Month: December 2017

Collect

Pro S. Thoma Martyre
Deus, pro cuius Ecclésia gloriósus Póntifex Thomas gládiis impiórum occúbuit: præsta, quǽsumus; ut omnes, qui eius implórant auxílium, petitiónis suæ salutárem consequántur efféctum.

O God, for whose Church Bishop Thomas, now in glory, fell by the swords of wicked men, grant, we beseech You, that the prayers of all who implore his assistance may be effective and may lead to salvation.

Secret

Múnera tibi, Dómine, dicáta sanctífica: et, intercedénte beáto Thoma Mártyre tuo atque Pontífice, per éadem nos placátus inténde.

O Lord, through the intercession of blessed Thomas, Your martyr and bishop, sanctify the offerings dedicated to You, and because of them, look upon us with mercy.

Post Communion

Hæc nos commúnio, Dómine, purget a crímine: et, intercedénte beáto Thoma Mártyre tuo atque Pontífice, coeléstis remédii fáciat esse consórtes.

May this Communion, O Lord, cleanse us from sin and, by the intercession of blessed Thomas, Your martyr and bishop, impart to us heavenly healing.

Introit

Eccli 15:5
In médio Ecclésiæ apéruit os eius: et implévit eum Dóminus spíritu sapiéntiæ et intelléctus: stolam glóriæ índuit eum
Ps 91:2
Bonum est confitéri Dómino: et psállere nómini tuo, Altíssime.

In the midst of the assembly the Lord opened his mouth; and filled him with the spirit of wisdom and understanding; He clothed him with a robe of glory.
Ps 91:2
It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praise to Your name, Most High.

Collect

Ecclésiam tuam, Dómine, benígnus illústra: ut, beáti Ioánnis Apóstoli tui et Evangelístæ illumináta doctrínis, ad dona pervéniat sempitérna.

O Lord, graciously shed light upon Your Church, so that, enlightened by the teachings of blessed John, Your Apostle and Evangelist, she may gain Your everlasting rewards.

December 27—ST. JOHN, Evangelist

ST. JOHN, the youngest of the apostles in age, was called to follow Christ on the banks of the Jordan during the first days of Our Lord’s ministry. He was one of the privileged few present at the Transfiguration and the Agony in the garden. At the Last Supper his head rested on the bosom of Jesus, and in the hours of the Passion, when others fled or denied their Master, St. John kept his place by the side of Jesus, and at the last stood by the cross with Mary. From the cross the dying Saviour bequeathed His Mother to the care of the faithful apostle, who “from that hour took her to his own;” thus fitly, as St. Austin says, “to a virgin was the Virgin intrusted.” After the Ascension, St. John lived first at Jerusalem, and then at Ephesus. He was thrown by Domitian into a caldron of boiling oil, and is thus reckoned a martyr, though miraculously preserved from hurt. Afterwards he was banished to the isle of Patmos, where he received the heavenly visions described in tine Apocalypse. He died at a great age, in peace, at Ephesus, in the year 100.

Reflection.–St. John is a living example of Our Lord’s saying, “Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God.”

Gospel

Ioann 21:19-24
In illo témpore: Dixit Iesus Petro: Séquere me. Convérsus Petrus vidit illum discípulum, quem diligébat Iesus, sequéntem, qui et recúbuit in cena super pectus eius, et dixit: Dómine, quis est qui tradet te ? Hunc ergo cum vidísset Petrus, dixit Iesu: Dómine, hic autem quid? Dicit ei Iesus: Sic eum volo manére, donec véniam, quid ad te? tu me séquere. Exiit ergo sermo iste inter fratres, quia discípulus ille non móritur. Et non dixit ei Iesus: Non móritur; sed: Sic eum volo manére, donec véniam: quid ad te? Hic est discípulus ille, qui testimónium pérhibet de his, et scripsit hæc: et scimus, quia verum est testimónium eius.
R. Laus tibi, Christe!

At that time, Jesus said to Peter, Follow Me. Turning around, Peter saw following them the disciple whom Jesus loved, the one who, at the supper, had leaned back upon His breast and said, Lord, who is it that will betray You? Peter therefore, seeing him, said to Jesus, Lord, and what of this man? Jesus said to him, If I wish him to remain until I come, what is it to you? You, follow Me. This saying therefore went abroad among the brethren, that that disciple was not to die. But Jesus had not said to him, He is not to die; but rather, If I wish him to remain until I come, what is it to you? This is the disciple who bears witness concerning these things, and who has written these things, and we know that his witness is true.

