Dom Guéranger: Second Week of Advent

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Second Week of Advent

From THE LITURGICAL YEAR by Dom Prosper Gueranger

MONDAY OF THE SECOND WEEK OF ADVENT
Regem venturum Dominum, venite, adoremus. Come, let us adore the King our Lord, who is to come.

De Isaia Propheta.

Cap. xiii.
Onus Babylonis, quod vidit Isaias, filius Amos. Super montem caliginosum levate signum : exaltate vocem, levate manum, et ingrediantur portas duces. Ego mandavi sanctificatis meis, et vocavi fortes meos in ira mea, exsultantes in gloria mea. Vox multitudinis in montibus, quasi populorum frequentium; vox sonitus regum, gentium congregatarum. Dominus exercituum praecepit militiae belli, venientibus de terra procul, a summitate caeli; Dominus, et vasa furoris ejus, ut disperdat omnem terram.

Ululate, quia prope est dies Domini; quasi vastitas a Domino veniet. Propter hoc omnes manus dissolventur, et omne cor hominis contabescet, et conteretur. Torsiones et dolores tenebunt; quasi parturiens dolebunt : unusquisque ad proximum suum stupebit, facies combustae vultus eorum. Ecce dies Domini veniet, crudelis, et indignationis plenus, et irae, furorisque, ad ponendam terram in solitudinem, et peccatores ejus conterendos de ea. Quoniam stellae caeli, et splendor earum, non expandent lumen suum; obtenebratus est sol in ortu suo, et luna non splendebit in lumine suo.

Et visitabo super orbis mala, et contra impios iniquitatem eorum; et quiscere faciam superbiam infidelium, et arrogantiam fortium humiliabo.


From the Prophet Isaias.
Ch. xiii.
The burden of Babylon, which Isaias the son of Amos saw. Upon the dark mountain lift ye up a banner, exalt the voice, lift up the hand, and let the rulers go into the gates. I have commanded my sanctified ones, and have called my strong ones in my wrath, them that rejoice in my glory. The noise of a multitude in the mountains, as it were of many people, the noise of the sound of kings, of nations gathered together: the Lord of hosts hath given charge to the troops of war. To them that come from a country afar off, from the end of heaven: the Lord and the instruments of his wrath, to destroy the whole land.

Howl ye, for the day of the Lord is near: it shall come as a destruction from the Lord. Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every heart of man shall melt, And shall be broken. Gripings and pains shall take hold of them, they shall be in pain as a woman in labour. Every one shall be amazed at his neighbour, their countenances shall be as faces burnt. Behold, the day of the Lord shall come, a cruel day, and full of indignation, and of wrath, and fury, to lay the land desolate, and to destroy the sinners thereof out of it. For the stars of heaven, and their brightness shall not display their light: the sun shall be darkened in his rising, and the moon shall not shine with her light.

And I will visit the evils of the world, and against the wicked for their iniquity: and I will make the pride of infidels to cease, and will bring down the arrogancy of the mighty.

The Church puts before us to-day, the terrible spectacle of the last coming of Jesus Christ. The sinful Babylon, of which Isaias speaks, is the world grown old in its crimes; the cruel day, full of indignation and wrath,is that on which the Messias will return to judge the world, with His sign glittering in the clouds. The words used by the prophet to describe the terror of the inhabitants of Babylon are so expressive, that it is difficult to meditate upon them seriously and not tremble. You, then, who, in this second week of preparation for the birth of our Saviour, are still wavering and undecided as to what you intend to do for the day of His coming, reflect upon the connection that there is between the two comings. If you receive your Saviour in the first, you need be in no fear for the second; but if you despise the first, the second will be to your destruction, nor will the cries of your despair save you. The Judge will come on a sudden, at midnight, at the very time when you persuade yourself that He is far from you.

Say not that the end of the world is not yet come, and that the destinies of the human race are not filled up: it is not the world that is here in question, it is you individually. True the day of the Lord will be terrible, when this world shall be broken up as a vessel of clay, and the remnants of creation shall be a prey to devouring flames; but long before that day of universal terror, your own day of judgment will come. The inexorable Judge will come to you, you will stand before His face, you will have none to defend you, and the sentence He will pass will be eternal; and though the nature of that sentence, whether for or against you, will not be known to the rest of the world until the last and general judgment, still is this His coming to you, at your own judgment, terrible above measure. Remember, therefore, that what will make the terrorof the last day so great is, that then will be solemnly and publicly confirmed what was judged irrevocably, though secretly, between your own soul and her judge; just as the favourable sentence, which the good receive at the happy moment of their death, will be repeated before the immense assembly of men and angels on the last day. Is it wise, then, Christians, to put off your conversion, on the plea of the day of the Lord not having to come for ages, when it might be this night that your soul were required of you? (Luke xii,20) The Lord is coming: lose no time; prepare to meet Him; a humble and contrite and converted heart is sure to find acceptance.

