'Strange blessings never in paradise . . .' Sunday Reflections, 3rd Sunday of Advent, Year B

 

St John the Baptist

Donatello [Web Gallery of Art]

Readings (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland)

Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)

Gospel John 1:6-8, 19-28 (English Standard Version Anglicised: India)

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.

And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord’, as the prophet Isaiah said.”

 (Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.)  They asked him, “Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” John answered them, “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

 

Léachtaí i nGaeilge

Mary, Queen of Heaven

Master of the Legend of Saint Lucy [Web Gallery of Art]

In the Philippines the Misas de Gallo, also known as Simbang Gabi or Aguinaldo Masses, the novena of pre-dawn Masses leading up to Christmas, will begin on Wednesday the 16th. For 15 years, 2002 until 2016, I celebrated these in the chapel of St Joseph, Espinos Village, Bacolod City. As I am now based in Ireland, I don't have to get up at 3:30 am in order to start Mass at 4:30 am. These are votive Masses in honour of our Blessed Mother and in thanksgiving for the gift of our faith. The Spanish word 'Aguinaldo' means 'gift' and in this context refers to the gift of faith.

The Covid-19 pandemic this year has affected church services everywhere, including the Aguinaldo Masses in the Philippines. You will find the instructions of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines for this year's celebrations here.

The Church over the centuries has reflected on gifts we have received from God that we could not have received had our First Parents never sinned. A song included among poems for Advent and Christmas in the Breviary published by the hierarchies of Australia, England & Wales, and Ireland is one of those reflections, Adam lay y-bounden. In the Breviary it is given the title O Felix Culpa, 'O Happy Fault'.

This particular song marvels at the fact that but for the reality of the sin of Adam we would never have had Our Lady as Queen of Heaven.

The poem reflects part of the Exultet, the Easter Proclamation: O certe necessarium Adae peccatum, /quod Christo morte deletum est! O truly necessary sin of Adam,/destroyed completely by the Death of Christ. O felix culpa,/quae talem ac tantum meruit habere Redemptionem! O happy fault/that earned so great, so glorious a Redeemer.

At Easter we proclaim the great reality that God has given us a Redeemer and that he is now risen from the dead.

Coming up to Christmas we reflect on the birth of our Redeemer through the consent of Mary, his and our Mother. Mary is part of God's eternal plan and if we sideline her we distort that reality, as we also do if we put her in the centre and sideline her Son. In the painting above Mary, while being honoured as Queen of Heaven by the angels and saints is adoring God with her whole being, inviting us to do the same. The song too invites us to sing Deo gratias! Thanks be to God!

That is what the Church invites us to do every time we celebrate Mass, the Eucharist, the Thanksgiving. It invites Filipinos in particular at this time of the Aguinaldo Masses to thank God for the great gift of faith and to share it with others. One way in which Filipinos have been doing that is introducing this centuries-old practice to other countries, adapting the custom to local circumstances.

O Felix Culpa (O Happy Fault)

Adam lay ybounden

Sung by the Choir of King's College, Cambridge, England

Adam lay ybounden,

Bounden in a bond;

Four thousand winter,

Thought he not too long.

And all was for an apple,

An apple that he took.

As clerkes finden written

 In theiré book.

Ne had the apple taken been,

The apple taken been,

Ne hadde never our Lady,

A been heaven’s queen.

Blessed be the time

That apple taken was,

Therefore we may singen.

Deo gratias!

This song from England dates from the 15th century. The text here is an adaptation of the original Middle English and the musical setting is by Boris Ord.

Scottish poet Edwin Muir's One Foot in Eden, included in the Breviary for Lent and Easter, also reflects on the theme of felix culpa. 

One Foot in Eden

by Edwin Muir

Video and reading by Philip Marshall

What had Eden ever to say
Of hope and faith and pity and love
Until was buried all its day
And memory found its treasure trove?
Strange blessings never in Paradise

Fall from these beclouded skies.

