Pax et Bonum

The Online worship resource for St. James Parish

December 23, 2009

Today, the Word who sits on the throne of glory
with the Father
Became flesh, born of the holy Virgin,
Giving the universe the grace of adoption.
---Ephraem, 4th century---
Whom have you seen, O shepherds?
Speak, tell us, who has appeared on earth?
"A child we saw, and choirs of angels praising the Lord!"
Speak, what did you see?
And proclaim the birth of Christ!
---Matins Divine Office, Roman rite---

Christ is Born

Merry Christmas! Today I send you a writing by Thomas Merton, in the hope that it will give you joy.

"Christ is born. He is born to us. And, he is born today. For Christmas is not merely a day like every other day. It is a day made holy and special by a sacred mystery. It is not merely another day in the weary round of time. Today, eternity enters into time, and time, sanctified, is caught up into eternity. Today, Christ, the eternal Word of the Father, who was in the beginning with the Father, in whom all things were made, by whom all things consist, enters into the world which he created in order to reclaim souls who had forgotten their identity. Therefore, the church exults, as the angels come down to announce not merely an old thing which happened long ago, but a new thing which happens today. For today, God the Father makes all things new, in his divine Son, our redeemer, according to his words, ecce nova facio omnia (Behold, I make all things new).

"Therefore, the church on earth joins with the church in heaven to sing one same song, the new song, the canticum novum (new song) which the prophet commanded all to sing after the world should have been redeemed by the Christ, whose ancestor he knew, by revelation, that he should be. When David cried out: “Sing to the Lord a new song” he was the first precentor to intone the songs the church would sing on this day in her liturgy, as she announces to the whole world salvation and joy. For as St. Leo says: "Today there has shone upon us a day of new redemption, a day restoring that which was long lost, a day of bliss unending."
---Thomas Merton---

Christ is born: give him glory!
Christ has come down from heaven: receive him!
Christ is now on earth: exalt him!
O you earth, sing to the Lord!
O you nations, praise him in joy, for he has been glorified!
---from the Orthodox Liturgy for Christmas---

O Rising Sun


O Rising Sun,
You are the splendour of eternal light
And the sun of justice.
O come and enlighten those who sit in darkness
And in the shadow of death.

This is the O Antiphon appointed for December 21. The O Antiphons are part of the liturgy of the Hours, which we have been contemplating these past few weeks. They precede the Magnificat-The Song of Mary-during vespers. The Advent antiphons are sung in the last seven days of Advent.

Each antiphon begins with a different name for the messiah. They help remind us that our Advent prayer is a cry for the messiah to come.

The O antiphon for December 21, O Rising Sun or O Oriens, corresponds to the Winter Solstice, which is the shortest day of the year. So the creation itself reminds us that we are in need of light. We are in need of the Christ light, which shines on those who are in darkness.

This rising sun or dawn of the east is a name for Jesus the Christ. As we face eastward, liturgically, we are facing into the rising sun and waiting for the messiah to come. Each Sunday morning as the congregation focuses eastward we reenact Advent waiting which is answered by Easter Resurrection.

We live within a culture that thinks Christmas is a time of year rather than the incarnation of God. But we are pilgrim people, moving eastward to meet the Messiah. And make no mistake in thinking that we are the only ones on the move, because the Messiah is striding quickly to meet us.

O dayspring, even now You are coming.

Let us turn our hearts and our faces to the east.

Look upon us, O Lord,
And let all the darkness of our souls
Vanish before the beams of thy brightness.
Fill us with holy love,
And open us to the treasures
Of thy wisdom.
Amen

Daily Morning Prayer

Daily Morning Prayer

This Week at St. James

Prayers Etc.

For those on our prayer list:

For Matt Rogers, our Postulant
For those who are deployed and their families.

This day true peace has come down to us from heaven,
This day the heavens drip honey upon the entire world.
This day brought the dawn of new redemption,
Of the deliverance announced of old, of eternal happiness.
--Matins, Divine Office, Roman rite--

In Closing:

The Word is born this very night:
Hail, Mary, full of grace!
A hanging lantern sheds its light
On Joseph’s anxious face.
 
The Word must come in human form,
In God’s redemptive plan,
A Babe takes every heart by storm,
But who will heed the Man?
 
The Word is born this very night,
And humble is the place;
The world is dark, but hope is bright,
And sinners look for grace.
 
The Word has come to end the war
Which Adam first began
O bless the Babe who sleeps on straw.
And listen to the Man!
--Fred Pratt Green--

Pax et Bonum,
Loree+

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