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CANTICLE OF THE LAST JUDGMENT

(It is an interpolation of appropriate sentences into the Responsory Libera: it was occasionally so sung in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries)

R. Deliver me, O Lord, from eternal death, on that dread day;
* When heaven and earth are to be moved;
* When thou shalt come to judge the world by fire.

V. The Angels and Archangels shall fear; but the impious, where shall they be?
* When heaven and earth are to be moved.

V. What, therefore, shall I wretched sinner say? or what shall I do? who can take no good before so great a Judge,
* When thou shalt come to judge the world by fire.

V. The just shall scarce be saved: and I a sinner, where shall I appear?
* When heaven and earth are to be moved.

V. O Light eternal, deliver me from darkness, lest I fall into the dismal fire of torment;
* When thou shalt come to judge the world by fire.

V. All the tribes of the earth shall mourn;
* When heaven and earth are to be moved.

V. And then a voice from heaven: Arise ye dead that sleep in your graves, and come to the judgment of Jesus;
* When thou shalt come to judge the world by fire.

V. Praise the Lord, O my soul! I will praise the Lord, while I live; and in the flesh, I shall see God;
* When thou shalt come to judge the world by fire.

V. When God the Son of the Virgin, shall come to judge the world, he will say to the just on his right hand: Come my beloved children, I have prepared a kingdom to be given unto you. O happy word! happy promise! Happy Giver! and happy gift!
* When heaven and earth are to be moved.

V. After this, he will say to them that are on his left: I know you not, ye workers of iniquity: the glory of the world deceived you; go to that deep abyss with the devil and his ministers. O what grief! what sadness! what wailing! what weeping!
* When thou shalt come to judge the world by fire.

V. Even now the King is preparing for his judgment; the day, the terrible beyond all thought, is at hand, and who will be our refuge? The Virgin Mother, the hope of all. May she pray to her Son for us! O Jesus, our King, hear, we beseech thee, our prayers, and we shall be saved;
* When heaven and earth are to be moved.

V. O God, the Creator of all things, who hast formed me from the slime of the earth, and hast wonderfully redeemed me by thine own Blood, and on the day of judgment wilt make this my now corruptible body to rise again from the grave; hear, oh hear me, and mercifully lead my soul into the bosum of they patriarch Abraham;
* When thou shalt come to judge the world by fire.

PRAYER FROM THE AMBROSIAN LITURGY
(In the third week of Advent)

 O Jesus, almighty Son of God, mercifully come and save thy people on the day of thy Nativity; and deign, with thy wonted compassion, to deliver us from all the anxieties and fears of this present time. Who livest and reignest for ever and ever. Amen

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TUESDAY OF THE SECOND WEEK OF ADVENT

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

De Isaia Propheta.
Cap. xiv.

Prope est ut veniat tempus ejus, et dies ejus non elongabuntur. Miserebitur enim Dominus Jacob, et eliget adhuc de Israel, et requiescere eos faciet super humum suam; adjungetur advena ad eos, et adhaerebit domui Jacob. Et tenebunt eos populi, et adducent eos in locum suum; et possidebit eos domus Israel super terram Domini in servos et ancillas : et erunt capientes eos qui se ceperant, et subjicient exactores suos. Et erit in die illa : cum requiem dederit tibi Deus a labore tuo, et a concussione tua, et a servitute dura qua ante servisti, sumes parabolam istam contra regem Babylonis, et dices : Quomodo cessavit exactor; quievit tributum? Contrivit Dominus baculum impiorum, virgam dominantium, caedentem populos in indignatione plaga insanabili, subjicientem in furore gentes, persequentem crudeliter. Conquievit et siluit omnis terra, gavisa est et exsultavit; abietes quoque laetatae sunt super te, et cedri Libani : ex quo dormisti, non ascendet qui succidat nos. Infernus subter conturbatus est in occursum adventus tui; suscitavit tibi gigantes. Omnes principes terrae surrexerunt de soliis suis, omnes principes nationum. Universi respondebunt, et dicent tibi : Et tu vulneratus es sicut et nos; nostri similis effectus es. Detracta est ad inferos superbia tua, concidit cadaver tuum; subter te sternetur tinea, et operimentum tuum erunt vermes. Quomodo cecidisti de caelo, Lucifer, qui mane oriebaris? corruisti in terram, qui vulnerabas gentes? Qui dicebas in corde tuo : In caelum conscendam, super astra Dei exaltabo solium meum; sedebo in monte testamenti, in lateribus aquilonis; ascendam super altitudinem nubium, similis ero Altissimo? Verumtamen ad infernum detraheris, in profundum laci.

From the Prophet Isaias.
Ch. xiv.

