O Adonaï
O Adonaï, and leader of the House of Israel,
who appeared to Moses in the fire of the burning bush
and gave him the law on Sinai:
Come and redeem us with an outstretched arm.
A Reading from the treatise The Refutation of all Heresies attributed to Hippolytus of Rome
As Christians we do not put our faith in empty phrases; we are not carried off by sudden floods of emotion; we are not seduced by smooth and eloquent speeches. On the contrary, we put our faith in words spoken by the power of God, spoken by the Word himself at God’s command. It was God’s purpose to turn us away from disobedience, not by using force so that we end up reduced to the status of slaves, but rather by addressing to our free will a call to liberty.
The Word spoke first of all through the prophets. But because the message was announced obscurely in language that was often misconstrued, in these last days the Father sent the Word in person. He was to be manifested visibly, so that the world could see him and be saved.
We know that the Word assumed a body from the Virgin and, through this new creation refashioned our fallen nature. We know that he was fully human, formed from the same clay as ourselves. If it were not so, then his command to imitate him as our teacher would be a futile exercise. If he were of a different substance from me, then why does he command me, weak as I am, to do as he did? The call to goodness would be undermined by the claims of justice.
But to show that he was no different from us, he undertook hard work, he went hungry and thirsty, he rested and slept. He did not shirk suffering, he submitted to death and revealed the resurrection. In all this he was offering us his own self, so that when suffering is our lot in life we do not lose heart, but will rather recognise that because we share with him a common humanity, we can expect to receive from God an identical reward.
When we have come to know the true God, both our bodies and our souls will be immortal and incorruptible. We will gain the kingdom of heaven because while on earth we knew the king of heaven. Freed from evil inclinations, from suffering whether of body or soul, we will discover ourselves companions of God and co-heirs with Christ. Indeed we will have become divine. All that we suffer in this mortal life, God permits as part of our human condition. All that belongs to God, he has promised to give us when we have been deified and have been made immortal.
This, then, is what it means to know yourself: to recognise and acknowledge in ourselves the God who made us in his image. If we do this, we know that we in turn will be recognised and acknowledged by our Creator.
19 December
O Radix Jesse
O Root of Jesse, standing as a sign to the people,
before whom kings shall shut their mouths
and nations shall seek:
Come and deliver us and do not delay.
A Reading from the Letter of Clement of Rome to the Church in Corinth
It stands written in Scripture: ‘Behold, the Lord is taking a people for himself from out of the midst of the nations, gathering the first-fruits from his threshing-floor; for from that nation shall come forth the Holy of Holies.’ Let any commendation of us come from God, and not from ourselves because self-praise is repugnant to God. Testimony to our good deeds is for other people to give, as it was once given to those righteous people whom we number as our forebears in the faith. Self-assertion, self-conceit, and arrogance are characteristics of those alienated from God; it is those who display consideration to others, who are unassuming and peaceful who win God’s blessing.
Let us focus our efforts, then, on receiving his blessing, and identify which roads lead to it. Examine the early pages of history; what was it that caused our father Abraham to be blessed? Was it not his faith which prompted him to acts of righteousness and truth? Isaac’s confident faith in the future gave him courage to stretch himself out upon the altar. As for Jacob, who meekly left his own country on account of his brother, and went to serve Laban, to him God gave leadership of the twelve tribes of Israel.
Now anyone who honestly examines any of these instances will recognise the magnitude of the gifts which God bestows. It is from Jacob that all the priests and Levites who serve the altar of God have descended. And from him also, according to the flesh, has descended the Lord Jesus. From Jacob have come kings and princes and governors in a line of descent that may be traced back to Judah; while the leaders of the other tribes which also sprang from him, have no small claim to fame of their own. Indeed, God promised this when he said: ‘Your posterity will be like the stars of heaven.’
On all the patriarchs great honour and fame were bestowed; but not for their own sakes, or because of their own achievements, or even because of the good works they did, but by the will of God. In the same way we too, who have been called in Christ Jesus by God’s will, are not justified by ourselves or our wisdom or our intelligence or godliness, or even by any good deeds we may have done in holiness of heart, but solely by that faith through which almighty God has justified his children since the beginning of time. Glory be to him for ever and ever. Amen.
What must we do, then, my brothers and sisters? Should we relax our efforts at doing good, or give up trying to exercise Christian love? God forbid! On the contrary, let us be sincerely, even passionately, eager for every opportunity to do good. Even the architect and Lord of the universe himself rejoices in his works. Good works not only embellished the lives of the upright, they are an adornment which God himself delights in. With such examples, we too should be sparing no effort to obey the will of God, and putting all our energies into living the Christian life.
20 December
O Clavis David
O Key of David, and sceptre of the House of Israel,
who opens and no one can shut,
who shuts and no one can open:
Come and bring the prisoners from the prison house,
those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.
A Reading from a sermon of Bernard of Clairvaux
You have heard, O Virgin, the announcement of a great mystery, and you have heard how it will happen. You have double reason for astonishment and rejoicing. ‘Rejoice,’ therefore, ‘O Daughter of Zion, and be exceedingly glad, O Daughter of Jerusalem.’ And since to you have been given tidings of joy and gladness, let us hear that joyous reply we long for, so that the bones that have been broken may rejoice. You have heard what is to happen, I say, and you have believed. Believe also the way you have heard it is to happen. You have heard that you will conceive and bear a son. You have heard that it will be not by a man, but by the Holy Spirit.
The angel is waiting for your answer: it is time for him to return to the One who sent him. And we too are waiting, O Lady, for this word of mercy, we who are overwhelmed by misery under sentence of condemnation. The price of our salvation is being offered to you. If you consent, we shall be set free straight away. In the eternal Word of God we have all been made, and look, we are dying. By one small word of yours in answer we shall be restored and brought back to life.
Adam asks this of you, O loving Virgin, poor Adam, exiled from paradise with all his poor children. Abraham begs this of you; David begs this of you; all the holy patriarchs, your very own fathers, beg this of you, as do those who dwell in the valley of the shadow of death. The whole world is waiting, kneeling at your feet. And rightly so, for on your lips hangs the comfort of the afflicted, the redemption of captives, the deliverance of the damned; in a word, the salvation of all the sons and daughters of Adam, your entire race.
Give your answer quickly, my Virgin. My Lady, speak the word which earth and hell, and heaven itself are waiting for. The very king and Lord of all, ‘he who desires your beauty’, is eager for your answer and assent, by which he proposes to save the world. You have pleased him by your silence: you will