Advent

Lessons

&

Carols

Wednesday, December 09, 2020

ST DOMINIC CHURCH

7:00 PM

Presider:

Welcome!

Thank you for joining us.

As we gather for an hour of meditation, prayer, and song

we pray:

Jesus Christ, Light of the World,

Mary, mother of Jesus,

remain with us as we continue our Advent journey and

endure the coronavirus pandemic.

Awaken our hearts as we bear witness to the sickness,

the sacrifice,

even death.

When we feel forgotten and lonely,

and we cannot see your face,

help us to see you in others,

the essential workers,

first responders

and medical professionals,

all who labor tirelessly.

In these dark months we cry, “How long, O Lord?”

Help us to watch and pray for signs of your hope.

When we long for a world returned to normal,

inspire us to work toward a world transformed.

We are certain that you will provide as you did at Cana of Galilee,

joy and feasting might return after this moment of trial.

We cry to you: Come! Lord Jesus!

Opening:

FIRST READING Revelation 11:19a; 12:1, 3-6

A reading from the Book of Revelation

God's temple in heaven was opened,

and the ark of his covenant could be seen in the temple.

A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun,

with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.

She was with child and wailed aloud in pain as she labored to give birth.

She gave birth to a son, a male child, destined to rule all the nations with an iron rod. Her child

was caught up to God and his throne.

The woman herself fled into the desert where she had a place prepared by God.

Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:

"Now have salvation and power come,

and the Kingdom of our God and the authority of his Anointed."

Presider:

Ps Prayer Response:

Pregnancy is not a very comfortable thing.

Its hope is tinged with nausea, awkwardness, and anxiety.

You cannot see the face of the one who is to come.

That is what Advent is all about.

The splendor of God’s presence is hidden in the fragmentary untidiness of our lives,

and lies beneath the pain of this world.

The season, like the pregnant Virgin,

is short on explanation and heavy with meaning. [Ralph Keifer]

Sung response

SECOND READING

Romans 13:11-14

Sisters and Brothers: You know the time; it is the hour now for you to awake from sleep.

For our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed;

the night is advanced, the day is at hand. Let us then throw off the works of darkness

[and] put on the armor of light; let us conduct ourselves properly as in the day, not in

orgies and drunkenness, not in promiscuity and licentiousness, not in rivalry and

jealousy.

But put on the Lord Jesus Christ,

and make no provision for the desires of the flesh.

Presider:

Ps Prayer Response:

Woe to those who yearn

for the day of the Lord!

What will this day of the Lord

mean for you?

Darkness, and not light!

Sung response

3rd Reading - Isaiah 40.1-5,9-10

Comfort,

give comfort to my people, says your God.

Speak to the heart of Jerusalem, and proclaim to her

that her service has ended, that her guilt is expiated,

that she has received from the hand of the LORD double for all her sins.

A voice proclaims:

In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD!

Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God.

Every valley shall be lifted up, every mountain and hill made low;

The rugged land shall be a plain, the rough country, a broad valley.

Then the glory of the LORD shall be revealed,

and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.

Go up onto a high mountain, Zion, herald of good news!

Cry out at the top of your voice, Jerusalem, herald of good news!

Cry out, do not fear!

Say to the cities of Judah:

Here is your God!

Here comes with power the Lord GOD,

who rules by his strong arm;

Here is his reward with him, his recompense before him.

Presider:

Ps Prayer Response:

With tender comfort and transforming power you come into our midst,

give us a spirit of repentance to make us worthy of the kingdom.

Let complacency yield to conviction,

that in our day justice will flourish

and conflict give way to peace.

Sung response

FOUTH READING:

Isaiah 7.10-14;8.10d

The Lord spoke to Ahaz, saying,

“Ask a sign of the Lord your God;

let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.”

But Ahaz said,

“I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test.”

Then Isaiah said:

“Hear then, O house of David!

Is it too little for you to weary mortals,

that you weary my God also?

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign.

Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son,

and shall name him Immanuel,” for God is with us.

Presider:

Ps Prayer Response:

We rejoice in you, Enteral God.

