The Fourth Sunday of Advent — 21 December
O Oriens
O Morning Star,
splendour of light eternal and sun of righteousness:
Come and enlighten those who dwell in darkness
and the shadow of death.
(cf Malachi 4.2)
Arvo Pärt. Seiben Magnificat-Antiphonen (1988 / 1991). Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, dir. Tönu Kaljuste.
5. "O Morgenstern, Glanz des unversehrten Lichtes, der Gerechtigkeit/ strahlende Sonne: O komm und erleuchte, die da sitzen in Finsternis/ und im Schatten des Todes."
O Oriens
First light and then first lines along the east
To touch and brush a sheen of light on water,
As though behind the sky itself they traced
The shift and shimmer of another river
Flowing unbidden from its hidden source;
The Day-Spring, the eternal Prima Vera.
Blake saw it too. Dante and Beatrice
Are bathing in it now, away upstream . . .
So every trace of light begins a grace
In me, a beckoning. The smallest gleam
Is somehow a beginning and a calling:
‘Sleeper awake, the darkness was a dream
For you will see the Dayspring at your waking,
Beyond your long last line the dawn is breaking.’
— Malcolm Guite. Sounding the Seasons
(Canterbury, 2012), p.11.
Dom Ruberval Monteiro da Silva, OSB. The Silence of St Joseph.
Isaiah 7.10-16
Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz, saying, Ask a sign of the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven. But Ahaz said, I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test. Then Isaiah said: ‘Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary mortals, that you weary my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel. He shall eat curds and honey by the time he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. For before the child knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land before whose two kings you are in dread will be deserted.
Psalm 80.1-7, 17-19
Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock! You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth
before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh. Stir up your might, and come to save us!
Restore us, O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved.
O Lord God of hosts, how long will you be angry with your people’s prayers?
You have fed them with the bread of tears, and given them tears to drink in full measure.
You make us the scorn of our neighbours; our enemies laugh among themselves.
Restore us, O God of hosts; let your face shine, that we may be saved. . . .
But let your hand be upon the one at your right hand, the one whom you made strong for yourself.
Then we will never turn back from you; give us life, and we will call on your name.
Restore us, O Lord God of hosts; let your face shine, that we may be saved.
Romans 1:1-17
Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures, the gospel concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for the sake of his name, including yourselves who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, to all God’s beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed throughout the world. For God, whom I serve with my spirit by announcing the gospel of his Son, is my witness that without ceasing I remember you always in my prayers, asking that by God’s will I may somehow at last succeed in coming to you. For I am longing to see you so that I may share with you some spiritual gift to strengthen you— or rather so that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine. I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as I have among the rest of the Gentiles. I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish — hence my eagerness to proclaim the gospel to you also who are in Rome.
For I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith; as it is written, ‘The one who is righteous will live by faith.’
Matthew 1:18-25
Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.’ All this took place to fulfil what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: ‘Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel’, which means, ‘God is with us.’ When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus.
Claude Balbastre (1724–99). Joseph est Bien Marié [Joseph is indeed married]. Grand Organ of Saint-Roch Church, Paris, played by Arnaud Bahuaud.
Joseph est bien marié (2x)
A la fille de Jessé (2x)
C'était chose bien nouvelle
D'être mère et pucelle.
Dieu y avait opéré :
Joseph est bien marié.
Et quand ce fut au premier (2x)
Que Dieu voulut nous sauver (2x)
Il fit en terre descendre
Son seul Fils Jésus pour prendre
En Marie humanité :
Joseph est bien marié.
Quand Joseph eut aperçu (2x)
Que la femme avait conçu (2x)
Il ne s'en contenta mie,
Fâché fut contre Marie,
Et se voulut en aller :
Joseph est bien marié.
Mais l'ange aussitôt lui dit (2x)
Joseph n'en aie point dépit, (2x)
Ta sainte femme
Marie est grosse du fruit de vie.
Elle a conçu sans péché :
Joseph est bien marié.
A Noël sur la minuit (2x)
La Vierge enfanta son Fils (2x)
Sans lit, traversin ni couche.
De ce lieu elle ne bouge
Où son cœur était lié :
Joseph est bien marié.
Les Anges y sont venus voir (2x)
Le Rédempteur Jésus Christ (2x)
De très belle compagnie,
Puis à haute voix jolie
Gloria ils ont chanté :
Joseph est bien marié.
Or prions dévotement (2x)
De bon cœur et humblement. (2x)
Que paix, joie et bonne vie
Impètre Dame Marie
A notre nécessité :
Joseph est bien marié.
Joseph is indeed married (2x)
To the daughter of Jesse (2x)
It was a very new thing
To be a mother and a virgin.
God had worked in it:
Joseph is indeed married.
And when it was the first (2x)
That God wished to save us (2x)
He sent down to earth
His only Son Jesus to take
Humanity in Mary:
Joseph is indeed married.
When Joseph saw (2x)
That the woman had conceived (2x)
He was not satisfied,
He was angry with Mary,
And wanted to leave:
Joseph is indeed married.
But the angel immediately told him (2x)
Joseph, do not be displeased, (2x)
Your holy wife
Mary is pregnant with the fruit of life.
She conceived without sin:
Joseph is well married.
At Christmas at midnight (2x)
The Virgin gave birth to her Son (2x)
Without a bed, pillow, or couch.
From this place she does not move
Where her heart was bound:
Joseph is well married.
The Angels came there to see (2x)
The Redeemer Jesus Christ (2x)
In very fine company,
Then in a lovely, loud voice
They sang the Gloria:
Joseph is well married.
Now let us pray devoutly (2x)
With a good heart And humbly. (2x)
May peace, joy, and a good life
Imperial Lady Mary
To our need:
Joseph is happily married.
May the Lord, when he comes, find us watching and waiting. Amen.