falsely asserted, unconditionally forbidden it, but she allows the reading of those editions only, which are accompanied by notes and explanations, that the unity of faith may not be disturbed, and that among Catholics there may not be the terrible bewilderment of the human intellect which has taken place among the different heretical sects who have even declared murder, bigamy and impurity to be permissible on the authority the Bible. — We are to consider also, that Christ never commanded the Bible to be written or read, and that not the readers but the hearers and the followers of the word of God by which is meant those who hear the word of God in sermons, and keep it, will be saved.

Why is God called a God of patience, of consolation, and of hope?

He is called a God of patience because He awaits our repentance, of consolation, because He gives us grace be patient in crosses and afflictions, and so consoles us inwardly, that we become not faint-hearted; of hope, because He gives us the virtue of hope, and because He desires to be Himself the reward we are to expect after this life.

ASPIRATION. O God of patience, of consolation and of hope, fill our hearts with peace and joy, and grant that we may become perfect in all good, and by faith, hope and charity, attain the promised salvation.


GOSPEL. (Matt. XI 2 - 10.) At that time, when John had heard in prison the works of Christ, sending two of his disciples, he said to him: Art thou he that art to come, or do we look for another? And Jesus making answer, said to them: Go and relate to John what you have heard and seen. The blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead rise again, the poor have the gospel preached to them: and blessed is he that shall not be scandalized in me. And when they went their way. Jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning John, What went you out into the desert to see? a reed shaken with the wind? But what went you out to see? a man clothed in soft garments? Behold, they that are clothed in soft garments are in the houses of kings. But what went you out to see? a prophet? yea I tell you, and more than a prophet. For this is he of whom it is written, Behold, I send my Angel before thy face, who shall prepare thy way before thee.


Why was John in prison?

He was in prison, and lost his life, because he had rebuked king Herod for his adulterous marriage with his brother's wife. (Matt. XIV. 3-10.) Truth, as the proverb says, is certainly a very beautiful mother, but she usually bears a very ugly daughter: Hatred. St. John experienced, that speaking the truth very often arouses hatred and enmity against the speaker. — Let us learn from him to speak the truth always, when duty requires it, even if it brings upon us the greatest misfortunes, for, if with St. John we patiently bear persecution, with St. John we shall become martyrs for truth.


Why did St John send his disciples to Christ?

That they should learn from Christ, who had become illustrious by His teachings and miracles, that He was really the promised Messiah, the Saviour of the world, whom they should follow.


Why did Christ say to lite disciples of St. John: “Go and say to John, the blind see, the lame walk, &”?

That they should, by His miracles, judge Him to be the Messiah, because the prophets had predicted that He would work such miracles, (Isai. XXXV. 5—6.) Christ," says St. Cyril, proved that He was the Messiah by the grandeur as well as by the number of His miracles."


Why does Christ add: “And blessed is he who scandalized in me?”

Christ used these words in reference to those who would be scandalized by His poverty, humility and ignominious death on the cross, and who for these reasons would doubt and despise Him, and cast Him away; though "man," as St. Gregory says, -owes all tin- more love to the Lord, his God, the more humiliations He has borne for him."


What was our Lord's object in the questions he asked concerning St. John?
His object was, to remove from St. John all suspicion of failing in faith in Him; and to praise the perseverance with which, although imprisoned and threatened with death, he continued to till his office of preacher, thus constituting him an example to all preachers, confessors and superiors, that they may never be deterred by human respect, or fear of man, or other temporal considerations, from courageously fulfilling their duties. Our Lord commended also rigorous penance, exhibited by St. John's coarse garments and simple food, that we may learn, from his example, penance and mortification.


Why does Christ say that John is "more than a prophet?"

Because St. John was foretold by the prophet Malachias as was no other prophet; because of all the prophets he was the only one who with his own eyes saw Christ and could point Him out, and was the one to baptize Him: and because like an angel, a messenger of God, he announced the coming of the Saviour, and prepared the way for the Lord.


How did St. John prepare the way for the Saviour?

By his sermons on penance, and by his own penitential life he endeavored to move the hearts of the Jews, that by amending their lives, they might prepare to receive the grace of the Messiah, for God will not come with His grace into our hearts if we do not prepare His way by true repentance.


ASPIRATION. O Lord Jesus, by the praise Thou didst accord to Thy forerunner St. John, for his firmness and austerities, inflame our hearts with love to imitate his steadfastness and penance, that we may never do anything to please man which may be displeasing to Thee; grant us also Thy grace that we too, like St. John, may have those who are confided to our care, instructed in the Christian doctrine.

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CONSOLATION IN SUFFERING.

“The God of patience and of comfort, the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing”. (Rom. XV. 5, 13.)

What gives us the greatest consolation in adversities?

THE strong and fervent belief that each and every thing that happens to us, comes to us for our own good from God, and that whatever evil befalls us, is by the will or permission of God. Good things and evil, life and death, poverty and riches, are from God. (Ecclus. XI. 14.) If we have received good things at the hand of God, (Job. II. 10.) saith the pious Job in his affliction, “why should we not receive evil?"

We should be of the full persuasion that without the permission of God not a single hair of our head shall perish, (Luke XXI. 18.) much less can any other evil be done to us by man or devil; (Job. I.) we should have a steadfast confidence that if we ask Him. God can and will assist us in our sufferings, if it be for our salvation. Can a woman forget her infant, so as not to have pity on the son of her womb? And if she should forget, yet will I forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee in my hands; (Isai. XLIX. 15, 16.) we should hope for abundant reward in the future life, which we will merit by patience in our sufferings, For that which is at present momentary and light of our tribulation, worketh us above measure exceedingly an eternal weight of glory; (II Cor. IV. 17.) we should remember that all complaints and murmurs against the dispensation of God useless, and lead only to harm and shame; Who hath resisted Him. and hath had peace? (Job. IX. 4.) we should have a vivid remembrance of our sins, for which we have long since deserved the eternal punishments of hell, — hence the well known saying of St. Augustine: O Lord here cut, here burn, but spare me in eternity. No other way leads to the kingdom of heaven than the way of the cross, which Christ Himself, His sorrowing mother, and all the saints had to tread. Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and so to enter into His glory? (Luke XXIV. 26.) Through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of God. (Acts XIV. 21.) And we should not forget that sorrows and adversities are signs of God's love, and manifest proofs of being His chosen ones. Whom the Lord loveth He chastiseth, and He scourgeth every son whom He receiveth. (Heb. XII. 6. comp. 7-11)


PRAYER IN SORROW. O almighty, kind, and merciful God! who hast said: "Call upon me in the day of trouble. I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me". (Ps. XLIX. 15.) behold relying upon Thy word. I take refuge in Thee in my trouble. Give honor to Thy name, therefore, and deliver me, if it be pleasing to Thee and beneficial for me, that all may know, Thou art our only help. Amen.

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Second Sunday of Advent

Taken from The Liturgical Year by Dom Prosper Guéranger  (1841-1875)

The Office of this Sunday is filled, from beginning to end, with the sentiments of hope and joy, with which the soul should be animated at the glad tidings of the speedy coming of Him who is her Savior and Spouse. The interior coming, that which is effected in the soul, is the almost exclusive object of the Church’s prayers for this day: let us therefore open our hearts, let us prepare our lamps, and wait in gladness that cry which will be heard in the midnight: Glory be to God! Peace unto men!

The Roman Church makes the Station today in the Basilica of Holy Cross-in-Jerusalem. It was in this venerable church that Constantine deposited a large piece of the True Cross, together with the Title which was fastened to it by Pilate’s order, and which proclaimed the Kingly character of the Savior of the world. These precious relics are still kept there; and, thus enriched with such a treasure, the Basilica of Holy Cross in Jerusalem is looked upon, in the Roman Liturgy, as Jerusalem itself, as is evident from the allusions made in the several Masses of the Stations held in that Basilica. In the language of the sacred Scriptures and of the Church, Jerusalem is the image of the faithful soul; and the Office and Mass of this Sunday have been drawn up on this idea, as the one of the day. We regret not to be able here to develop the sublime beauty of this figure; and must proceed at once to the passage which the Church has selected from the Prophet Isaias. There she tells her children how well-founded are her hopes in the merciful and peaceful reign of the Messias. But first let us adore this divine Messias:

Regem venturum Dominum, venite, adoremus. Come, let us adore the King, our Lord, who is to come.

