The Sacrament of Confession, Saint Mary’s Seminary, Baltimore, MD

Raise up, we beseech thee, O Lord, thy power, and come among us, and with great might succour us: that whereas, through our sins and wickedness, we are sorely hindered in running the race that is set before us, thy bountiful grace and mercy may speedily help and deliver us; who livest and reignest with the Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

As we come to the threshold of the Lord’s nativity, the strains of the Advent Prose may be heard to echo in the collect given to us by the Church for this day. Indeed, that very text is found in the Introit at the Mass for the Fourth Sunday of Advent: “Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and bring forth a Saviour.” And we are put in mind also of another text: “O that thou wouldst rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains might quake at thy presence” (Is. 64: 1).

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Saint John the Baptist, Caldwell Chapel, The Catholic University of America

O Lord Jesus Christ, who at thy first coming didst send thy messenger to prepare thy way before thee: grant that the ministers and stewards of thy mysteries may likewise so prepare and make ready thy way, by turning the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; that at thy second coming to judge the world we may be found an acceptable people in thy sight; who livest and reignest with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

The collect of the Third Sunday of Advent introduces a fresh insight for our journey toward the dual coming of Christ, in his incarnation and at the end of time. Having pleaded for the grace to prepare ourselves for his advent on the first Sunday, two means are presented to achieve this end in subsequent weeks. In one of the collects for the Second Sunday of Advent, the scriptures are held up before us. In today’s prayer the Church intercedes for her ministers and stewards of the sacred mysteries: those consecrated for service at the altar, and entrusted with the noble task of handing on the priceless gift of the truth of the holy gospel.

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Christ in Majesty, Andrea de Giona (1424), The Cloisters, NY

Almighty God, give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness, and put upon us the armour of light, now in the time of this mortal life, in which thy Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty, to judge both the quick and the dead; we may rise to the life immortal; through the same Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

In the opening Collect of the liturgical year, the Church directs her prayer to God the Father in supplication, pleading his strength and his protection on the Christian faithful. In so doing Our Holy Mother lays before her children three parallels, setting the scene for the season that is upon us, and focussing our hearts and minds on the choices and tasks we must face in this privileged and holy time.

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