Ecce Dominus veniet, et omnes Sancti ejus cum eo et erit in die illa lux magna, alleluia.Behold, the Lord shall come, and all His saints with Him, and it shall come to pass in that day that the light shall be great. Alleluia!
It is with this and other antiphons brimming with joyful hope that from time immemorial Christians in Rome and throughout the Latin West, in grand cathedrals and noble basilicas, in local parishes and convent chapels, in rural monasteries and secret hiding places, have begun again and again that cycle of prayer and celebration known as the liturgical year.
For just as Christ the King, Regem venturum as He is hailed in the Matins Invitatory, shall come and all His saints with Him, so do He and all His saints with Him worship God His Heavenly Father through His Mystical Body the Church, offering His Holy Sacrifice and unceasing prayer with words and gestures divinely inspired by the Holy Ghost over centuries to form a unified sum of many parts greater than could ever be devised by any human individual or committee, no matter how clever, scholarly, or well-intentioned.
This liturgical cycle is historical. It was formed over the course of history. It marks calendars and celebrates historical events. Perhaps the exact date of some is not certain, but the reality of the celebrated event is. This is particularly true of the real Event the Advent of which opens the liturgical year: the Coming of the Savior.
The Coming of the Savior is historical, a real event that marks calendars. The Coming of the Savior is prophesy. Foretold to our first parents, in prophetic visions, by voices crying in deserts, by angels, and by the Savior Himself. The Coming of the Savior Who brings salvation is nearer than when we believed, Saint Paul affirms in the Epistle, and the Church exults in joyful anticipation:
In illa die stillabunt montes dulcedinem, et colles fluent lac et mel, alleluia.
In that day the mountains shall drop down sweetness, and the hills shall flow with milk and honey. Alleluia.
Ecce nomen Domini venit de longinquo, et claritas ejus replet orbem terrarum.
Behold, the Name of the Lord cometh from afar, and His glory fills the whole earth.
This joyful anticipation is not some form of triumphalism or the specious attitude of 'once saved, always saved.' It is tempered by the concurrent expectation of the distress of nations and of the rebellion and corruption of those who once were the People of God but have gone the way of Sodom and Gomorrah, leaving the Lord a very small remnant, as foretold by the Prophet Isaiah in the First Nocturn at Matins.
"Our Lord and Savior wishes to find us ready at His Second Coming. Therefore He tells us what will be the evils of the world as it grows old, that He may wean our hearts from worldly affections," Saint Gregory the Great teaches in the Second Nocturn at Matins. So, during Advent the Church looks as much at the clear and present danger of material excess and worldly affairs, about which Saint Leo warns in the Second Nocturn at Matins, as it does to the Coming of the Savior. Now is the hour, the Church insists with Saint Paul in the Epistle, to cast off the works of darkness, to walk honestly, to prepare for the Coming of the Savior.
Whereas Lent is a season of penitence, the emphasis of the Advent season is preparation and readiness. Both involve purification and setting things aright, but Advent looks more forward than back.
Looking forward to the Coming of the Savior. Looking for signs: in the heavens, in nature, in history, in the Church.
For the powers of heaven shall be moved. And then they shall see the Son of man, coming in a cloud with great power and majesty. But when these things begin to come to pass, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is at hand.
Later the Apostles would be asked why they were looking up and they would be told that the same Savior Who was taken up into Heaven would so come as they had seen Him going into Heaven.
Last Sunday the same Savior foretold: "For as lightning cometh out of the east, and appeareth even into the west, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be."
From time immemorial Christians have confessed their sins and adopted proper dispositions in preparation for the Coming of the Savior, Whose Real Presence they adore upon the altars of their churches and receive lovingly in Holy Communion.
From time immemorial Christians have lifted up their souls to the Savior Whose Coming they await and put their trust in Him, to be rescued by His power from the threatening danger of their sins and saved by His deliverance.
From time immemorial Christians have resumed the Advent season of a new liturgical year not merely as a repetition but as an advance closer to the approach of the Coming of the Savior.
Let us therefore, dear Christian Faithful, renew our hope in the promise repeated thrice at Holy Mass this First Sunday of Advent:
None of them who wait on Thee shall be confounded.
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