From the Prophet Isaias.
Ch. xi.
And there shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise up out of his root. And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him: the spirit of wisdom, and of understanding, the spirit of counsel, and of fortitude, the spirit of knowledge, and of godliness. And he shall be filled with the spirit of the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge according to the sight of the eyes, nor reprove according to the hearing of the ears. But he shall judge the poor with justice, and shall reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: land he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked. And justice shall be the girdle of his loins: and faith the girdle of his reins. The wolf shall dwell with the lamb: and the leopard shall lie down with the kid: the calf and the lion, and the sheep shall abide together, and a little child shall lead them. The calf and the bear shall feed: their young ones shall rest together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp: and the weaned child shall thrust his hand into the den of the basilisk. They shall not hurt, nor shall they kill in all my holy mountain, for the earth is filled with the knowledge of the Lord, as the covering waters of the sea. In that day the root of Jesse, who standeth for an ensign of the people, him the Gentiles shall beseech, and his sepulchre shall be glorious.


How much is contained in these magnificent words of the Prophet! The Branch; the Flower that is to come from it; the Spirit which rests on this flower; the seven Gifts of this Spirit; peace and confidence established on the earth; and, throughout the world, one brotherhood in the kingdom of the Messias! St. Jerome, whose words are read by the Church in the lessons of the Second Nocturn of this Sunday, says:”That the Branch which cometh forth from the root of Jesse, is the Blessed Virgin Mary, who had contact with no shrub or plant; and that the Flower is the Lord Jesus, who says in the Canticle of Canticles: I am the Flower of the field, and the Lily of the valley.” In every age of the Christian Church, this wonderful Branch and its divine Flower have been objects of enthusiastic veneration. In the Middle Ages, the Tree of Jesse, with its prophetic branches, was carved on the cathedral porches, was painted on the windows, was embroidered on the hangings of the sanctuary, and the melodious voice of the priests sang its praises in the beautiful Responsory composed by Fulbert of Chartres, and put to music by the devout King Robert.

℟. Stirps Jesse virgam produxit, virgaque florem; * et super hunc florem requiescit Spiritus almus. ℟. The root of Jesse gave out a Branch, and the Branch a Flower; * and on the Flower resteth the Holy Spirit.

℣. Virgo Dei Genitrix virga est, flos filius ejus. * Et super hunc florem requiescit Spiritus almus. ℣. The Virgin Mother of God is the Branch, her Son the flower. * And on the flower resteth the holy Spirit.

The devout St. Bernard, commenting upon this responsory in his second Advent homily, says: “The Virgin’s Son is the flower, a flower white and ruddy, chosen out of thousands; a flower on whom the angels love to look; a flower whose fragrance restores the dead; a flower, as himself assures us, of the field, not of a garden: for the flowers of the field bloom without man’s care, no man has sown their seed, no man has cultivated them. Just so the Virgin’s womb, a meadow verdant in an endless spring, has brought forth a flower, whose beauty will never droop, whose freshness will never fade. O Virgin, branch sublime, to what a height art thou grown! Even up to Him that sitteth on the throne, even to the Lord of majesty. It was sure to be so, for thou castest deep down the roots of humility. O plant of heaven indeed! precious above all, holier than all. O tree of life indeed! alone worthy to bear the fruit of salvation.”

And of the holy Spirit and His gifts, what shall we say? They rest and are poured out on the Messias only to the end that they may flow from Him upon us. He needs them not; but we alone need wisdom and understanding, counsel and fortitude, knowledge and godliness, and fear of the Lord. Let us ask with instance for this divine Spirit, by whose operation Jesus was conceived and born in Mary’s womb, and let us beg of him to form Jesus within our hearts. But let us not forget to rejoice ad those other glorious things which are told us by the prophet of the happiness, and peace, and delights, which are to be on the holy mountain. The world has been looking so many ages for peace; it is now coming. Sin had caused enmity and division everywhere; grace will bring unity. A little Child will be the pledge of an alliance between all nations. The prophets have foretold it, the sibyl has announced it, and in Rome itself, buried as it is in paganism, the prince of Latin poets has sung the celebrated poem, which, after all, is but the voice of the old tradition: “The last age foretold by the Cumean Sibyl, is at hand; a new race is being sent down to earth from high heaven. The flock shall no more fear the fierce lions. The serpent shall be no more; the treacherous plant, which yielded poison, shall grow no more.”

Come, then, O Messias, and restore to the world its primitive peace; but remember, we beseech Thee, that it is in the heart of man that harmony has been broken more than elsewhere in Thy creation: cure this heart, enter into possession of this Jerusalem, which Thou lovest, though so unworthy: she has been too long captive in Babylon; lead her out of this strange land. Build up her temple again, and make the glory of this second temple to be greater than that of the first, by having Thee to dwell in it, not in figure, but in the reality of Thy adorable Person. The angel said to Mary: “The Lord God shall give unto thy Son the throne of David his father; and he shall reign in the house of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.” What can we do, O Jesus, but say with Thy beloved disciple, at the close of his prophecy: Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!

MASS

The holy sacrifice commences with a song of triumph, addressed to Jerusalem. This song expresses the joy which will fill the heart of man, when he shall hear the voice of his God. It extols the goodness of that divine Shepherd, who looks on each of our souls as a sheep most dear to Him, so dear, indeed, that He will feed it with His own flesh.

INTROIT
Populus Sion, ecce Dominus veniet ad salvandas gentes: et auditam faciet Dominus gloriam vocis suae in laetitia cordis vestri.
Ps. Qui regis Israel intende: qui deducis velut ovem, Joseph. V. Gloria Patri.

People of Sion, behold the Lord will come to save the Gentiles: and the Lord will make the glory of his voice heard to the joy of your hearts.
Ps. Give ear, O thou that rulest Israel: thou that leadest Joseph like a sheep. V. Glory be to the Father.


In the Collect, the priest lays stress on the great preparation we must make for the coming of our Saviour; we must have purity of heart.

COLLECT
Excita, Domine, corda nostra ad praeparandas Unigeniti tui vias: ut per ejus adventum, purificatis tibi mentibus servire mereamur. Qui tecum.

Stir up, O Lord, our hearts to prepare the ways of thy only-begotten Son: that by  his coming we may be enabled to serve thee with pure minds. Who liveth, &c.

The other Collects of the blessed Virgin, against the persecutors of the Church, and for the Pope, are the same as on the first Sunday in Advent.


EPISTLE
Lesson of the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Romans.Ch. xv.

Brethren, what things so-ever were written, were written for our learning: that through patience and the comfort of the Scriptures, we might have hope. Now the God of patience and of comfort grant you to be of one mind one towards another, according to Jesus Christ: that with one mind and with one mouth you may glorify God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Wherefore receive one another as Christ also hath received you unto the honour of God. For I say that Christ Jesus was minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers. But that the Gentiles are to glorify God for his mercy, as it is written: Therefore will I confess to thee, O Lord, among the Gentiles, and will sing to thy name. And again he saith: Rejoice ye Gentiles with his people. And again: Praise the Lord all ye Gentiles, and magnify him all ye people. And again Isaias saith: There shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise up to rule the Gentiles, in him the Gentiles shall hope. Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing: that you may abound in hope, and in the power of the Holy Ghost.

Here, Christians, is your instruction; be patient, be firm in hope, and you shall delight in the God of peace who is coming to you. But take heed, you must have cordial charity one for the other; it is the mark of the children of God. The prophet tells us that the Messias will make even wolf and lamb dwell together; and now we have the apostle showing us how this same Christ brings Jews and Gentiles into the one same family. Glory to this sovereign King, the powerful offspring of the root of Jesse, who now bids us hope in Him! Listen to the Church, she again tells us that He is about to show Himself in Jerusalem.