Teach us to welcome Jesus,

the promised Emmanuel,

and to preach the good news

of his coming,

that every age may know him as the source of redemption and grace.

Sung response

Fifth READING Luke 1:26-31, 35-38

The angel Gabriel was sent from God

to a town of Galilee called Nazareth,

to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph,

of the house of David,

and the virgin’s name was Mary.

And coming to her, he said,

“Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.”

But she was greatly troubled at what was said

and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.

Then the angel said to her,

“Do not be afraid, Mary,

for you have found favor with God.

“Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son,

and you shall name him Jesus...

“The Holy Spirit will come upon you,

and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.

Therefore the child to be born

will be called holy, the Son of God.

And behold, Elizabeth, your relative,

has also conceived a son in her old age,

and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren;

for nothing will be impossible for God.”

Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.

May it be done to me according to your word.”

Then the angel departed from her.

Presider:

Ps Prayer Response:

Here in our midst, O God of Mystery,

you disclose the secret hidden for countless ages.

For you we wait; for you we listen.

Upon hearing your voice may we, like Mary,

embrace your will and become a dwelling fit for your Word.

Sung response

Choir

On the Lips of an Angel/Ave Maria Scott Soper

On the lips of an angel comes the word of God:

So full of grace! the Lord is with you;

from you shall come the Promised One.

The Holy Child finds a home in you.

You are blest among all women;

blest is the fruit of your womb.

Maria, Maria, The Messiah lives in you.

Trusting in what will come to be, in faith you say:

Let it be done to me; let it be done to me.

O Maria, pray for us, Maria.

May we come to know the promise of the Savior

that your love has brought us.

Ave María, grátia plena, Dóminus tecum;

benedícta tu in muliéribus,

et benedíctus fructus ventris tui, Jesus.

Sancta Maria, sancta María, María,

ora pro nobis, nobis peccatóribus,

nunc et in hora, in hora mortis nostrae.

Amen. Amen.

Ave Maria. Amen.

Music arrangement and text of On the Lips of an Angel © 2003, Scott Soper.

Published by OCP. All rights reserved.

Sixth READING: Luke 1:39-45

Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, where she entered

the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.

When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled

with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said,

"Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb.

And how does this happen to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears,

the infant in my womb leaped for joy.

Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled."

And Mary said: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;

my spirit rejoices in God my savior.

Presider:

Ps Prayer Response:

“I live my Advent in the womb of Mary … I shall be born of her by blessed grace.

I wait in Mary-darkness, faith’s walled place, with hope’s expectance of nativity.

I knew from long she carried me and fed me, guarded and loved me,

though I could not see. But only now, with inward jubilee, I come upon

earth’s most amazing knowledge: someone is hidden in the dark with

me.” O happy, happy find! [Jessica Powers]

Sung response

Copyright acknowledgement:

Reprinted under OneLicense.net A-705788. All Rights Reserved

Artwork by Sister Mary Southard, CSJ.

FINAL READING [7th] Philippians 4:4-7

Brothers and sisters:

Rejoice in the lord always.

I shall say again: rejoice!

Your kindness should be known to all.

The Lord is near.

Have no anxiety at all,

but in everything,

by prayer and petition,

with thanksgiving,

make your requests know to God.

Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding

will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

The Word of the Lord.

Presider:

Ps Prayer Response:

“Since the coming of Christ goes on forever-

he is always he who is to come in the world and in the church-

there is always an Advent going on.” [Jean Danielou]

Sung response

Six Choral Introits for the Church Year 1. Advent

Choir

Presider:

Our Father

Peace

Dismissal

Presider:

Covid will end and we will greet a new morn.

So, we pray:

As we walk through this time of darkness, O Lord of Light

give us faith that we are headed toward brighter days.

When we feel only grief in our hearts,

help us to find consolation in knowing

that those who are sick

or have died

are held in your loving embrace.

Just as you were held in Mary’s embrace at your birth and at your death.

As you awoke after three days in hell,

we shall awake from this time of trial,

for you have clothed us in the armor of Light.

May your word in Scripture and song

light our path this Advent Season.

Let us go and continue our Advent journey of salvation.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Closing Song: