The Dawn from On High
An Advent Vade Mecum 2020 St. Benedict’s Abbey
A vade mecum (Latin for go with me or walk with me) is a portable guidebook kept on hand for ready consultation. The season of Advent is given to help us grow in the expectation and knowledge of the unfolding in our lives of a promise that has already been made: God with us. It is our hope that this book of illuminations from the history of the Christian experience, meditations from the monks of the Abbey, and space to note what happens to you and in you during these days, will be a helpful companion on this journey we are making.
Nota Bene: Before using this vade mecum we suggest reading the Remain in Me guide to making a retreatin-place and consider what proposals from the monastic life will help you and your household enter into this advent season. You may consider what you would like to adopt for the whole season, as well as particularly for the retreat days (Dec.11-13). For convenience a place to write in your personal Horarium is given in both books. We have provided in this booklet some links to further resources which may be accessed via the digital version of this book by clicking links that look like this: kansasmonks.org/advent2020 On the Advent Experience page you will find links to additional resources for individuals, families, and children.
Ta bl e o f C o n t e n t s A Question. . .............................................. 7 Greetings ................................................. 8 Horarium.................................................10 The First week of Advent ................ 13 The Second week of Advent . . ........... 19 Retreat Schedule................................. 25 Conference One.. ........................... 27 Conference Two............................ 29 Conference Three.......................... 31 Conference Four. . ......................... 33 The Third week of Advent. . ............. 35 The O Antiphons.. ................................. 41 O Sapientia....................................... 45 O Adonai. . ......................................... 49 O Radix Jesse.................................... 53 The Fourth week of Advent. . .......... 57 & O Cl avis David O Oriens............................................ 63 O Rex Gentium................................ 67 O Emmanuel...................................... 71 Christmas Eve. . .......................................75 Christmas Procl amation ................ 78
From where does our hope come? A Question This is the question which confronts us today from every point of entry: our relationships, our work, our civic life, you name it – if we examine our lives, there it is, waiting for us. What a gift and opportunity we are given in Advent, the Church’s New Year, to take up this question and discover again what makes us new, that is, what is the origin and reason of our hope. As Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI has written, “The days of Advent are like a quiet knocking at the door of our smothered souls, inviting us to undertake the risk of stepping forward toward God’s mysterious presence which alone can make us free.” The monks of St. Benedict’s Abbey invite you to join us in taking these steps into the holy days of Advent, days given to awaken us to that great event proclaimed by Zechariah, and carried by our Lady: “In the tender compassion of our God, the dawn from on high shall break upon us, to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, and to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
Greetings fr om the Retre at Master Welcome to the 2020 St. Benedict’s Abbey Advent Retreat! And what a year it has been! Have you found yourself drifting away from God during this crazy year? Have you found your peace shattered? Fr. Jacques Philippe reminds us in his book Searching for and Maintaining Peace that “…all the reasons that cause us to lose our sense of peace are bad reasons” (p.13). And if we are losing our sense of peace, then we are losing our hope. From where does our hope come? This critical question challenges us to make sure that the foundations of our faith are secure and stable. Advent is a time to do this all-important work of recognizing our foundation and living in hope. Without realizing it, we started by embarking on a night journey. We entered into the ship of the Church and trusting our Savior, we set out for distant shores. But then a storm arose, and we became frightened. Compared to the light of faith that we had at our initial stages of the voyage, the storms of life in this year have shaken us. If we looked carefully, perhaps we saw Christ asleep on the boat. Instead many of us were distracted by our fears and by the current events clamoring for our attention. So we let Him sleep. But the promise of Advent is that of the coming of the Savior who is present among us today. As we travel eastwards, “the dawn from on high shall 8 • The Dawn fr om On High