GRADUAL
Ex Sion species decoris ejus; Deus manifeste veniet.
V. Congregate illi sanctos ejus, qui ordinaverunt testamentum ejus super sacrificia.Alleluia, alleluia.
V. Laetatus sum in his quae dicta sunt mihi: in domum Domini ibimus. Alleluia.

He shall come in his comeliness and beauty from Sion: God will come visibly.
V. Gather to him his saints, who have set his covenant by sacrifice.Alleluia, alleluia.
V. I rejoiced at what was told me: we are to go up to the house of the Lord. Alleluia.

GOSPEL
Sequel of the holy Gospel according to Matthew.Ch. xi.

At that time: When John had heard in prison the works of Christ, sending two of his disciples, he said to him: Art thou he that art to come, or look we for another? And Jesus making answer, said to them: Go and relate to John what you have heard and seen. The blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead rise again, the poor have the Gospel preached to them: and blessed is he that shall not be scandalized in me. And when they went their way, Jesus began to say to the multitude, concerning John: What went you out into the desert to see? A reed shaken with the wind? But what went you out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Behold they that are clothed in soft garments are in the houses of kings. But what went you out to see? A prophet? Yea, I tell you, and more than a prophet. For this is he of whom it is written: Behold, I send my angel before thy face, who shall prepare thy way before thee.

Thou art He that was to come, O Jesus! We look for no other. We were blind, Thou hast enlightened us; we were lame, Thou hast made us walk; the leprosy of sin disfigured us, Thou hast cleansed us; we were deaf to Thy words, Thou hast given us hearing; we were dead in sin, Thou hast given us life again; we were poor and had none to care for us, Thou hast come to us with every aid and consolation. These have been, and will again be, the blessings of Thy visit to our souls, O Jesus! A visit, silent but wonderful in its work; which flesh and blood cannot understand, but which faithful hearts feel is granted them. Come, my Saviour, come to me, Thy condescension, and familiarity with such poverty as mine, shall not scandalize me; Thy workings in the souls of men are proof enough that Thou art God. He alone, that created souls, can heal them.
After the symbol of faith has been chanted, when you see the priest is about to make the offering of the bread and wine, unite with the Church in asking to be filled with life by the divine Guest, who is so soon to be with her.

OFFERTORY
Deus, tu convertens vivificabis nos, et plebs tua laetabitur in te: ostende nobis, Domine, misericordiam tuam, et salutare tuum da nobis.

Thou wilt turn, O God, to us, and bring us to life, and thy people shall rejoice in thee: show us, O Lord, thy mercy, and grant us thy salvation.

SECRET
Placare, quaesumus Domine, humilitatis nostrae precibus et hostiis: et ubi nulla suppetunt suffragia meritorum, tuis nobis succurre praesidiis. Per Dominum.

Be appeased, O Lord, we beseech thee, by our humble prayers and sacrifices: and although we allege no deserts on our part, grant us thy protection. Through, &c.

The other Secrets as on the first Sunday.


During the Communion, the voice of the Church is again heard, proclaiming the happiness which is to be granted to Jerusalem. Her God is coming to her, and He wishes to make her His bride. Let her prepare herself for this divine visit, and detach herself from everything which is not God, her God who is her Spouse.

COMMUNION

Jerusalem, surge, et sta in excelso: et vide jucunditatem, quae veniet tibi a Deo tuo.

Arise, O Jerusalem, and stand on high; and behold the joy that will come to thee from thy God.


In the following prayer the Church explains in what consists that high standing to which she has just invited Jerusalem: love of the things of heaven whence comes her Saviour, and contempt of earthly things which, when loved, separate man from God.

POSTCOMMUNION

Repleti cibo spiritualis alimoniae, supplices te, Domine, deprecamur, ut hujus participatione mysterii, doceas nos terrena despicere, et amare caelestia. Per Dominum.

Being filled, O Lord, with this spiritual food, we humbly beseech thee to teach us, by partaking of this mystery, to despise earthly things, and to love such as are heavenly. Through, &c.

The other Postcommunions as on the first Sunday.

VESPERS

1. ANT. Ecce in nubibus coeli Dominus veniet cum potestate magna, alleluia.
2. ANT. Urbs fortitudinis nostrae Sion, Salvator ponetur in ea murus et antemurale: aperite portas, quia nobiscum Deus, alleluia.
3. ANT. Ecce apparebit Dominus, et non mentietur: moram fecerit, exspecta eum, quia veniet, et non tardabit, alleluia.
4. ANT. Montes et collos cantabunt coram Deo laudem, et omnia ligna silvarum plaudent manibus, quoniam veniet dominator Dominus in regnum aeternum, alleluia, alleluia.
5. ANT. Ecce Dominus noster cum virtute veniet, et  illuminabit oculos servorum suorum, alleluia.

1. ANT. Behold the Lord will come in the clouds of heaven with great power, alleluia.
2. ANT. Sion is our strong city, the Saviour shall be its wall and bulwark: open the gates, for God is with us, alleluia.
3. ANT. Behold the Lord will appear, and will not deceive us: if he stay, expect him, for he will come, and will not delay, alleluia.
4. ANT. Mountains and hills shall sing forth praises before God, and all the trees of the forest shall clap their hands, because the Lord, the ruler, will come into his eternal kingdom, alleluia, alleluia.
5. ANT. Behold our Lord will come with power, and will enlighten the eyes of his servants, alleluia.

CAPITULUM

Fratres, quaecumque scripta sunt, ad nostram doctrinam scripta sunt: ut per patientiam et consolationem Scripturarum spem habeamus.

Brethren, what things soevor wore written, were written for our learning: that through patience and the comfort of the Scriptures we might have hope.


The hymn Creator alme siderum, the verse Rorate and the canticle Magnificat, are given above.

ANTIPHON OF THE MAGNIFICAT

Tu es qui venturus es, an alium exspectamus? Dicite Joanni quae vidistis: Ad lumen redeunt caeci, mortui resurgunt, pauperes evangelizantur, alleluia.OREMUS

Excita, Domine, corda nostra ad preparandas Unigeniti tui vias: ut per ejus adventum, purificatis tibi mentibus servire mereamur. Qui tecum vivit et regnat in saecula saeculorum.
R. Amen.

Art thou he that art to come, or look we for another? Tell John what you have seen: the blind see, the dead rise again, the poor have the Gospel preached unto them, alleluia.LET US PRAY

Stir up, O Lord, our hearts to prepare the ways of thy only-begotten Son: that by his coming we may be enabled to serve thee with pure minds; who liveth and reigneth with thee for ever and over.
R. Amen.

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THE ADVENT HOMILIES OF ST. THOMAS AQUINAS

Taken from here.

HOMILY III
THE TEACHING OF HOLY SCRIPTURE — No. I.

Second Sunday in Advent (From the Epistle)
"For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning."— Rom. xv. 4.

Tur Apostle has taught us on the preceding Sunday to arise from the dead; on this day he teaches us towards what we ought to arise, for the Scripture, which our heavenly Master has given for us, is to be studied and read. And the Lord as a good Master was the more solicitous to provide us with the best writings, that He might make us perfectly instructed. "Whatever things," He said, "were written, were written for our learning." But these writings are comprised in two books—that is to say, in the Book of Creation, and in the Book of Scripture. The first book has so many creations; it has just so many most perfect writings, which teach the truth without a lie; hence, when Aristotle was asked whence he had learnt so many and so great things, answered, "From the things themselves, which know not how to deceive." But they teach two things to be learned; and of the things which may be known four things are to be taught. First, that there is a God; secondly, that this God is one; thirdly, that this God is triune; and, fourthly, that He is the highest good. 

