Homily of St. Gregory the Great: The approach of the judgement

Our Lord and Redeemer, wishing to find us ready, foretells the evils that will come on the world as it grows old, that he may wean our hearts from earthly affections. He makes known to us the great convulsions which will come before the end, that if we will not fear God when we are at peace, at least we may be so impressed by these terrible happenings as to dread his judgement when it is at hand.

A little before the passage which has just been read to you from the Gospel are found these words of our Lord: Nation will rise in arms against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be great earthquakes in this region or that, and plagues and famines* After a few more verses come the words you have just heard: The sun and  the moon and the stars will give portents, and on earth the nations will  be in distress, bewildered by the roaring of the sea and of its waves. Some of these things, indeed, have already come to pass; others, we fear, are not far off. In these our days we see nation rise against nation, and their distress over all the earth, more than ever we read of in books. You know also how often we have heard of earthquakes overwhelming countless cities in other parts of the world. We ourselves suffer pestilences without end.

When all this begins, look up, and lift up your heads; it means that the time draws near for your deliverance. He who is the Truth warns his elect very clearly by these words: when calamities are multiplied in the world, when the disturbances of the laws of nature foretell the fearful judgement to come, he bids them lift up their heads, that is, rejoice, for while the world for which they have no love is coming to the end, the deliverance that they have sought will approach. In holy scripture the word "head" often means the mind, for the head governs the members, and likewise the mind orders the thoughts. To lift up the head means, then, to raise the soul to the joys of heaven. Those who love the Lord are invited to draw joy and gaiety from the end of the world, for at this moment they will find him whom they love, while that which they have not loved will disappear.

Advent I: Collect

Da, quaesumus, omnipotens Deus, hanc tuis fidelibus voluntatem, ut, Christo tuo venienti iustis operibus occurrentes, eius dexterae sociati, regnum mereantur possidere caeleste. (Gelasian Sacramentary).

Grant, we beseech thee, almighty God,  to thy faithful this will, that, running with just works to meet thy Christ who is coming, they may be joined to his right hand and  be made worthy to attain the heavenly kingdom.

Msgr. Ronald Knox: A sermon preached at the London Oratory, Sunday, 21 December 1941

"The light shines in darkness, a darkness which was not able to master it." Shines, not shone; it may be, nearly a century had passed since the first Christmas Day, when those words were written, and still there was no rift in the clouds. The darkness was not able to master it; what does that mean? To overpower it? Or to understand, to assimilate it? We shall never know; perhaps St John was thinking of both meanings. Perhaps he meant us to see the world as permanently a battle-ground in the struggle between light and darkness, either setting off and showing up the other. On the one hand, darkness cannot take in, cannot assimilate the light. There is that in human nature, a nature wounded by the Fall, and redeemed now but not rectified, which will hold its own to the end of time. And always human nature in the mass will be like a caricature, that emphasizes the ugly features of a subject by writing them large; men in crowds will be more impatient, more cruel, more acquisitive than men considered as individuals. Perhaps—we do not know—there will always be shadows, as well as light, around the cave of Bethlehem.

Equally true, and perhaps more importantly true, is the other side of the picture. Darkness cannot overpower, cannot restrain the light. Once Christmas has happened, once we have been allowed to get Bethlehem's angle on the world, things can never be the same again; we may try to live down that revelation, but we shall not forget it. It has been said, and wisely: "Even to make darkness visible, some light is needed. We are only discontented with ourselves when we are struggling to be better than ourselves." If we find the world hideous, do not let us forget to thank God for that illumination which enables us to see its hideousness, for every rush-light that guides our way through darkness, a darkness which it cannot dispel.

And don't let us forget that the same principle holds true of our own personal lives. So many of us, when Christmas comes round, feel as if we had not the courage to present our self at the crib; it shames us with its poverty—we are so creature-loving; shames us with its humility—we are so full of injured pride; shames us with its faith—we are so full of hesitations and evasions. Why is it still dawn with us; why have we never grown up into the perfect day? As long as you have the grace to be thus discontented with yourself, take courage; all is not lost. No need to despair of any soul, except the soul which despairs of itself. Those deep shadows which checker the recesses of your conscience are proof that the light is still there. There is headroom in the cave of Bethlehem for everybody who knows how to stoop.

