The Lord is now nigh; come, let us adore.
Prope est jam Dominus; venite, adoremus.
From the Prophet Isaias.
De Isaia Propheta.
Ch. LI.
Cap. LI.
Give ear to me, you that follow that which is just, and you that seek the Lord; look unto the rock whence you are hewn, and to the hole of the pit from which you are dug out. Look unto Abraham your father, and to Sara that bore you; for I called him alone, and blessed him, and multiplied him. The Lord therefore will comfort Sion, and will comfort all the ruins thereof, and he will make her desert as a place of pleasure, and her wilderness as the garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving and the voice of praise. Hearken unto me, O my people, and give ear to me, O my tribes: for a law shall go forth from me, and my judgment shall rest to be a light of the nations. My Just One is near at hand, my Savior is gone forth, and my arms shall judge the people: the islands shall look for me, and shall patiently wait for my arm. Lift up your eyes to heaven, and look down to the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish like smoke, and the earth shall be worn away like a garment, and the inhabitants thereof shall perish in like manner: but my salvation shall be for ever, and my justice shall not fail.
Audite me, qui sequimini quod justum est, et quæritis Dominum: attendite ad petram unde excisi estis, et ad cavernam laci, de qua præcisi estis. Attendite ad Abraham patrem vestrum, et ad Saram quæ peperit vos; quia unum vocavi eum, et benedixi ei, et multiplicavi eum. Consolabitur ergo Dominus Sion, et consolabitur omnes ruinas ejus, et ponet desertum ejus quasi delicias, et solitudinem ejus quasi hortum Domini. Gaudium et lætitia invenietur in ea, gratiarum actio, et vox laudis. Attendite ad me, popule meus, et tribus mea, me audite; quia lex a me exiet, et judicium meum in lucem populorum requiescet. Prope est Justus meus, egressus est Salvator meus, et brachia mea populos judicabunt: me insulæ exspectabunt, et brachium meum sustinebunt. Levate in cœlum oculos vestros, et videte sub terra deorsum: quia cœli sicut fumus liquescent, et terra sicut vestimentum atteretur, et habitatores ejus sicut hæc interibunt: Salus autem mea in sempiternum erit, et justitia mea non deficiet.
O Jesus, thou Flower of the Field, thou Lily of the Valley, thy visit is to change our barren parched earth into a garden of delights! We had lost Eden and all its lovely magnificence, by our sins; and lo! Eden is restored to us; thou art coming, that thou mayest set it in our hearts. O heavenly plant! tree of life, transplanted from heaven to earth, thou first takest root in Mary, that faithful soil; and thence thou wilt come to us, and we must be to thee a grateful land, cherishing the divine seed and making it fructify. Let it be so, O divine Husbandman! who didst appear to Magdalene under the form of a gardener. Thou knowest how far are our hearts from being ready for thy working in them. Move, and break, and water this land; the season is come; our hearts long to be fertile, and to have growing within them that exquisite Flower which makes the beauty of all heaven, and comes down to hide its splendor for a time here below. O Jesus! let these souls of ours be fertile; let them be crowned with the flowers of virtue; let themselves become flowers growing around thee, O divine Flower, and forming to the heavenly Father a garden, which he may unite with that which he formed from all eternity. O Flower of heaven, Jesus! thou art also the Dew, refresh us; thou art the Sun, warm us; thou art the fragrant Perfume, impart to us thy sweetness; thou art the sovereign Beauty, give us of thy fair and ruddy bloom, and make us cluster round thee in eternity, as the crown thou didst wreathe to thyself.
Hymn of Preparation for Christmas
(Composed by St. Ambrose. It is in the Ambrosian Breviary for first Vespers of Christmas, and in the ancient Roman-French Breviaries.)
Come, O Redeemer of mankind! reveal to us the Virgin’s delivery: let all ages be in admiration: for what other birth would have been worthy of God?
Ostende partum Virginis;
Miretur omne sæculum,
Talis decet partus Deum.
Not of man, but of the Holy Ghost, was the Word of God made flesh, and the fruit of the womb ripened.
Sed mystico spiramine,
Verbum Dei factum est caro
Fructusque ventris floruit.
The Virgin has become Mother, and yet the Mother is still a Virgin. It is the banner of omnipotence which here shines; God is come into his temple.
Claustra pudoris permanent,
Vexilla virtutum micant,
Versatur in templo Deus.
He comes forth from the royal palace of virginity, as from his bride-chamber, that he may exultingly run the way, as a Giant, who is both God and Man.
Pudoris aula regia,
Geminæ gigas substantiæ,
Alacris ut currat viam.
He comes forth from the Father; he returns to the Father: he descends into hell; he ascends to the throne of God.
Regressus ejus ad Patrem;
Excursus usque ad inferos,
Recursus ad sedem Dei.
Co-equal Son of the eternal Father, gird thee with the trophy of the flesh; strengthening the weaknesses of our flesh by thy unfailing power.
Carnis trophæo cingere;
Infirma nostri corporis
Virtute firmans perpeti.
Thy crib is already resplendent, and the night breathes forth a new light, the light of faith; let no night interrupt it, let its brightness be incessant.
Lumenque nox spirat novum,
Quod nulla nox interpolet,
Fideque jugi luceat.
Glory be to thee, O Lord, who wast born of the Virgin! and to the Father and the Holy Ghost, for everlasting ages.
Qui natus es de Virgine,
Cum Patre et Sancto Spiritu,
In sempiterna sæcula.
Amen.
Amen.
Prayer from the Mozarabic Missal
(Second Sunday of Advent.)
Lord God omnipotent! who, for the redemption of the human race, didst deign to send even unto us, by the message of an Angel and by the Virgin Mary’s womb, thy co-eternal and co-equal Son; grant us, in this time of the Advent of thy Only Son, that same grace of peace which thou hast mercifully bestowed upon the past ages, and number us among those who, at the first beginning of the faith, were acceptable to him by embracing the faith; and who, being washed in the water of penance by John, were afterwards baptized by thee, through thy Son, in the Holy Ghost and fire.
Domine Deus omnipotens, qui pro humani generis redemptione coæternum tibi coæqualemque Filium Angeli annuntiatione per Mariæ Virginis uterum usque ad nos voluisti transmittere; da nobis hoc tempore Adventus tui Unigeniti eamdem pacis gratiam, quam in præterita largire dignatus es sæcula, et illi nos in occursum fidei socios numerandos, quos in fidei primordia a Joanne pœnitentiæ undis aquarum ablutos, a te postremo per Filium in Spiritu Sancto et igni cognoscimus baptizatos.