For the world teaches by itself that it is His work. Wis. xiii. 5, "For by the greatness of the beauty, and of the creature, the Creator of them may be seen, to be known thereby." Because they are one, and are preserved, in the same manner, they teach the unity of God; for, if there were many Gods, the world would have already been destroyed, since division is the cause of destruction. S. Matt. xii. 25, "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand." For all things exist by number, weight, and measure; or, according to S. Augustine, "On the 'Trinity by mode, by species, and by order; so that they teach a threefold Godhead." Wis. xi. 21, "Thou hast ordered all things in measure, number, and weight." Because all things are good, they teach that He is the highest goodness through Whom so many good things proceed. According to S. Augustine it is a great token of goodness that every creature conceives itself to be good; therefore, because God is good, so are we. About the actions to be done, in like manner, we are taught a fourfold lesson. God is to be obeyed, loved, feared, and praised. Of the first, we ought to obey God, for all things serve Him. Ps. cxlviii. 6, "He hath made a decree which shall not pass." Nothing among God's creatures does the Creator find to be disobedient, save the sinner and the devil. God teaches us to love Him by His benefits and gifts, which He shows to us daily. S. Augustine says that heaven and earth, and all things which are in them, on every side, say to me that I should love Thee; neither do they cease to say this by all things, that I may be inexcusable if I love Thee not. By pains and punishments they teach us to fear God. We see that all things are prepared to punish those that rebel against their Creator. Wis. xvi. 24, "For the creature serving Thee, the Creator, is made fierce against the unjust for their punishment: and abateth its strength for the benefit of them that trust in Thee." 

They teach us to praise God; for all things praise Him and invite us to His praising. St. Augustine says that it is wonderful that man does not always praise God, since every creature invites to the praising of Him; and this so plainly that all His creatures become as so many Scriptures of God, teaching us that there are four things to be known, as well as four commands to be performed.

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HOMILY IV
THE TEACHING OF HOLY SCRIPTURE — No. II.

Second Sunday in Advent (From the Epistle)
"For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning."— Rom. xv. 4.

As we have treated of above, there are two books which are written for our learning, the book of the Creation, which formed the subject of the former homily; and the book of Scripture, of which we have now to speak. This book teaches us two things—things good and things evil: the good, that we should perform them; the evil, that we should avoid them. There are three attributes which are taught us about the Good, precepts, counsels, and promises; for the Good is threefold, and it is both honest, and pleasant, and profitable. The precepts teach us honest good, because they teach the worship of the One God, and fairness of manners and of virtues which make the honest man.

In counsels there is the useful good. St. Matt. xix. 21, "If thou wilt be perfect go and sell that thou hast and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven." The delightful or joyous good flows from promises. St. John xvi. 22, "I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice.” Deut. iv. 1, "Hearken, O Israel, unto the Statutes and the judgments which I teach you that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers giveth you." Likewise, concerning the evil things there are three points to be noticed — prohibitions, dissuasions, and comminations, and they agree with the threefold nature of evil. There is the evil of deadly sin, of venial sin, and of the sin of eternal punishment. 

The prohibitions refer to the evil of deadly sin, "Neither shalt thou commit fornication,” &c., and so with regard to the other prohibitions. The dissuasions refer to venial sin, Eccles. xix. 1, "He that contemneth small things shall fall by little and little. Thou hast avoided grand things, be careful lest thou art overwhelmed in the sand." Comminations have respect to the evil of eternal punishment— Isa. lxvi. 24, "For their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched.” Rightly, therefore, does the Apostle say that whatever things were written in the book of Scripture were written for our instruction.

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HOMILY V
THE ADVENT OF JUSTICE. 

Second Sunday in Advent (From the Gospel)
"And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars.” S. Luke xv. 25.

We spoke in the Gospel of the preceding Sunday of the mercy of Our Lord's second coming; we will now treat of the justness of His Advent. It appertains to justice to punish the evil, and to reward the good; and therefore both these acts are treated of in this Gospel. The former in the words of the text, "And there shall be signs;" and the latter in the second part of this Gospel, "Look up, and lift up your heads, for your redemption draweth nigh.” About the punishment of the wicked, the Gospel shows that the Creator and the creature unite for their punishment. This creature, which meets together for the punishment of the wicked, is threefold — spiritual, corporeal, and composite. The spiritual creature is an angel; the composite creature is a man; the corporeal creature is twofold, superior and inferior —the former being the heavenly bodies, the latter being the elements. Therefore the Lord points out in this Gospel that the wicked receive punishment from Him, by angels, by heavenly bodies, and from themselves. Firstly, they shall see the Son of Man; secondly, the powers of heaven shall be shaken; thirdly, there will be signs in the sun, moon, and stars; fourthly, the sea and waves roaring; fifthly, men’s hearts failing them for fear. Of the first, it is known that in a threefold manner God will afflict the wicked: firstly, in awarding; secondly, in convicting; thirdly, in condemning. Of the first, "I have been naked;” of the second, "Since ye have not done it unto Me," &c.; of the least of these, &c.; of the third, "Depart from Me, ye wicked.” 

As in a three-fold manner the Son of Man afflicts the wicked, so do the angels also. In the first place by drawing the wicked to judgment; in the second place by separating them from the good; in the third place by consigning them to eternal fire. S. Matt. (xiii. 41, 42) speaks of this threefold office of the angels, "The Son of Man shall send forth His angels," &c. "They shall gather out of His kingdom," and so draw the wicked to judgment, since with their heavy bodies they cannot move so quickly as the angels. "All things that offend and them which do iniquity, and so they will separate the evil from the midst of the just.” "And shall cast them into & furnace of fire." So fulfilling the third office. The celestial body shall in the same way—in a threefold manner—afflict the wicked. In the first place, by frightening them with signs; in the second place, by afflicting them with darkness; in the third place, by discovering their wickedness. Of the first, there shall be signs in the sun, moon, and stars, Joel ii. 90, 81, "And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke;” of the second, S. Matt. xxiv. 29, "The sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light;" of the third, Job xx. 27, "The heavens shall reveal his iniquity.”

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Fr. Hewko's Sermons for the Second Sunday of Advent


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On the Advantages of Tribulations - Sermon for the Second Sunday of Advent
by St. Alphonsus Liguori

“Now when John had heard of the wonderful works of Christ,” etc. MATT. ix. 2.

IN tribulations God enriches his beloved souls with the greatest graces. Behold, St. John in his chains comes to the knowledge of the works of Jesus Christ:  “When John had heard in prison the works of Christ.” Great indeed are the advantages of tribulations. The Lord sends them to us, not because he wishes our misfortune, but because he desires our welfare. Hence, when they come upon us we must embrace them with thanksgiving, and must not only resign ourselves to the divine will, but must also rejoice that God treats us as he treated his Son Jesus Christ, whose life, upon this earth was always full of tribulation. I shall now show, in the first point, the advantages we derive from tribulations; and in the second, I shall point out the manner in which we ought to bear them.


First Point. On the Great Advantages We Derive From Tribulations.

1. “What doth he know that had not been tried? A man that hath much experience shall think of many things, and he that hath learned many things shall show forth understanding.” (Eccl. xxxiv. 9.) They who live in prosperity, and have no experience of adversity, know nothing of the state of their souls. In the first place, tribulation opens the eyes which prosperity had kept shut.  St. Paul remained blind after Jesus Christ appeared to him, and, during his blindness, he perceived the errors in which he lived. During his imprisonment in Babylon, King Manasses had recourse to God, was convinced of the malice of his sins, and id penance for them. “And after that he was in distress he prayed to the Lord his God, and did penance exceedingly before the God of his fathers.” (2 Paral. xxxiii. 12.) The prodigal, when he found himself under the necessity of feeding swine, and afflicted with hunger, exclaimed: “I will arise and go to my father.” (Luke xv. 18.) Secondly, tribulation takes from our hearts all affections to earthly things. When a mother wishes to wean her infant she puts gall on the paps, to excite his disgust, and induce him to take better food. God treats us in a similar manner: to detach us from temporal goods, he mingles them with gall, that by tasting its bitterness, we may conceive a dislike for them, and place our affections on the things of Heaven. “God,” says St. Augustine, “mingles bitterness with earthly pleasures, that we may seek another felicity, whose sweetness does not deceive.” (Ser. xxix., de Verb. Dom.)  Thirdly, they who live in prosperity are molested by many temptations of pride, of vain-glory; of desires of acquiring greater wealth, great honours, and greater pleasures. Tribulations free us from these temptations, and make us humble and content in the state in which the Lord has placed us. Hence the Apostle says: “We are chastised by the Lord that we may not be condemned with this world.” (1 Cor. xi. 32.)