break upon us.” The night, far spent, is waning. The darkness is turning into a dark bluish purple. The sun is not far off. Can you see it, barely rising up from the horizon? Can you hear the voice of St. John the Baptist heralding the dawn? “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths!” Can you see the image of our blessed Mother Mary, rejoicing in God her Savior? That promised dawn from on high is coming … “to shine on those who dwell in darkness and in the shadow of death, and to guide our feet in the way of peace” (the Benedictus). Who is this peacemaker? Who is this Savior? Is this God of ours big enough to weather the storms with us, even when we think He is asleep? This may be an opportunity to reconsider who this is that calls us to follow Him. Maybe we were following our own idea of Him and not the real Savior. Advent is a time to encounter the presence of the true God again, to wait upon Him whose presence among us today is the reason hope grows in our hearts. May this Advent season and retreat be a healing and restful time for you, as we embrace the Lord present each of these days. Know of the prayers of our monastic community for you! Blessings and Prayers,
Fr. Jay Kythe, OSB Retreat Master 9
Hor arium My Time _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______ _______
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Abbey Time CST UTC -6
5:25 AM 5:45 AM 6:20 AM 7:00 AM 7:45 AM 11:45 AM 12:10 PM 12:55 PM 1:30 PM 5:00 PM 5:25 PM 6:10 PM 6:30 PM 7:45 PM 8:00 PM
Event
Bell to Rise Vigils & Lauds Silence (Lectio Divina) Breakfast (optional) Work Assignments Midday Prayer Mass Lunch Work Assignments Vespers Silence (Lectio Divina) Dinner in silence w/ table reading Recreation (until 7 p.m.) Compline Grand Silence
(Sundays begin with a 6:10 bell, with Mass at 10:00)
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The First week of Advent November 29 - December 5
Awa k e, O Sl eeper “He’s coming!” This phrase can mean different things to different people and can elicit different responses . Jesus talks of two of them in the Gospel: one of sleeping and the other of watching . The one who sleeps and is awakened by “He’s coming!” is caught unawares , blear y eyed, and likely fearful. This is what Isaiah talks about in the first reading when he speaks of how Israel has drifted away, forgotten the Lord. He then asks the pointed question, “ Why do you let us wander, O LORD, from your ways , and harden our hearts so that we fear you not?” The Church, being a good mother, offers us Advent as the response to this question. At the beginning of her new year, she holds in front of us the final coming of Jesus in Glor y at Judgement Day, but she does not wish for us to be fearful in a ser vile way as though his coming meant only shame and condemnation for us . In fact, we can understand something of the Day of Judgement when we witness the joyful response of a family as they welcome a member home from militar y ser vice. Sometimes the reunion happens as a surprise to the family. This is not so that a father coming home could scold his children for not doing their homework while he was away. Nothing could be so far from the truth of the event. Instead, because the family has within them the memor y and hopeful expectation of his safe return, they are over whelmed with joy that what they had carried 14 • T h e D a w n f r o m O n H i g h
within them has come to fruition. This is what the Church desires for us at Jesus’ coming at Judgement Day. This waiting filled with memor y and the desire for deeper conversion to be even more ready to greet Jesus when he comes is what the Church wants for us . What enables us to face the coming of the Lord in this way? It certainly isn’t just an exhortation to “do your homework” and then Jesus will be happy to see you at the end of time. We begin Advent rather from the knowledge of his coming now. This means we hold in memor y not only Jesus coming in the past in the Incarnation at Christmas and his coming in the future at the end of days , but also his coming to us now ; his presence among us according to his promise that he would be with us until the end of the age. So, why do we have the ability to drift away into slumber? To be joyfully roused to watchfulness by Jesus coming now. Advent means that our hope then lies in the fact that he is already present in a way. How is he already coming to us? Let us be attentive! Let us be moved by his love to respond to him now so that, as the collect (opening prayer) for the First Sunday of Advent says , we may “run forth to meet [the] Christ with righteous deeds at his coming!”