Her time is near at hand, and her days shall not be prolonged. For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose out of Israel, and will make them rest upon their own ground: and the stranger shall be joined with them, and shall adhere to the house of Jacob. And the people shall take them, and bring them into their place: and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the Lord for servants and handmaids: and they shall make them captives that had taken them, and shall subdue their oppressors. And it shall come to pass in that day, that when God shall give thee rest from thy labour, and from thy vexation, and from the hard bondage, wherewith thou didst serve before, Thou shalt take up this parable against the king of Babylon, and shalt say: How is the oppressor come to nothing, the tribute hath ceased? The Lord hath broken the staff of the wicked, the rod of the rulers, That struck the people in wrath with an incurable wound, that brought nations under in fury, that persecuted in a cruel manner. The whole earth is quiet and still, it is glad and hath rejoiced. The fir trees also have rejoiced over thee, and the cedars of Libanus, saying: Since thou hast slept, there hath none come up to cut us down. Hell below was in an uproar to meet thee at thy coming, it stirred up the giants for thee. All the princes of the earth are risen up from their thrones, all the princes of nations. All shall answer, and say to thee: Thou also art wounded as well as we, thou art become like unto us. Thy pride is brought down to hell, thy carcass is fallen down: under thee shall the moth be strewed, and worms shall be thy covering. How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, who didst rise in the morning? how art thou fallen to the earth, that didst wound the nations? And thou saidst in thy heart: I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God, I will sit in the mountain of the covenant, in the sides of the north. I will ascend above the height of the clouds, I will be like the most High. But yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, into the depth of the pit.

Thy ruin, O Lucifer, is irreparable! Thou refusedst to humble thyself before God, and thou wast cast into hell. Thy pride then sought a compensation for this thy deep humiliation, and thou causedst the ruin of the human race, out of hatred for God and His creatures. Thou didst succeed in inspiring him, who was formed out of dust, with that same pride which had caused thine own destruction. By thee sin came into this world, and by sin death: the human race seemed now a victim which never could escape thy vengeance. Forced to give up thy hopes of a heavenly royalty, thou aimedst at reigning in hell and destroying the creatures of God as they came from His creating love. But again thou art foiled and conquered. Thy reign was in pride; pride alone could form thy court and give thee subjects; now, see how the sovereign Lord of all things uproots thy kingdom: He Himself comes to teach His creatures humility; and He teaches it, not by laws given with awful majesty, as once on Sinai, but by Himself meekly practising that heavenly humility, which alone can raise up them that had fallen by pride. Tremble, proud spirit, thy sceptre is to be broken!

In thy haughty wisdom, thou disdainest this humble and lovely Virgin of Nazareth, who holds within herself, in adoring silence, the mystery of thy ruin and our salvation. The Child whom she carries in her womb, and who is so soon to be born, has long since been the object of thy contempt. Know, then, that God does not disdain this unborn Child, for this Child is also God! And a single act of adoration and devotedness to His Father, which He is making in the womb of Mary, gives more glory to the Divinity than all thy pride could rob it of, even were thy pride to increase for eternity. Henceforth, men, taught by the lessons of a God the immense power of humility, will have recourse to it as their great remedy. Instead of exalting themselves, as thou didst, by a mad and guilty pride, they will humble themselves with love and pleasure; the lower they humble themselves, the higher will God raise them: the poorer they own themselves, the richer will He make them. It is the glorious Virgin that tells us this in her exquisite canticle. May she be ever blessed, Mother so gentle and sweet to her children, and so terrible to thee, Lucifer! that writhest beneath her as she crushes and conquers thee.

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PROSE FOR THE TIME OF ADVENT
(Composed in the eleventh century, and taken from the ancient Roman-French missals)

Ready to receive him who reigneth for ever and ever,

Devoutly sing, O Christian people; pay thy homage to thy Creator.

The heavenly hosts, who enjoy the beauty of his countenance, are ever praising him in jubilation.

All earthly things, which are to be examined before his face, are in expectation of him.

Him so severe in judgment,

So merciful in power.

Save us in thy mercy, O Christ, for whom thou didst suffer so cruel a passion.

Raise us up to the bright stars of heaven, O thou that dost take away the sins of the earth.

True Saviour, descending as dew upon us, drive all dangers from us.

Purify all that is about us, make all in peace;

That here protected by thy mercy, we may ascend, hereafter, into the kingdom of heaven in gladness.

Who livest and reignest for endless ages. Amen.

PRAYER FROM THE GALLICAN SACRAMENTARY

(Mass for Christmas Eve)

O merciful and most loving God, by whose will and bounty our Lord Jesus Christ humbled himself that he might exalt the whole human race, and came down to what was lowest that he might raise up the humble: who being God, did become man, born of a Virgin, to the end that he might re-form in man the heavenly image that had been corrupted; grant that this thy people may cling to thee, and that they, whom thou hast redeemed by thy bounty, may ever please thee by devoted service.

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WEDNESDAY OF THE SECOND WEEK OF ADVENT
Regem venturum Dominum, venite, adoremus. Come, let us adore the King our Lord, who is to come.