2. Fourthly, by tribulation we atone for the sins we have committed much better than by voluntary works of penance. “Be assured,” says St. Augustine, “that God is a physician, and that tribulation is a salutary medicine. “Oh! how great is the efficacy of tribulation in healing the wounds caused by our sins! Hence, the same saint rebukes the sinner who complains of God for sending him tribulations. “Why,” he says, “do you complain? What you suffer is a remedy, not a punishment.” (In Ps. lv.) Job called those happy men whom God corrects by tribulation; because he heals them with the very hands with which he strikes and wounds them. “Blessed is the man whom God correcteth. . . . For he woundeth and cureth. He striketh, and his hand shall heal.” (Job v. 17, 18.) Hence, St. Paul gloried in his tribulations: “Gloriamur in tribulationibus.” (Rom. v. 3.)

3. Fifthly, by convincing us that God alone is able and willing to relieve us in our miseries, tribulations remind us of him, and compel us to have recourse to his mercy. ”In their affliction they will rise early to me.” (Osee vi. 1.) Hence, addressing the afflicted, the Lord said: “Come to me, all you that labour and are burdened, and I will refresh you.” (Matt. xi. 28.) Hence he is called “a helper in troubles.” (Ps. xlv. 1 .) “When,” says David,” he slew them, then they sought him, and they returned.” (Ps. lxxvii. 34.) When the Jews were afflicted, and were slain by their enemies, they remembered the Lord, and returned to him.

4. Sixthly, tribulations enable us to acquire great merits before God, by giving us opportunities of exercising the virtues of humility, of patience, and of resignation to the divine will. The venerable John d’Avila used to say, that a single blessed be God: in adversity, is worth more than a thousand acts in prosperity. “Take away,” says St. Ambrose, “the contests of the martyrs, and you have taken away their crowns.” (In Luc., c. iv.) Oh! what a treasure of merit is acquired by patiently bearing insults, poverty, and sickness! Insults from men were the great objects of the desires of the saints, who sought to be despised for the love of Jesus Christ, and thus to be made like unto him.

5. How great is the merit gained by bearing with the inconvenience of poverty. “My God and my all,” says St. Francis of Assisium: in expressing this sentiment, he enjoyed more of true riches than all the princes of the Earth. How truly has St. Teresa said, that “the less we have here, the more we shall enjoy hereafter.” Oh! how happy is the man who can say from his heart: My Jesus, thou alone art sufficient for me! If, says St. Chrysostom, you esteem yourself unhappy because you are poor, you are indeed miserable and deserving of tears; not because you are poor, but because, being poor, you do not embrace your poverty, and esteem yourself happy.” “Sane dignus es lachrymis ob hoc, quod miserum te extimas, non ideo quod pauper es.” (Serm, ii., Epis. ad Phil.)

6. By bearing patiently with the pains of sickness, a great, and perhaps the greater, part of the crown which is prepared for us in Heaven is completed. The sick sometimes complain that in sickness they can do nothing; but they err; for, in their infirmities they can do all things, by accepting their sufferings with peace and resignation. ”The Cross of Christ,” says St. Chrysostom, “is the key of Paradise.” (Com. in Luc. de vir.)

7. St. Francis de Sales used to say. ”To suffer constantly for Jesus is the science of the saints; we shall thus soon become saints.” It is by sufferings that God proves his servants, and finds them worthy of himself. “Deus tentavit es, et invenit eos dignos se.” (Wis. iii. 5) “Whom,” says St. Paul, “the Lord loveth, he chastiseth; and he scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.” (Heb. xii. 6.) Hence, Jesus Christ once said to St. Teresa: ”Be assured that the souls dearest to my Father are those who suffer the greatest afflictions.” Hence Job said: ”If we have received good things at the hand of God, why should we not receive evil ?” (Job. ii. 10.) If we have gladly received from God the goods of this Earth, why should we not receive more cheerfully tribulations, which are far more useful to us than worldly prosperity? St. Gregory informs us that, as flame fanned by the wind increases, so the soul is made perfect when she is oppressed by tribulations. ”Ignis flatu premitur, ut crescat.” (Ep. xxv.)

8. To holy souls the most severe afflictions are the temptations by which the Devil impels them to offend God: but they who bear these temptations with patience, and banish them by turning to God for help, shall acquire great merit. ”And,” says St. Paul, ”God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that which you are able, but will also make issue with the temptation that you may be able to bear it.” (1 Cor. x. 13.) God permits us to be molested by temptations, that, by banishing them, we may gain greater merit. ”Blessed,” says the Lord, ”are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. ”(Matt. v. 5.) They are blessed, because, according to the Apostle, our tribulations are momentary and very light, compared with the greatness of the glory which they shall obtain for us for eternity in Heaven. ”For that which is at present momentary and light of our tribulation, worketh for us above measure exceedingly an eternal weight of glory” (1 Cor. iv. 17.)

9. It is necessary, then, says St. Chrysostom, to bear tribulations in peace; for, if you accept them with resignation, you shall gain great merit; but if you submit to them with reluctance, you shall increase, instead of diminishing, your misery ”Si vero ægre feras, neque calamitatum minorem facies, et majorem reddes procellam” (Hom. Ixiv., ad Pop.) If we wish to be saved, we must submit to trials. ”Through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of God.” (Acts xiv. 21.) A great servant of God used to say, that Paradise is the place of the poor, of the persecuted, of the humble and afflicted. Hence St. Paul says: “Patience is necessary for you, that, doing the will of God, you may receive the promise.” (Heb. x. 36.) Speaking of the tribulations of the saints, St. Cyprian asks “What are they to the servants of God, whom Paradise invites?” (Ep, ad Demetr.) Is it much for those to whom the eternal goods of Heaven are promised, to embrace the short afflictions of this life?

10. In fine, the scourges of Heaven are sent not for our injury, but for our good. “Let us believe that these scourges of the Lord, with which, like servants, we are chastised, have happened for our amendment, and not for our destruction.” (Judith viii. 27.)”God,” says St. Augustine, “is angry when he does not scourge the sinner.” (In Ps. Ixxxix.) When we see a sinner in tribulation in this life, we may infer that God wishes to have mercy on him in the next, and that he exchanges eternal for temporal chastisement. But miserable the sinner whom the Lord does not punish in this life! For those whom he does not chastise here, he treasures up his wrath, and for them he reserves eternal chastisement.

11. ”Why,” asks the Prophet Jeremiah, “doth the way of the wicked prosper?” (xii. 1.) Why, Lord, do sinners prosper? To this the same prophet answers: “Gather them together as sheep for a sacrifice, and prepare them for the day of slaughter.” (Tb. v. 3.) As on the day of sacrifice the sheep intended for slaughter are gathered together, so the impious, as victims of divine wrath, are destined to eternal death. “Destine them,” says Du Hamel, in his commentary on this passage, “as victims of thy anger on the day of sacrifice.”

12. When, then, God sends us tribulations, let us say with Job: “I have sinned, and indeed I have offended, and I have not received what I have deserved.” (Job xxxiii. 27.) O Lord, my sins merit far greater chastisement than that which thou hast inflicted on me. We should even pray with St. Augustine, “Burn cut spare not in this life, that thou mayest spare for eternity.” How frightful is the chastisement of the sinner of whom the Lord says: “Let us have pity on the wicked, but he will not learn justice.” (Is. xxvi. 10.) Let us abstain from chastising the impious: as long as they remain in this life they will continue to live in sin, and shall thus be punished with eternal torments. On this passage St. Bernard says: “Misericordiam hanc nolo, super omnem iram miseratio ista.” (Serin, xlii., in Cant.) Lord, I do not wish for such mercy, which is a chastisement that surpasses all chastisements.