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The Second week of Advent December 6 - December 12
Listen Our readings this week begin with the words , “Comfort, give comfort to my people, says your God.” Who is this God who desires to comfort His people? What state are they in that they need to be comforted? In our readings for this week we see a desert. Out in the desert there are howling winds that dissipate speech. One could be standing close by to another, yet both have to yell at each other to be heard. The voice of the precursor, St. John the Baptist, must have been ver y loud to cut through the forces that carried away his words . The world is like that, with a multitude of voices that distract and dissipate the words of God. For God doesn’t yell; He speaks in the “still, small, whispering voice” (1 Kings 19). Then we must listen carefully to His words , or rather, listen carefully for His words in the midst of a noisy world! And yet for all that, we see the whole Judean countr yside going out to see John and to repent of their old ways of doing things . There is something magnetic about his presence. His whole life speaks of an Other who is mightier, who brings about the new reality we hear of during the week : “My child, your sins are forgiven… rise, pick up your stretcher and go home.” “Do not be afraid.” “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.”
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The advent of God, His arrival or parousia, in Greek , is an event. This is the word for what happened when the Angel of the Lord appeared to Mary in Nazareth, and when He was made manifest in Bethlehem. He reaches us today by this same method: an event. All that is necessar y is to recognize and adhere to the signs of his presence. Advent sets us on a journey, in the exact same way as the disciples at the beginning . The newness in John, that greater reality he points to – the lamb of God – sets John and Andrew on a ne w journey as they followed that man, Jesus . It is normal to feel daunted by the journey, to feel blind and inadequate, for we are. But, as St. Peter tells us , , this is no obstacle to God’s bringing us into his divine life: “The Lord does not delay his promise, as some regard “delay,” but he is patient with you, not wishing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” What is repentance? It is loving the event of God. It is to prefer His method to my own. It is a constant turning to the signs of His life among us today. It is the consequence of something new entering our horizon, broadening our horizon, widening our hearts . Let us name and attend to those magnetic presences in our life this week , the faces in front of whom our day ceases to become a burden and is revealed as a road, “the way of the Lord,” the truth of the Lord, that is , the life of the Lord.
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St. Benedict’s Abbey Advent Retreat December 11-13
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R e t r e at S c h e d u l e of Live Events All times Central Standard Time These events will be streamed on our Youtube Channel: youtube.com/kansasmonks
F r i d a y, D e c e m b e r 1 1 Abbey Mass - 12:10 p.m. Welcome & Conference One - 7:00 p.m. The Signs of Advent
S a t u r d a y, D e c e m b e r 1 2 Conference Two - 10:00 a.m. The Liturgy of Advent Abbey Mass - 12:10 p.m. Mass of the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe Conference Three - 3:00 p.m. The Memory of Advent
S u n d a y, D e c e m b e r 1 3 Conference Four - 8:00 a.m. The Hope of Advent Abbey Mass - 10:00 a.m. Mass of the Third Sunday of Advent
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R e t r e at Conference One The Signs of Advent December 11 – 7:00 p.m.
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R e t r e at Conference T wo The Liturgy of Advent December 12 – 10:00 a.m.
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R e t r e at Conference Three The Memory of Advent December 12 – 3:00 p.m.
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R e t r e at Conference Four The Hope of Advent December 13 – 8:00 a.m.
