|
View as Webpage
Morning Devotion for the Season of Advent
December 22, 2023
The Invitatory
Watch, for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning, lest he come suddenly and find your asleep.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son: and to the Holy Ghost;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.
Reading: O magnum mysterium,
et admirabile sacramentum
O great mystery,
and wonderful sacrament,
Meditation: Jo Ann B. Jones
O magnum mysterium. a responsorial chant from the Matins of Christmas. has been sung since the middle ages. When the Mixed Chorus of Baltimore Friends School presented its Christmas concert, O magnum mysterium was always the opening piece. The auditorium was darkened, and for once, the usually busy bodies of middle and high school students were still. It was as if everyone held their breath in intense expectation. These few powerful opening words evoke a deep and beautiful sense of expectation together with an exquisite beauty that undergird and herald a profound mystery. That they are sung in Latin, an ancient language no longer spoken, somehow confers upon them gravity and mystery, and yet, at the same time, because spoken in an ancient language, a permanence or an enduring quality lacking in the English translation. And yet the human voice gave them intimacy that embraced the entire company.
I always found these few words breathtaking, giving me a deep, deep sense of awe for what we can call the incarnation, but which is far more than that one word conveys. These words herald the coming mystery that necessarily will provide the greatest sacrament for humankind and for the world. These words should alter the course of each and every day of our lives, for, indeed, they speak of the altering of the course of life. Paul refers to this mystery in his Letter to the Ephesians. He writes: : ”For he has made known to us in all wisdom and insight the mystery of his will, according to his purpose which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.”
A mystery is a truth that is only known by revelation to those often appointed to receive the mysteries of the kingdom. We know the prophets revealed the mysteries as revealed to them. Through revelation, God’s truths have been revealed and continue to be revealed. Without revelation, the fulness of Christ would still be a mystery to mankind.
To this end, we might also think of the Incarnation as secret, perhaps knowable, if only in part. This knowledge has yet to be revealed to us; in time it may be disclosed to us, but not fully and not at once. Nonetheless, that it is a mystery and somewhat secret, often renders us speechless in its face, until it is disclosed in the fullness of time. Until the time of its disclosure we have had time to become appreciative, awed and grateful for what the sacrament has come to mean.
Because of their deep, deep beauty the words of this chant arouse in me such joy and gladness, humility and a deep, deep sense of gratitude for this magnum mysterium et admirabile sacramentum. That is what we await in this season of Advent.
Lord’s Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy Name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those
who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
| 
