Other than the Latin Mass, is there anything more beautiful than this?

Welcome to Advent, season of penitence and reflection before we begin the great and mystical feast of The Nativity of Our Lord.

Advent runs a poor second to Lent and it's easy to see why.
 Office parties family reunions, social gatherings of every kind drag our attention away from the drama of a young mother, heavily with child and her husband, struggling on a journey that would be hard even at the best time of the year.

Not easy to remember what Advent is all about; fasting and acts penitential and repentance.

Providentially, this season is packed full of sacred music that pulls us back to reflecting on reality and the feast to come.

This video clip is well known but I do not know its provenance; if anyone knows whether a CD exists please let me know - I would love to own a copy.

The Advent chant is all that it should be; plaintive, pleading and sad.

The two young women who sing this piece show that  a headscarf is just as viable as a mantilla and that it adds a certain air of reverence and dignity to proceedings.

 At the end, watch their faces closely; I do believe that one of them, at least, is close to tears.

So very moving.

Drop down Dew, ye Heavens, from Above
Drop down dew, ye heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain the Just One.

Be not angry, O Lord, and remember no longer our iniquity : behold the city of thy sanctuary is become a desert, Sion is made a desert. Jerusalem is desolate, the house of our holiness and of thy glory, where our fathers praised thee.

Drop down dew, ye heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain the Just One.

We have sinned, and we are become as one unclean, and we have all fallen as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast crushed us by the hand of our iniquity.

Drop down dew, ye heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain the Just One.

See, O Lord, the affliction of thy people, and send him whom thou hast promised to send. Send forth the Lamb, the ruler of the earth, from the rock of the desert to the mount of the daughter of Sion, that he himself may take off the yoke of our captivity.

Drop down dew, ye heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain the Just One.

Be comforted, be comforted, my people; thy salvation shall speedily come. Why wilt thou waste away in sadness? why hath sorrow seized thee? I will save thee; fear not: for I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Redeemer.

Drop down dew, ye heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain the Just One.

ADVENT COMES.............

....the time draws near!

                                                 

                "I see Him, but not now: I behold Him but not near. A star shall come forth from Jacob; a sceptre shall arise out of Israel"

(Num. 24, 17)

         

         For Ian and Finola



A hymn for Advent

   

 CONDITOR ALME SIDERUM

Creator of the stars of night,

Thy people's everlasting light,

Jesu, Redeemer, save us all,

And hear Thy servants when they call.

Thou grieving that the ancient curse

Should doom to death a universe,

Hast found the medicine, full of grace,

To save and heal a ruined race.

Thou cams't, the Bridegroom of the bride,

As drew the world to eventide;

Proceeding from a virgin shrine,

The spotless victim all divine.

At whose dread name, majestic now,

All knees must bend, all hearts must bow,

And things celestial Thee shall own,

And things terrestrial, Lord alone.

O Thou whose coming is with dread

To judge and doom the quick and dead,

Preserve us while we dwell below,

From every insult of the foe.

Advent is here! Rejoice, fast and do penance!

Veni, veni, Emmanuel
captivum solve Israel,
qui gemit in exsilio,
privatus Dei Filio. 

Gaude, gaude, Emmanuel
Nascetur pro te, Israel. 

Veni, O Sapientia,
quae hic disponis omnia,
veni, viam prudentiae
ut doceas et gloriae.

Gaude, gaude, Emmanuel
Nascetur pro te, Israel. 

Veni, veni, Adonai,
qui populo in Sinai
legem dedisti vertice
in maiestate gloriae. 

Gaude, gaude Emmanuel
Nascetur pro te, Israel. 

Veni, O Iesse virgula,
ex hostis tuos ungula,
de spectu tuos tartari
educ et antro barathri. 

Gaude, gaude Emmanuel
Nascetur pro te, Israel. 

Veni, Clavis Davidica,
regna reclude caelica,
fac iter tutum superum,
et claude vias inferum.

Gaude, gaude Emmanuel
Nascetur pro te Israel. 

Veni, veni O Oriens,
solare nos adveniens,
noctis depelle nebulas,
dirasque mortis tenebras. 

Gaude, gaude Emmanuel
Nascetur pro te Israel. 

Veni, veni, Rex Gentium,
veni, Redemptor omnium,
ut salvas tuos famulos
peccati sibi conscios.

Gaude, gaude Emmanuel
Nascetur pro te Israel. 

                                                            



Come, O come, Emmanuel,
and ransom captive Israel,
that morns in lonely exile here
until the Son of God appear.

Rejoice! Rejoice! 
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel! 

O come, Thou Wisdom, from on high,
and order all things far and nigh;
to us the path of knowledge show,
and teach us in her ways to go. 

Rejoice! Rejoice! 
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel! 

O come, o come, Thou Lord of might,
who to thy tribes on Sinai's height
in ancient times did give the law,
in cloud, and majesty, and awe. 

Rejoice! Rejoice! 
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel! 

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse's stem,
form ev'ry foe deliver them
that trust Thy mighty power to save,
and give them vict'ry o'er the grave.

Rejoice! Rejoice! 
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel!

O come, Thou Key of David, come,
and open wide our heav'nly home,
make safe the way that leads on high,
that we no more have cause to sigh.

Rejoice! Rejoice! 
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel! 

O come, Thou Dayspring from on high,
and cheer us by thy drawing nigh;
disperse the gloomy clouds of night
and death's dark shadow put to flight. 

Rejoice! Rejoice! 
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel! 

O come, Desire of the nations, bind
in one the hearts of all mankind;
bid every strife and quarrel cease
and fill the world with heaven's peace.

Rejoice! Rejoice! 
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel! 

Confession - before Advent

   Forgiveness, God, for all my sins

I seek at last,

  the sin in word, the deed in heart, 

 foul sin compassed.

                 

                          In heedless youth I broke the rule,

                              made grievous slips,

                         offered fair women of gleaming teeth

                               lascivious lips.

Now  I am an old, old man

and after sinful years

    I seek no feast but that my cheeks

                                   be wet with tears.

         Medieval Irish Lyric