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The Third week of Advent December 13 - December 19
Rejoice! The Church this week commands us to rejoice. Make no mistake; this is no mere suggestion: “maybe if you look really hard, you’ll find something to be happy about.” No, it is imperative. “Rejoice!” There is a small cynic in each one of us that wants to say, “About what?” There is a pandemic; there are lockdowns and masks; there is social and political strife; there is unemployment and economic hardship; there are altered schedules, changed plans and missed opportunities, not to mention the constant barrage of small daily annoyances which sting and chafe our patience. What is there to rejoice about? Asking this question, however, betrays our lack of understanding about who we are and how the passions of our soul such as love and hate, joy and fear work. Passions are the movement of the soul which pull us toward perceived goods and push us away from perceived evils. These movements of the soul are called “passions” – from Latin pati – “to suffer, endure” because they are things which happen to us without our trying. Most of us exercise very little control over our passions. We might try to earn a lot of money because we think that will make us happy, but how often do we try to just be happy? We might avoid a difficult conversation because we fear the situation, but how often do we try to just not be afraid? Our passions tell us about the world we live in; they are like a barometer of how good life is for us. But, as useful as they may be, they can be woefully 36 • T h e D a w n f r o m O n H i g h
unreliable, and a broken speedometer won’t get you off the hook for speeding. St. Thomas Aquinas says that our passions are within our control “either because they are commanded by the will or because the will does not place obstacles in their way.” Through attentiveness to the inner movements of our soul and disciplined training of the will, we can attune our passions so that they more closely respond to the reality of the world we live in. So, why should we rejoice? I rejoice because Christ has chosen to come into the world, to become one of us and to suffer with me and for me. I rejoice because Christ has conquered sin and promised that I too can live a life abounding in the Father’s love and molded to his will. I rejoice because Christ has risen victorious from the dead as the first fruits and future pledge of the redemption of my body. I rejoice because Christ has freed me from the tyranny of this world and claimed me as his own. I rejoice because Christ reigns in my heart and promises that I, too, will reign with him.
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The O Antiphons December 17 - December 23
H o ly E x p e c tat i o n Crisp, clean feelings of hope start to fill the air when we follow the season of Advent, preparing to celebrate Jesus’ birth at Christmas. From week to week anticipation builds. On December 20 the Liturgy of the Hours contains a very excited homily of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, built around the Annunciation of the Angel Gabriel to Mary that she was to conceive the child Jesus. “The angel awaits an answer. Answer quickly, O Virgin! Why do you delay? See, the desire of all nations is at your door, knocking to enter. Arise, hasten, open. Arise in faith; hasten in devotion, open in praise and thanksgiving.” When December 17 arrives, the Liturgy of the Hours begins a privileged journey of days of preparation and waiting for the celebration of the tenderness that defies terror. Each Mass is special for the day. At Vespers we have the lovely O Antiphons. Each antiphon begins with “O.” The melodies rise up and we are standing on our musical tiptoes to say something about the wonders of God’s goodness over the ages. We end them by dipping down and asking in a much more gentle way to be gathered into that divine richness. Each antiphon highlights a title of the Messiah drawn from the prophecies of Isaiah and their fulfillment in Jesus. On December 17 we sing, “O Wisdom, O Holy Word of God, you govern all creation with your strong yet tender care. Come and show your people the way to salvation.” The last one before Christmas is, “O Emmanuel, king and lawgiver, desire of the nations, Savior of all people, come and set us free, Lord our God.” Although our Liturgy of the Hours at the Abbey is in English, we sing these ancient melodies in their original Latin chant. Even without understanding each word, one can’t miss the point. 42 • T h e D a w n f r o m O n H i g h
The O Antiphons have been around for a long time. We find traces of them in the history of ancient monasteries and by the eighth century they were already in the liturgical celebrations of Rome. Their arrangement had a definite purpose. Beginning with December 23 and going backwards the first letter of each Messianic title spells two Latin words, ero cras, meaning “Tomorrow I will come.” The gentleness and joy that surrounds the celebration of Christmas taken seriously is also the source of wonderful, friendly folk customs among the various cultures of Latin America and of the Philippine Islands. Many Mexicans celebrate the posadas for nine days — when people would go through the neighborhoods, enacting the turning away of Joseph and Mary from various places until someone invites them in — a friendly “inn” where all would have a festive supper. In Venezuela they have the early morning Masses of Aguinaldo for nine days before Christmas when lively Christmas music fills the air. In the Philippines there is the much frequented “Simbang Gabi”, a nine-day series of Masses celebrated at dawn followed by breakfast from vendors selling traditional foods. Celebrating at dawn symbolizes the coming light that is Christ who will overcome the darkness. The religious culture of American Catholicism is being enriched by the growing presence of fellow Catholics from Latin American and the Philippines and their religious customs. Regardless of our diversity in celebrating the preChristmas novena, we all have the consolation, the thrill really, that when we open our lives wider to the presence of Jesus, we ourselves become bearers of those glorious promises of the O Antiphons. We are persons who are enlivened by the tenderness and goodness of the Lord Jesus. 43