De Isaia Propheta.
Cap. xvi.
Emitte agnum, Domine, dominatorem terrae, de petra deserti ad montem filiae Sion. Et erit : sicut avis fugiens, et pulli de nido avolantes, sic erunt filiae Moab in transcensu Arnon. Ini consilium, coge concilium; pone quasi noctem umbram tuam in meridie; absconde fugientes, et vagos ne prodas. Habitabunt apud te profugi mei; Moab, esto latibulum eorum a facie vastatoris : finitus est enim pulvis, consummatus est miser, defecit qui conculcabat terram. Et praeparabitur in misericordia solium, et sedebit super illud in veritate in tabernaculo David, judicans et quaerens judicium, et velociter reddens quod justum est.

From the Prophet Isaias.
Ch. xvi.
Send forth, O Lord, the lamb, the ruler of the earth, from Petra of the desert, to the mount of the daughter of Sion. And it shall come to pass, that as a bird fleeing away, and as young ones flying out of the nest, so shall the daughters of Moab be in the passage of Arnon. Take counsel, gather a council: make thy shadow as the night in the midday: hide them that flee, and betray not them that wander about. My fugitives shall dwell with thee: O Moab, be thou a covert to them from the face of the destroyer: for the dust is at an end, the wretch is consumed: he hath failed, that trod the earth under foot. And a throne shall be prepared in mercy, and one shall sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judging and seeking judgment and quickly rendering that which is just.

Send forth to us, O Lord, the Lamb: ‘It is the Lamb,’ says Peter of Celles, ‘it is the Lamb we need, and not the Lion; the Lamb that knows no anger, and whose meekness is never ruffled; the Lamb that will give us His snow-white wool to warm our coldness, and cover our nakedness; the Lamb that will give us His flesh to eat, lest we faint with hunger on the way. Send Him full of wisdom, for in His divine prudence He will vanquish the spirit of pride; send Him full of strength, for it is written that the Lord is strong and mighty in battle; send Him full of meekness, for His is to come down as dew that falls on the fleece; send Him as a victim, for He is to be sold and immolated for our ransom; send Him the pardoner of sinners, for He is to come to call them, and not the just; send Him to receive power and divinity, for He is worthy to loose the seven seals of the sealed book, the unspeakable mystery of the Incarnation.’ (Third Sermon for Advent) Thou art King, then, O divine Lamb! Thou art even now, in thy Mother’s womb, the sovereign Ruler. This virginal womb is a throne of mercy whereon Thou are seated in humility, ready to avenge our rights and confound our cruel enemy. O most dear King! our eyes cannot yet behold Thee, but our hearts tell us Thou art near us. We know that it is for our sake that Thou hast put on this strange royalty. Suffer us to approach Thee, and offer Thee our homage and loyalty, even now that a cloud hides Thee from our sight. A few days more, and Thou wilt be seated on another throne, Thy Mother’s arms, and then all the earth will see the salvation that is sent unto it.

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PROSE FOR THE TIME OF ADVENT
(Composed in the eleventh century, and taken from the ancient Roman-French missals)

Cave of Bethlehem, be ready, for here comes the Mother bearing Christ, her Lamb, in her womb, and thou, O crib, receive him who delivers us mortals by his word ineffably; ye shepherds, keeping your nightwatch, tell the wondrous miracle, ye Magi, from persia, bring to the King gold, incense, and myrrh; for the Lord hath appeared, born of a Virgin Mother; before him she herself falls down, and though his Mother, yet adores him as his lowly handmaid, and then taking him into her arms, she says unto him: O my Saviour, my God, how is it that thou camest unto me, and wast produced in me?

Hear, O ye heavens, and thou, O earth, attend: the Son and Word of God the Father is to born of a Virgin that knows not man, and travails not when giving him birth, for all is by the power of the Holy Ghost. Bethlehem, be ready! Eden, open thy gates! for he that Is is made what he was not, and he that formed all creatures receives himself a created form, bringing to the world plentiful mercy.

O thou that art immense by Nature, O Christ our King, how shall a little cave receive thee? How shall a crib contain thee, O Jesus, Son of a spotless Virgin, making thyself a stranger in thine own house, that thou mayst give salvation to them that harbour thee?

Thou art a new heaven, O Lady! Hasten to make arise from thy womb, as from a cloud, Christ, the Sun of glory; may he appear in the flesh, in the cave, shedding thence to the ends of the world his dazzling splendour by his immense mercy.

Thou knowest, O merciful Jesus, our pains and misery, and thou despisest us not; but emptiest thyself even before leaving thy Mother’s virginal womb, where thou hast set thy tabernacle; this thy Mother will not travail in giving thee birth in the cave, thee who are made flesh.

Mountains and hills, valleys and plains, peoples and tribes, nations and every spirit, sing the song of victory! the fullness of a divine joy is coming, and all are to be redeemed, for the Word of God, who is beyond all time, is now made in time.