The traditional Hymns from the Common of the Apostles could be used on feasts of the Apostles.

Office of Readings (Matins): Attributed to St. Ambrose?

Æterna Christi munera,
Apostolorum gloriam,
Laudes canentes debitas
Lætis canamus mentibus.

Ecclesiarum principes,
Belli triumphales duces;
Cælestis aulæ milites,
Et vera mundi lumina.

Devota sanctorum fides,
Invicta spes credentium,
Perfecta Christi caritas,
Mundi triumphat principem.

In his paterna gloria,
In his voluntas Spiritus,
Exultat in his Filius,
Cælum repletur gaudio.

Te nunc Redemptor quæsumus,
Ut ipsorum consortio
Iungas precantes servulos
In sempiterna sæcula. Amen.

The eternal gifts of Christ, the glory of the Apostles, chanting with due praise, we sing with joyful minds. The princes of the churches, triumphant leaders in the battle, soldiers of the heavenly court, and true lights of the world. The devoted faith of the saints, Unconquered hope of those who believe, the perfect love of Christ triumphs over the prince of the world.  In these is these the Father’s glory, in these the will of the Spirit, in these the Son rejoices, heaven is filled with glory. Now, O Redeemer, we beseech you, that you join your servants praying to their company, in eternal ages. Amen. 

Lauds and Vespers: 10^th Century?

Exultet cælum láudibus,

resúltet terra gáudiis:

Apostolórum glóriam

sacra canunt sollémnia.

Vos, sæcli iusti iúdices

et vera mundi lúmina,

votis precámur córdium,

audíte preces súpplicum.

Qui cælum verbo cláuditis

serásque eius sólvitis,

nos a peccátis ómnibus

sólvite iussu, quæsumus.

Quorum præcépto súbditur

salus et languor ómnium,

sanáte ægros móribus,

nos reddéntes virtútibus,

Ut, cum iudex advénerit

Christus in fine sæculi,

nos sempitérni gáudii

fáciat esse cómpotes.

Deo sint laudes glóriæ,

qui dat nos evangélicis

per vos doctrínis ínstrui

et prósequi cæléstia. Amen.

May heaven exult with praises, earth resound with joy: holy solemnities sing the glory of the Apostles. You the just judges of the age, and true lights of the world, we pray with prayers of the heart, hear the petitions of those who entreat you. Who with a word close the doors to heaven and loosen its bars: we beseech you at your command absolve us from all our sins. By your decree ill health and the sickness of all are subdued: heal sick habits and restore us to strength of life. That when Christ the Judge will come at the end of time, he will grant us to share in everlasting joys. Praises of glory be to God, who granted that through you we be instructed in the teaching of the Gospel and attain heaven. Amen.

St. Bernard: The Advent of the Lord and its Six Circumstances: PL 183, 35-40, Homily I; Sermo II

St. Bernard: The Advent of the Lord and its Six Circumstances: PL 183, 35-40, Homily I; Sermo II

Behold He cometh, leaping upon the mountains, skipping over the hills. In place of mountains and hills understand patriarchs and prophets, and as He came leaping and skipping, read in the book of the generation of Jesus: Abraham begot Isaac: and Isaac begot Jacob and so on. From these mountains came forth, as you will find, the Root of Jesse, whence, according to the prophet, there came forth a Rod, and thence a flower shall rise up, upon which the sevenfold Spirit of the Lord shall rest (Is. xi. 1).

And revealing this more plainly in another place, the same prophet says: Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a Son, and His name shall be called Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us (Mt. i. 23). For He whom he first refers to as a flower, the same he here calls Emmanuel; and that which he before calls a rod, (virga) he here speaks of as the Virgin.

From this I believe it to be evident who is the Rod coming forth from the Root of Jesse, and Who is the Flower upon which the Holy Spirit rests: that the Mother of God is this Rod, and her Son Jesus the Flower. A Flower accordingly is the Son of the Virgin; a flower white and ruddy, chosen out of thousands (Cant. v. 10); a flower upon which the angels desire to look (I Pet. i. 12); a Flower whose fragrance restores the dead to life; and as He himself has said, a Flower of the field, and not of the garden. For the field flowers without human help, it is by no man sown, unbroken to the spade, nor made rich with soil. So truly has flowered the Womb of the Virgin; so has the inviolate, the unstained, the pure flesh and blood of Mary, as a field, brought forth this flower of eternal beauty; Whose perfection shall see no glory shall be forever unfading.

