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Regem venturum Dominum, venite, adoremus. Come, let us adore the King our Lord, who is to come. De Isaia Propheta. From the Prophet Isaias. Cap. xvi. Ch. xvi. Emitte agnum, Domine, dominatorem terrae, de petra deserti ad montem filiae Sion. Et erit: sicut avis fugiens, et pulli de nido avolantes, sic erunt filiæ Moab in transcensu Arnon. Ini consilium, coge concilium; pone quasi noctem umbram tuam in meridie; absconde fugientes, et vagos ne prodas. Habitabunt apud te profugi mei; Moab, esto latibulum eorum a facie vastatoris: finitus est enim pulvis, consummatus est miser, defecit qui conculcabat terram. Et praeparabitur...

December 13, 2017 Memorial of Saint Lucy, Virgin and Martyr Reading 1 Is 40:25-31 To whom can you liken me as an equal?says the Holy One.Lift up your eyes on highand see who has created these things:He leads out their army and numbers them,calling them all by name.By his great might and the strength of his powernot one of them is missing!Why, O Jacob, do you say,and declare, O Israel,"My way is hidden from the LORD,and my right is disregarded by my God"? Do you not knowor have you not heard?The LORD is the eternal God,creator of the ends...

Regem venturum Dominum, venite, adoremus. Come, let us adore the King our Lord, who is to come. De Isaia Propheta. From the Prophet Isaias. Cap. xiv. Ch. xiv. Prope est ut veniat tempus ejus, et dies ejus non elongabuntur. Miserebitur enim Dominus Jacob, et eliget adhuc de Israel, et requiescere eos faciet super humum suam; adjungetur advena ad eos, et adhaerebit domui Jacob. Et tenebunt eos populi, et adducent eos in locum suum; et possidebit eos domus Israel super terram Domini in servos et ancillas: et erunt capientes eos qui se ceperant, et subjicient exactores suos. Et erit in...

December 12, 2017 Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe Reading 1 Zec 2:14-17 Sing and rejoice, O daughter Zion! See, I am coming to dwell among you, says the LORD.Many nations shall join themselves to the LORD on that day,and they shall be his people,and he will dwell among you,and you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you.The LORD will possess Judah as his portion in the holy land,and he will again choose Jerusalem.Silence, all mankind, in the presence of the LORD!For he stirs forth from his holy dwelling. Or Rv 11:19a; 12:1-6a, 10ab...

Regem venturum Dominum, venite, adoremus. Come, let us adore the King our Lord, who is to come. De Isaia Propheta. From the Prophet Isaias. Cap. xiii. Ch. xiii. Onus Babylonis, quod vidit Isaias, filius Amos. Super montem caliginosum levate signum: exaltate vocem, levate manum, et ingrediantur portas duces. Ego mandavi sanctificatis meis, et vocavi fortes meos in ira mea, exsultantes in gloria mea. Vox multitudinis in montibus, quasi populorum frequentium; vox sonitus regum, gentium congregatarum. Dominus exercituum præcepit militiæ belli, venientibus de terra procul, a summitate cæli; Dominus, et vasa furoris ejus, ut disperdat omnem terram. Ululate, quia prope...

Walking Toward the Light in Advent Msgr. Charles Pope • December 10, 2017 • Many people think of Advent merely in terms of pre-Christmas activities: office parties, shopping, decorating, and so forth. In the Church, though, Advent is something of a penitential period, a time of preparation for both the Christmas Feast and the Second Coming of the Lord. The purple vestments represent penance. The faithful are encouraged to go to Confession and the liturgical texts and readings emphasize readying for the coming of the Lord.The theme of preparation (and much of the season itself) is couched in the...

December 11, 2017 Monday of the Second Week of Advent Reading 1 Is 35:1-10 The desert and the parched land will exult;the steppe will rejoice and bloom.They will bloom with abundant flowers,and rejoice with joyful song.The glory of Lebanon will be given to them,the splendor of Carmel and Sharon;They will see the glory of the LORD,the splendor of our God.Strengthen the hands that are feeble,make firm the knees that are weak,Say to those whose hearts are frightened:Be strong, fear not!Here is your God,he comes with vindication;With divine recompensehe comes to save you.Then will the eyes of the blind be...

“A Baptism of Repentance for the Forgiveness of Sins” (Mark 1:1-8) Well, here comes John the Baptist again. He always shows up around this time of year. Always with kind of a depressing message: “Repent! Get your life straightened out!” John the Baptist is like the Denny Downer of December. Everybody else is having a good time getting ready for Christmas--going shopping, listening to Christmas music, watching specials on TV, having Christmas parties--and here comes John, telling us to repent. John, is that any way to get ready for Christmas? I mean, listen to this part of our text today...

December 10, 2017 Second Sunday of Advent Reading 1 Is 40:1-5, 9-11 Comfort, give comfort to my people,says your God.Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to herthat her service is at an end,her guilt is expiated;indeed, she has received from the hand of the LORDdouble for all her sins. A voice cries out:In the desert prepare the way of the LORD!Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God!Every valley shall be filled in,every mountain and hill shall be made low;the rugged land shall be made a plain,the rough country, a broad valley.Then the glory of the LORD...

Five Brief Advent Meditations Msgr. Charles Pope • December 4, 2017 • The following are five Advent reflections that I prepared for catechumens and candidates in our RCIA program. (They are also available in PDF form here: The Season of Advent.) Advent is witnessed by creationLate autumn and early winter are times of great seasonal change. The leaves turn brilliant colors, then fade and fall. Shadows lengthen as the days grow shorter and colder. Vacations and the warmth of summer are distant memories and we are reminded once again that the things of this world last but a moment...