The following in from the book “Why do Catholics Eat Fish on Fridays?”

Though Christmas is obviously still regarded as a Christian holiday, it should also be remembered that it is a deeply Catholic feast.  To this day the anniversary of Our Lord’s birth is named after the Catholic Masses offered during it, Christmas being a contraction of “Christ’s Mass”.  Christmas, however, not only has a Catholic name, but in some parts of these united States it was regarded as a predominantly Catholic holiday.  In New England, Puritans virtually outlawed the ceclebration of this ‘papist’ feast, requiring employees to work and students to attend school on December 25, all under penalty of dismissal or expulsion.  Factory owners would even open their plants earlier than usual on Christmas Day to make sure that Catholics could not attend a morning Mass.

Christmas symbols these days are also apt to ose their religious significance. Christmas trees, for example, are either treated as secular adornments for office buildings or equated with the pagan yule customs of pre Christian Germany.  Both assessments are incorrect.  The Christmas tree has an entirely medieval Catholic origin, being a combination of two phenomena: a pyramid of candles representing Christ’s ancestors called a Weinachtspyramide in German and the so called Paradise Tree.  In the Eastern churches, December 24 is the Feast of Adam and Eve, and though this holiday is not in the Latin calendar, Church officials nevertheless allowed Roman Catholics to observe it.  In the Middle Ages mystery plays that were staged on this day included a Paradise tree, a tree representing both the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil as well as the Tree of Life from the Garden of Eden (Gen 2:9).  To symbolize both of these Edenic arbors, the Paradise tree was decorated with apples to represent the forbidden fruit and sweets to reprent the Tree of Life.  When the mystery plays were suppressed in the 15th century, the faithful moved the Paradise trees from the stage to their homes.  The apples were later substituted for other round objects (such as shinny red balls) while a Star of Bethlehem and lights from the Weinachtsyramide were added, but the symbolism remained essentially the same.  Thus, our modern Christmas tree is actually the medieval Paradise tree, a reminder of the reason why God became man in the first place and a fortaste of the sweet Tree from which Our Lord’s birth would once again enable us to taste.

Two other seemingly secular customs bear mention: Christmas lights and decking the halls with boughs of holly. The custom of putting lights in the window was begun by Catholics in Ireland during the times of the persecution, when Mass was outlawed by the British and had to be held in secret.  Faithful Irish believers would place a candle in the window on Christmas Eve as a sign to any priest who happened by that this home was a safe haven in which Mass could be offered.  When interrogated by the Brittish about the meaning of this practice, the Irish replied that the lights were an invitation for Joseph and Mary to stay the night.  Unthreatened by this supposed superstition, the Brittish left them alone.

Christmas holly harkens back to a number of beautiful stories about this popular holiday plant.  According to one tradition, holly’s prickly edges and red berries point backward to the thorny bush glowing red with fire that Moses saw on Mt Sinai as well as forward to the bloody crown of thorns that the newborn King would one day wear.  The use of holly as an emblem of the burning bush is particularly appropriate. On the testimony of the traditional Advent liturgy, it is not just God but God the Son who appeared to Moses in the bush, the same God who would become a helpless babe in a manger.  Similarly, the bush itself was seen as a type of the Blessed Virgin Mary, whose virginity was preserved despite childbirth just as the bush was perserved despite the fire engulfing it.

From Brian Kelly’s piece at Catholicism.org http://catholicism.org/lets-change-the-name-of-the-poinsetta-flower-to-dolorosa-flower.html we have this:

Finally, did You Know that the red leaf Poinsettia flower that adorns our altars at Christmas time was named after an anti-Catholic Freemason, Joel Roberts Poinsett. When Latin American countries complain of the United States (add British and French) businesses monopolizing much of their natural reserves (from silver [Sterling Co., etc.] and rubber (Firestone) to bananas, guavas and other exotic fruits [United Fruit Co.]), poinsettias don’t readily come to mind. But, Poinsett actually did take out a patent for the plant after he returned with it in 1825 from Mexico to his home in Charleston, South Carolina. He had swiped the flower from a Nativity Scene in the Franciscan church of Santa Prisca in Taxco, Guerrero. The patent was later sold to the Paul Ecker Ranch of Encinitas, California. They still own that patent today.

