Thursday, December 6, 2012

PRAYER OF THE DAY

A Prayer of Impetration to Saint Nicholas

Glorious St. Nicholas,
my special patron,
from thy throne in glory,
where thou dost enjoy the presence of God,
turn thine eyes in pity upon me and obtain for me from our Lord the graces and helps that I need 
in my spiritual and temporal necessities and especially this favor
[mention your request],
provided that it be profitable to my salvation.
Be mindful, likewise,
O glorious and saintly Bishop,
of our Sovereign Pontiff,
of Holy Church,
and of all Christian people.
Bring back to the right way of salvation all those who are living steeped in sin and blinded by the darkness of ignorance, error, and heresy.
Comfort the afflicted,
provide for the needy,
strengthen the fearful,
defend the oppressed,
give health to the infirm;
cause all men to experience the effects of thy powerful intercession with the supreme Giver of every good and perfect gift.

Amen.


Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be


V. Pray for us, O blessed Nicholas.
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray.

O God, who has glorified blessed Nicholas,
Thine illustrious Confessor and Bishop,
by means of countless signs and wonders,
and who dost not cease daily so to glorify him;
grant, we beseech Thee, that we,
being assisted by his merits and prayers,
may be delivered from the fires of hell and from all dangers.
Through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

DAILY MASS READINGS

Thursday of the First Week of Advent

Reading
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 gates
to 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 the dust.
It is trampled underfoot by the needy,
by the footsteps of the poor.


Responsorial Psalm
Ps 118:1 And 8-9, 19-21, 25-27a

R. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,
for his mercy endures forever.
It is better to take refuge in the LORD
than to trust in man.
It is better to take refuge in the LORD
than to trust in princes.

R. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.

Open to me the gates of justice;
I will enter them and give thanks to the LORD.
This gate is the LORD's;
the just shall enter it.
I will give thanks to you, for you have answered me
and have been my savior.

R. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.

O LORD, grant salvation!
O LORD, grant prosperity!
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD;
we bless you from the house of the LORD.
The LORD is God, and he has given us light.

R. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
or:
R. Alleluia.


Gospel
Mt 7:21, 24-27

Jesus said to his disciples:

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,'
will enter the Kingdom of heaven,
but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.

"Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them
will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.
The rain fell, the floods came,
and the winds blew and buffeted the house.
But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock.
And everyone who listens to these words of mine
but does not act on them
will be like a fool who built his house on sand.
The rain fell, the floods came,
and the winds blew and buffeted the house.
And it collapsed and was completely ruined."

SAINT OF THE DAY

December 6

St. Nicholas (d. 350?)

The absence of the “hard facts” of history is not necessarily an obstacle to the popularity of saints, as the devotion to St. Nicholas shows. Both the Eastern and Western Churches honor him, and it is claimed that, after the Blessed Virgin, he is the saint most pictured by Christian artists. And yet, historically, we can pinpoint only the fact that Nicholas was the fourth-century bishop of Myra, a city in Lycia, a province of Asia Minor.

As with many of the saints, however, we are able to capture the relationship which Nicholas had with God through the admiration which Christians have had for him—an admiration expressed in the colorful stories which have been told and retold through the centuries.

Perhaps the best-known story about Nicholas concerns his charity toward a poor man who was unable to provide dowries for his three daughters of marriageable age. Rather than see them forced into prostitution, Nicholas secretly tossed a bag of gold through the poor man’s window on three separate occasions, thus enabling the daughters to be married. Over the centuries, this particular legend evolved into the custom of gift-giving on the saint’s feast. In the English-speaking countries, St. Nicholas became, by a twist of the tongue, Santa Claus—
further expanding the example of generosity portrayed by this holy bishop.

OFFICE OF READINGS

O Lord, open my lips.
And my mouth will proclaim your praise.

Invitatory Psalm
Psalm 66 (67)

Come, let us worship the Lord, the King who is to come.

– Come, let us worship the Lord, the King who is to come.

O God, take pity on us and bless us,
and let your face shine upon us,
so that your ways may be known across the world,
and all nations learn of your salvation.

– Come, let us worship the Lord, the King who is to come.

Let the peoples praise you, O God,
let all the peoples praise you.
Let the nations be glad and rejoice,
for you judge the peoples with fairness
and you guide the nations of the earth.

– Come, let us worship the Lord, the King who is to come.

Let the peoples praise you, O God,
let all the peoples praise you.
The earth has produced its harvest:
may God, our God, bless us.
May God bless us,
may the whole world revere him.

– Come, let us worship the Lord, the King who is to come.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen.

– Come, let us worship the Lord, the King who is to come.


Hymn

The Advent of our God
With eager prayers we greet
And singing haste up on the road
His glorious gift to meet.
The everlasting Son
Scorns not a Virgin’s womb;
That we from bondage may be won
He bears a bondsman’s doom.
Daughter of Zion, rise
To meet thy lowly King;
Let not thy stubborn heart despise
The peace he deigns to bring.
In clouds of awful light,
As Judge he comes again,
His scattered people to unite,
With them in heaven to reign.
Let evil flee away
Ere that dread hour shall dawn.
Let this old Adam day by day
God’s image still put on.
Praise to the Incarnate Son,
Who comes to set us free,
With God the Father, ever One,
To all eternity.


Psalm 17 (18)
Thanksgiving

The word of the Lord is a shield for all who make him their refuge.

The Lord’s ways are pure;
the words of the Lord are refined in the furnace;
the Lord protects all who hope in him.
For what God is there, but our Lord?
What help, but in the Lord our God?
God, who has wrapped me in his strength
and set me on the perfect path,
who has made my feet like those of the deer,
who has set me firm upon the heights,
who trains my hands for battle,
teaches my arms to bend a bow of bronze.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen.