Extraordinary Form of the Mass

Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) 

The Third Sunday of Advent .

The complete Mass in Latin and English is here. (Adjust the date at the top of that page to 12-13-2020, if necessary).

Epistle: Philippians 4:4-7. Gospel: John 1:19-28.

Authentic Beauty

Authentic beauty, however, unlocks the yearning of the human heart, the profound desire to know, to love, to go towards the Other, to reach for the Beyond.

Pope Benedict XVI meeting with artists in the Sistine Chapel, 21 November 2009.

In dulci jubilo

Sung by Libera

This seasonal carol was written in German and Latin by Blessed Henry Suso OP in the 14th century. I do not know who made the arrangement above. For me it retains the original mediaeval flavour of the hymn with a contemporary Irish twist. The concert took place in Ireland.

 

Novena of pre-dawn Masses in the Philippines

Parols, Christmas lanterns, on sale in the Philippines. These are used as decorations outside and inside buildings.

This morning I had Mass at five, the first day of the Misa de Gallo, or Aguinaldo Masses, also called Simbang Gabi in Tagalog. A letter from Bishop Vicente M. Navarra of Bacolod, where I live, explains what these Masses are:

The celebration of the Aguinaldo Masses is a special indult given by Rome to the Church in the Philippines for the perseverance of the nation in the Catholic Faith. Hence the sacrifice of a very early morning Mass, It has to be celebrated only in the early morning (4am) from December 16-24, and not in the late afternoon or everning. The Mass formulary is one one for the whole duration - the Mass of the Blessed Virgin. The vestments are with with the recitation of the Gloria and Credo.

Misa de Gallo is Spanish for 'Mass at cockcrow'. (I have a recording by the Tallis Singers of Missa in Gallicantu, A Mass in Sarum chant, the usage in the Diocese of Salisbury, England, before, that used to be sung after midnight on Christmas Eve - I'm not sure if that means early on the 24th or 25th). Aguinaldo is a Spanish word meaning Christmas or New Year's gift. Simbang Gabi could be translated as 'going to church at night'.

The emphasis is on thanking God, with our Blessed Mother, for the gift of faith. There are now nine special Mass formularies that may be used, with the readings of the current Advent day. On the Fourth Sunday of Advent the Mass of that day is used, with white vestements and the Gloria.

The custom began maybe three centuries or so ago, in Spanish times, when farm workers wanted to have Mass very early before they'd go to work.

In the village where I live the Mass has always been at 5, maybe because when there was no priest here before, the parish priest came after his 4am Mass in the parish church. However, for the rest of the novena we'll start at 4:45 so that dawn won't be breaking until Mass is ending. I take the bishop's '4am' to be a guideline and it's the norm in parish churchese.

Churches all over the Philippines are full these mornings, especially with young people. I noticed a young woman in the chapel this morning with her infant and reminded the people that that's one of the ways we pass on the faith.

The only thing comparable to the Misa de Gallo in my own experience before coming to the Philippines was Lenten weekdays in Dublin in the 1950s when the churches would be full of workers and students at the earlier Masses, the older people and housewives - yes there were still very many of them! - going to the later Masses.

Each year people are spending less and less in the run up to Christmas in the Philippines, which in one way is a good thing, though it's also a sign of people having less money for things that aren't essential.

Filipinos have brought the custom of the Misa de Gallo to many other countries and have adapted them to the local situation. I'ts not usually a Misa de Gallo in the literal sense since it's usually held in the evening, for example, in London, when the roosters, if there are any there, have all gone to sleep. Very often a Mass is celebrated on the nine evenings in a different church each time. I know that in the Archdiocese of Seattle, Washington, Archbishop Alexander Joseph Brunett has encouraged everyone to get involved, not just Filipinos. It may be one way of renewing the faith in Europe and North America, not to mention other places.

I'll remember my readers at Mass these mornings.