Advent: New Beginnings

THE LITURGICAL YEAR
In the stillness of the sunset on a cold November evening this Saturday, our year quietly fades and we enter into a new year of grace. We begin anew the celebrations of hope and anticipation (Advent), love and peace (Christmas), repentance and forgiveness (Lent), resurrection and joy (Easter) and of time counted Sunday after Sunday (Ordinary Time). The liturgical year reaches its zenith in the Sacred Triduum (the “Three Days”) of Holy Week.

Sacred time flows in cycles of Sundays, weekdays, hours, seasons and saints. As we celebrate liturgy this new year, we perceive the interweaving of the sacred calendar cycles. The Sunday readings are no longer taken from the readings of Saint Matthew (Cycle A), but now are proclaimed from the writings of Saint Mark with the “bread of life” discourse of St. John later in the year (Cycle B). The weekday readings of Year II flow into Year I in its two-year revolving cycle. The Liturgy of the Hours continues its four-week cycle of psalms and prayers. In this unusual year, we see many instances where the sanctoral cycle (celebrations of saints’ days) collide with and take precedence over the Sundays of Ordinary Time:
Presentation of the Lord (Feb 2nd)
Apostles Peter and Paul (June 29th)
Triumph of the Cross (Sept. 14th)
All Souls (Nov. 2nd)
Dedication of the Lateran Basilica
(Nov. 9th).

ADVENT
Most people think of Advent as a preparation for Christmas. This is true enough, as most of us start making plans for the Christmas Day celebration, the writing of Christmas greetings and the shopping for gifts. However, if you listen closely to the Sunday readings particularly on the first two Sundays of Advent, you will discover the other side of Advent’s true dual-nature: the waiting for the coming Christ at the end of time.
“Advent begins with a breathtaking vision of the end of time. It recalls the prophecies of promise to Israel in exile. It holds up John the Baptist, the bridge between the former and the new covenant, and it draws us into the private life of a virgin who enfolds the hopes of endless ages, the hopes of every heart.”
Paul Turner, Sourcebook for Sunday and Seasons, p.2

Advent is marked by stark contrasts. Light and darkness become primary symbols, especially during this time of year in the Northern Hemisphere. In our church, the vivid colors of autumn and of a rich harvest yield to unadorned greens and a simple wreath with four candles. Vesture changes from the festivity of white and gold to the bluish-purple of hope and anticipation. Our church doors are adorned with simple purple bows that proclaim Advent’s nature in the midst of the commercial world’s premature displays.
REFORM
The new liturgical year also marks the fortieth anniversary of the publication of Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy by the Second Vatican Council (December 4, 1963). This is the first major document issued by the Second Vatican Council during which time Blessed John XXIII opened the windows of the Church and began the most comprehensive process of reform in centuries.

The liturgical movement has been constant over the past forty years. It perhaps is the most noticeable manifestation of Vatican II and has both its champions and its critics. Lawrence Mick, a priest of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati writes,
“There are those who claim that the liturgical renewal, is over, and there are even some who seem determined to reverse the progress of recent decades. Far from being over, the liturgical renewal is still in its infancy. It is time to begin feeding the people of God the rich fare that the liturgy offers them…It is the source and summit of our life together in Christ. It should be the center of all our efforts to renew the church as the Second Vatican Council desired.”
Forming the Assembly to Celebrate the Mass, p. 11

GATHERING RITE
You will notice this Advent that we concentrate on the gathering rite, which has “the character of beginning, introduction, and preparation. The purpose of these rites is to make the assembled people a unified community and to prepare them properly to listen to God’s word and celebrate the eucharist.” GIRM #24

Next Sunday as you enter church, you will be greeted with the fragrance of fresh pine from the branches we will distribute to you after mass to incorporate into your home Advent wreath.

We most often think of the opening song as a means to move the procession from the back of the church to the altar. In fact, this is the last of four purposes of the song, which are: “to open the celebration, deepen the unity of the people, introduce them to the mystery of the season or feast, and accompany the procession.” GIRM#25

Our opening song this season, “Creator of the Stars of Night,” is one of the oldest hymns in the Christian repertoire. It is a traditional Advent chant from 9th or 10th century England. Because of its four-fold importance, we begin this Advent to sing the opening song in its entirety.
Over the summer months, members of our liturgy committee met to read and discuss the liturgical documents, particularly the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM) and the Instruction to the newly revised Lectionary for Mass. The fruits of this group effort have resulted in a plan to better realize the intent of the documents and to educate our parish community. During this new liturgical year you will notice the incorporation of options and the fine-tuning of some elements of the mass. Again, these are based on the intent and directions of our church’s liturgical instruction. The second major effort of the liturgy committee is an ongoing series of educational bulletin inserts and notices, of which this document is the first. Always, any changes to our parish’s liturgical practices will be explained in this continuing catechetical series.

This Advent season, we make use of the seldom-used Penitential Rite B, as found in the Sacramentary (part of the Roman Missal that contains the various prayers, instructions, and options for mass.) Most of us are more familiar with Penitential Rite A which begins with the Confiteor (“I confess to almighty God…”) and Penitential Rite C which contains three invocations followed by either “Lord have mercy” or “Christ have mercy.” An option to the Penitential Rite is the Rite of Sprinkling and Blessing Holy Water. (More will be written on this as the Easter season approaches.)

The brevity of Penitential Rite B is in keeping with the spirit of Advent.

The Glory to God normally follows the Penitential Rite on Sundays and holy days except during Advent and Lent.

The Gathering Rite concludes with the Opening Prayer:
“This expresses the theme of the celebration and by the words of the priest a petition is addressed to God the Father through the mediation of Christ in the Holy Spirit.” GIRM #32
The next few installments in our ongoing educational series will explore some elements of the gathering rite in greater detail, as well as some general notes on the theology of liturgical celebration. Watch for them in upcoming bulletins! Each installment in this series is also posted in a special section on our website. Be sure to check out the Liturgy page at sacredheartquincy.org!