The Catholic Church and Personal Parish of Our Lady of Walsingham with Saint Cuthbert Mayne
FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT DWSM Readings and Propers p.28
THE LIGHTING OF THE ADVENT WREATH Drop down ye heavens from above and let the sky pour down righteousness. (v1) Blessed are you, sovereign Lord, God of our fathers: to you be praise and glory for ever. You called the patriarchs to live by the light of faith and to journey in the hope of your promised fulfilment. May we be obedient to your call and be ready and watchful to receive Christ your Son, a lamp to our feet and a light to our path; for you are our light and our salvation. OFFERTORY HYMN Hills of the North, rejoice, echoing songs arise, Hail with united voice Him who made earth and skies: He comes in righteousness and love, He brings salvation from above. Isles of the Southern seas, sing to the listening earth, Carry on every breeze hope of a world's new birth: In Christ shall all be made anew, His word is sure, his promise true. Lands of the East, arise, He is your brightest morn, Greet him with joyous eyes, praise shall his path adorn: The God whom you have longed to know In Christ draws near, and calls you now. Shores of the utmost West, lands of the setting sun, Welcome the heavenly guest in whom the dawn has come: He brings a never-ending light Who triumphed o'er our darkest night. Shout, as you journey on, songs be in every mouth, Lo, from the North they come, from East and West and South: In Jesus all shall find their rest, In him the sons of earth be blest.
COMMUNION HYMN O comfort my people and calm all their fear, and tell them the time of salvation draws near. O tell them I come to remove all their shame, then they will forever give praise to my name. Proclaim to the cities of Judah my word: that gentle yet strong is the hand of the Lord. I rescue the captives, my people defend, and bring them to justice and joy without end. All mountains and hills shall become as a plain for vanished are mourning and hunger and pain. and never again shall these war against you. behold I come quickly to make all things new. After the Dismissal PRAYER OF ST MICHAEL Holy Michael, Archangel, defend us in the day of battle. Be thou our defence against the wickedness and snares of the Devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly hosts, by the power of God, thrust down to hell Satan, and all wicked spirits, who wander through the world for the ruin of souls. Amen. THE ANGELUS The angel of the Lord brought tidings to Mary And she conceived by the Holy Spirit. Hail Mary... Behold the handmaid of the Lord. be it unto me according to thy word. The Word was made flesh. And dwelt amongst us.
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ. Let us pray. We beseech thee O Lord, pour thy grace upon us, that as we have known the incarnation of thy Son Jesus Christ by the message of an Angel, so by His death and passion we may be brought unto the glory of His resurrection, through Christ our Lord. Amen.
NOTICES
Sundays: Year A Weekday: Year I
Su 27th ADVENT SUNDAY Advent Carol Service th M 28 Feria T 29th Feria W 30th ST ANDREW (Ap) Th 1st St Edmund Campion Pr& M F 2nd Ember Friday in Advent S 3rd Ember Saturday in Advent
10.00 15.45 12.00 18.30 10.00 10.00 10.00 10.00
Mattins will be said publicly on Tuesday - Friday and at 7.50 Saturday and Sunday at 9.00. For up to date information: ourladyofwalsingham.online
ADVENT - A new Liturgical Year Today, the first Sunday of Advent, the Church begins a new Liturgical Year, a new journey of faith that on the one hand commemorates the event of Jesus Christ and, on the other, opens to its ultimate fulfilment. It is precisely in this double perspective that she lives the Season of Advent, looking both to the first coming of the Son of God, when he was
born of the Virgin Mary, and to his glorious return, when he will come “to judge the living and the dead”, as we say in the Creed. I would now like to focus briefly on this evocative theme of “waiting”, for it touches upon a profoundly human aspect in which the faith becomes, so to speak, completely one with our flesh and our heart. Expectation or waiting is a dimension that flows through our whole personal, family and social existence. Expectation is present in thousands of situations, from the smallest and most banal to the most important that involve us completely and in our depths. Among these, let us think of waiting for a child, on the part of a husband and wife; of waiting for a relative or friend who is coming from far away to visit us; let us think, for a young person, of waiting to know his results in a crucially important examination or of the outcome of a job interview; in emotional relationships, of waiting to meet the beloved, of waiting for the answer to a letter, or for the acceptance of forgiveness.... One could say that man is alive as long as he waits, as long as hope is alive in his heart. And from his expectations man recognises himself: our moral and spiritual “stature” can be measured by what we wait for, by what we hope for. Every one of us, therefore, especially in this Season which prepares us for Christmas, can ask himself: What am I waiting for? What, at this moment of my life, does my heart long for? And this same question can be posed at the level of the family, of the community, of the nation. What are we waiting for together? What unites our aspirations, what brings them together? In the time before Jesus’ birth the expectation of the Messiah was very strong in Israel – that is, the expectation of an Anointed one, a descendent of King David, who would at last set the people free from every form of moral and political slavery and find the Kingdom of God. But no one would ever have imagined that the Messiah could be born of a humble girl like Mary, the betrothed of a righteous man, Joseph. Nor would she have ever thought of it, and yet in her heart the expectation of the Saviour was so great, her faith and hope were so ardent, that he was able to find in her a worthy mother. Moreover, God himself had prepared her before time. There is a mysterious correspondence between the waiting of God and that of Mary, the creature “full of grace”, totally transparent to the loving plan of the Most High. Let us learn from her, the Woman of Advent, how to live our daily actions with a new spirit, with the feeling of profound expectation that only the coming of God can fulfil. Pope Benedict XVI 2010