The word of the Lord is a shield for all who make him their refuge.


Psalm 17 (18)

Lord, your right hand upheld me.

You have given me the shield of your salvation;
your right hand holds me up;
by answering me, you give me greatness.
You have stretched the length of my stride,
my feet do not weaken.
I pursue my enemies and surround them;
I do not turn back until they are no more.
I smash them to pieces, they cannot stand,
they fall beneath my feet.
You have wrapped me round with strength for war,
and made my attackers fall under me.
You turned my enemies’ backs on me,
you destroyed those who hated me.
They cried out, but there was no-one to save them;
they cried to the Lord, but he did not hear.
I have ground them up until they are dust in the wind,
trodden them down like the mud of the street.
You have delivered me from the murmurings of the people
and placed me at the head of the nations.
A people I do not even know serves me –
at a mere rumour of my orders, they obey.
The children of strangers beg for my favour;
they hide away and tremble where they hide.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen.

Lord, your right hand upheld me.


Psalm 17 (18)

Long life to the Lord! Praised be the God who saves me.

The Lord lives, my blessed Helper.
Let the God of my salvation be exalted.
God, you give me my revenge,
you subject peoples to my rule,
you free me from my enraged enemies.
You raise me up from those who attack me,
you snatch me from the grasp of the violent.
And so I will proclaim you among the nations, Lord,
and sing to your name.
Time and again you save your king,
you show your loving kindness to your anointed,
to David and his descendants for ever.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen.

Long life to the Lord! Praised be the God who saves me.


Listen, nations, to the word of the Lord.
– Take the news to the ends of the earth.


Reading
Isaiah 16:1-5,17:4-8

Send lambs
to the king of the country
from Sela, by way of the desert,
to the mountain of the daughter of Zion.
Flying backwards and forwards
like bewildered nestlings,
at the ford of the Arnon.
‘Advise us what to do,
decide for us.
‘Spread your shadow as if it were night
at the height of noon.
Hide those who have been driven out,
do not let the refugee be seen.
‘Let those who have been driven out of Moab
stay with you;
be their refuge
against the destroyer.’
Once the oppression is over,
and the destroyer is no more,
and those now trampling the country underfoot have gone away,
the throne will be made secure in gentleness,
and on it there will sit in all fidelity,
within the tent of David,
a judge careful for justice
and eager for integrity.
That day, the glory of Jacob will be diminished,
from being fat he will grow lean;
as when a reaper hugs an armful of standing corn
and slices off the ears,
or when they glean the ears in the Valley of Rephaim:
nothing remains but gleanings;
or when an olive tree is beaten:
two or three berries left on the topmost bough,
four or five on the branches of the tree.
It is the Lord, the God of Israel, who speaks.
That day, man will look to his creator and his eyes will turn to the Holy One of Israel. He will no longer look after the altars, his own handiwork, nor gaze at what his hands have made: the sacred poles and the solar pillars.


Responsory

I will cause a righteous Branch to spring forth for David,
and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land,
and this is the name by which he will be called:
The Lord is our righteousness.

A throne will be established in steadfast love and on it will sit in faithfulness one who judges and seeks justice,
and this is the name by which he will be called:
The Lord is our righteousness.


Reading
A commentary on the Diatessaron by St Ephrem

Keep watch: he is to come again

To prevent his disciples from asking the time of his coming, Christ said: About that hour no one knows, neither the angels nor the Son. It is not for you to know times or moments. He has kept those things hidden so that we may keep watch, each of us thinking that he will come in our own day. If he had revealed the time of his coming, his coming would have lost its savour: it would no longer be an object of yearning for the nations and the age in which it will be revealed. He promised that he would come but did not say when he would come, and so all generations and ages await him eagerly.

Though the Lord has established the signs of his coming, the time of their fulfilment has not been plainly revealed. These signs have come and gone with a multiplicity of change; more than that, they are still present. His final coming is like his first. As holy men and prophets waited for him, thinking that he would reveal himself in their own day, so today each of the faithful longs to welcome him in his own day, 
because Christ has not made plain the day of his coming.

He has not made it plain for this reason especially, that no one may think that he whose power and dominion rule all numbers and times is ruled by fate and time. He described the signs of his coming; how could what he has himself decided be hidden from him? Therefore, he used these words to increase respect for the signs of his coming, so that from that day forward all generations and ages might think that 
he would come again in their own day.

Keep watch; when the body is asleep nature takes control of us, and what is done is not done by our will but by force, by the impulse of nature. When deep listlessness takes possession of the soul, for example, faint-heartedness or melancholy, 
the enemy overpowers it and makes it do what it does not will. The force of nature, the enemy of the soul, is in control.

When the Lord commanded us to be vigilant, he meant vigilance in both parts of man: in the body, against the tendency to sleep; in the soul, against lethargy and timidity. As Scripture says: Wake up, you just, and I have risen, and am still with you; and again, 
Do not lose heart. Therefore, having this ministry, we do not lose heart.


Responsory

I will make a covenant with you,
this time for ever,
to love you as faithfully as I loved David.
See, I have made of him a witness to all races,
a leader and a master of the nations.

This salvation of God has been sent to the pagans;
they will listen to it.
See, I have made of him a witness to all races,
a leader and a master of the nations.

Let us pray.

Show forth your power, O Lord, and come.
Come in your great strength and help us.
Be merciful and forgiving,
and hasten the salvation which only our sins delay.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.

Let us bless the Lord.
– Thanks be to God.