Using this volume
In constructing this anthology of ‘reputable and orthodox writers’ it has not been possible (sadly) to pursue the monastic ideal of matching a reading from Scripture with an appropriate commentary from the Christian Tradition. The plethora of lectionaries and three-yearly cycles of readings makes this project unfeasible. Instead this selection has been organised thematically in close association with the movement of the Church’s Year beginning with Advent Sunday. Each liturgical section also includes a brief note about the season and the material that follows. A comprehensive index is provided at the back of the book. Like Celebrating the Saints, its companion volume, the literature included in this anthology spans two thousand years. It contains extracts from sermons, hymns, theological treatises, Biblical commentaries, letters, prayers and poems. It constitutes a rich treasury worthy of study and reflection.
Not being tied to any one Scriptural text has the advantage that the readings chosen here may be read in conjunction with either Morning or Evening Prayer, or with the eucharistic lectionary. They may be read publicly in church or used privately for personal devotion. Although drawn from various centuries and across the spectrum of Eastern and Western spirituality, the writings of the early Fathers will be found to enjoy a special prominence, partly because translations of their works are not as available to the general public as contemporary Christian writers and they deserve a wider public, and partly because they antedate the various schisms that have dismembered the Body of Christ, and therefore occupy an honoured place in the mind of the Church.
Our Christian forebears emerge from this assembly of texts as a vibrant company of voices which both affirm and challenge us. Recognizing resonances in their voices, coming as they do from different traditions, cultures and ages, is exciting. They root our discipleship, and give us fresh hope and energy in our current cultural and ecclesiastical fragmentation.
We begin our ecclesiastical year with the glorious annunciation of his birth by angelical embassage. There being hereunto added his blessed nativity itself, the mystery of his legal circumcision, the testification of his true incarnation by the purification of her which brought him into the world, his resurrection, his ascension into heaven, the admirable sending down of his Spirit upon his chosen, and (which consequently ensued) the notice of that incomprehensible Trinity thereby given to the Church of God; again forasmuch as we know that Christ hath not only been manifested great in himself, but great in other of his saints also, the days of whose departure out of the world are to the Church of Christ as the birth and coronation days of kings and emperors, therefore especial choice being made of the very flower of all occasions in this kind, there are annual selected times to meditate of Christ glorified in them which had the honour to suffer for his sake, before they had age and ability to know him; glorified in them which knowing him as Stephen had the sight of that before death whereinto so acceptable death did lead; glorified in those sages of the East that came from far to adore him and were conducted by strange light; glorified in the second Elias of the world sent before him to prepare his way; glorified in every of those apostles whom it pleased him to use as founders of his kingdom here; glorified in the angels as in Michael; glorified in all those happy souls that are already possessed of heaven.
Richard Hooker
The Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity
ADVENT
If we wish to escape the punishment of hell and reach eternal life, then while there is still time, while we are in this body and can accomplish these things by the light of life, let us hasten to do now what will profit us for eternity.
Benedict of Nursia
The season of Advent is above all a time of watching and waiting for the coming of the kingdom of God in power. It shares with Lent a certain spirit of restraint, preparation and penitence, but it is one shot through with confident joy as Christmas approaches. The readings reflect this dual aspect. In the early part of Advent they focus upon the coming of Christ as Judge at the Last Day. As the season progresses, the readings in company with the lectionary look towards the birth of the promised Messiah, and reflect upon the unique roles played by John the Baptist, the Lord’s forerunner, and of Mary, the Mother of Jesus, in the plan of salvation.
This change in gear is most obvious around 17 December. By ancient custom the eight days before Christmas are observed as a time of special preparation and vigil. Proper readings for these days are provided. With the exception of the reading set for the Fourth Sunday of Advent which should always be preferred, these readings take precedence over those provided for the third week of Advent.
The cryptic phrase O Sapientia which appears in the calendar of The Book of Common Prayer underscores this liturgical shift. The phrase refers to the custom at Evensong during the final days of Advent, for the Magnificat (The Song of Mary) to have a special antiphon or refrain attached to it, the so-called ‘Great O’ Antiphons. These proclaim the ascriptions or ‘names’ given to God in the Old Testament. Each name develops into a prophecy of the forthcoming and eagerly anticipated Messiah, Jesus, the Son of God. The Biblical readings both at the Eucharist and at the Office, and those offered here, resonate with these ancient refrains which have therefore been printed here in full as a further stimulus to reflection.
Note In the old Sarum rite, the ‘Great O’ Antiphons were sung one day earlier beginning on 16 December, requiring an additional ascription for 23 December, this being O Virgin of Virgins. However, since this was clearly apposite to the Blessed Virgin Mary and not a title of God, this liturgical custom was not adopted much beyond Sarum and, with the revision of the Calendar, the Church of England has adopted the more widely-used formulae and dating.
Advent Sunday
A Reading from the Catechetical Lectures of Cyril of Jerusalem
We do not preach only one coming of Christ, but a second as well, much more glorious than the first. The first coming was marked by patience; the second will bring the crown of a divine kingdom.
In general, what relates to our Lord Jesus Christ has two aspects. There is a birth from God before the ages, and a birth from a virgin at the fullness of time. There is a hidden coming, like that of rain on fleece, and a coming before all eyes, still in the future.
At the first coming he was wrapped in swaddling clothes in a manger. At his second coming he will be clothed in light as in a garment. In the first coming he endured the cross, despising the shame; in the second coming he will be in glory, escorted by an army of angels. We look then beyond the first coming and await the second. At the first coming we said: ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’ At the second we shall say it again; we shall go out with the angels to meet the Lord and cry out in adoration: ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’
The Saviour will not come to be judged again, but to judge those by whom he was judged. At his own judgement he was silent; then he will address those who committed the outrages against him when they crucified him and will remind them: ‘You did these things, and I was silent.’
His first coming was to fulfil his plan of love, to teach us by gentle persuasion. This time, whether we like it or not, we will be subjects of his kingdom by necessity. Malachi the prophet speaks of the two comings. ‘And the Lord whom you seek will come suddenly to his temple’: that is one coming.
Again he says of another coming: ‘Look, the Lord almighty will come, and who can endure the day of his coming, or who will stand in his sight? Because he comes like a refiner’s fire, a fuller’s soap, and he will sit refining and cleansing.’
These two comings are also referred to by Paul in writing