It was William Prescott, a historian and horticulturist, who named the plant the poinsettia in honor of Joel Poinsett’s “discovery.” On account of the fact that Prescott had just published a book called the Conquest of Mexico, in which he detailed Poinsett’s fascination with the plant, he had been asked by the Horticultural Society to give the popular plant Euphorbia pulcherrima a new name.

Joel Roberts Poinsett was born in Charleston in 1779. He studied law, military science, botany, and medicine and toured Europe and Asia for five years. He was fluent in French, Italian, Spanish, German, and Russian. He returned to the U.S. in 1808 amid rumors of an impending war with Great Britain, which began three years later. From 1810-1814 he served as a special (secret) agent to Latin American countries. All of his work south of the border was to promote U.S. financial interests and undermine Spain’s authority. His funding of the republican revolution in Argentina did not stop the rebels from being defeated there, and getting himself run out of the country; however, he and his American money did have more success in Chile, whose revolution in 1821 won them independence from Spain, and a fourth of July holiday. For a time Poinsett even served in the army of the anti-royalist forces there under General Jose Maria Carrera, earning for himself the rank of general on account of his military prowess. Long before the CIA there was Joel Poinsett.

The worst of the damage this scheming imperialistic Freemason did was in Mexico. After serving several terms as a South Carolinan congressman he entered the diplomatic service and was assigned as special envoy (spy) to Mexico from 1822-1823. While he was there he worked with his fellow Masonic brothers of the Scottish York Rite against General Iturbide who had declared himself Emperor Agustin I. Masonry had been introduced into Mexico in the 1780s. Most of the members of the congress in Mexico City were Freemasons as were the writers for the city’s most influential newspaper, El Sol. Before Poinsett left for the U.S. General Santa Ana’s forces had conquered the capital and Iturbide was allowed to go to France into exile.

In 1825, President John Quincy Adams appointed him Minster to Mexico, the term “minister” being used prior to that of “ambassador.” His main objective was to cut a deal with the republicans. If they would accept American support against royalists and despots by way of munitions, trade privileges, and money, they must cede Texas to the United States in return. Poinsett was already involved with government plans to make war on the southern Indian tribes and force them and the Cherokee in Texas to move westward. And, even though he was a Unionist, slavery was no issue with him; he was all for it. In fact his family owned many slaves and its fortune depended on the institution. More slave states were needed and Texas, he hoped, would be a big one. As it was, there was no slavery in all of Mexico, the last significant trafficker in the inhuman business left port in 1739. Father Hidalgo, heretic, insurrectionist, and rebel against the Catholic Church, outlawed it for good in 1810. Such is Mexico. Wayward priests ( and Hidalgo was off the wall, morally and doctrinally) sometimes get somethings right.

With the help of the Yorkistas in Congress, and the fear of liberal insurrections in many states, the last of the great insurgent leaders, Vincente Guerrero, was appointed president in 1828. Poinsett was practically a member of his cabinet. The Church had exposed Guerrero as an anti-Catholic Mason, but, sad to say, the brotherhood could count members even among the Catholic conservatives. Poinsett became overconfident. He next tried to coerce Guerrero, who had accepted so much of his bribery money, to send all full-blooded Spaniards back to Spain. They were the bulk of the opposition; they ran the banks, owned much of the land, and owned the mines. But they also had indispensable skills: they were teachers, doctors, and engineers, most of them middle class. Too, most of them were married to Mexicans. This displacement would have destroyed the country. It would have led to a horrible civil war. Guerrero was beginning to see the ugliness of the opportunistic gringo he was dealing with.

Finally, the free-thinking Yorkista lost all sense of balance. On his own authority he made an offer to his “friend” to buy Texas outright. Guerrero had had enough. He was still a patriot. Hoping to get rid of the obnoxious minister he leaked his letters to the press (some of them contained veiled threats of U.S. military action). Overnight, Poinsett became persona non grata. He was immediately recalled to Washington.

After serving another term in Congress, President Martin Van Buren made him his Secretary of War. He served from 1837-1841, presiding over the expulsion of thousands of southern Indians west of the Mississippi. He rallied the troops during the second Seminole War (1845-1842).

Mexico’s most notorious persona non grata, enemy of Spain and the Catholic Church, died at the home of his doctor in 1851 at the age of seventy-two.

