FOURTH GREATER ANTIPHON
O Key of David and Sceptre of the house of Israel! Who opens, and no man shuts: who shuts, and no man opens; come and lead the captive from prison, sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death.Dom Prosper Guéranger:
O Jesus, Son of David! Heir to his throne and his power! You are now passing over in your way to Bethlehem, the land that once was the kingdom of your ancestor but now is tributary to the Gentiles. Scarce an inch of this ground which has not witnessed the miracles of the justice and the mercy of Jehovah, your Father, to the people of that old Covenant, which is so soon to end. Before long, when you have come from beneath the virginal cloud which now hides you, you will pass along this same road doing good (Acts x. 38), healing all manner of sickness and every infirmity (Matthew iv. 23), and yet having not where to lay your head (Luke ix. 58). Now, at least, your Mother’s womb affords you the sweetest rest, and you receive from her the profoundest adoration and the tenderest love. But, dear Jesus, it is your own blessed will that you leave this loved abode. You have, O Eternal Light, to shine in the midst of this world’s darkness, this prison where the Captive whom you have come to deliver sits in the shadow of death. Open his prison gates by your all-powerful Key. And who is this Captive, but the human race, the slave of error and vice? Who is this Captive, but the heart of man which is thrall to the very passions it blushes to obey? Oh! Come and set at liberty the world you have enriched by your grace, and the creatures whom you have made to be your own brethren.ANTIPHON TO THE ANGEL GABRIEL
O Gabriel! the Messenger of Heaven, who came to me through the closed doors and announced the Word to me: You will conceive and bear a Son, and he will be called Emmanuel.
On this
day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:
At Alexandria in Egypt, blessed Nemesius, martyr,
who was first denounced before the judge as a robber, but on being
freed from that charge, was soon after, in the persecution of Decius,
accused before the judge Emilian of being a Christian. By him he was
twice subjected to the torture, and condemned to be burned alive with
robbers, thus bearing a resemblance to Our Saviour who was crucified
with thieves.
At Nicaea, the Saints Darius, Zosimus, Paul and
Secundus, martyrs.
At Nicomedia, the holy martyrs Cyriacus,
Paulillus, Secundus, Anastasius, Sindimius and their companions.
In Mauritania (Barbary), St. Timothy, deacon, who,
after enduring a painful imprisonment for the faith of Christ, was
cast into the fire, where he consummated his martyrdom.
At Gaza in Palestine, the martyrdom of the Saints
Meuris and Thea.
At Avignon, blessed Pope Urban V, who deserved
well of the Church by restoring the Apostolic See to Rome, by
bringing about a reunion of the Latins and Greeks, and by suppressing
heretics. Blessed Pius IX approved and confirmed the veneration which
had long been paid to him.
At Auxerre, St. Gregory, bishop and confessor.
At Orleans, St. Adjutus, an abbot renowned for the
spirit of prophecy.
At Rome, St. Fausta, mother of St. Anastasia,
distinguished for noble birth and piety.
And in other places, many other holy martyrs,
confessors and virgins.
Thanks
be to God.