Now is the coming towards us the heavenly vine, on which has ripened the immortal fruit; she comes to produce for us the wine of joy, of which she will give us to drink: we will then sing to him, Blessed art thou our God!

There is advancing the vessel bearing the divine perfume, and she will place it in the cave of Bethlehem, and we, filled with the mustic fragrance, will sing, Blessed art thou, O God of our fathers!

Thou, O Mary, art like that instrument which Isaias saw of old, holding in thy womb the Christ, who, like a burning coal, will consume all the dross of sin, and will enlighten the minds of the faithful.

The songs of the prophets are hushed; for he, whom they announced as having to come in the fullness of time, is present and appears to us, having assumed a body from the chaste Virgin; let us receive him with pure hearts.

PRAYER FROM THE MOZARABIC MISSAL
(Second Sunday of Advent)

The earth is glad, O Lord, and leaps with joy, for that the Word made flesh dwells in the womb of the holy Virgin. At his coming, the whole earth is ransomed from captivity, after having been kept, by Adam’s sin, in a dark prison. Now let the sea be moved, and all things that are therein; let the mountains leap with joy, and all the trees of the forests; because God, having become man, has deigned to come, through the womb of the blessed Virgin Mary, from heaven into this world. By this his coming, therefore, we beseech thee, O almighty God, that thou looseth the weakness of our flesh from the bonds of sin, and come, in thy overflowing mercy, to the assistance of this thy family here present before thee.

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THURSDAY OF THE SECOND WEEK OF ADVENT

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

De Isaia Propheta.
Cap. xix.
Onus Aegypti. Ecce Dominus ascendet super nubem levem, et ingredietur Aegyptum, et commovebuntur simulacra Aegypti a facie ejus, et cor Aegypti tabescet in medio ejus, et concurrere faciam Aegyptios adversus Aegyptios; et pugnabit vir contra fratrem suum, et vir contra amicum suum, civitas adversus civitatem, regnum adversus regnum.

From the Prophet Isaias.
Ch. xix.
The burden of Egypt. Behold the Lord will ascend upon a swift cloud, and will enter into Egypt, and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst thereof. And I will set the Egyptians to fight against the Egyptians: and they shall fight brother against brother, and friend against friend, city against city, kingdom against kingdom.

The Egypt which the Lord, is here represented as visiting, and whose idols and empire He will overthrow, is the city of satan, which is to be destroyed, and to give place to the city of God. But how peaceful is the divine Conqueror’s entrance into His conquest! it is on a cloud, a light cloud, that He comes, as on His triumphal chariot. How many mysteries in these few words! ‘There are three clouds,’ says Peter of Blois; ‘the first the obscurity of the prophets; the second, the depth of the divine decrees; the third, the prodigy of a Virgin Mother.’ (Second Sermon of Advent) First, as to the obscurity of the prophets, it is essential to every prophecy that it be thus veiled, to the end that man’s free will may not be interfered with; but under this cloud the Lord comes at last, and when the day comes for the prophecy to be accomplished, all things are clear enough. Thus was it with the first coming; so it will be with the second. Then, as to the decrees of God; as they are ordinarily made manifest by the second, that is by created, causes only, it almost always happens that the extreme simplicity of the means employed by the divine Wisdom takes men by surprise. Never was this so observable as in the grand event of the Incarnation. Men would naturally expect that, in restoring a fallen world, a power equal, at least, to that which first created it would be displayed; and all they are told about the portent is: ‘You will find the Child wrapped in swaddling clothes, and laid in a manger’! O almighty power of God, how dazzling is Thy light through this cloud! how strong art Thou in this apparent weakness!

But there is the third cloud; it is the Virgin Mary; a light cloud, ‘for,’ says St. Jerome, ‘neither concupiscence, nor the burden of earthly marriage, weighs upon her;’ a cloud, too, laden with a refreshing Dew, since it holds the Just One, who is to be rained down upon us, that our seething passions may be quenched, and the soil of our spiritual life made fertile. How sweet is the majesty of our divine King, when seen thus through this beautiful cloud! O incomparable Virgin! the whole Church of God recognizes thee in that mysterious cloud which the prophet Elias, (3 Kings xviii, 42-44) from the summit of Mount Carmel, saw rising up from the sea, little, at first, like a man’s foot, but sending at last such a plentiful rain that all of Israel was refreshed by its abundance. Delay not, we pray thee; give us that heavenly and divine Dew which thou possessest with thee. Our sins have made the heavens as brass, and we are parched; thou alone of creatures art just and pure! Beseech our Lord, who has set up His throne of mercy in thee, to come speedily and destroy our enemies and bring us peace.

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HYMN FOR ADVENT
The Mozarabic breviary - First Sunday of Advent

The Almighty King of the universe, coming to save the world, assumed to himself a body like unto ours.