There’s website for Sumter, South Carolina. It must have been a Mason who posted a page on Poinsett. He ends his very brief sketch with a short log about his Masonic connections and activities:

Brother Poinsett is recorded as having been Past Master of Recovery Lodge No. 31, Greenville, and Solomon’s Lodge No. 1, Charleston, South Carolina. In 1821, Brother Poinsett was elected Deputy Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of South Carolina, but was never able to serve as Grand Master, because of his appointment as Secretary of War (1837-1841) under President Van Buren. He did serve as Grand High Priest in South Carolina (1821-1841). At the request of Mexican Freemasons, he sent for charters for five lodges, which were granted by the Grand Lodge of New York. Subsequently, he helped establish the Grand Lodge of Mexico, and is credited with introducing Royal Arch Masonry to Mexico.

Introit

Ps 138:17.
Mihi autem nimis honoráti sunt amíci tui, Deus: nimis confortátus est principatus eórum.
Ps 138:1-2
Dómine, probásti me et cognovísti me: tu cognovísti sessiónem meam et resurrectiónem meam.

To me, Your friends, O God, are made exceedingly honorable; their principality is exceedingly strengthened.
Ps 138:1-2
O Lord, You have probed me and You know me; You know when I sit and when I stand.

Collect

Da nobis, quǽsumus, Dómine, beáti Apóstoli tui Thomæ sollemnitátibus gloriári: ut eius semper et patrocíniis sublevémur; et fidem cóngrua devotióne sectémur.

O Lord, grant us, we beseech You, to glory in the feast-day of blessed Thomas, Your Apostle, that we may be helped continually by his patronage and imitate his faith with a devotion like his.

December 21.—ST. THOMAS, Apostle.

ST. THOMAS was one of the fishermen on the Lake of A Galilee whom Our Lord called to be His apostles. By nature slow to believe, too apt to see difficulties, and to look at the dark side of things, he had withal a most sympathetic, loving, and courageous heart. Once when Jesus spoke of the mansions in His Father’s house, St. Thomas, in his simplicity, asked: “Lord, we know not whither Thou goest, and how can we know the way?” When Jesus turned to go toward Bethany to the grave of Lazarus, the desponding apostle at once feared the worst for his beloved Lord, yet cried out bravely to the rest: “Let us also go and die with Him” After the Resurrection, incredulity again prevailed, and whilst the wounds of the crucifixion were imprinted vividly on his affectionate mind, he would not credit the report that Christ had indeed risen. But at the actual sight of the pierced hands and side, and the gentle rebuke of his Saviour, unbelief was gone forever; and his faith and ours has ever triumphed in the joyous utterance into which he broke: “My Lord and my God!”

Reflection.—Cast away all disquieting doubts, and learn to triumph over old weaknesses as St. Thomas did, who

p. 384

[paragraph continues] “by his ignorance hath instructed the ignorant, and by, his incredulity hath served for the faith of all ages.”

Secret

Débitum tibi, Dómine, nostræ réddimus servitútis, supplíciter exorántes: ut, suffrágiis beáti Thomæ Apóstoli, in nobis tua múnera tueáris, cuius honoránda confessióne laudis tibi hóstias immolámus.

O Lord, we who dutifully worship You humble entreat You that, by the prayers of Your blessed Apostle Thomas, in honor of whose martyrdom we offer these sacrifices of praise. You safeguard Your gifts within us.

THE THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT

To-day, again, the Church is full of joy, and the joy is greater than it was. It is true that her Lord has not come; but she feels that He is nearer than before, and therefore she thinks it just to lessen some what the austerity of this penitential season by the innocent cheerfulness of her sacred rites. And first, this Sunday has had the name of Gaudete given to it, from the first word of the Introit; it also is honoured with those impressive exceptions which belong to the fourth Sunday of Lent, called Laetare. The organ is played at the Mass; the vestments are rose-colour; the deacon resumes the dalmatic, and the subdeacon the tunic; and in cathedral churches the bishop assists with the precious mitre. How touching are all these usages, and how admirable this condescension of the Church, wherewith she so beautifully blends together the unalterable strictness of the dogmas of faith and the graceful poetry of the formulae of her liturgy. Let us enter into her spirit, and be glad on this third Sunday of her Advent, because our Lord is now so near unto us. To-morrow we will resume our attitude of servants mourning for the absence of their Lord and waiting for Him; for every delay, however short, is painful and makes love sad.

