0 St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary Proper Prayers for the Fourth Sunday of Advent Sebastián Barbosa García THY 610E: Liturgical Theology December 7, 2019 1 Advent has at its kernel the concept of expectation and of coming 1, for it is the waiting in vigilance of the feast in honor of the birth of Jesus Christ and the coming of the Lord at the end of times. Nevertheless, let not the expectation be passive in mind but instead embody the arduous work of preparation to receive the coming of God. Advent is also a season of openings, for God pierced the world with his human presence to make a suitable space in man's heart to dwell. It is of no coincidence that this happens in the time of year where the rhythm of seasons is at its tightest, coldest, and most abrasive state. God pierces into our reality to find that the heart of man is also tight, cold, and abrasive towards Him. What are we to do with this cold time of the year, with this cold heart of ours while God is preparing to come? The Church wisely incorporates a posture of penance and prayer, so that the spirit may find warmth in the middle of this dark world, so to elevate the soul’s powers towards God and prepare a worthy place for the Lord to be born in the heart.2 The delicate balance of awaiting, penance and joy paired with the four Sundays of Advent sets the soul aright with affections of urgency “to poses the heavenly kingdom,”3so that trusting not our merits but God’s mercy4 we may be filled with gladness and rejoicing in our solemn worship of this season.5 All the expectation and prayer finds its summit in the presidential prayers of the fourth Sunday of advent; whereas we approach the heavenly altar to witness the power of the Holy Spirit as it 1 Abbot Gueranger, The Liturgical Year: Advent (Westminster, Maryland: The Newman Press, 1948), 21. Ibid. 29. 3 From the Collects of the 1st Sunday of Advent. All presidential prayers are taken for the texts of Roman Missal, Third Edition (International Committee on the English in the Liturgy, 2010). 4 Super Oblata, 2nd Sunday of Advent. 5 Collects of the 3rd Sunday of Advent. 2 2 filled the womb of the Virgin Mary so we may obtain the grace to see the mystery of the Incarnation as we await the day of his second coming. Collects Pour forth, we beseech you, O Lord, your grace into our hearts, that we, to whom the Incarnation of Christ your Son was made known by the message of an Angel, may by his Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of his Resurrection. The Collects for the Fourth Sunday of Advent present us with the closing prayer of the angelus. Without a doubt, it is a literary gem; this prayer comes from a very ancient practice of the Pope at Rome in the feast of the Annunciation on March 25.6 Furthermore, it presents in very concise words the greatest mysteries of God. The prayer starts with a beautiful petition of the pouring down of “grace into our hearts.” The verb in Latin used for this petition is infundo,7 it is mostly used to refer to the act of "communicating or imparting."8 This word also bears the connotation of metallurgy. The image of a molten metal taking the shape of the casket may come into mind. The petition has, at its core, the desire to let grace be engraved into the heart. This petition of grace brings to the forefront of the mystery of God's work of salvation. We do not plead our cause before God relying on our merits but trusting in his grace: the 6 “Commentary on the Proper Prayers of Advent from the Roman Missal,” United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, accessed November 26, 2019, http://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/liturgicalyear/advent/commentary-on-advent-proper-prayers.cfm 7 “4th Sunday of Adven Collect,” Fr. Z’s blog, accessed November 26, 2019, https://wdtprs.com/2006/12/4th-sunday-of-advent-collect-2/ 8 Ibid. 3 Incarnation, the Passion, and the Cross. The structure of this prayer transports us to the moment of the Annunciation. Here the Angel Gabriel unveils the will of God to the Virgin Mary, and the host of angles communicate the birth Christ to the shepherds in the field.9 The verb used here is cognovimus, which in Latin means “to know,”10 with both senses and mental powers, such knowledge of the Incarnation is efficacious only if it sees the Passion and Cross as the path (per passioner eius et crucem) to be brought (perduco, “to lead or bring through)11 the glory of the Resurrection. The theological import of this prayer is vast and deep. It will suffice to focus on the final cause of God’s work of redemption, which is the return of all things to God in the Resurrection. The road back to God, paved by the many sins of our ancestors, is filled with thorns and thistles. This road will be impossible to tread if it was not for the grace of faith. At its core, this prayer is asking for the grace to believe in the Messiah, so to walk in perfect understanding of the will of God. (Rom12:2)12 Faith in order to understand that the Passion is the work of Salvation that must be completed in us at the Resurrection. (Phil 1:6) Just like the shepherds were lead to see the Word made flesh in the manger so too we are led by God to know of the Incarnation of His Son 9 USCCB, “Poorper Prayers.” Fr. Z, ”Collects.” 11 Ibid. 12 All texts are taken from The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition (Washington, DC: National Council of Churches of Christ, 1993) 10 4 so that we may believe. 13 St. Gabriel the Archangel made known this great mystery of salvation to us at the Incarnation! Supra Oblata May the Holy Spirit, O Lord, sanctify these gifts laid upon your altar, just as he filled with his power the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Through Christ our Lord. This prayer dates back in use to the Fourth Century, France. Eventually, the prayer was incorporated in the Roman liturgy, and it is found in various Sacramentaries, including the “Bergomenese.”14 This prayer has as its center the womb of the Virgin Mary. The Latin uses the word viscera, which refers to the entrails or inner organs of a person or animal, and its classical use it also means "womb."15 Thus, the viscera of the Virgin Mary is a holy place prepared by God himself to take on flesh and blood for the salvation of mankind. The structure of this prayer has a parallel comparison of the work the Holy Spirit does to the gifts on the altar and the work He did in the womb of the Virgin. In the former, the Holy Spirit sanctifies the offerings; in the latter, the Holy Spirit "makes full the womb of Virgin." 