13. The man whom the Lord afflicts in this life has a certain proof that he is dear to God. ”And,” said the angel to Tobias, “because thou wast acceptable to God, it was necessary that temptations should prove thee.” (Tob. xii. 13.) Hence, St. James pronounces blessed the man who is afflicted: because after he shall have been proved by tribulation, he will receive the crown of life.” (Jam. i. 12.)

14. He who wishes to share in the glory of the saints, must suffer in this life as the saints have suffered. None of the saints has been esteemed or treated well by the world all of them have been despised and persecuted. In them have been verified the words of the Apostle: “All that will live godly in Christ Jesus, shall suffer persecution.” (2 Tim. iii. 12.) Hence St. Augustine said, that they who are unwilling to suffer persecutions, have not as yet begun to be Christians. “Si putas non habere persecutiones, nondum cæpisti esse Christianus.” (In Ps. Iv.) “When we are in tribulation, let us be satisfied with the consolation of knowing that the Lord is then near us and in our company. “The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a contrite heart.” (Ps. xxxiii. 19.)”I am with him in tribulation.” (Ps. xc. 15.)


Second Point. On the Manner In Which We Whould Bear Tribulations.

15. He who suffers tribulations in this world should, in the first place, abandon sin, and endeavour to recover the grace of God; for as long as he remains in sin, the merit of all his sufferings is lost. “If,” says St. Paul, “I should deliver my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.” (1 Cor. xiii. 3.) If you suffered all the torments of the martyrs; or bore to be burned alive, and were not in the state of grace, it would profit you nothing.

16. But, to those who can suffer with God, and with resignation for God’s sake, all the tribulations shall be a source of comfort and gladness. ”Your sorrow shall be turned into joy.” (John xvi. 20.) Hence, after having been insulted and beaten by the Jews, the apostles departed from the council full of joy, because they had been maltreated for the love of Jesus Christ. ”And they indeed went from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were accounted worthy to suffer reproach for the name of Jesus.” (Acts v. 41.) Hence, when God visits us with any tribulations, we must say with Jesus Christ: “The chalice which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?” (John xviii. 11.) It is necessary to know that every tribulation, though it may come from men, is sent to us by God.

17. When we are surrounded on all sides with tribulations, and know not what to do, we must turn to God, who alone can console us. Thus King Josaphat, in his distress, said to the Lord: “As we know not what to do, we can only turn our eyes to thee.” (2 Par. xx. 12.) Thus David also in his tribulation had recourse to God, and God consoled him: “In my trouble I cried to the Lord, and he heard me.” (Ps. cxix. 1.) We should turn to God, and pray to him, and never cease to pray till he hears us. “As the eyes of the handmaid are on the hands of her mistress, so are our eyes unto the Lord our God, until he have mercy on us.” (Ps. cxxii. 2.) We must keep our eyes continually raised to God, and must continue to implore his aid, until he is moved to compassion for our miseries. We must have great confidence in the heart of Jesus Christ, and ought not to imitate certain persons, who instantly lose courage because they do not feel that they are heard as soon as they begin to pray. To them may be applied the words of the Saviour to St. Peter: “0 thou of little faith! why didst thou doubt?” (Matt. xiv. 31.) When the favours which we ask are spiritual, or can be profitable to our souls, we should be certain of being heard, provided we persevere in prayer, and do not lose confidence. ”All things whatsoever you ask when ye pray, believe that you shall receive, and they shall come unto you.” (Mark xi. 24.) In tribulations, then, we should never cease to hope with confidence that the divine mercy will console us; and if our afflictions continue, we must say with Job: “Although he should kill me, I will trust in him.” (xiii. 15.)

18. Souls of little faith, instead of turning to God in their tribulations, have recourse to human means, and thus provoke God’s anger, and remain in their miseries. “Unless the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it. Unless the Lord keep the city, he watcheth in vain that keepeth it.” (Ps. cxxvi. 1.) On this passage St. Augustine writes: “Ipse ædificat, ipse intellectum aperit, ipse ad finem applicat sensum vestrum: et tamen laboramus et nos tanquam operarii, sed nisi Dominus custodierit civitatem,” etc. All good all help must come from the Lord. Without him creatures can give us no assistance.

19. Of this the Lord complains by the mouth of his prophet: “Is not,” he says, “the Lord in Sion? . . .Why then have they provoked me to wrath with their idols. . . Is there no balm in Galaad? or is there no physician there? Why then is not the wound of the daughter of my people closed?” (Jer. viii. 19, 22.) Am I not in Sion? Why then do men provoke me to anger by recurring to creatures, which they convert into idols by placing in them all their hopes? Do they seek a remedy for their miseries? Why do they not seek it in Galaad, a mountain full of balsamic ointments, which signify the divine mercy? There they can find the physician and the remedy of all their evils. Why then, says the Lord, do your wounds remain open? Why are they not healed? It is because you have recourse not to me, but to creatures, and because you confide in them, and not in me.

20. In another place the Lord says: “Am I become a wilderness to Israel, or a late ward springing land? Why then have my people said: We are revolted; we will come to thee no more ?. .But my people have forgotten me days without number.” (Jer. ii. 31, 32.) God complains, and says: “Why, my children, do you say that you will have recourse to me no more? Am I become to you a barren land, which gives no fruit, or gives it too late? Is it for this reason that you have so long forgotten me? By these words he manifests to us his desire that we pray to him, in order that he may be able to give us his graces; and he also gives us to understand that when we pray to him, he is not slow, but instantly begins to assist us.

21. The Lord, says David, is not asleep when we turn to his goodness, and ask the graces which are profitable to our souls: he hears us immediately, because he is anxious for our welfare. “Behold, he shall neither slumber nor sleep that keepeth Israel.” (Ps. cxx. 4.) When we pray for temporal favours, St. Bernard says that God “will give what we ask, or something more useful.” He will grant us the grace which we desire, whenever it is profitable to our souls; or he will give us a more useful grace, such as the grace to resign ourselves to the divine will, and to suffer with patience our tribulations, which shall merit a great increase of glory in Heaven.

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The Second Sunday in Advent
by Fr. Francis Xavier Weninger, 1877



"Art thou he that art to come, or do we look for another?"--Matt. 11, 3.

A Person roused from sound slumber whilst darkness still envelops the earth, is unable to say what hour it is of the night. But if his wandering gaze discover through the casement the rosy tinge of early dawn, he knows well that day is at hand. And if the rays of the sun fall upon his couch, and brightness fill the chamber, he pauses not to ask: Art thou the sun, or shall we wait for another? It is day!

Day dawns for the soul when Christ approaches; Holy Writ calls Him "the Sun." He Himself says that He is "the Light of the World." Let us consider today this office of Jesus Christ as the Sun and the Light of the world in connection with a threefold night and a threefold day. The threefold night to which I refer is: the night of sin the night of death and the night of the grave. He who changes this night into day is:

Christ, the Sun--on the day of conversion--at the hour of death and on the day of judgment.

When Christ, the Sun, shines and diffuses His light in this threefold night, then the soul that loves Him does not ask: Is it Thou? but she exultingly cries: It is Thou!

Mary, thou Dawn of Morning on the firmament of salvation, pray for us, that the light of day illumine our souls, through Jesus Christ our Lord! I speak in the most holy name of Jesus, to the greater glory of God!

Sin is a state of spiritual night. The sinner lives in darkness, and his deeds are deeds of darkness. But as soon as a true conversion of heart opens the way for Jesus into the benighted soul, the shadows of spiritual darkness vanish, and light diffuses there its glowing splendor. It suddenly becomes day; the soul begins to know herself, to understand the wretchedness of her former existence, and to see what is meant by a change of heart, a permanent one, such as the Lord demands of her.

She can hardly conceive how it was possible that she, a child of the Church, in the midst of a flood of light, could live in such blindness; how it was possible that, having been instructed in the faith from her youth, and having it before her eyes in its eternal greatness, she looked upon it as a thing of no consequence, and esteemed it so little. How is it possible that she lived without fear in so many and so great dangers--yes, even sought temptations and dallied with them--that professing a belief in hell, she continued to live in sin, not concerned, that at any moment, by a sudden death, she might sink into the eternal flames of hell, if God withdrew His merciful hand?