December 9, 2017 Saturday of the First Week of Advent Reading 1 Is 30:19-21, 23-26 Thus says the Lord GOD,the Holy One of Israel:O people of Zion, who dwell in Jerusalem,no more will you weep;He will be gracious to you when you cry out,as soon as he hears he will answer you.The Lord will give you the bread you needand the water for which you thirst.No longer will your Teacher hide himself,but with your own eyes you shall see your Teacher,While from behind, a voice shall sound in your ears:"This is the way; walk in it,"when you would turn...

The song of Mary is the oldest Advent hymn. It is also the most passionate, the wildest, and one might almost say the most revolutionary Advent hymn that has ever been sung. This is not the gentle, tender, dreamy Mary as we often see her portrayed in paintings. This Mary...is passionate, carried away, proud, enthusiastic. There is none of the sweet, wistful, or even playful tone of many of our Christmas carols, but instead a hard, strong, relentless hymn about the toppling of the thrones and the humiliation of the lords of this world, about the power of God and...

Regem venturum Dominum, venite, adoremus. Come, let us adore the King our Lord, who is to come. De Isaia Propheta. From the Prophet Isaias. Cap. vi. Ch. vi. In anno quo mortuus est rex Ozias, vidi Dominum sedentem super solium excelsum et elevatum; et ea quae sub ipso erant replebant templum. Seraphim stabant super illud: sex alae uni, et sex alae alteri; duabus velabant faciem ejus, et duabus velabant pedes ejus, et duabus volabant. Et clamabant alter ad alterum, et dicebant: Sanctus, sanctus, sanctus Dominus, Deus exercituum; plena est omnis terra gloria ejus. In the year that king Ozias...

December 8, 2017 Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary Reading 1 Gn 3:9-15, 20 After the man, Adam, had eaten of the tree,the LORD God called to the man and asked him, "Where are you?"He answered, "I heard you in the garden;but I was afraid, because I was naked,so I hid myself."Then he asked, "Who told you that you were naked?You have eaten, then,from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat!"The man replied, "The woman whom you put here with meCshe gave me fruit from the tree, and so I ate it."The...

Regem venturum Dominum, venite, adoremus. Come, let us adore the King our Lord, who is to come. De Isaia Propheta. From the Prophet Isaias. Cap. v. Ch. v. Cantabo dilecto meo canticum patruelis mei vineæ suæ. Vinea facta est dilecto meo in cornu filio olei. Et sepivit eam, et lapides elegit ex illa, et plantavit eam electam; et aedificavit turrim in medio ejus, et torcular exstruxit in ea; et exspectavit ut faceret uvas, et fecit labruscas. Nunc ergo, habitatores Jerusalem et viri Juda, judicate inter me et vineam meam. Quid est quod debui ultra facere vineæ meæ, et non...

Run to Jesus! An Advent Reflection Msgr. Charles Pope • December 6, 2017 • The Lord’s coming is near. And though we have all been well taught that the word “Advent” means “coming,” there is the danger that we think that we are only passively waiting for Him to come. It is not just that the Lord is coming to us; we are also journeying to Him. In fact, as the Advent prayers in the Roman Missal instruct, we ought to run, not walk, and hasten to greet Him as He draws near.This notion of running to meet God...

December 7, 2017 Memorial of Saint Ambrose, Bishop and Doctor of the Church Reading 1 Is 26:1-6 On that day they will sing this song in the land of Judah: "A strong city have we;he sets up walls and ramparts to protect us.Open up the gatesto let in a nation that is just,one that keeps faith.A nation of firm purpose you keep in peace;in peace, for its trust in you." Trust in the LORD forever!For the LORD is an eternal Rock.He humbles those in high places,and the lofty city he brings down;He tumbles it to the ground,levels it with...

“A Day of Judgment and Salvation” (1 Corinthians 1:3-9) In thinking about a theme for our three midweek Advent services this year, I decided to go with the Epistle readings for the first three Sundays in Advent. For there is a common theme that you can see in all three. There is a phrase, a connecting thread, that runs through these readings. See if you can notice what it is. First, from the Epistle for the First Sunday in Advent, 1 Corinthians 1, the part where it says: “as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who...

Preparing our Hearts for Mystery in Advent Msgr. Charles Pope • December 5, 2017 • As we look toward Christmas and ponder the incarnation, we ought to remember that so profound was truth of the incarnation that the early Church fell to her knees at these words: “and He was incarnate by the Holy Spirit, from the virgin Mary, and became man.” This act of falling to one’s knees at these words is still practiced in the extraordinary form of the Roman Rite; in the ordinary form, we are asked to bow.These gestures acknowledge the profound mystery of the...

Regem venturum Dominum, venite, adoremus. Come, let us adore the King our Lord, who is to come. De Isaia Propheta. From the Prophet Isaias. Cap. iii. Ch. iii. Ecce enim Dominator, Dominus exercituum, auferet a Jerusalem et a Juda validum et fortem, omne robur panis, et omne robor aquæ; fortem, et virum bellatorem, judicem, et prophetam, et ariolum, et senem; principem super quinquaginta, et honorabilem vultu et consiliarium, et sapientem de architectis, et prudentem eloquii mystici. Et dabo pueros principes eorum, et effeminati dominabuntur eis; et irruet populus, vir ad virum, et unusquisque ad proximum suum; tumultuabitur puer contra...