Rejoice! Jesus is Coming Soon!
“Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem!”
Exegetical art from Chris Powers’ “Full of Eyes” project, focusing on Zephaniah 3:15-17, our reading this week from the Prophets. “The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness; He will quiet you by His love; He will exult over you with loud singing…” It is a beautiful and puzzling image that matches a beautiful and puzzling oracle. The soul, here, is drawn from turbulent waters, by a figure resembling both the Father and Christ Crucified, who simultaneously speaks and sings: his song a trilateral ray of light, and his speech the reviving Word of the Holy Spirit. Chris writes more about the passage on his blog.
The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus
— The Apostle Paul (Philippians 4:7)
Third Sunday of Advent
Texts for this Week
Prayer
O Lord Jesus Christ, you sent your messengers the prophets to preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation: Grant that the ministers and stewards of your mysteries may likewise make ready your way, by turning the hearts of the disobedient toward the wisdom of the just, that at your second coming to judge the world, we may be found a people acceptable in your sight; for with the Father and the Holy Spirit you live and reign, one God, now and for ever.
Advent at the Porter’s Gate
The Porter’s Gate Worship Project, which describes itself as a “sacred ecumenical arts collective reimagining and recreating worship that welcomes, reflects and impacts both the community and the church,” recently released a full album of new Advent songs. This is the fifth in their sequence of high-quality projects that flow from rich collaborations across Christian traditions, cultural backgrounds, and ministry disciplines. A wonderful supplement for Advent playlists in this latter half of the 2021 journey!
Verbum supernum prodiens — Supernal Word proceeding forth
Likely composed sometime in the 6th or 7th C, by the 10th C, this hymn was all the rage during the Office of Readings in the monasteries of Latin Christendom. It’s lyrics beautifully align the theme of Christ’s first coming in the Incarnation with his second coming in judgment — two of the primary things we anticipate in the Advent season. (Here’s a brief entry in the TLP with parallel English-Latin lyrics!)
In the 13th C, Thomas Aquinas penned a remix of the hymn for the newly-established feast of Corpus Christi, added to the calendar in 1264 for the Thursday after Trinity, to celebrate the presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist. The homage to the Advent hymn completes the major senses of Christ’s coming, that he comes to us also in the Sacraments.
If you’re really in the mood to hear the hymn chanted in English, there’s a simple, well-produced version done by the Schola Cantorum at St. Peter’s in the Loop, Chicago. If you have the patience for eight minutes of Latin in beautiful Renaissance polyphany, however, Adrian Willaert’s setting of Aquinas’s lyrics is certainly worth listening to!
Introitus
Gaudete in Domino
This week’s introit comes from Philippians 4:4-6, with the Psalm verse deriving from Ps 85. This Sunday is sometimes called “Gaudete” from this first word of the introit, “Rejoice!” It is also a Sunday of refreshment. For those observing a strict Advent fast, this Sunday is a Sunday of respite, when the rules are relaxed. Hence, the blue/purple of the season is mixed with a little bit of white, to form the attractive rose (not pink!) color that adorns many Altars this Sunday.
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ps. LORD, You have been favorable to Your land; You have brought back the captivity of Jacob.
The Graduale Project offers a splendid version of the introit chanted over an image of the chant from a manuscript antiphoner. Henry Percell’s setting of the Philippians text is clutch — so much so that it has it’s own nickname as “the Bell Anthem.”
