| Prope est jam Dominus: venite, adoremus. | The Lord is now nigh: come, let us adore. |
| De Isaia Propheta.
Cap. li. |
From the Prophet Isaias.
Ch. li. |
O Jesus, Thou Flower of the field, Thou Lily of the valley, Thy visit is to change our barren parched earth into a garden of delights! We had lost Eden and all its lovely magnificence, by our sins; and lo! Eden is restored to us; Thou art coming, that Thou mayst set it in our hearts. O heavenly plant, tree of life, transplanted from heaven to earth, Thou first takest root in Mary, that fruitful soil; and thence Thou wilt come to us, and we must be to Thee a grateful land, cherishing the divine seed and making it fructify. Let it be so, O divine Husbandman! who didst appear to Magdalene under the form of a gardener. Thou knowest how far are our hearts from being ready for Thy working in them. Move, and break, and water this land; the season is come; our hearts long to be fertile, and to have growing within them that exquisite Flower which makes the beauty of all heaven, and comes down to hide its splendour for a time here below. O Jesus! let our souls be fertile; let them be crowned with the flowers of virtue; let them become flowers growing around Thee, O divine Flower, and forming to the heavenly Father a garden, which He may unite with that which He formed from all eternity. O Flower of heaven, Jesus! Thou art also the Dew, refresh us; Thou art the Sun, warm us; Thou art the fragrant Perfume, impart to us Thy sweetness; Thou art the sovereign Beauty, give us of Thy fair and ruddy bloom, and make us cluster round Thee in eternity, as a crown Thou hast wreathed to Thyself.
|
Veni, Rodemptor gentium, Non ex virili semine, Alvus tumescit Virginis, Procedit e thalamo suo, Egressus ejus a Patre, Aequalis setcrno Patri, Praescpe jam fulget tuum, Gloria tibi, Domine, |
Come, O Redeemer of mankind! reveal to us the Virgin's delivery: let all ages be in admiration: for what other birth would have been worthy of God Not of man, but of the Holv Ghost, was tho Word of God made flesh, and the fruit of the womb ripened. The Virgin has become Mother, and yet the Mother is still a Virgin. It is the banner of omnipotence which here shines; God has come into his temple. He comes forth from the royal palace of virginity, as from his bride-chamber, that he may exultingly run the way, as a giant, who is both God and Man. He comes forth from the Father; he returns to the Father; he descends into hell; he asoends to the throno of God. Coequal Son of the eternal Father, gird thee with the trophy of the flesh; strengthening the weaknesses of our flesh by thy unfailing power. Thy crib is already resplendent, and the night breathes forth a new light, the light of faith; let no night interrupt it, let its brightness be incessant. Glory be to thee, O Lord, who wast born of the Virgin! and to the Father and the Holy Ghost, for everlasting ages. Amen. |
| Domine Deus omnipotens, qui pro humani generis redemptione coaeternum tibi cocequalemque Filium angeli annuntiatione per Marias Virginis uterum usque ad nos voluisti transmittere; da nobis hoc tempore adventus tui Unigcniti eamdem paris gratiam, quam in praeterita largiri dignatus es saercula, et illi nos in occursum fidei socios numerandos, quos in fidei primordia a Joanne poenitentiae undis aquarum ablutos, a te postremo per Filium in Spiritu sancto et igni cognoscimus baptizatos. | Lord God omnipotent! who, for the redemption of the human race, didst deign to send even unto us, by the message of an angel and by the Virgin Mary's womb, thy coeternal and coequal Son; grant us, in this time of the advent of thy only Son, that same grace of peace which thou hast mercifully bestowed upon the past ages, and number us among those who, at the first beginning of the faith, were acceptable to him by embracing the faith; and who, being washed in the water of penance by John, were afterwards baptized by thee, through thy Son, in the Holy Ghost and fire. |