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O Sapientia December 17
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O Wisdom The O Antiphons are petitions composed in the same formulaic way as many other liturgical prayers. Like the prayers of the Mass, it’s often not the request that grabs our attention but the poetic description and exultation of God. It’s as if we are “buttering up” God so he will listen to our prayer and give us what we need. “Oh God, you who are such-and-such, and did this-and-that, do it again for us!” We risk treating God as our high patron rather than our Heavenly Father, and ourselves as freeloaders rather than willing coworkers. In the other O Antiphons we ask for redemption, deliverance, salvation, etc. Today, addressing the Wisdom of God we ask, like Solomon, not for a long life, nor riches, nor for the life of our enemies, but for prudence, a virtue, a habitual practice. If it’s not a handout, how can we cooperate with the free gift of God’s grace tto merit prudence? Solomon tells us. “Desire therefore my words; long for them and you will be instructed. Resplendent and unfading is Wisdom, and she is readily found by those who seek her. For setting your heart on her is the perfection of prudence” (Wisdom 6). In other words, pay attention to that striking first part of the antiphon. Be governed from end to end by the Wisdom coming from God’s mouth. That’s how we work out our petition. For God is the one who works in us both to desire and to work (Philippians 2).
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O Wisdom, who is brought forth from the mouth of the Most High, reaching from end to end, and arranging all things effectively and agreeably: come to teach us the road of prudence.
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O Adonai December 18
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O Lord The O Antiphons offer a sweep of Salvation History leading up to its fulfillment in the coming of Christ. Each of them gestures toward and calls for this redemption. Today’s antiphon, O Adonai, recalls for us Moses, who encountered the living God on Mount Horeb (in the burning bush) and Mount Sinai (receiving the law). The mountaintop is a place of encounter in the life of Moses. In the new dispensation, however, the incredible mercy of God does not require us to rise to his level. Rather, a revolution occurs when God descends in the Incarnation! The true Adonai, Jesus, extends his arm in a saving act, lifting up his fallen people, bringing them hope. It is important for us to explicitly name the hope that has been extended to us, identifying its concrete expression in our lives. In the chapter on the “Tools for Good Works,” St. Benedict concludes his list of seventy-four items with the poignant injunction, “Never lose hope in God’s mercy.” I might adjust the language slightly: “Never lose sight of the hope God extends in his mercy.” We don’t need to go searching for a burning bush or a new set of commandments to find hope—nothing extraordinary. We just need to pay attention to what has already been given to us. God’s activity, his mercy, is decisive in our experience of hope. Today we get to notice it and live from it.
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O Lord, and leader of the house of Israel, who appeared to Moses in the fire of the flame of the bush, and gave him the law on Sinai: come to redeem us in your outstretched arm.
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O Radix Jesse December 19
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O Root of Jesse One might think that the illuminator of this O Antiphon took liberties with O Radix Jesse. That translation, however, is an eighth O Antiphon from the Parisian Rite (the one corresponding to this Antiphon was unavailable). That inconsistency can still bring us to a deeper understanding of this day, for it may be that Divine Province has called us to combine the two! Christ came forth from the “stump of Jesse.” In the line of Jesse’s son, King David, comes forth another King, the King of kings. This is the One whom kings will worship—especially three Gentile kings from the East. They represent the seekers among the peoples of the Earth, those who look for salvation in a darkened and troubled world. And once they find Him, they will be surprised. For they seek another King, crowned in glory, and yet instead they will find a babe. “And I too, when born, inhaled the common air, and fell upon the kindred earth; wailing, I uttered the first sound common to all” (Wisdom 7:3). Coming from darkness and suffering, they will pray for deliverance: “Come to deliver us, and do not delay!” Come, O Shepherd of Israel! Come and feed us in Your strength, for we need it! We are weak and powerless, even when we think we are not. We need You! We need to need You and Your power and strength! Come quickly, Lord! Otherwise we shall perish.
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O Root of Jesse, who stand as a sign for the peoples, before whom kings will stop their mouths, whom the nations will plead with: come to free us; now do not delay.
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The Fourth week of Advent December 20 - December 24 &
O Cl avis David December 20
Advent Concludes December 24 with First Vespers of Christmas
O K e y O f D av i d Advent is a time of great hope. We hope for those things that we cannot see, but desperately want. We want the fullness of life, of love, and of happiness. Indeed, we have an infinite capacity for these, and what we have here and now never satisfies us. We always long for more. The season of Advent intensifies our hope, our longing for complete and fully satisfying happiness. Many people confine their hope to things of this world. People want good health, good jobs and financial security. They desire a strong marriage and a healthy, happy family. They wish for a career that makes their lives meaningful. They want good government and a peaceful world. But these are all fragile hopes to be realized here and now in this world. Real hope carried us far beyond this world. Here below, there will always be strife and conflicts, sickness and death, trials and disappointments, dashed hopes and betrayals. Consider the many conflicts today: racial unrest, polarization, a pandemic, terrorism, and a loss of a sense of our roots and purpose. Advent directs our attention to that Presence, that allencompassing center of might and mercy that is God. Advent reminds us that we were created by God, that we live on this planet Earth for only so many years, and that our destiny is being admitted into Communion with God, in communion with millions of saints and angels. We are destined to see God, face-to-face. The greatest event in human history happened when the Archangel Gabriel announced to the Virgin Mary that God the Father chose her to be the human mother of Jesus, the Son of God, who would save mankind from sin and its disastrous consequences. To understand history, we must discover this great mystery. God created the 58 • T h e D a w n f r o m O n H i g h
human race because He wants us to be included in His infinite Communion of love, life, goodness, and beauty. He wills the salvation of every man, woman, and child. He will accomplish our salvation and our destiny through the mission of His Beloved Son, our Lord and Savior. During Advent, we deeply long to be closely associated with Jesus, our one and only Savior, whose attributes are proclaimed in the seven O Antiphons. We want to do our part in building the Kingdom of God, which begins in this world, but will only be fully realized in Heaven. O Clavis David, that opens eternity and the access to the treasures of God’s love, life, goodness, beauty and truth; come into our lives and fill them with your presence.
O Key of David, and scepter of the house of Israel, who open, and no one closes, you close and no one opens, come and lead out from the prison-house the one who has been bound, the one who sits in darkness and the shadow of death. 59
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O Oriens December 21
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O Dayspring The fresco in the abbey church has at top center an image of God the Father, the eternal light, whose splendor shines in the resurrected Christ, whose living body clothed in white forms the victorious cross. When we receive this garment of light in baptism, we are charged to bring it at last spotless before the judge, who will ask if we gave food and drink, welcome and clothing, personal presence and care to the vulnerable among us. The four corners of the fresco depict such acts of mercy both in the life of St. Benedict as preserving a brother from injury and making burdens light, and in the life of our founder as caring for the ill, pastoral care and educating the young. Depicted with subdued colors, such ordinary tasks veil their radiance of eternal light. Colors of light refracted in the ceiling shine along the course of the church and course through our lives. Witnesses Benedict and Scholastica the twin saints, and on twin peaks Mount St. Scholastica Monastery and St. Benedict’s Abbey in Atchison – beneath the veil of subdued tones, light scatters darkness and the shadow of death unveils daybreak. The Spirit hovering between the Father and Son inspires from within and beckons us: “Arise, my beloved! Let us walk on the path of peace.”
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O Rising Star, brilliance of the everlasting light, and sun of justice: come and light up those sitting in the dark night and the shadow of death.