He who reigns with the Most High, enters the Virgin’s womb, that he may be born in the flesh, and break the bonds of death.

The nations have sat in darkness; but they shall see the brightest light, when the Saviour shall come to redeem his creatures.

He of whom the future-seeing oracles of the prophets anciently sang, shall now come in glory to cure our wounds.

Let us now be glad in the Lord, and in the Son of God, and be ready to receive him in his glorious coming. Amen.

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PRAYER FROM THE AMBROSIAN BREVIARY
(Sixth Sunday of Advent, Preface)

It is truly meet and just, right and available to salvation, that we should give thanks to thee, O Lord God almighty: and that we should whilst invoking thy power celebrate the feasts of the blessed Virgin Mary; from whose womb grew the Fruit, which has filled us with the Bread of angels. That Fruit which Eve took from us when she sinned, Mary has restored to us, and it has saved us. Not as the work of the serpent is the work of Mary. From the one, came the poison of our destruction; from the other, the mysteries of salvation. In the one, we see the malice of the tempter; in the other, the help of the divine Majesty. By the one, came death to the creature; by the other, the resurrection of the Creator, by whom human nature, now not captive but free, is restored; and what it lost by its parent Adam, it regained by its Maker Christ.

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FRIDAY OF THE SECOND WEEK OF ADVENT

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

De Isaia Propheta.
Cap. xxiv.
Ecce Dominus dissipabit terram : et nudabit eam, et affliget faciem ejus, et disperget habitatores ejus. Et erit sicut populus, sic sacerdos; et sicut servus, sic dominus ejus; sicut ancilla, sic domina ejus; sicut emens, sic ille qui vendit; sicut foenerator, sic is qui mutuum accipit; sicut qui repetit, sic qui debet. Dissipatione dissipabitur terra, et direptione praedabitur; Dominus enim locutus est verbum hoc. Luxit, et defluxit terra, et infirmata est; defluxit orbis, infirmata est altitudo populi terrae. Et terra infecta est ab habitatoribus suis, quia transgressi sunt leges, mutaverunt jus, dissipaverunt foedus sempiternum. Propter hoc maledictio vorabit terram, et peccabunt habitatores ejus; ideoque insanient cultores ejus, et relinquentur homines pauci. Luxit vindemia, infirmata est vitis, ingemuerunt omnes qui laetabantur corde; cessavit gaudium tympanorum, quievit sonitus laetantium, conticuit dulcedo citharae. Cum cantico non bibent vinum; amara erit potio bibentibus illam. Attrita est civitas vanitatis, clausa est omnis domus, nullo introeunte. Clamor erit super vino in plateis, deserta est omnia laetitia, translatum est gaudium terrae. Relicta est in urbe solitudo, et calamitas opprimet portas. Quia haec erunt in medio terrae in medio populorum, quomodo si paucae olivae quae remanserunt excutiantur ex olea et racemi, cum fuerit finita vindemia. Hi levabunt vocem suam, atque laudabunt : cum glorificatus fuerit Dominus, hinnient de mari. Propter hoc in doctrinis glorificate Dominum; in insulis maris nomen Domini Dei Israel. A finibus terrae laudes audivimus, gloriam Justi.

From the Prophet Isaias.
Ch. xxiv.
Behold the Lord shall lay waste the earth, and shall strip it, and shall afflict the face thereof, and scatter abroad the inhabitants thereof. And it shall be as with the people, so with the priest: and as with the servant, so with his master: as with the handmaid, so with her mistress: as with the buyer, so with the seller: as with the lender, so with the borrower: as with him that calleth for his money, so with him that oweth. With desolation shall the earth be laid waste, and it shall be utterly spoiled: for the Lord hath spoken this word. The earth mourned, and faded away, and is weakened: the world faded away, the height of the people of the earth is weakened. And the earth is infected by the inhabitants thereof: because they have transgressed the laws, they have changed the ordinance, they have broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore shall a curse devour the earth, and the inhabitants thereof shall sin: and therefore they that dwell therein shall be mad, and few men shall be left. The vintage hath mourned, the vine hath languished away, all the merryhearted have sighed. The mirth of timbrels hath ceased, the noise of them that rejoice is ended, the melody of the harp is silent. They shall not drink wine with a song: the drink shall be bitter to them that drink it. The city of vanity is broken down, every house is shut up, no man cometh in. There shall be a crying for wine in the streets: all mirth is forsaken: the joy of the earth is gone away. Desolation is left in the city, and calamity shall oppress the gates. For it shall be thus in the midst of the earth, in the midst of the people, as if a few olives, that remain, should be shaken out of the olive tree: or grapes, when the vintage is ended. These shall lift up their voice, and shall give praise: when the Lord shall be glorified, they shall make a joyful noise from the sea. Therefore glorify ye the Lord in instruction: the name of the Lord God of Israel in the islands of the sea. From the ends of the earth we have heard praises, the glory of the just one.