16 In both the English translation and the Latin text, the message is clear that the sanctification of the gifts on the altar is possible because the Holy Spirit first filled the womb of the Virgin Mary with his presence. Thus, the beautiful relation between the altar of sacrifice and the Virgin Mary. Here is 13 Fr. Z, ”Collects.” ”4th Sunday of Advent: SUPER OBLATA,” Fr. Z’s blog, accessed November 26, 2019, https://wdtprs.com/2006/12/4th-sunday-of-advent-super-oblata-2/ 15 Ibid. 16 Ibid. 14 5 the most sublime example of how the best gifts man can offer are taken up and sanctified by God. The dynamics of Katabasis and Anabasis is at the core of this prayer. A theological insight may be drawn from the participation of the priest in the Sacrifice of Mass as he invokes the Holy Spirit down upon the gifts. The priest does not offer sacrifice to God by himself. Although the sacrifice he offers and the sacrifice that the people offer are different in mode, both are offering to the Father the same precious Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.17 Here the priest is, most notably, accompanied by our Lady. She and her virginal womb are present in the sign of the altar where Christ’s sacrifice is made present. Preface II of Advent …For all the oracles of the prophets foretold him, the Virgin Mother longed for him with love beyond all telling, John the Baptist sang of his coming and proclaimed his presence when he came. It is by his gift that already we rejoice at the mystery of his Nativity, so that he may find us watchful in prayer and exultant in his praise And so, with the Angels and Archangels... The Second Preface of the Nativity presents us with a beautiful rendering of eschatological motifs to prepare us to enter the sacred ground of the Canon. It gives us a glance into the past; it strengthens our prayer for the present and thrust us forth for the to his second coming. For the past, we are reminded that Christ came to fulfill ancient oracles told by the prophets of old. These same oracles were held in the tender silence of a Virgin, which God chose 17 Ibid. 6 to bear His son, a son that she loved with a supernatural love. The Messiah had a precursor, John the Baptist, who proclaimed the coming of the Messiah to His people. These figures are presented to us as examples of faith, hope, and perseverance for our work of prayer while here on earth. Now we come to the present. The prayer mentions rejoicing on the part of the faithful because Christ has already come, and now our work of prayer must sustain us in careful observance of his second coming. Note the quality of prayer is of praise and rejoicing. Advent is a time of penance and mortification, but it is also a time of high expectation and joy because we have already received the gift of salvation from God. The tribulations experienced throughout the year come to an end with a new beginning, a new birth, a fresh start. Prayer must be severe yet light to penetrate the paradox of Christian living: in our weakness, Christ is strong. (2 Cor 12:10). Prayer after Communion Having received this pledge of eternal redemption, we pray, almighty God, that, as the feast day of our salvation draws ever nearer, so we may press forward all the more eagerly to the worthy celebration of the mystery of your Son's Nativity. Who lives and reigns forever and ever. The prayer after communion is a recent composition of ancient collections from the "Galatian Sacramentary."18 The first part comes from the feast of St. Laurence found in a compilation of Mass booklets in the VI century. Moreover, the second part is the rendering of a prayer used on the Friday of the third week of lent in the VII century. 18 ”4th Sudnay of Advent: POST COMMUNION,” Fr. Z’s blog, accessed November 26, 2019, https://wdtprs.com/2006/12/4th-sunday-of-advent-post-communion-2/ 7 This prayer's underlying current is of expectancy, of urgency for the coming of the Lord. We are almost at the end of Mass, and the week that leads up to Christmas has already begun. We are, in one sense, in a race toward God, a race that culminates in celebration and feast. The faithful are empowered by the token of grace received in their hearts, a pledge of salvation that heals the wretchedness, and prepares the person for the banquet. The Latin word used here for the pledge is pignore (ablative of pignus), which means pact, to covenant, pledge, gage, security, mortgage.19 It is interesting to note that by being a people of the covenant, we receive the promise of eternity. The bond between God and his people is so strong that God is willing to bend time and space for the benefit of his children. As the Nativity comes closer, we are made stronger to make progress in our holiness (worthy of celebrating the feast) by God's covenant (pledge). Final Remarks In conclusion, the presidential prayers for the 4th Sunday of Advent confront the faithful with the totality of God's plan of salvation. We explore the most intimate experiences of God in the Incarnation as we enter the heart of Mary in her joyful expectation of the fulfillment of the ancient oracles. We see the Holy Spirit display His power in the Annunciation and at the sacrifice of the Mass. The work of redemption in the Passion and the Cross is mentioned to let us know the path we must tread for our salvation. Furthermore, finally, we are sent forth to “press forward all the more eagerly” to seek the face of the newborn, God with us, in the manger. Bibliography 19 Ibid. 8 Gueranger, Abbot. The Liturgical Year: Advent. Westminster, Maryland: The Newman Press, 1948. Pristas, Lauren. The Collects of the Roman Missals: A Comparative Study of the Sundays in Proper Seasons Before and after the Second Vatican Council. London: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2013. United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. “Commentary on the Proper Prayers of Advent from the Roman Missal.” Accessed November 26, 2019. http://www.usccb.org/prayerand-worship/liturgical-year/advent/commentary-on-advent-proper-prayers.cfm Fr. Z’s blog. “4th Sunday of Advent: COLLECTS.” Accessed November 26, 2019. https://wdtprs.com/2006/12/4th-sunday-of-advent-collect-2/ Fr. Z’s blog. “4th Sunday of Advent: SUPER OBLATA.” Accessed November 26, 2019. https://wdtprs.com/2006/12/4th-sunday-of-advent-super-oblata-2/ Fr. Z’s blog. “4th Sunday of Advent: POST COMMUNION.” Accessed November 26, 2019. https://wdtprs.com/2006/12/4th-sunday-of-advent-post-communion-2/