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O Rex Gentium December 22
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O King o f t h e N at i o ns While previous O Antiphons present the coming of the Messiah specifically in the context of God’s chosen people, the Jews, this antiphon proclaims that his advent is for all the nations. Christ is the Rex gentium, the “king of the nations”. But he does not come to lord his power over the Gentiles. Rather, this antiphon emphasizes that he is truly desideratum earum, “their desire,” as well. The Jews have been waiting for his coming, foretold by the prophets, but the whole world has been longing for him. He comes to fulfill the desires of every human heart, whom he formed from the clay of the earth. He comes to unite Jew and Gentile into one in his Body, to take all humanity to himself. When the antiphon speaks of Christ as the cornerstone, qui facis utraque unum, “which makes both one,” it refers to these two peoples: Jew and Gentile. But it also points to the two titles mentioned earlier: king and desired one. These two are joined together in Christ. He fulfills the desires of our hearts by coming to reign in them. These last days of Advent invite us to lift up the gates of our hearts and let our desired King of Glory enter.
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O King of the nations, their longed-for-one, and the cornerstone, who make both one: come, and save man, whom you formed of clay.
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O Emmanuel December 23
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O God with Us God is with us. We call out to God, using this name – O Emmanuel. How sad a person who is not able to call out to God in hope-filled prayer! The foretold name of the Messiah in the Old Testament is Emmanuel. God is with us! The joy of Christmas. God is with us as the Messiah, Savior, Redeemer. The name Emmanuel was used in the Old Testament by the prophet Isaiah in reference to the promised Messiah. And in the New Testament as another name for Jesus Christ. What would it mean to you and your family to name your newly born baby Emmanuel? Perhaps, other than the joy of having a new baby in the house, you place a lot of hope that he will bring many blessings to your family. Can we say that Jesus is the Emmanuel of our lives? So much hope! Can we say that His birth, His presence in our lives, in our society, brings peace, joy, grace and fraternal love? This is the true meaning of the time of Advent. Preparing us for Christmas. “Come, Lord Jesus!” The way we are going, it looks like the virus isn’t going to leave us and the world soon. We have to live with precaution still, protecting ourselves and others. Let’s put the Holy Family and the new born Jesus back into Christmas. And renew our faith that God is with us, who brings peace and love, forgiveness and charity.
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O God-with-us, our king and lawbearer, watched for by the nations, and their Savior: come to save us, Lord, our God.
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Christmas Eve December 24
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The Dawn The winter solstice this year occurred on December 21 at 4:02 AM, Central Time. Then the days begin to get longer. On December 24 the Church celebrates liturgically the coming of the light, with the movement from the last Advent Mass in the morning to the evening Christmas Vigil Mass, and Mass at Night. The Gospel for the morning Mass of Christmas Eve is the Canticle of Zechariah. Toward the end of that passage we hear in Luke 1:78-79: …because of the tender mercy of our God by which the daybreak from on high will visit us to shine on those who sit in darkness and death’s shadow, to guide our feet into the path of peace. Many of us on this day are busy with everything, and don’t have time to ponder the tender mercy of God. In this year of a pandemic, and uncertainty, our hearts can even be more distracted and fearful than normal. Our Lord’s words to Martha in Luke 10:41 applies to many of us this day: …you are anxious and worried about many things. I encourage you to take some time today in silence. To take time away from planning and worrying, and simply sit with the one who wants to shine on you, and guide your feet into the way of peace. 76 • T h e D a w n f r o m O n H i g h
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The Procl amation of the Solemnit y of the Nativit y of the Lord from the roman mart yrology
December 24
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For centuries this proclamation of the coming of our Savior has been chanted, most suitably, during First Vespers of Christmas (Christmas Eve) or during the Christmas Eve Mass at night, recalling to countless souls this greatest and most surprising act of love, prepared before the foundation of world, promised to the people of Israel, and entering into human history in a definitive way. In the fullness of time God’s promises are fulfilled: a savior who would be Emmanuel. God with us. Let us listen to this proclamation with joyful hearts illumined by the light that comes from on high. Watch a video of the Christmas Proclamation
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The Twenty-fifth Day of December, when ages beyond number had run their course
from the creation of the world, when God in the beginning created heaven and earth, and formed man in his own likeness;
when century upon century had passed since the Almighty set his bow in the clouds after the Great Flood, as a sign of covenant and peace;
in the twenty-first century since Abraham, our father in faith, came out of Ur of the Chaldees;
in the thirteenth century since the People of Israel were led by Moses in the Exodus from Egypt;
around the thousandth year since David was anointed King;
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in the sixty-fifth week of the prophecy of Daniel;
in the one hundred and ninety-fourth Olympiad;
in the year seven hundred and fifty-two since the foundation of the City of Rome;
in the forty-second year of the reign of Caesar Octavian Augustus, the whole world being at peace,
JESUS CHRIST, eternal God and Son of the eternal Father, desiring to consecrate the world by his most loving presence, was conceived by the Holy Spirit, and when nine months had passed since his conception, was born of the Virgin Mary in Bethlehem of Judah, and was made man:
The Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to the flesh.