Thus was the earth in desolation when the Messias came to deliver and save it. So diminished, so decayed, were truths among the children of men, that the human race was bordering on its ruin. The knowledge of the true God was becoming rarer as the world grew older; idolatry had made everything in creation an object of its adulterous worship; the practical result of a religion which was but gross materialism, was frightful immorality; man was for ever at war with man; and the only safeguards of what social order still existed in the world, were the execrable laws of slavery and extermination. Among the countless inhabitants of the globe, a mere handful could be found who were seeking God! they were as rare as the olives that remain on the tree after a careful plucking, or as grape-bunches after the vintage is ended. Of this happy few were, among the Jewish people, those true Israelites whom our Saviour chose for His disciples; and, among the Gentiles, the Magi that came from the east, asking for the new-born King; and later on, Cornelius the centurion, whom the angel of the Lord directed to St. Peter. But with what faith and joy did they acknowledge the incarnate God! and what their hymns of glad gratitude, when they found that they had been privileged, above others, to see with their own eyes the promised Saviour!

Now, all this will again happen when the time draws near of the second coming of the Messias. The earth will once more be filled with desolation, and mankind will be again a slave of its self-degradation. The ways of men will again grow corrupt; and, this time, the malice of their evil will be the greater, because they will have received Him who is the Light of the world, the Word of life. A profound sadness will sit heavy on all nations, and every effort for their well-being will seem paralyzed; they, and the earth they live on, will be conscious of decrepitude; and yet it will never once strike them that the world is drawing to an end. There will be great scandals; there shall fall stars from the heaven, that is, many of those who had been masters in Israel shall apostatize, and their light shall be changed into darkness. There shall be days of temptation, and faith shall grow slack; so that when the Son of Man shall appear, faith shall scarce be found on the earth. Let it not be, O Lord, that we live to see those days of temptation; or, if it be Thy will that they overtake us, make our hearts firm in their allegiance to Thy holy Church, which will be the only beacon left to Thy faithful children in that fierce storm. Grant, O Lord, that we may be of the number of those chosen olives, of those elect bunches of grapes, wherewith Thou wilt complete the rich harvest which Thou wilt garner for ever into Thy house. Preserve intact within us the deposit of faith which Thou hast entrusted to us; let our eye be fixed on that Orient of which the Church speaks to us, and where Thou art suddenly to appear in Thy majesty. When that day of Thine comes, and we behold Thy triumph, we will should our glad delight, and then, like eagles which cluster round the body, we shall be take up to meet Thee in the air, as Thy apostle speaks, and thus shall we for ever be with Thee. (1 Thess iv. 16) Then we shall hear the praises and glory of the Just One, from the ends of this earth, which it is Thy good will to preserve until the decrees of Thy mercy and justice shall have been fully executed. O Jesus! we are the work of Thy hands; save us, and be merciful to us on that great day.

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HYMN FOR ADVENT
The Mozarabic breviary - in the second week of Advent

Only-begotten Son of the Father, thou comest to us by the Virgin, consecrating us all by the dew of Baptism, and by faith regenerating us.

The Most High coming from heaven had taken on himself the form of man, returning after conquering death, and giving us the joys of a new life.

Wherefore, we beseech thee, O Redeemer, descend upon us in thy mercy, and give to our hearts the brightness of the divine light.

To God the Father, and to his only Son, and to the holy Paraclete, be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

PRAYER FROM THE GALLICAN MISSAL

(In Adventu Domini, Collecta)

Grant, we beseech thee, O almighty God, that our souls be filled with a desire of being inflamed with thy Spirit; that being nourished with the divine gift, as lamps with their oil, we may shine as bright lights before the face of Christ thy Son, who is coming to us.

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SATURDAY OF THE SECOND WEEK OF ADVENT

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

De Isaia Propheta.
Cap. xxv.
Domine, Deus meus es tu; exaltabo te, et confitebor nomini tuo : quoniam fecisti mirabilia, cogitationes antiquas fideles. Amen. Quia posuisti civitatem in tumulum, urbem fortem in ruinam, domum alienorum : ut non sit civitas, et in sempiternum non aedificetur. Super hoc laudabit te populus fortis; civitas gentium robustarum timebit te: quia factus es fortitudo pauperi, fortitudo egeno in tribulatione sua, spes a turbine, umbraculum ab aestu; spiritus enim robustorum quasi turbo impellens parietem. Sicut aestus in siti, tumultum alienorum humiliabis; et quasi calore sub nube torrente, propaginem fortium marcescere facies. Et faciet Dominus exercituum omnibus populis in monte hoc convivium pinguium, convivium vindemiae, pinguium medullatorum, vindemiae defaecatae. Et praecipitabit in monte isto faciem vinculi colligati super omnes populos, et telam quam orditus est super omnes nationes. Praecipitabit mortem in sempiternum; et auferet Dominus Deus lacrimam ab omni facie, et opprobrium populi sui auferet de universa terra : quia Dominus locutus est. Et dicet in die illa : Ecce Deus noster iste; exspectavimus eum, et salvabit nos; iste Dominus, sustinuimus eum : exsultabimus, et laetabimur in salutari ejus.