The meaning of the words of Christ: "What does it profit a man if he gain the whole world, and lose his soul," becomes all at once clear to the repenting sin ner; he sees how vain is all striving and seeking after fortune, honor, and pleasure, with which the children of the world endeavor to satisfy the cravings of their hearts.

The scales fall from his eyes. He determines to follow Christ and to tread the path that leads to salvation. He looks upon his model and hears His assurance: "It is I!" Yea, it is He. It was He alone, the Light of the world, who could awaken and enlighten a soul that had slept and dreamed so many years in the night and darkness of sin.

Jesus, it is Thou! I follow Thee! What man, who after having led the life of a sinner, and become truly converted to God, will not acknowledge the truth of my words?

But now, Christian, put the question to yourself: Are you truly converted? Have you not lived, perhaps for many a long year, in the state of sin? Have you, blinded by the allurements and false light of this world, forgotten heaven for earth, and with the eternal truths of the Gospel ringing in your ears, been solicitous only to enjoy the goods, honors, and pleasures of this life? Happy are you, indeed, if day has already dawned on you! In gratitude for this priceless gift of conversion, walk henceforward as a child of light and practise, with redoubled zeal, the works of grace. Preserve yourself from all dangers of a relapse, for, the night into which you would then sink would be still darker and more baneful, as Christ himself warns you: "The last state shall be worse than the first." Experience teaches us the truth of these words in regard to relapsing sinners.

The second night which Christ, the resplendent Sun of the world, changes into noon-day, is the sad night of death.

Good reason have we to speak of that night. The dying do not see though their eyes are open; their pupils do not move, even though the light falls upon them. Thus veiled with the darkness of night is also the eye of their mind. They do not know all that the word "dying" implies, nor what follows that dread ordeal; horrible darkness and fearful gloom encompass them.

But how the night changes into day when Christ comes! Even the sinner then sees his soul by an unwonted light. The deeper the shadows of death gather on his mortal eyes, the clearer he recognizes the vanities of the world, the folly of his life, the thoughtlessness and frivolity with which he has wasted the precious hours. He sees now better than ever before the greatness and multitude of his sins. Christ approaches, daylight breaks upon his soul but only to reveal the horror of his state.

How differently does Christ, the Sun, brighten the night of death for the just, whose light He has been upon the path of life. Listen to what is told of the death of a saintly hermit.

As he lay upon his death-bed, surrounded by a number of other hermits who wished to witness his happy release, his face suddenly shone with a strange light, and he said softly: "Behold the choir of Patriarchs comes to meet me." After a little while he spoke again: "Behold the choir of Prophets comes," and a still brighter light rested on his countenance. Not long after he said with tremulous joy: "The Apostles of Christ are here, and wish to take me with them." When he again moved his lips, and they asked him to whom he was speaking, he replied: "The angels are here and invite me to go with them; but I have begged them to leave me a little longer here below that I may do penance." One of the elder hermits said to him: "Holy father, you need do no more penance." And lo! the face of the dying man beamed still brighter, and saying exultingly: "Behold, Christ comes!" he gave up his soul unto the Lord at the dawn of eternal day.

Yes, if Christ during our life has been the Sun in whose light we have been walking, then He will also change the night of our death into a day of consolation.

The third night is the night of the grave. A well- known Easter hymn says:

"Short is for me the dismal night, Until the angel calls: 'T is light!"

That the stillness of the grave resembles the night, needs no illustration, nor that day everlasting dawns when the trumpet of the angel sounds, and Christ, the Sun, appears as our Judge, and a supernatural light illuminates the book of conscience of angels and of men.

But how different on that day is the effect of that light! "Ye mountains! fall upon us, and ye hills, cover us! "Thus at the left of the judgment-seat of Christ, the all-knowing Judge, the reprobate will cry in shame and despair.

But what happiness will fill the just at His right hand, when their virtues and their victories are revealed to the whole world, and they enter with the children of God into the kingdom of eternal reward, that kingdom, whose day knows no evening, and where Christ, the Sun, shines in everlasting glory! Amen!

"Go and relate to John what you have heard and seen."--Matt. 11, 4.

By the fall of Adam the whole human family lost its right to heaven, the end and aim of that supernatural life to which we had been raised in the person of our head. But in the designs of God we were all to be redeemed through the merits of the Word made flesh, and have all our sins forgiven, yea, all our sins. Not only were we supplied with a remedy against original sin in the laver of baptism, but we were also put in a condition to have subsequent actual sins blotted out through the merits of our Saviour, if we would but return to God, and use the means that Christ left in charge of His Church for the remission of sin. Whoever departs from this life in the state of sanctifying grace, which is always bestowed when sins are forgiven, enters heaven a fully redeemed soul.

It is a great pity that few preserve the grace of baptism till the end of their lives, and a still greater pity that many, who have had the misfortune to offend God by personal sin after baptism, do not receive the Sacrament of penance worthily. Their reconciliation with God is only a deception. They confess, and remain what they were before confession--sinners. They promise with their mouths, but how soon after confession one could ask: Is it you, who was lately converted? The promise of a reform made to the minister of Christ in the confessional was only self-delusion. Your confession has not healed your soul, it was only a new sacrilege.

The question is, therefore: What is the surest sign of a good confession, and of a true reconciliation with God? I reply: The words of Christ in today's Gospel point it out: "Relate to John: the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead rise again."

Let us, therefore, consider the spiritual significance of these miracles as tokens and evidences of a true conversion and reconciliation with God.

Mary, Mother of mercy, refuge of sinners, pray that God may grant us the grace of a worthy confession, and that by our reformed life we may prove our reconciliation to God! I speak in the most holy name of Jesus, to the greater glory of God!

Relate to John: "The blind see" The sinner passes his days in blindness. Christ on the cross prayed for sinners, saying: "Father, they know not what they do." This is the case, especially, of the Christian sinner. He becomes blind. He believes all that faith teaches him concerning his end and destiny and the path of salvation; about the horror of sin, the dangers of delay, the last judgment, and the eternal consequences of sin and still he is, in effect, blind to these truths. He gazes upon them all with the eyes of his mind, but they have no influence on him; it is as if he saw them not at all. But how different it is when, by a true conversion to God, the scales fall from his eyes! Then how distinctly he sees all these truths in their eternal grandeur! He can not understand how the transparent wiles of Satan could so delude him that, with faith in his heart, he yet lived year after year in sin.

Now he sees the presumption and folly of his sinful life. Now he sees the path of salvation clearly, and understands what he has to do to save his soul and live a life pleasing to God. The blind--they see!

Is that the case with you, converted sinner? If so, thank God; you have made a worthy confession.

Relate to John: "The deaf hear." God continually calls on the sinner to do penance and reform. He admonishes him by His own word, and by the exhortation and example of his brethren. He reproves and warns him by accidents, by death, by misfortunes of various kinds, and by interior enlightenment and inspiration. But the sinner, clinging to his passions, remains deaf. All these admonitions reach the ear of his mind to as little purpose as if he did not hear them at all. Let a preacher or confessor speak to him ever so impressively, the words do not enter his heart.

How different, on the contrary, are the feelings of him who at last opens his heart to the call of grace urging him to conversion and penitence! The exhortation of the priest finds a ready entrance to his soul; he heeds the admonition and advice of the minister of God.

Now he who formerly was deaf to the thunder of the divine threats, becomes conscious of the soft voice of heavenly inspirations which invite him to purchase back by zeal in the practice of virtue that time, which he lost and wasted by his former sinful life. The deaf hear!

Converted sinner! is that your case? Have you been deaf? Have you confessed and opened the ear of your heart? Do you now hear the inspirations of the Holy Ghost, who invites you to perfect yourself in Christian justice? You hear? Thank God that you have confessed worthily.

Relate to John: "The lame walk" The sinner, who confesses either from habit or because he has no choice in the matter remains lame.