O Virgin, Sublime Rod, to what holy eminence are you come on high? Even to the very Throne, even to the Lord of all Majesty? And what wonder, since to the very depths thou dost send down the roots of thy own humility. O Truly Celestial Blossoming Rod, more precious, more holy, than al] the rest! O True Wood of Life, that alone was found worthy to bear the fruit of salvation!

ST. PETER CHRYSOLOGUS: Homily: St. Andrew

Today is rightly considered St. Andrew's birthday. He did not come to birth from his mother's womb today, but we recognize that through the conception of faith and the child-birth of martyrdom he was brought forth into heavenly glory. His mother's cradle did not receive him today as a softly crying infant, but the heavenly abodes welcomed him in triumph. He did not draw the soft mild nourishment of milk from his mother's breast, but as a devoted soldier he valiantly shed his blood for his King.

He lives, because, as a warrior in the heavenly army, he slew death. Sweating and sighing after his expiring Lord, he follows along and strives to walk with the full vigorous stride of his virtue. Nature had made him similar to his brother [Simon Peter], his vocation had made him a companion, and grace had made him an equal. He did not want this journey to make him dissimilar.

At one word of the Lord, Andrew had, like him, left his father, his country, and his possessions. Through Christ's own gift, he offered himself without wearying as the companion of his brother in labors, reproaches, journeys, insults, and vigils. The only blemish is that he fled at the time of the Lord's Passion. However, his fleeing does not give him an inferior rank. If to deny one's Lord is deemed a fault of some importance, surely it is not more serious to flee than to deny.

We should pass over the other matters in silence, brethren. The forgiveness put on a level those whom their fault had separated. And the fervor with which they afterwards suffered martyrdom proved the devotion of those men who had previously incurred dishonor through their fear. Later on, they eagerly embraced with all their hearts that cross from which they had shrunk, so as to ascend to heaven and gain their reward and crown from the same cross from which they had once derived guilt.

Peter mounted a cross, and Andrew a tree. In this way they who longed to suffer with Christ showed forth in themselves the kind and manner of His suffering; redeemed upon a cross, they were made perfect for their palms. Thus, even if Andrew is second in dignity, he is not inferior in regard to the reward or the suffering.

Advent: Before December 16th

I & II Vespers: 9^th Century

Walpole: Blume {Analecta LI p. 47) says that the contents of this hymn apply less to the Advent season than the other Advent hymns, perhaps it was not originally meant for Advent. Walsh & Hatch: It is allocated to Advent in view of stanza 3.

Cónditor alme síderum, (1)

ætérna lux credéntium,

Christe, redémptor ómnium,

exáudi preces súpplicum.

Qui cóndolens intéritu (2)

mortis períre sæculum,

salvásti mundum lánguidum,

donans reis remédium,

Vergénte mundi véspere, (3)

uti sponsus de thálamo, (4)

egréssus honestíssima

Vírginis matris cláusula.

Cuius forti poténtiæ

genu curvántur ómnia; (5)

cæléstia, terréstria

nutu faténtur súbdita.

Te, Sancte, fide quæsumus,

ventúre iudex sæculi,

consérva nos in témpore

hostis a telo pérfidi.

1.       Walpole: slderum the heavenly bodies, including the sun and moon.  The word strikes the keynote of the hymn, forecasting the light which Christ, Himself the eternal light, was to bring into the world.

2.      WH: interitu mortis: "In the extinction of death," the moral death incurred by Adam's sin.

3.      Walpole: ' When the world's evening was drawing to a close,'; WH: The coming of Christ is visualized as the end of the old world and the beginning of the new. See Hbr 9:26: "He has appeared once for all at the end of the age  to remove sin by the sacrifice of himself"

4.      WH: evocation of Ps 18:6, "tamquam sponsus procedens de thalamo suo" (as a bridegroom coming out of his bridechamber).