From the Prophet Isaias.
Ch. xxv.
Lord, thou art my God, I will exalt thee, and give glory to thy name: for thou hast done wonderful things, thy designs of old faithful, amen. For thou hast reduced the city to a heap, the strong city to ruin, the house of strangers, to be no city, and to be no more built up for ever. Therefore shall a strong people praise thee, the city of mighty nations shall fear thee. Because thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress: a refuge from the whirlwind, a shadow from the heat. For the blast of the mighty is like a whirlwind beating against a wall. Thou shalt bring down the tumult of strangers, as heat in thirst: and as with heat under a burning cloud, thou shalt make the branch of the mighty to wither away. And the Lord of hosts shall make unto all people in this mountain, a feast of fat things, a feast of wine, of fat things full of marrow, of wine purified from the lees. And he shall destroy in this mountain the face of the bond with which all people were tied, and the web that he began over all nations. He shall cast death down headlong for ever: and the Lord God shall wipe away tears from every face, and the reproach of his people he shall take away from off the whole earth: for the Lord hath spoken it. And they shall say in that day: Lo, this is our God, we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord, we have patiently waited for him, we shall rejoice and be joyful in his salvation.

Yet a little while, and the conquereor of death will appear, and then, in the joy of our hearts, we will say: Lo! this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us; we have patiently waited for Him; this is He, and we will rejoice and be joyful in His salvation. Let us, therefore, prepare the way of the Lord that we may receive Him worthily; and in this work of our preparation, let us have recourse to Mary. Saturday is the day which is sacred to her; she will the more readily grant the prayers said to her upon it. Let us consider her in her grand privilege of being full of grace, carrying in her womb Him whom we so long to possess. If we ask her by what means she rendered herself worthy of such an immense favour, she will tell us that in her was simply fulfilled the prophecy, which the Church so continually repeats during these days of Advent: ‘Every valley shall be filled up.’ The humble Mary was the valley blessed by the Lord; a valley beautiful and fertile, in which God sowed the divine wheat, our Saviour Jesus: for it is written in the psalm, that the valleys shall abound with corn. (Ps lxiv, 14) O Mary! it is thy humility that drew down upon thee the admiration of thy Creator. If, from the high heaven where He dwells, He had perceived a virgin more humble in her love, He would have chosen her in preference to thee: but no, it is thou that didst win His predilection, O mystic valley, ever verdant and lovely in thy flowers of grace. We that, like high hills, are so proud and such sinners, what shall we do? We must look on this our God, who comes to us in infinite humility, and then humble ourselves our of love and gratitude. O blessed Mother! obtain this grace for us. Pray for us that henceforth we may submit ourselves to the will of our Lord as thou didst, when thou didst speak those admirable words: ‘Behold the handmaid of the Lord: may it be done to me according to thy word!’

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PROSE IN HONOUR OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN
(Taken from the Cluny missal of 1523)

Gabriel, sent from heaven, faithful bearer of the word, holds sacred converse with the holy Virgin.

In the inner chamber he discloses the good and sweet word; and inverting the name of Eve, Eva becomes Ave, his salutation Hail!

The convent made, instantly there was present the Word made flesh; and yet the pure Maid a Virgin still for ever.

Parent like no other; Mother, yet not losing the treasure; giving birth to her child, yet not in pain or travail.

Unheard-of prodigy! ’tis so indeed, and all thou, my soul, canst do is to believe it: we have not power to loose the latchet.

It is the great, the wondrous portent of the burning bush; let him that would approach take off the sandals from his feet.

A dry branch, with not one drop of dew, once yielded a flower and fruit; it was a new law, a new way: so was it when the Virgin brought forth her Son.

What a blessed Fruit! a Fruit of joy, not of woe. There will be no Adam deceived, if men but eat of this.

He is our Jesus, the good Jesus, lovely burden of a lovely Mother! He who has a throne in heaven, has a stable for his birth-place!

May he, that for our sake was thus born, wipe away all our guilt; for our sojourn here is full of dangers. Amen.

PRAYER FROM THE MOZARABIC BREVIARY
(For the Friday of the third week of Advent)

Who, O God, thou Son of God, who can search into thy ways? and tell how thou wast born of a Virgin, when thou camest from heaven, or by what paths thou didst return thither? And therefore since thou alone knowest all things, thou whose name is beyond the ends of the earth; grant us so to think and speak of thee as to be guiltless of error: that so thou, who, high in power, dost come down to lowly things and love them, mayst make us worthy of thy gifts. Amen.

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A reminder ...

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A reminder ....