His confessor, no doubt, instructs him on the means which he must employ not to offend God and to grow daily in virtue; the sinner, however, not really anxious to be converted, listens, promises to fulfill the duties of his station as a zealous Christian but does not fulfill his promise. After confession he does not say his morning or evening prayers more frequently; he neglects, as before, to hear mass; he does not receive the holy Sacraments oftener than formerly; he does not have an eye to the conduct of his children, or of those whom God has placed in his charge. He remains lame!

But how differently does he live who has been truly converted! He commences an entirely different life, and becomes an example to others by the solicitude he evinces to save his soul. The lame walk!

Converted sinner! is that your case? Have you been lame, and can you now after your confession say: "The charity of Christ presseth me?" (2 Cor. 5, 14). Can you now affirm: Lord, since I have made peace with Thee, "I have gone the ways of Thy law." If so, give thanks to God; thou hast, without doubt, made a worthy confession.

Relate to John: "The dead rise again, the lepers are cleansed, the poor have the gospel preached to them." Were you spiritually dead through mortal sin? Have you arisen? Have you never since you made a general confession grievously offended God? Has it really been your earnest endeavor to preserve yourself from the stains of venial sins? Are you cleansed from the leprosy of entirely voluntary imperfections? And you, who in bygone days gave scandal through your sinful conduct, are you now the good odor of the Lord, to the edification of all those around you? and do you endeavor to convert and sanctify them?--Give thanks to God for, you have confessed worthily.

We can, with right, apply the words of David to such a conversion: "This is the change of the right hand of the Most High" (Ps. 76, 11). These effects are moral miracles, not less wonderful than the sudden healing of bodily diseases. Rather they are still more admirable. St. Augustine is right when he says, that the conversion of a sinner is a greater miracle than that recorded in Genesis: "God said: Let there be light! and there was light."

Nothingness could not oppose Omnipotence. The will of man could, for God made him free. In the creation of the world the will of God alone acted, but in the conversion of a sinner it is necessary that a human will co-operate. This becomes still clearer when we compare, as we have done, the cure of physical and spiritual blindness, deafness and lameness.

It is for this reason that, after a conversion, we hear people say: I never should have believed that this person would be converted; it is a miracle! And so it is. These miracles are the fruits of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, and will bear testimony to the divinity of His mission until the end of time. Amen !

"What went you out to see? A reed shaken with the wind?"--Matt. 11, 7.

As today's Gospel testifies, Christ was asked a question: "Art thou He?" But He, in turn, put questions to His interlocutors, His first question being: "What went you out to see? A reed shaken with the wind?"

A reed is, as the words of Christ Himself imply, the emblem of inconstancy and thoughtlessness. How important this question of Christ is to each of us! The answer which Christ sent by the disciples of John to their master signified, that He was really the promised Messiah, who had come to save mankind. Now, what can be the principal cause that the fruit of His redemption is lost even to many who, cleansed from their sins in baptism, have become children of the Church; or to those who, having sinned as children of the Church, have regained the state of sanctifying grace?

I answer: Man's instability of purpose and faithlessness in keeping his promises. There are in this regard, especially, four different classes of moral reeds. What these are is the question which I shall answer today.

O Mary, thou who didst stand under the Cross, and didst crush the serpent's head; brave woman, whom the Holy Ghost called blessed, obtain for us the constancy of true children of God! I speak in the most holy name of Jesus, to the greater glory of God !

The Gospel narrative of today exemplifies, in the many questions recorded, a remarkable trait of our nature. Man is instinctively given to questioning, and to seek for information, even concerning things that have for him no special interest. Children exhibit this propensity in a wonderful degree. No sooner do they commence to talk than the process of questioning is begun: "Father--mother, what is that? For what is this used?" How often have you yourself, from the days of your childhood, interrogated others? There is only one question man seldom asks himself with due earnestness, and it is the most momentous of all, namely: "Who am I? How do I live? What will become of me?"

Men often reach an advanced age, say of seventy or eighty years; they have, in the course of their lives, asked numberless questions; they have become learned men, renowned politicians, great statesmen, influential merchants, and yet leave this world without having ever put to themselves that important question: Who am I?

A Christian, especially, should ask himself over and over again: In what state is my soul? Am I, perhaps, a reed? Am I constant in the service of God?

As I said before, thoughtlessness and inconstancy are the cause why so many of those who once lived in the state of grace have abandoned the path of salvation, and are lost. An emblem of this was the reed with which Christ, scourged and crowned with thorns, appeared before the people on Good Friday. Had not this same people who then filled the air with shouts of: "Crucify Him, crucify Him!" gone out six days before to meet Him, crying: "Hosanna! blessed is He who cometh!"

Should any one ask me: In comparing to reeds the different characters of men and their way of living, how many classes might be enumerated? I would answer: There are chiefly four: the impenitent--the relapsing--the light-minded--the despondent. To all of these the words of the Wise Man are addressed: "Winnow not with every wind, and go not into every way" (Eccles. 5, 11).

I say that the first class of these reeds is composed of impenitent sinners. Even these are sometimes moved. They feel the need of conversion, particularly when a death among their relations or friends occurs, or when they themselves are dangerously ill, or when they see their companions in sin awakened by the grace of God and converted.

If they still visit the church, they are sometimes moved by a powerful sermon. Perhaps, even at this moment, such reeds are before me; they are resolving within themselves, to change their sinful life; and yet, they scarcely will have left the church, when another wind will blow, and then, instead of finishing their conversion by a thorough confession, they will allow themselves to be deluded by their companions, and will commit, even today, another mortal sin.

Impenitent sinner! you who are here before my eyes! lay your hand upon your heart and ask yourself whether I am right. Have you not more than once said to yourself: I will change my life, else I am lost for all eternity? You were, perhaps, already half-way to the church. Yes, many a one even stands before the confessional, but, losing patience at waiting so long, he leaves the church, postpones his confession, and remains, what he was--a sinner!

The wind that turns this reed, is the wind of a worldly spirit, pressure of business, the example of others, the society of his equals, the thought: I will do it later, I am young yet, a man can always be converted. He does not think of the continually growing power of passion, that sins have their measure, that God can forsake us and withdraw grace from us. He hopes to live for a long time yet, and lo! suddenly death breaks the reed; the sinner dies and is lost.

The second class of reeds are the relapsing sinners. The sinner, we suppose, carries into effect his resolution-- he goes to confession--he confesses worthily and is reconciled to God. But how fares it with his constancy? Alas! numberless are the relapsing sin ners! How few Christians would be lost if, after confession, they did not fall again into mortal sin! The wind that turns these reeds, is the wind of temptations and of occasions to commit sin, which they do not avoid because they think themselves strong. It is carelessness in resisting temptation at the very first moment, and in not making use of the armor which the Apostle recommends in order that we may conquer in the struggle against the enemies of salvation: the world, the flesh and hell.

Christ, as a warning to these reeds, said: "The evil spirit compelled to leave one dwelling, retires into the wilderness." This means: he leaves the sinner for a short time in peace; for he knows that the sinner, in his new zeal, would withstand every temptation. But after a time he returns, bringing along seven worse spirits than himself, and endeavors to find an entrance into his former dwelling; and should he succeed, then is the last state worse than the first.

The third class of reeds are the light-minded, who, though they take good care not to commit mortal sin, are full of good intentions; yes, they are even determined to walk in the path of sanctity, but remain nevertheless the same imperfect beings, soiled with number less voluntary venial sins.

In fact, instead of going onward, they retrograde in the path of sanctity and become more and more negligent. The wind that turns these reeds, is the wind of carelessness and imprudence, especially in their intercourse with people? who are animated more by the spirit of the world than the spirit of piety--the wind of frivolity, which makes them shorten and slur over their prayers, neglect the frequent reception of the sacraments, immerse their whole souls in worldly interests, and rush heedlessly into amusement and dissipation.

The fourth class of reeds are the despondent, who, from want of trust in God, make resolutions only to break them. The wind which turn these reeds hither and thither are the numberless scruples and doubts with which the evil spirit tortures and deludes them. Such reeds are also in danger of being broken by the pressure of despair.

God grant us grace that we may not belong to any of these reeds, but may walk before the Lord with the determination and faithfulness of St. John! Amen!

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A reminder ....