December 17: The Commencement of the Great Antiphons

 

The Church enters to-day on the seven days, which precede the Vigil of Christmas, and which are known in the Liturgy under the name of the Greater Ferias. The ordinary of the Advent Office becomes more solemn; the Antiphons of the Psalms, both for Lauds and the Hours of the day, are proper, and allude expressly to the great Coming. Every day, at Vespers, is sung a solemn Antiphon, which consists of a fervent prayer to the Messias, whom it addresses by one of the titles given him by the sacred Scriptures.

In the Roman Church, there are seven of these Antiphons, one for each of the Greater Ferias, They are commonly called the O's of Advent, because they all begin with that interjection. In other Churches, during the Middle Ages, two more were added to these seven; one to our Blessed Lady, O Virgo Virginum; and the other to the Angel Gabriel, O Gabriel; or to St. Thomas the Apostle, whose feast comes during the Greater Ferias; it began O Thoma Didyme [It is more modern than the O Gabriel; but dating from the 13th century, it was almost universally used in its stead.] There were even Churches, where twelve Great Antiphons were sung; that is, besides the nine we have just mentioned, there was Rex Pacifice to our Lord, O mundi Domina to our Lady, and O Hierusalem to the city of the people of God.

The canonical Hour of Vespers has been selected as the most appropriate time for this solemn supplication to our Saviour, because, as the Church sings in one of her hymns, it was in the Evening of the world (vergente mundi vespere) that the Messias came amongst us. These Antiphons are sung at the Magnificat, to show us that the Saviour, whom we expect, is to come to us by Mary. They are sung twice; once before and once after the Canticle, as on Double Feasts, and this to show their great solemnity. In some Churches it was formerly the practice to sing them thrice; that is, before the Canticle, before the Gloria Patri, and after the Sicut erat. Lastly, these admirable Antiphons, which contain the whole pith of the Advent Liturgy, are accompanied by a chant replete with melodious gravity, and by ceremonies of great expressiveness, though, in these latter, there is no uniform practice followed. Let us enter into the spirit of the Church; let us reflect on the great Day which is coming; that thus we may take oar share in these the last and most earnest solicitations of the Church imploring her Spouse to come, and to which He at length yields.

First Antiphon (Listen to the Chant)
O Sapientia, quæ ex ore Altissimi prodiisti, attingens a fine usque ad finem, fortiter, suaviterque disponens omnia; veni ad docendum nos viam prudentiæ.	O Wisdom, that proceedest from the mouth of the Most High, reaching from end to end, disposing all things with strength and sweetness! come and teach us the way of prudence.

O Uncreated Wisdom! that art so soon to make thyself visible to thy creatures, truly thou disposest all things. It is by thy permission that the Emperor Augustus issues a decree ordering the enrollment of the whole world. Every citizen of the vast Empire is to have his name enrolled in the city of his birth. This prince has no other object in this order, which sets the world in motion, but his own ambition. Men go to and fro by millions, and an unbroken procession traverses the immense Roman world; men think they are doing the bidding of man, and it is God whom they are obeying. This world-wide agitation has really but one object; it is to bring to Bethlehem a man and woman who live at Nazareth in Galilee, in order that this woman, who is unknown to the world but dear to heaven, and it at the close of the ninth month since she conceived her child, may give birth to this Child in Bethlehem, for the Prophet has said of him: “His going forth is from the beginning, from the days of eternity. And thou, O Bethlehem! art not the least among the thousand cities of Juda, for out of thee He shall come.” O divine Wisdom! how strong art thou, in thus reaching thine ends by means which are infallible, though hidden! and yet, how sweet, offering no constraint to man’s free will! and withal, how fatherly, in providing for our necessities! Thou choosest Bethlehem for thy birth place, because Bethlehem signifies the House of Bread. In this, thou teachest us that thou art our Bread, the nourishment and support of our life. With God as our food, we cannot die. O Wisdom of the Father, Living Bread that hast descended from heaven, come speedily into us, that thus we may approach to thee and be enlightened by thy light, and by that prudence which leads to salvation.

Prayer to St. Lucy from the Liturgical Year, 1905

 We present ourselves before thee, O virgin martyr, beseeching thee to obtain for us that we may recognize in His lowliness that same Jesus whom thou now seest in His glory. Take us under thy powerful patronage. Thy name signifies light; guide us through the dark night of this life. O fair light of virginity! enlighten us; evil concupiscence has wounded our eyes : pray for us, O thou bright light of virginity ! that our blindness be healed, and that rising above created things, we may be able to see that true light, which shineth in darkness, but which darkness cannot comprehend.

