EMBER SATURDAY OF SAPIENTIATIDE

         Ember Saturday of Sapientiatide       

             

   (A day of Fast and Partial Abstinence)

Prope est jam Dominus; venite, adoremus.

The Lord is now nigh; come, let us adore.

The Lessons from the Prophet Isaias are interrupted today also; and a Homily on the Gospel of the Mass is read in their place. As this Gospel is repeated in the Mass of the fourth Sunday of Advent, which is tomorrow, we will, for the present, omit it, and be satisfied with mentioning the reason of the same Gospel being assigned to the two days.

The primitive custom, in the Roman Church, was to hold Ordinations in the night between Saturday and Sunday, just as Baptism was administered to the Catechumens in the night between Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday. The ceremony took place towards midnight, and Sunday morning was always far advanced before the termination; so that the Mass of Ordination was considered as the Mass of Sunday itself. Later on, discipline relaxed, and these severe vigils were given up; the Ordination Mass, like that of Holy Saturday, was anticipated; and, as the fourth Sunday of Advent and the second of Lent had not hitherto had a proper Gospel, since they had not had a proper Mass, it was settled about the tenth or eleventh century, that the Gospel of the Mass of Ordinations should be repeated in the special Mass of the two Sundays in question.

The Station is at St. Peter's, on account of the Ordinations. This Basilica was always one of the largest of the City of Rome, and was therefore the best suited for the great concourse of people.

Let us honour Mary upon this day of the week, which is consecrated to her; let us borrow a canticle from the Oriental Church, ever profuse in its praise of the Mother of God. 

HYMN TAKEN FROM THE ANTHOLOGY OF THE GREEKS

                   (December 15)

As a royal throne, thou carriest the Creator; as a living couch, thou encirclest the King, O creature most dear to God!

Branch most vigorous, thou didst bud forth the Christ on whom we lean and are supported; for Aaron's Branch, which, of old, budded unplanted, was a type of thee, thou chaste dove, and ever a Virgin. 

To sing the more than wonderful manner of thy extraordinary and incomprehensible maternity, is above the power of all the choirs of men; for no mind, no thought, no understanding, no words, can reach the mystery. 

Isaias seeing the unspeakable miracle, the ineffable miracle of thy maternity, spoke thus divinely: The Holy Spirit hath come upon thee, O Mother of God! preserving thee, as heretofore he kept entire the burning bush: and, therefore, we cry out with the Angel: Rejoice, O thou tabernacle of God!

Christ with the Four Evangelists - Fra Bartolomeo

PRAYER FROM THE MOZARABIC MISSAL

  Fifth Sunday of Advent, Illatio

It is meet and just that we give thee thanks, O holy Lord, Eternal Father, Almighty God, through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord. His Incarnation was the salvation of the world, and his Passion the redemption of his creature, man. Therefore we beseech thee, O almighty Father, may He lead us to heaven, who purchased us from dark hell. May He cleanse our flesh from its sins, who took to himself that flesh from the Virgin. May He again bring us from our treason to fidelity, who reconciled us to thee by his Blood. May He make and find us just in the judgment of his second Coming, who conferred upon us the gift of his grace in the first. May He come to judge us in meekness, who heretofore came in humility to dwell with us. May He show himself in gentlest meekness when He judges us, who heretofore hid himself in deepest humility when He redeemed us. 

EMBER SATURDAY IN ADVENT

ROMAN BREVIARY

        MATINS

Hymn

Celestial Word, to this our earth

Sent down from God's eternal clime,

To save mankind by mortal birth

Into a world of change and time;

Enlighten our hearts; vain hopes destroy;

And in thy love's consuming fire

Fill all the soul with heavenly joy,

And melt the dross of low desire.

So when the Judge of quick and dead

Shall bid his awful summons come,

To whelm the guilty soul with dread,

And call the blessed to their home.

Saved from the whirling, black abyss,

Forevermore to us be given

To share the feast of saintly bliss,

And see the face of God in heaven.

To God the Father and the Son

Our songs with one accord we raise;

And to the Holy Spirit, One

With them, be ever equal praise

Amen.

First Lesson

The Lesson is taken from the Holy Gospel according to St. Luke, 3: 1-6

Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and Philip his brother tetrarch of Iturea, and the country of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilina; Under the high priests Annas and Caiphas; the word of the Lord was made unto John, the son of Zachary, in the desert. And he came into all the country about the Jordan, preaching the baptism of penance for the remission of sins; As it was written in the book of the sayings of Isaias the prophet: A voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight his paths. Every valley shall be filled; and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight; and the rough ways plain; And all flesh shall see the salvation of God. 

Antiphon

R. There shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a flower shall grow out of his roots.
And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.
V. And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him the spirit of wisdom and understanding the spirit of counsel and might.
R. And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.

Lesson two

The blessed voice of the Saviour itself hath said, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation. And we may well look for the ruin of the Jewish state when we see it divided among so many rulers. We observe likewise that the names of the reigning priests as well as kings are given. The Evangelist Luke hath left on record the chiefs both of the monarchy and of the priesthood who held office when John the Baptist began to preach, because John preached Him Who is at once our Priest and our King.

Antiphon

R. Behold, the root of Jesse that shall arise to bring forth judgment to the Gentiles, in him shall the Gentiles trust.
And his name shall be blessed forever.
V. The Kings shall shut their mouths at him, to him shall the Gentiles seek.
R. And his name shall be blessed forever.

St. John the Baptist by Johann Carl Loth

Lesson three

And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. It is evident from these words that John the Baptist not only preached, but also administered the baptism of repentance, and yet that baptism of repentance which he gave, was not really a baptism for the remission of sins. For there is only one baptism for the remission of sins, and that is our Christian baptism. It is worthy of note here that the words used are, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, for he himself owned that his baptism was not the true baptism that washes away sin. Even as the Eternal Word of God made Flesh was greater than the preacher that went before Him, so was His holy baptism, by which our sins are washed away, far greater than that baptism of repentance which the Fore-runner preached, and which could never wash away sin.

Antiphon

R. O Lord, come, and make no tarrying loosen the bonds of thy people.
And gather together into their own land them that are scattered abroad.
V. Stir up, O Lord, thy power, and come among us, to save us.
R. And gather together into their own land them that are scattered abroad.