5.      So Phlp 2:10-11: "Ut in nomine Iesu omne genu flectat caelestium, terrestrium et infernorum, et omnis lin-gua confiteatur quia Dominus Iesus Christus in gloria est Dei Patris."

O kind Creator of the stars, eternal light of the faithful, Christ, redeemer of all men, hear the prayers of those who humbly entreat you. Who grieve that through the ruin of death the world should perish, did save the sick world, granting a remedy to the guilty. When the world drew near to evening, as a bridegroom going forth from the wedding bed, you came forth from the virgin mother’s most honorable womb. Before your strength of power, all in heaven and earth must bend the knee and confess that they are subject to your command. We beseech you, O Holy one, who will come to judge the world, preserve us in the present time from the darts of the perfidious enemy.

Lauds: 10^th Century

Walpole: This hymn was generally appointed for Matins in Advent, but according to date and locality its use varied. Thus in the Mozarabic breviary it was sung at Vespers on the Wednesday infra hebdomadam I Adventus {Analecta XXVII. p. 65). It is largely based on the Advent Epistle Rom. xiii. 1 1 f. and Gospel Lk. xxi. 25 f.

Vox clara ecce íntonat, (1) (2)

obscúra quæque íncrepat:

procul fugéntur sómnia;

ab æthre Christus prómicat.

Mens iam resúrgat tórpida

quæ sorde exstat sáucia;

sidus refúlget iam novum, (3)

ut tollat omne nóxium. (4)

E sursum Agnus míttitur (5)

laxáre gratis débitum;

omnes pro indulgéntia (6)

vocem demus cum lácrimis,

Secúndo ut cum fúlserit

mundúmque horror cínxerit,

non pro reátu púniat, (7)

sed nos pius tunc prótegat.

Summo Parénti glória

Natóque sit victória,

et Flámini laus débita

per sæculórum sæcula. Amen.

1.       Walpole: The voice is that of the Baptist, the forerunner of Christ, Joh. i. 23.

2.      intonat 'resounds loudly'

3.      sidus i.e. Christ. ' Morning Star' of Rev. xxii. 16.

4.      noxium ‘guilt’

5.      sursum ‘from on high’;

6.      pro indulgentia ‘for pardon’

7.      pro reatu ‘ according to our guilt’

Now the loud voice of the Baptist thunders, all darkness is rebuked; sleep flees afar, Christ shines forth from heaven. Now the sluggish mind, still wounded by impurity, awakes, already a new star shines to take away all harm. From heaven a Lamb is sent to free us from our debt, let us all weep and cry out for pardon. That when for a second time he shines and horror grips the world, he will not punish us  for our guilt but in his holiness protect us. To the highest Father glory, to the Son victory, to the flaming Spirit  due praise through all ages. Amen

When the Office of Readings is said in the daytime: 10^th Century

Milfull; use Matins or Lauds

Verbum supérnum pródiens, (1)

a Patre lumen éxiens,

qui natus orbi súbvenis

cursu declívi témporis: (2)

Illúmina nunc péctora

tuóque amóre cóncrema;

audíta per præcónia (3)

sint pulsa tandem lúbrica.

Iudéxque cum post áderis

rimári facta péctoris,

reddens vicem pro ábditis

iustísque regnum pro bonis,

Non demum artémur malis (4)

pro qualitáte críminis,

sed cum beátis compotes (5)

simus perénnes cælites.

1.       St. Thomas Aquinas borrows this line for the beginning of his famous Eucharistic hymn.

2.      Walpole: the writer takes  the N.T. view that the incarnation came in the end of the world's history; declívi ‘sloping towards evening, as if the sun were past its zenith

3.      audita... praeconia i.e. when Thy coming is proclaimed as it were by a herald (praeco).

4.      ' Oh let us not be punished according to the heinousness of our guilt.'

5.      Compotes ‘of the number of those of who have obtained’.

The Word proceeding from on high, the Light coming from the Father, born to rescue the world at the end of time.  Enlighten now our hearts burning with your love, when the proclamation is heard, finally deceit is driven off. And when you come as our judge to search out the deeds of the heart, rendering to each for hidden sins, and the kingdom to the righteous for good deeds.  In the end may we not be crushed for the quality of our evil sins but in the company of the blessed we may  be eternally citizens of heaven.