Pray for us, that our eye may be purified, and may see, in the Child who is to be born at Bethlehem, the new Man, the second Adam, the model on which the life of our regeneration must be formed. Pray too, O holy virgin, for the Church of Rome and for all those which adopt her form of the holy Sacrifice; for they daily pronounce at the altar of God thy sweet name ; and the Lamb, who is present, loves to hear it. Heap thy choicest blessings on the fair Isle, which was thy native land, and where grew the palm of thy martyrdom. May thy intercession secure to her inhabitants firmness of faith, purity of morals, and temporal prosperity, and deliver them from the disorders which threaten her with destruction.

Prayer to St. Lucy

 

Dear Saint Lucy, whose name doth signify the light, we come to thee filled with confidence: do thou obtain for us a holy light that shall make us careful not to walk in the ways of sin, nor to remain enshrouded in the darkness of error. We ask also, through thy intercession, for the preservation of the light of our bodily eyes and for abundant grace to use the same according to the good pleasure of God, without any hurt to our souls. Grant, O Lucy, that, after venerating thee and giving thee thanks for thy powerful protection here on earth, we may come at length to share thy joy in paradise in the everlasting light of the Lamb of God, thy beloved Bridegroom, Jesus. Amen

Prayer to the Virgin of Guadalupe

 

Hail, O Virgin of Guadalupe! We, to whom the admirable disposition of Divine Providence, not taking notice of our unworthiness, the salvation of the souls of all, place once more the crown upon your brow. May you keep forever under your powerful patronage the purity and integrity of our holy Faith, both in Mexico and on the entire American continent. For we know and are certain that as long as you are acknowledged as Queen and Mother, America and Mexico are safe.

Prayer of St. Pius X to the Immaculate Virgin Mary

With in the Octave of the Immaculate Conception 

O most holy Virgin who didst find favor in God’s sight and hast become His Mother;

O Virgin, immaculate in body and soul, in thy faith and in thy love, look down with pity on the wretched who in our need seek thy powerful protection.

The evil serpent on whom was cast the primal curse continues, alas, to attack and ensnare the poor children of Eve. But thou, our Blessed Mother, our Queen and our Advocate, thou who from the first instant of thy conception didst crush the head of this cruel enemy, receive our prayers.

United to thee with one heart, we beseech thee to present them before the throne of God. May we never be caught in the snares around us, but rather may we all reach the harbor of salvation. Despite the awful perils which threaten, may God’s Church and all Christian society sing out once again the hymn of deliverance, of victory and of peace. Amen.

St. Pius X, pray for us.

Amen.

December 15 – The Octave of the Immaculate Conception

This, the eighth day from that on which we kept the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, is the Octave properly so called; whereas the other days were simply called days within the Octave. The custom of keeping up the principal Feasts for a whole week is one of those which the Christian Church adopted from the Synagogue. God had thus spoken in the Book of Leviticus: “The first day shall be called most solemn and most holy: you shall do no servile work therein … The eighth day also shall be most solemn and most holy, and you shall offer holocausts to the Lord, for it is the day of assembly and congregation: you shall do no servile work therein.” (Leviticus 25:35-36) We also read in the Book of Kings that Solomon, having called all Israel to Jerusalem for the dedication of the Temple, suffered not the temple to return home until the eighth day. (1 Kings 8:65-66)

We learn from the Books of the New Testament that this customer was observed in our Savior’s time, and we find him authorizing, by his own example, this solemnity of the Octave. Thus, we read in Saint John that Jesus once took part in one of the Jewish Festivals about the midst of the Feast; and the same Evangelist relating how our Lord cried out to the people: If any man thirst, let him come to me, and drink: observes that it was on the last and great day of the festivity. (John 7:37)

In the Christian Church, there are two kinds of Octaves: Privileged Octaves and Non-privileged Octaves. The first are so solemn that no feast of a Saint, occurring during them, can be kept, but must be transferred to some other time out of the Octave. Neither, during these Octaves, can a Mass De Requiem be said unless the corpse be present for burial. Non-privileged Octaves admit the Feasts of Saints, which occur during them, provided they are semi-doubles or of higher class; but a commemoration of the Octave must be made both in the Office and the Mass of the Feast, which thus takes precedence of the Octave, unless this Feast be itself one of a first or second Class.

The Octave of the Immaculate Conception, the first that occurs in the Liturgical Year, is not privileged. It gives place not only to the Sunday, but also to the feasts of St. Damasus and St. Lucy, and to the various local feasts which are of a double or semi-double rite.

Let us once more devoutly reverence the Mystery of Mary’s Immaculate Conception: our Emmanuel loves to see his Mother honored. After all, is it not for him and for his sake that this Bright Star was prepared from all eternity, and created when the happy time fixed by the divine decree came? When we honor the Immaculate Conception of Mary, it is really to the divine Mystery of the Incarnation that we are paying our just homage. Jesus and Mary cannot be separated, for Isaias tell us that She is the Branch, and He the Flower. (Isaiah 11:1)

We give thee thanks, O Jesus our Emmanuel because thou hast granted us to live during the time that the privilege of thy Blessed Mother was proclaimed on this earth; the glorious privilege wherewith thou didst enrich the first instant of the life of the happy creature from whom thou didst take upon thyself our human nature! This Definition of thy Church has given us a clearer knowledge of thine infinite holiness. It has taught us to see more distinctly the harmony there is in all thy divine mysteries. But it also has impressed upon us the great truth that we ourselves, being destined to the most intimate union with thee here, and to the face-to-face vision of thy infinite Majesty hereafter, must labor without ceasing to purify ourselves from the smallest stains of sin. Thou hast said: Blessed are the clean of heart for they shall see God (Matthew 5:8); and thou showest us, by the dogma of thy Blessed Mother’s Immaculate Conception, what is the purity which thy sovereign sanctity demands of us. Ah! by the love which led thee to preserve her from every stain of sin, have mercy on us who are her devoted children. Thou art so soon to be among us! Before many days are past, we shall have yielded to thy invitations, and have presumed to approach thy sacred Crib. We are not yet ready, dear Jesus! The effects of original sin are still so plainly upon us, and , what is worse, there are so many of our own sins, which we have added to this of our first parent: Oh! prepare our hearts and our senses, for we will not approach to Bethlehem unworthily. The sinless purity of thy Mother is not for us; we ask not for that; but we ask for forgiveness of our countless sins, for conversion, for hatred of the world and the world’s maxims, and for perseverance in thy holy love.

O Mary! created Mirror of divine Justice, and purer than the Cherubim and Seraphim, in return for the homage paid thee by this our generation, on that blissful day when the glory of thy Immaculate Conception was proclaimed throughout the world, give us that abundant richness of thy protecting love, which thou didst reserve till now. The world is shaken to its very foundations: thy hand can help it to rest again. Hell has let loose upon mankind the most terrible of its spirits of wickedness, who breathe but blasphemy and destruction; but at the same time, the Church of thy Jesus feels that her youth has been renewed within her, and that the seed of the divine word is broadcast and healthy in a thousand fresh portions of the earth. Never was the battle more fierce on both sides: so that we need all our hope to make us feel that hell will not prevail. Is this the great struggle which is to be followed by the day of judgment?

O Blessed Mother of Jesus! O Queen of the universe! can it be that the Star of thy Immaculate Conception has shone in the heavens only to light up the ruin and wreck of this earth? The sign foretold by the Beloved Disciple St. John (Revelation 12:1) of the woman that appeared in the heavens clad with the Sun, bearing on her head a crown of twelve stars, and crushing the Crescent beneath her feet—has it not more brightness and power than that other, which appeared in the heavens telling men that God’s anger was appeased, and that the deluge was over? The light which shines upon us is from a Mother. It is our Mother that comes to console and heal us is from a Mother. It is our Mother that comes to console and heal us. It is heaven that smiles upon poor guilty earth. We have deserved the chastisement we have received, and more than we have received: but the anger of God will give way, and he will spare us.

The graces which God poured out upon the world on that great Day of the Church’s Definition of Mary’s Immaculate Conception were not to be without their effect; a new period then commenced. Mary, on whom heresy had heaped its blasphemies for three hundred years, will again reign in the love of those whom her Son redeemed; countries will abandon those errors which have made them slaves and dupes of men’s doctrines; the old serpent will again writhe under that crushing pressure which God set up from the beginning; and the divine Sun of Justice will pour out on the regenerated world the floods of a light, more than ever dazzling and resplendent. We may not live to see that time; but we have signs of its near approach.

It was two centuries ago that thy devout servant whom the Church has placed upon her altars, Leonard of Porto-Manrizio, predicted that when this dogma of thy Immaculate Conception should be defined, the world would enjoy a long period of peace. The troubles of the present time in which we are living are, we doubt not, a prelude to that happy peace, during which the divine word will traverse the whole world unimpeded, and the Church militant will reap her harvest for the Church in heaven. Sweet Mother of our Jesus! the world was also in agitation in those times which preceded the Birth of thy divine Son; but peace reigned throughout the whole earth when thou didst give it its Savior in Bethlehem. Until that grand time come when thou wilt show to the world the magnificence of the power which God has given to thee, assist us, each year, to prepare for the glorious solemnity of Christ: oh! pray for us, that we may be cleansed from all our sins when that splendid Night comes, during which will be born of thee Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Light eternal.

