Here we are, on the threshold of the sacred commemoration of Our Lord’s Nativity. And I pray these Advent days have been fruitful for all of us as we prepare to receive the Lord anew into our lives. There is a beautiful unfolding of the Sacred Liturgy that occurs in these last days of Advent through the O Antiphons. These antiphons are the Latin original of the verses to the hymn O Come, O Come, Emmanual. Using Old Testament images for the Messiah, the Church uses these ancient antiphons to implore the Savior to come to us and save us:
- O Sapientia – O Wisdom of God
- O Adonai – O Lord of All
- O Radix Jesse – O Root of Jesse
- O Clavis David – O Key of David
- O Oriens – O Radiant Dawn
- O Rex Gentium – O King of the Nations
- O Emmanual – O Emmanuel, God with us
These antiphons are called the O Antiphons because they all begin with that basic expression of longing: Oh! We don’t typically pray them at Mass (unless we sing the English hymn), but anyone who prays the Liturgy of the Hours is familiar with them as the Canticle of Mary antiphon at Evening Prayer. By praying these antiphons during the Liturgy, the Church slowly, deliberately, and methodically builds our longing for Christ, and when the final antiphon has been recited something interesting appears. Looking backwards over the seven days when these antiphons are recited, if we take the first letter of each title from the last to the first, it spells an acrostic, which is a type of hidden message or “riddle acronym”: E-R-O-C-R-A-S. These letters spell the Latin sentence “Ero Cras”, which translated means: “Tomorrow, I will come.” Scholars dispute whether or not this “hidden message from Jesus” was a deliberate choice of the author of these ancient antiphons, or if it is mere coincidence, but coincidence or not, there is something beautiful about it. The Church uses the Sacred Liturgy to form us and deepen our experience of the mysteries we celebrate; she uses the Liturgy to train us in the art of preparing for the Lord for the purpose of receiving Him more completely into our lives and being received more completely into His, so that He may live more fully in and through us. In this work the Church is a master, and if we are humble, prayerful, repentant, and attentive students, she will teach us to master her methods as well. As our Faith teaches us:
“It is [the] mystery of Christ that the Church proclaims and celebrates in her Liturgy so that the faithful may live from it and bear witness to it in the world: For it is in the liturgy, especially in the divine sacrifice of the Eucharist, that "the work of our redemption is accomplished," and it is through the liturgy especially that the faithful are enabled to express in their lives and manifest to others the mystery of Christ and the real nature of the true Church” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1068).
The Church always takes her cue as teacher in the faith from the Blessed Mother, who is the image and perfection of the Church. Because Our Blessed Lady was the first to receive the Word of God perfect and entire, she is our supreme model. Mary is the one who teaches us what it means to love Her Son and to be transformed by Him. As we strive together as a parish to enter more deeply into the mysteries of our Faith, the mysteries of Christ’s life at work in ours, we are offering a parish-wide Marian Consecration beginning on Dec 31st. You received a flyer in last weekend’s bulletin with details about this event. The reason for this consecration is two-fold: Firstly, we need to lean on Mary more in order to become the saints God is calling us to be. You will not find a single saint who did not have devotion to the Blessed Mother; a consecration is a powerful means of facilitating our devotion to her, which in turn deepens our devotion to Jesus, which is her ultimate goal. Secondly, as we come together as a single parish family, Mary can help us accept all of these things in faith and seek to honor and love God and neighbor more perfectly as we progress towards Heaven together. Through her intercession and example, we will learn the art of faithfulness to Jesus and His Church in everything, and our hope will increase and peace will abound. I invite everyone to prayerfully consider making this consecration for your own sake and for the sake of the parish family. I am confident much fruit will come from this effort. May God bless you in the week ahead and may Mother Mary lead you more deeply into the Sacred and Merciful Heart of Jesus. I remain,
Affectionately Yours in Christ,
Fr. Hess
