Antiphon
Cf. Is 7: 14; 8: 10
The Lord and Ruler will be coming soon,
and his name will called be Emmanuel,
because he will be called God-with-us.
Collect
Hear in kindness, O Lord,
the prayers of your people,
that those who rejoice
at the coming of your Only Begotten Son in our flesh
may, when at last he comes in glory,
gain the reward of eternal life.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever.
Amen.
Wednesday of the Fourth Week in Advent
Reading
SG 2:8-14
Hark! my lover–here he comes
springing across the mountains,
leaping across the hills.
My lover is like a gazelle
or a young stag.
Here he stands behind our wall,
gazing through the windows,
peering through the lattices.
My lover speaks; he says to me,
“Arise, my beloved, my dove, my beautiful one,
and come!
“For see, the winter is past,
the rains are over and gone.
The flowers appear on the earth,
the time of pruning the vines has come,
and the song of the dove is heard in our land.
The fig tree puts forth its figs,
and the vines, in bloom, give forth fragrance.
Arise, my beloved, my beautiful one,
and come!
“O my dove in the clefts of the rock,
in the secret recesses of the cliff,
Let me see you,
let me hear your voice,
For your voice is sweet,
and you are lovely.”
Or
ZEP 3:14-18A
Shout for joy, O daughter Zion!
Sing joyfully, O Israel!
Be glad and exult with all your heart,
O daughter Jerusalem!
The LORD has removed the judgment against you,
he has turned away your enemies;
The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst,
you have no further misfortune to fear.
On that day, it shall be said to Jerusalem:
Fear not, O Zion, be not discouraged!
The LORD, your God, is in your midst,
a mighty savior;
He will rejoice over you with gladness,
and renew you in his love,
He will sing joyfully because of you,
as one sings at festivals.
Responsorial Psalm
PS 33:2-3, 11-12, 20-21
R. Exult, you just, in the Lord!
Sing to him a new song.
Give thanks to the LORD on the harp;
with the ten-stringed lyre chant his praises.
Sing to him a new song;
pluck the strings skillfully, with shouts of gladness.
R. Exult, you just, in the Lord!
Sing to him a new song.
But the plan of the LORD stands forever;
the design of his heart, through all generations.
Blessed the nation whose God is the LORD,
the people he has chosen for his own inheritance.
R. Exult, you just, in the Lord!
Sing to him a new song.
Our soul waits for the LORD,
who is our help and our shield,
For in him our hearts rejoice;
in his holy name we trust.
R. Exult, you just, in the Lord!
Sing to him a new song.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
O Emmanuel, our King and Giver of Law:
come to save us, Lord our God!
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
LK 1:39-45
Mary set out in those days
and traveled to the hill country in haste
to a town of Judah,
where she entered the house of Zechariah
and greeted Elizabeth.
When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting,
the infant leaped in her womb,
and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit,
cried out in a loud voice and said,
“Most blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
And how does this happen to me,
that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears,
the infant in my womb leaped for joy.
Blessed are you who believed
that what was spoken to you by the Lord
would be fulfilled.”
December 21
Saint Andrew Dung Lac (1795 - 1839)
Vietnamese martyr, companion of St. Peter Thi. Andrew, born in 1785,
was a priest in Vietnam, his homeland.
He was arrested and beheaded on December 21 with Peter Thi.
He was canonized in 1988.
O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will proclaim Your Praise!
Invitatory Psalm
Psalm 66 (67)
The Lord is at hand:
come, let us adore him.
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.
The Lord is at hand:
come, let us adore him.
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.
The Lord is at hand:
come, let us adore him.
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.
The Lord is at hand:
come, let us adore him.
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 Lord is at hand:
come, let us adore him.
Hymn
The co-eternal Son
A maiden’s offspring see;
A servant’s form Christ putteth on,
To set his people free.
Daughter of Sion, rise
To greet thine infant King;
Nor let thy stubborn heart despise
The pardon he doth bring.
Let deeds of darkness fly
Before the approaching morn;
For unto sin ’tis ours to die
And serve the Virgin-born.
Our joyful praises sing,
To Christ, that set us free;
Like tribute to the Father bring,
And, Holy Ghost, to thee.
Psalm 102 (103)
Praise of the compassionate Lord
My soul, give thanks to the Lord,
and never forget all his blessings.
My soul, bless the Lord!
All that is in me, bless his holy name.
My soul, bless the Lord!
Never forget all he has done for you.
The Lord, who forgives your wrongdoing,
who heals all your weaknesses.
The Lord, who redeems your life from destruction,
who crowns you with kindness and compassion.
The Lord, who fills your age with good things,
who renews your youth like an eagle’s.
The Lord, who gives fair judgements,
who gives judgement in favour of the oppressed.
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.
My soul, give thanks to the Lord,
and never forget all his blessings.
Psalm 102 (103)
As a father has compassion on his sons,
the Lord has pity on those who fear him.
The Lord is compassion and kindness,
full of patience, full of mercy.
He will not fight against you for ever:
he will not always be angry.
He does not treat us as our sins deserve;
he does not pay us back for our wrongdoing.
As high as the sky above the earth,
so great is his kindness to those who fear him.
As far as east is from west,
so far he has put our wrongdoing from us.
As a father cares for his children,
so the Lord cares for those who fear him.
For he knows how we are made,
he remembers we are nothing but dust.
Man – his life is like grass,
he blossoms and withers like flowers of the field.