The Station is kept in the basilica of St. Peter, at the Vatican. This august temple, which contains the tomb of the prince of the apostles, is the home and refuge of all the faithful of the world; it is but natural that it should be chosen to witness both the joy and the sadness of the Church.

The night Office commences with a new Invitatory. The voice of the Church no longer invites the faithful to come and adore in fear and trembling the King, our Lord, who is to come. Her language assumes another character; her tone is one of gladness; and now, every day, until the vigil of Christmas, she begins her nocturns with these grand words:

Now let us take the book of the Prophet, and read with the Church:

O holy Roman Church, city of our strength! behold us thy children assembled within thy walls, around the tomb of the fisherman, the prince of the apostles, whose sacred relics protect thee from their earthly shrine, and whose unchanging teaching enlightens thee from heaven. Yet, O city of strength: it is by the Saviour, who is coming, that thou art strong. He is thy wall, for it is He that encircles, with His tender mercy, all thy children; He is thy bulwark, for it is by Him that thou art invincible, and that all the powers of hell are powerless to prevail against thee. Open wide thy gates, that all nations may enter thee for thou art mistress of holiness and the guardian of truth. May the old error, which sets itself against the faith, soon disappear, and peace reign over the whole fold! O holy Roman Church! thou hast for ever put thy trust in the Lord; and He, faithful to His promise, has humbled before thee the haughty ones that defied thee, and the proud cities that were against thee. Where now are the Caesars. who boasted that they had drowned thee in thine own blood? where the emperors, who would ravish the inviolate virginity of thy faith? where the heretics, who, during the past centuries of thine existence, have assailed every article of thy teaching, and denied what they listed? where the ungrateful princes, who would fain make a slave of thee, who hadst made them what they were? where that empire of Mahomet, which has so many times raged against thee, for that thou, the defenceless State, didst arrest the pride of its conquests? where the reformers, who were bent on giving the world a Christianity, in which thou wast to have no part? where the more modern sophists, in whose philosophy thou wast set down as a system that had been tried, and was a failure, and is now a ruin? and those kings who are acting the tyrant over thee, and those people that will have liberty independently and at the risk of truth, where will they be in another hundred years? Gone and forgotten as the noisy anger of a torrent; whilst thou, O holy Church of Rome, built on the immovable rock, wilt be as calm, as young, as unwrinkled as ever. Thy path through all the ages of this world’s duration, will be right as that of the just man; thou wilt ever be the same unchanging Church, as thou hast been during the eighteen hundred years past, whilst everything else under the sun has been but change. Whence this thy stability, but from Him who is very truth and justice? Glory be to Him in thee! Each year, He visits thee; each year, He brings thee new gifts, wherewith thou mayst go happily through thy pilgrimage; and to the end of time, He will visit thee, and renew thee, not only with the power of that look wherewith Peter was renewed, but by filling thee with Himself, as He did the ever glorious Virgin, who is the object of thy most tender love, after that which thou bearest to Jesus Himself. We pray with thee, O Church, our mother, and here is our prayer: ‘Come, Lord Jesus! Thy name and Thy remembrance are the desire of our souls: they have desired Thee in the night, yea, and early in the morning have they watched for Thee.’

MASS

The assembly of the faithful is attentive; the cantors intone the Gregorian melody, and the church echoes with these sweet words:

INTROIT

In the Collect, the Church asks for the grace of that divine visit, which dispels darkness and brings light. Darkness produces fear in the soul; whereas, light gives courage and joy to the heart.

COLLECT

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

EPISTLE

Nothing is more just than that we rejoice in the Lord. Both the prophet and the apostle excite us to desire the Saviour, both of them promise us peace. Therefore, let us not be solicitous: the Lord is nigh; nigh to His Church, and nigh to each of our souls. Who can be near so burning a fire, and yet be cold? Do we not feel that He is coming to us, in spite of all obstacles? He will let nothing be a barrier between Himself and us, neither His own infinite high majesty, nor our exceeding lowliness, nor our many sins. Yet a little while, and He will be with us. Let us go out to meet Him by these prayers and supplications, and thanksgiving which the apostle recommends to us. Let our zeal to unite ourselves with our holy mother the Church become more than ever fervent: now every day her prayers will increase in intense earnestness, and her longings after Him, who is her light and her love, will grow more ardent. First let us say together with her:

GRADUAL

GOSPEL

There hath stood One in the midst of you, whom you know not, says Saint John the Baptist to them that were sent by the Jews. So that our Lord may be near, He may even have come, and yet by some be not known! This Lamb of God is the holy Precursor’s consolation: he considers it a singular privilege to be but the voice, which cries out to men to prepare the way of the Redeemer. In this, St. John is the type of the Church, and of all such as seek Jesus. St. John is full of joy because the Saviour has come: but the men around him are as indifferent as though they neither expected nor wanted a Saviour. This is the third week of Advent; and are all hearts excited by the great tidings told them by the Church, that the Messias is near at hand? They that love Him not as their Saviour, do they fear Him as their Judge? Are the crooked ways being made straight, and the hills being brought low? Are Christians seriously engaged in removing from their hearts the love of riches and the love of sensual pleasures? There is no time to lose: the Lord is nigh! If these lines should come under the eye of any of those Christians who are in this state of sinful indifference, we would conjure them to shake off their lethargy, and render themselves worthy of the visit of the divine Infant: such a visit will bring them the greatest consolation here, and give them confidence hereafter, when our Lord will come to judge all mankind. Send Thy grace, O Jesus, still more plentifully into their hearts; ‘compel them to go in,’ and permit not that it be said of the children of the Church, as St. John said of the Synagogue: There standeth in the midst of you One, whom you know not.

During the Offertory the faithful should unite in the prayer of the Church, and beg that the captivity in which our sins hold us may be brought to an end, and that the divine Deliverer may come.

OFFERTORY

SECRET

The other Secrets are as on the first Sunday.

During the Communion, the Church chants the words of the prophet Isaias, which bid the heart of the sinner take courage. Fear not, Christian people! He that is coming is God; but He comes to save His creatures, and to give himself to them.

COMMUNION

The Church asks of God, in the following prayer, that the secret visit which she has just been receiving from her divine Spouse, may fit her for that solemn one which she is preparing to receive at the feast of Christmas.

POSTCOMMUNION

The other Postcommunions as on the first Sunday.

VESPERS

CAPITULUM

The hymn Creator alme siderum, and the canticle Magnificat, are given elsewhere.

ANTIPHON OF THE MAGNIFICAT

But if the third Sunday of Advent fall on December 17, then, instead of the above, is said the first of the Great Antiphons (O Sapientia), which will be found, with the other six, in the proper of saints, from December 17 to 23.

CHAPTER THE EIGHTH
ON THE OFFICE OF COMPLINE DURING ADVENT

This Office, which concludes the day, commences by a warning of the dangers of the night: then immediately follows the public confession of our sins, as a powerful means of propitiating the divine justice, and obtaining God’s help, now that we are going to spend so many hours in the unconscious, and therefore dangerous, state of sleep, which is also such an image of death.

The lector, addressing the priest, says to him:

The priest answers:

The lector then reads these words, from the first Epistle of St. Peter:

The choir answers:

Then the priest:

The choir:

Then the Lord’s Prayer is recited in secret; after which the priest says the Confiteor, and, when he has finished, the choir repeats it.

The priest, having pronounced the general form of absolution, says:

The first psalm expresses the confidence with which the just man sleeps in peace; but the wicked know not what calm rest is. It also speaks of the eternal Word, the Light of the Father, who is coming to dispel our darkness.

PSALM 4

The Church has introduced here the first six Verses of the thirtieth Psalm, because they contain the prayer which our Saviour made when dying: Into thy hands, O Lord, O commend my spirit! words so beautifully appropriate in this Office of the close of day.

[Note – these verses were omitted from the Pope St. Pius X revision of the Divine Office of 1911.]

PSALM 30.

The third psalm gives the motives of the just man’s confidence, even during the dangers of the night. Then we have God Himself speaking, and promising to show us our Saviour.

PSALM 90

The fourth psalm invites the servants of God to persevere with fervour, in the prayers they offer during the night. The faithful should say this psalm in a spirit of gratitude to God, for raising up in the Church adorers of His holy name, whose grand vocation is to lift up their hands, day and night, for the safety of Israel. On such prayers depend the happiness and the destinies of the world.

PSALM 133

HYMN

[See appendix for version according to Monastic usage.]

CAPITULUM

(Jeremias xiv.)