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Authors The First Week of Advent.........................................................14 A Monk of St. Benedict’s Abbey The Second Week of Advent....................................................20 Fr. Jay Kythe & Br. Angelus Atkinson The Third Week of Advent.......................................................35 Br. Karel Soukup The O Antiphons.......................................................................42 Fr. Denis Meade O Antiphon English Translations (below chant)............. 47-73 Br. Angelus Atkinson & Br. Jean Marie Hogan O Sapientia................................................................................46 Br. Timothy McMillan O Adonai....................................................................................50 Br. Leven Harton O Radix Jesse.............................................................................54 Fr. Jay Kythe Fourth Week of Advent & O Clavis David.............................58 Fr. Matthew Habiger O Oriens.....................................................................................64 Fr. Daniel McCarthy O Rex Gentium..........................................................................68 A Monk of St. Benedict’s Abbey O Emmanuel..............................................................................72 Fr. Duane Roy Christmas Eve............................................................................76 Fr. Meinrad Miller
Images From where does our hope come?............................................ 6 Flemish Psalter; made in Bruges (c.1500); Library of the Irish College in Paris The First Week of Advent.........................................................12 Christ Enthroned, Folio 32v.; the Book of Columba, Abbey of Kells (c.800) The Second Week of Advent....................................................18 John the Baptist, Introit for the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist: De ventre matris meae (From my mother’s womb…), Isaiah 49, Matteo da Milano, illuminated manuscript using tempura and gold on parchment, (c.1520) The Signs of Advent..................................................................26 Historiated initial ‘A’ of David lifting his soul (in the form of an infant) to God, Introit to the Mass for the first Sunday of Advent: Ad te levavi animam meam deus meus, (To you, my God, I life up my soul), Psalm 25, Italy, Central Florence, (14th c.), Department of Manuscripts of the British Museum The Liturgy of Advent...............................................................28 Symbols of the four evangelists; Folio 27v, The Book of Columba, Abbey of Kells (c.800) The Memory of Advent.............................................................30 Annunciation, Monastic Missal, 15th century, Monastero di Santa Scolastica (Subiaco) The Hope of Advent..................................................................32 The Visitation, Opening of an Hour of Prayer: Deus, in adiutorium meum intende. Domine, ad adiuvandum me festina. Gloria… (God, come to my assistance. O Lord, make haste to help me. Glory be…), The Hours of Catherine Cleves (ca. 1435– 60), MS M.917/945, ff. 31v–32r, The Morgan Library The Third Week of Advent.......................................................34 “D”, David with Lyre, illuminated manuscript, source unknown O Antiphons........................................................................ 40-70 The Great Antiphons, Edith A. Ibbs (1905); illuminated manuscript on vellum Christmas Eve............................................................................74 Holy Family with Adoring Magi, illuminated manuscript, copy in ground floor of St. Benedict’s Abbey, source unknown
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