The wind blows and carries him away:
no trace of him remains.
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.
As a father has compassion on his sons,
the Lord has pity on those who fear him.
Psalm 102 (103)
Give thanks to the Lord, all his works.
The Lord has been kind from the beginning;
to those who fear him his kindness lasts for ever.
His justice is for their children’s children,
for those who keep his covenant,
for those who remember his commandments
and try to perform them.
The Lord’s throne is high in the heavens
and his rule shall extend over all.
Bless the Lord, all his angels,
strong in your strength, doers of his command,
bless him as you hear his words.
Bless the Lord, all his powers,
his servants who do his will.
Bless the Lord, all he has created,
in every place that he rules.
My soul, bless the Lord!
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.
Give thanks to the Lord, all his works.
Lord, let your loving kindness be upon me:
– your salvation, as you have promised.
First Reading
Isaiah 51:1-11
Listen to me, you who pursue integrity,
who seek the Lord.
Consider the rock you were hewn from,
the quarry from which you were cut.
Consider Abraham your father
and Sarah who gave you birth.
For he was all alone when I called him,
but I blessed and increased him.
Yes, the Lord has pity on Zion,
has pity on all her ruins;
turns her desolation into an Eden,
her wasteland into the garden of the Lord.
Joy and gladness shall be found in her,
thanksgiving and the sound of music.
Pay attention to me, you peoples,
listen to me, you nations.
For from me comes the Law
and my justice shall be the light of the peoples,
I will establish my integrity speedily,
my salvation shall come like the light,
my arm shall judge the peoples.
The islands put their hope in me,
put their trust in my strength.
Lift up your eyes to the heavens,
look down at the earth.
The heavens will vanish like smoke,
the earth wear out like a garment,
and its inhabitants die like vermin,
but my salvation shall last for ever
and my justice have no end.
Listen to me, you who know what integrity means,
people who take my laws to heart:
do not fear the taunts of men,
nor be dismayed by their insults,
for the moth shall eat them like garments,
the grub devour them like wool,
but my integrity will remain for ever,
and my salvation for all generations.
Awake, awake! Clothe yourself in strength,
arm of the Lord.
Awake, as in the past,
in times of generations long ago.
Did you not split Rahab in two,
and pierce the Dragon through?
Did you not dry up the sea,
the waters of the great Abyss,
to make the seabed a road
for the redeemed to cross?
Those whom the Lord has ransomed return, they come to Zion shouting for joy,
everlasting joy in their faces;
joy and gladness go with them,
sorrow and lament are ended.
Responsory
Pay attention to me, you peoples,
listen to me, you nations:
My Just One is near,
my Savior is close at hand.
Those whom the Lord has ransomed shall return.
They will come to Zion shouting for joy:
My Just One is near, my Savior is close at hand.
Second Reading
St Hippolytus against the Noetic heresy
The hidden sacrament is revealed
There is, brethren, one God, the knowledge of whom we gain from the Holy Scriptures and from no other source. Whatever things the Holy Scriptures declare, at these let us look; and whatever they teach, let us learn it; and as the Father wills our belief to be, let us believe; and as he wills the Son to be glorified, let us glorify him; and as he wills the Holy Spirit to be bestowed, let us receive him. Not according to our own will, nor according to our own mind, nor yet storming by force the things which are given by God, but even as he has chosen to teach them by the Holy Scriptures,
so let us discern them.
God, subsisting alone, and having nothing coeval with himself, chose to create the world. And conceiving the world in mind, and willing and uttering the Word, he made it; and at once it appeared, formed it in the way he desired. For us it is sufficient simply to know that nothing was coeval with God. Outside him there was nothing; but he, while existing alone, yet existed in plurality. For he did not lack reason, or wisdom, or power, or counsel. All things were in him, and he was the All.
At a time and in a manner chosen by him he made his Word manifest,
and through his Word he made all things.
He bears this Word in himself, as yet invisible to the created world. He makes him visible, uttering the voice first, and begetting him as Light of Light. He presents him to the world as its Lord; and whereas the Word was visible formerly to God alone, and invisible to the world which is made,
God makes the Word visible in order that the world might see him and be able to be saved.
This is the mind which came forth into the world and was manifested as the Son of God.
All things came into being through him, and he alone comes from the Father.
He gave us the Law and the prophets; and in giving them,
he made them speak by the Holy Ghost, in order that,
receiving the inspiration of the Father’s power, they might declare the Father’s counsel and will.
Thus, then, was the Word made manifest, even as the blessed John says. For he sums up the things that were said by the prophets, and shows that this is the Word, by whom all things were made. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
All things were made by him, and without him nothing was made. And later,
The world was made by him, and the world did not know him; he came to his own,
and his own did not receive him.
Responsory
A child shall be born for us,
and this is the name they shall give him:
Mighty God.
He shall sit upon the throne of David, his father, and rule;
dominion shall be laid upon his shoulders.
All that came to be had life in him and that life was the light of men.
He shall sit upon the throne of David, his father, and rule;
dominion shall be laid upon his shoulders.
Let us pray.
Almighty God,
now that the birthday of your Son as man is drawing near,
we pray that your eternal Word,
who took flesh in the womb of the Virgin Mary and came to dwell among men,
will show your unworthy people the greatness of his love and mercy.
Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God for ever and ever.
Amen.
Let us praise the Lord.
– Thanks be to God.
