December 21 — Fifth Antiphon

O Oriens, splendor lucis O aeternae, et sol iustitiae ; veni et illumina sedentes in tenebris, et umbra mortis. sit in

Orient ! splendour of eternal light, and Sun of Justice ! come and enlighten them that darkness, and in the shadow of death.

O Jesus, divine Sun ! thou art coming to snatch us from eternal night: blessed for ever be thy infinite goodness ! But thou puttest our faith to the test, before showing thyself in all thy brightness. Thou hidest thy rays, until the time decreed by thy heavenly Father comes, in which all thy beauty will break upon the world. Thou art traversing J udea ; thou art near Jerusalem; the journey of Mary and Joseph is nigh its term. Crowds of men pass or meet thee on the road, each one hurrying to his native town, there to be enrolled, as the Edict commands. Not one of all these suspects that thou, 0 divine Orient ! art so near him. They see thy Mother Mary, and they see nothing in her above the rest of women ; or if they are impressed by the majesty and incomparable modesty of this august Queen, it is but a vague feeling of surprise at there being such dignity in one so poor as she is ; and they soon forget her again. If the Mother is thus an object of indifference to them, it is not to be expected that they will give even so much as a thought to her Child, that is not yet born. And yet this Child is thyself, 0 Sun of Justice ! Oh ! increase our Faith, but increase, too, our Love. If • these men loved thee, O Redeemer of mankind, thou

DEC. 21. wouldst give them the grace to feel thy presence ; their eyes, indeed, would not yet see thee, but their hearts, at least, would burn within them, they would long for thy Coming, and would hasten it by their prayers and sighs. Dearest Jesus ! who thus traversest the world thou hast created, and who forcest not the homage of thy creatures, we wish to keep near thee during the rest of this thy journey: we kiss the footsteps of Her that carries thee in her womb ; we will not leave thee, until we arrive together with thee at Bethlehem, that House of Bread, where, at last, our eyes will see thee, O splendour of • eternal light, our Lord and our God !

PKA.YEE FOR THE TIME OF ADVENT.

(The Mozarabic Breviary, Monday of the Fifth Week, Oratio.)

O God, our Father ! what horrid crime is this I see committed in thy presence by the reprobate Jews ! They spurn thy Son, that was foretold in the Law. and remain in the gulf of tlieir incredulity : whereas, they, to whom he was not announced, have seen him ; and they who heard not, contemplated him, in their spirit. Kemove, therefore, we beseech thee, from us all that resists thee in our conduct, that so, with a believing heart, we may in such manner bring forth the branches of thy gifts bestowed on us, as that the root of humility may never dry up within us. Amen,

Immane satis facinus video coram tuis, Deus Pater, oculis a reprobis perpetratum : qui, dum Filium tuum, praedicatum in Lege, contemnunt, in incredulitatis suae voragine remanserunt ; dum hi quibus non erat de eo nuntiatum, viderunt eum, et qui non audierunt, intelhgentia contemplati sunt. Amove ergo, quaesumus, quidquid resistit tibi in opere, ut credulo pectore sic in nobis virgulta donorum praepolleant, ut radix humilitatis nunquam arescat. Amen.

ADVENT.

December 22.

SIXTH ANTTPHON.

O Rex gentium, et deside- O ratus earum, Lapisque gularis, qui facia utraque ununi ; veni, et salva hoininem quern de limo formastL

King of nations, and an- their Desired One, and the Corner- Stone that makest both one ; come and save man whom thou formedst out of slime.

0 King of Nations ! thou art approaching still nigher to Bethlehem, where thou art to be born. The journey is almost over, and thy august Mother, consoled and strengthened by the dear weight she bears, holds an unceasing converse with thee on the way. She adores thy divine Majesty; she gives thanks to thy mercy ; she rejoices that she has been chosen for the sublime ministry of being Mother to God. She longs for that happy moment when her eyes shall look upon thee, and yet she fears it. For, how will she be able to render thee those services which are due to thy infinite greatness, she that thinks herself the last of creatures ? How will she dare to raise thee up in her arms, and press thee to her heart, and feed thee at her breasts ? When she reflects that the hour is now near at hand, in which, being born of her, thou wilt require all her care and tenderness, her heart sinks within her; for, what human heart could bear the intense vehemence of these two affections, — the love of such a Mother for her Babe, and the love of such a Creature for her God ? But thou supportest her, 0 thou the Desired

DEC. 22. of Nations ! for thou, too, longest for that happy- Birth, which is to give the earth its Saviour, and to men that Corner-Stone, which will unite them all into one family. Dearest King ! be thou blessed for all these wonders of thy power and goodness ! Come speedily, we beseech thee, come and save us, for we are dear to thee, as creatures that have been formed by thy divine hands. Yea, Come, for thy creation has grown degenerate ; it is lost ; death has taken possession of it : take it thou again into thy almighty hands, and give it a new creation ; save it; for thou hast not ceased to take pleasure in and love thine own work.

THE GREAT ANTIPHON IN HONOUR OF CHRIST.

Pacifice, tu ante saecula nate, per auream portam, redemptos tuos visita, et eos illuc revoca, unde ruerunt per

O King of Peace S that O Hex wast born before all ages, come by the golden gate ; egredere visit them whom thou hast redeemed, and lead them cutback to the place whence pam. they fell by sin.

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Xdvent.

December 23.

The Church sings this Antiphon in to-day s Lauds :

Ant. Ecce completa sunt Ant. Lo ! all things are omnia quae dicta sunt per accomplished that were said Angel urn, de Virgine Maria, by the Angel, of the Virgin

Mary.

SEVENTH ANTIPHON.

O Emmanuel, Rex et Le- O Emmanuel, our King gifer noster, exspectatio gen- and Lawgiver, the Expecta- tium, et salvator earum ; tion and Saviour of the na- veni ad salvandum nos, Do- tions ! come and save us. mine Deus noster. O Lord our God !

0 Emmanuel ! King of Peace ! thou enterest to-day the city of thy predilection, the city in which thou hast placed thy Temple, — Jerusalem. A few years hence, and the same city will give thee thy Cross and thy Sepulchre : nay, the day will come, on which thou wilt set up thy Judgment-seat within sight of her walls. But, to-day, thou enterest the city of David and Solomon unnoticed and unknown. It lies on thy road to Bethlehem. Thy JBlessed Mother and Joseph, her Spouse, would not lose the opportunity of visiting the Temple, there to offer to the Lord their prayers and adoration. They enter ; and then, for the first time, is accomplished the prophecy of Aggeus, that great shall be the glory of this last House more than of the first; for this second

1 Agg. il 10. dec. 23. 531

Temple has now standing within it an Ark of the Covenant more precious than was that which Moses built ; and within this Ark, which is Mary, there is contained the God, whose presence makes her the holiest of sanctuaries. The Lawgiver himself is in this blessed Ark, and not merely, as in that of old, the tablet of stone on which the Law was graven. The visit paid, our living Ark descends the steps of the Temple, and sets out once more for Bethlehem, where other prophecies are to be fulfilled. We adore thee, O Emmanuel f in this thy journey, and we reverence the fidelity wherewith thou fulfillest all that the prophets have written of thee, for thou wouldst give to, thy people the certainty of thy being the Messias, by showing them, that all the marks, whereby he was to be known, are to be found in thee. And now, the hour is near ; all is ready for thy Birth ; come, then, and save us ; come, that thou mayest not only be called our Emmanuel, but our Jesus, that is, He that saves us.

THE GREAT ANTIPHON TO JERUSALEM.

O Jerusalem ! city of the O Hierusalem I civitas great God ! lift up thine eyes Dei summi, leva in circuitu round about, and see thy oculos tuos ; et vide Domi* loose thee from thy chains. .solvere te a vinculis.

Lord, for he is coming to

ADVENT.

December 24. CHRISTMAS EVE.

" At length," says St. Peter Damian, in his Sermon for this holy Eve, " at length we have got from the " stormy sea into the tranquil port; hitherto it was the " promise, now it is the prize ; hitherto labour, now " rest ; hitherto despair, now hope ; hitherto the way, " now our home. The heralds of the divine promise " came to us ; but they gave us nothing but rich pro- " mises. Hence, our Psalmist himself grew wearied, "and slept, and, with a seeming reproachful tone, "thus sings his lamentation to God : But thou hast " rejected and despised us ; thou hast deferred the " coming of thy Christ. At another time he assumes " a tone of demand, and thus prays : 0 thou that " sittest upon the Cherubim, shoiv thyself ! 2 Seated " on thy high throne, with myriads of adoring Angels " around thee, look down upon the children of men, " who are victims of that sin, which was committed "indeed by Adam, but permitted by thy justice. "Remember what my substance is;* thou didst " make it to the likeness of thine own ; for though " every living man is vanity, yet inasmuch as he is " made to thy Image, he is not a passing vanity. " Bend thy heavens and come down, and turn the " eyes of thy mercy upon us thy miserable suppliants, " and forget us not unto the end !

" Isaias, also, in the vehemence of his desire, thus " spoke : For Sion's sake I will not hold my peace, " and for the sake of Jerusalem I will not rest, till

1 Ps. lxxxviii. 2 Ibid, lxxix. 3 Ibid, lxxxviii. 4 Ibid, xxxviii.