Prose in Honor of the Holy Mother of God (Taken from the ancient Roman-French Missals)
Cor devotum elevetur, Ut devote celebretur Virginis Conceptio.	Let every heart, that is devout, now raise itself and devoutly celebrate the Conception of the Virgin ever blessed.
Mens amore inflammetur Et amori copuletur Laus et jubilatio.	Let the mind be inflamed with love; and let praise and jubilee unite with the love.
Hæc concepta miro more Est ut rosa cum nitore, Est ut candens lilium.	In her admirable Conception, she is a rose in its beauty, she is a lily in its whiteness.
Ut fructus exit a flore, Est producta cum pudore, Præventa per Filium.	As fruit that comes from the flower, so was Mary brought forth in her purity, for her Son had possession of her from the first.
Sicut ros non corrupmpitur, Quando in terra gignitur Elementi rubigine;	As a dew-drop contracts not a stain from the earth whereon ’tis formed,
Sic Virgo non inflicitur, Quum in matre concipitur, Originali criminæ.	So was Mary untainted by original sin when she was conceived  in her mother’s womb.
Nos ergo dulci carmine, Laudemus in hac Virgine Conceptum sine nubilo.	Let us then sing our sweetest hymn in praise of a cloudless brightness,  the Immaculate Conception.
Hanc conceptam ex semine, Et mundam ab origine, Laudet chorus cum jubilo.	Put on all your joy, ye choirs of earth, and sing of her, that was a daughter of Adam, but not of his sin.
Ut mota dulci modulo, Nos servet in hoc sæculo Mundos ab omni crimine.	May she be pleased with our hymns, and defend us from all sin in this our present life,
Et in mortis articulo, Liberet a periculo Et inferni voragine.	And when our last hour comes, deliver us by her prayers from the abyss of hell into which the devil will seek to drag us.
Amen.	Amen.

FEAST OF SAINT NICHOLAS – 6th DECEMBER

 

Sequence from the Mass of St. Nicholas

The sick are restored to health by the miraculous oil.

They who are in danger of shipwreck are delivered

by Nicholas' prayers.

He raised from amongst the dead a corpse which lay on the road.

A Jew asks for baptism, on witnessing the miraculous recovery of his money.

A vase that had sunk in the deep sea, and a child that was lost to his father, are both recovered.

Oh how great a saint did he appear by multiplying corn in a famine!

Let, then, this congregation sing the hymns of Nicholas' praise;

For all who pray to him with earnest hearts, will go back cured of their spiritual ailments. Amen.

PRAYER

O God, who has glorified blessed Nicholas, Thine illustrious Confessor and Bishop, by means of countless signs and wonders, and who dost not cease daily so to glorify him; grant, we beseech Thee, that we, being assisted by his merits and prayers, may be delivered from the fires of hell and from all dangers. Through Christ our Lord. Amen

Prayer of the Church

O God, who by innumerable miracles hast honoured blessed Nicholas the Bishop: grant, we beseech Thee, that by his merits and intercession we may be delivered from eternal flames.

PRAYER: I thank Thee, my divine Saviour, for all the gifts and graces which Thou hast given me, and I am grieved from my heart, that I have so illused and neglected them. Be merciful to me, and give me the grace to use my talents, as did St. Nicholas, with all energy for Thy honor and my own salvation, so that Thou mayest say to me on the Day of Judgment: Well done, good and faithful servant, because thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will place thee over many; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.

Prayer to St. Nicholas by Dom Gueranger

 

Holy pontiff Nicholas, how great is thy glory in God's Church! Thou didst confess the name of Jesus before the proconsuls of the world's empire and suffer persecution for His name's sake; afterwards thou wast witness to the wonderful workings of God, when He restored peace to His Church; and a short time after this again, thou didst open thy lips, in the assembly of the three hundred and eighteen fathers, to confess with supreme authority the Divinity of our Saviour Jesus Christ, for whose sake so many millions of martyrs had already shed their blood. Receive the devout felicitations of the Christian people throughout the universe, who thrill with joy when they think of thy glorious merits. Help us by thy prayers during these days when we are preparing for the coming of Him, whom thou didst proclaim to be consubstantial with the Father. Vouchsafe to assist our faith and to obtain fresh fervour to our love. Thou now beholdest face to face that Word by whom all things were made and redeemed; beseech Him to permit our unworthiness to approach Him. Be thou our intercessor with Him. Thou hast taught us to know Him as the sovereign and eternal God; teach us also to love Him as the supreme benefactor of the children of Adam. It was from Him, O charitable pontiff, that thou didst learn that tender compassion for the sufferings of thy fellow-men, which made all thy miracles to be so many acts of kindness: cease not, now that thou art in the company of the angels, to have pity on us and to succour our miseries.

Stir up and increase the faith of mankind in the Saviour whom the Lord hath sent them. May this be one of the fruits of thy prayer, that the divine Word may be no longer unknown and forgotten in this world, which He has redeemed with His Blood. Ask for the pastors of the Church that spirit of charity, which shone so brilliantly in thee; that spirit which makes them like their divine Master, and wins them the hearts of their people.