The canticle of the venerable Simeon – who, while holding the divine Infant in his arms, proclaimed Him to be the light of the Gentiles, and then slept the sleep of the just – admirably expresses the rest which a good Christian, whose heart is united to God, enjoys in Jesus; for, as the apostle says, whether we wake or sleep, we live together with Him who died for us [1 Thess. v. 10.].

CANTICLE OF SIMEON

(St. Luke ii.)

PRAYERS

After these prayers (which are omitted if the Office be of a double rite), the priest says:

ANTHEM TO THE BLESSED VIRGIN

Then, in secret, Pater, Ave, and Credo.

APPENDIX

HYMN

According to the monastic rite, as follows:

Te lucis ante terminum,
Rerum Creator, poscimus,
Ut solita clementia
Sis praesul ad custodiam.

Procul recedant somnia
Et noctium phantasmata;
Hostemque nostrum comprime,
Ne polluantur corpora.

Praesta Pater omnipotens,
Per Jesum Christum Dominum,
Qui tecum in perpetuum
Regnat cum sancto Spiritu.

CHAPTER THE SEVENTH
ON THE OFFICE OF VESPERS DURING ADVENT

The limits which necessity requires us to put to this volume will not admit of our inserting any of the day Office beyond Vespers and Compline; moreover, the faithful rarely assist at any other of the Canonical Hours, during this part of the liturgical year.

The Office of Vespers, or Evensong, consists firstly of five psalms with their antiphons. The antiphons of each Sunday are given farther on, in the Proper of the Time.

The Church commences with the supplication, which she makes to God at the beginning of all her Hours:

The first psalm is a prophecy of the glory of the Messias. Let us, during this season, the more earnestly proclaim the greatness of the Incarnate Word the more we see Him humbled, out of love for us, during these days which precede His divine birth.

PSALM 109

The following psalm commemorates the mercies of God to His people, the promised Covenant, the Redemption, His fidelity to His promises.

PSALM 110

The third psalm sings the happiness of the just man, and his hopes on the day of our Lord’s second coming. It also tells us what will be the confusion of the sinner on that terrible day.

PSALM 111

The fourth psalm is a canticle of praise to the Lord, who, from His high heaven, has taken pity on the fallen human race, and raised it up again by the Incarnation.

PSALM 112

The fifth psalm recalls the memory of the prodigies done under the ancient Covenant; this will naturally awaken within us the hope of seeing those things, which happened to the people of Israel in figure, realized at the coming of the Messias.

PSALM 113

After these five psalms, a short lesson from the holy Scriptures is sung. It is called the Capitulum, or Little Chapter, because it is always very short. It will be found in its proper place for each Sunday. Then follows the hymn:

HYMN *

Here is sung the Magnificat antiphon which is given in the proper of each Sunday. After this the Church always sings at Vespers the canticle in which our blessed Lady, all full of the God whom she had within her womb, gave utterance, in the presence of St. Elizabeth, to the transports of her joy and gratitude. This canticle harmonizes most sweetly with the spirit of Advent, for it is during this very time that Mary is almost incessantly before our minds, as the beautiful Mother that bears her precious and divine Fruit. Let us therefore unite with her, in celebrating the matchless honour bestowed on her by God; the merits of that profound humility which rendered her worthy of such an honour; the overthrow of the proud spirits who are driven from heaven; and the exaltation of human nature, of itself so poor and miserable, to that high place from which angels fell.

OUR LADY’S CANTICLE
(St. Luke i.)

The Magnificat antiphon is then repeated. The prayer, or collect, is given in the proper of each Sunday.

The Vespers end with the following versicles:

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* APPENDIX

HYMN

According to the monastic rite, it is as follows :-

Conditor alme siderum,
Aeterna lux credentium,
Christe Redemptor omnium,
Exaudi preces supplicum.

Qui condolens interitu
Mortis perire saeculum,
Salvasti mundum languidum,
Donans reis remedium:

Vergente mundi vespere,
Uti sponsus de thalamo,
Egressus honestissima
Virginis matris clausula:

Cujus forti potentiae
Genu curvantur omnia,
Coelestia, terrestria,
Nutu fatentur subdita.

Te deprecamur, agie,
Venture judex saeculi,
Conserva nos in tempore,
Hostis a telo perfidi.

Laus, honor, virtus, gloria,
Deo Patri, et Filio,
Sancto simul Paraclito,
In saeculorum saecula.

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