Advent: December 18th
December 18, O Lord and Ruler; Ember Wednesday
Other Titles: Day 2 O Antiphons: O Adonai (O Lord and Ruler)
MASS READINGS
December 18, 2024 (Readings on USCCB website)
PROPERS [Show]
COLLECT PRAYER
December 18: Grant, we pray, almighty God, that we, who are weighed down from of old by slavery beneath the yoke of sin, may be set free by the newness of the long-awaited Nativity of your Only Begotten Son. Who lives and reigns with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.
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Today is the Second of the O Antiphons, O Adonai (O Almighty God/O Lord and Ruler). As Moses approached the burning bush, so we approach the divine Savior in the form of a child in the crib, or in the form of the consecrated host, and falling down we adore Him. "Put off the shoes from thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground . . . I am who am."
"Come with an outstretched arm to redeem us." This is the cry of the Church for the second coming of Christ on the last day. The return of the Savior brings us plentiful redemption.
The Roman Martyrology commemorates Saint Winebald of Heidenheim (701-761), English missionary with St. Boniface to Germany. Founded a monastery at Heidenheim, and served as its first abbot.
For those following the Jesse Tree can continue through Christmas Eve, and also use symbols based on the “O” Antiphons (see Jesse Tree Instructions).
Jesse Tree, Day 18 ~ Judith
Jesse Tree Overview
December Ember Days or Advent Embertide, Ember Wednesday
Shortly after Gaudete Sunday and St. Lucy’s feast day on December 13 the Advent Ember Days begin. Today is the traditional Ember Wednesday, which marks the beginning of Advent Embertide. The Ember days represent an ancient and cherished tradition of the Roman Church. Four times a year, at the change of seasons, three days of the week, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, were devoted to prayer and fasting to call down God's blessing on the new season and on the ordinations which took place during the vigil held on the Saturday-Sunday night.
The Ember Days are no longer universally marked on the General Roman Calendar, but are practiced according to the local ordinary. In the 1969 Calendar reform (see General Instruction on the Roman Missal), the observance of Ember Days was left to the discretion of the local conference of bishops, and can be adjusted and expanded. In the USA it is mainly the rural areas that the bishops choose to officially observe Ember Days, but in other countries they are observed. While Ember Days are not part of the whole community worship, personal observance at home or small communities is not discouraged.
Advent, which is of more recent institution in the development of the Liturgical Year, has endowed the December Ember days with their special character of expectation and preparation for Christmas, thus reducing the idea of fasting and penance to a secondary position.
Advent Embertide marked four different themes:
- Thanksgiving for the Harvest: Traditionally the Advent Ember Days marked thanksgiving for the olive harvest. Olive oil is used for the Holy Oils in the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and Anointing of the Sick, and also for special consecrations and blessings, such as for a new church or altar stone. The thanksgiving emphasis was expressed on Ember Wednesday, with offering of first fruits and distribution of blessed food baskets for the needy.
- Days of Spiritual Renewal: Holy Mother Church provides us so many opportunities to redirect, refresh and renew. Our human frailty needs reminders to resolve to start anew. These three days are opportunities to add extra prayer and penance for ourselves and others.
- Praying for Priests: For centuries this Ember Saturday was the only day in the Church's year for conferring the sacrament of Holy Orders. The Church no longer regularly ordains priests during the times of the Quarterly Ember Days, but this is a special time, particularly Ember Saturday, to pray for priests, particularly the ones who are about to be ordained within the year.
- Reflecting the Spirit of the Season: Each set of Ember Days reflect the season of the Liturgical Year in which they occur. The Advent Ember Days fall near the end of Advent, and the traditional liturgy summarizes the weeks of longing for the Messiah. The Masses include the Messianic prophecies regarding Christ’s Birth and Epiphany in order to prepare for Christmas. The 1962 liturgy had Ember Wednesday’s Gospel focused on the Incarnation, Ember Friday presented St. Elizabeth and the Visitation of Mary, and Ember Saturday featured St. John the Baptist.
Of particular note is the ancient liturgy of Missa Aurea or “Golden Mass” on Ember Wednesday. On this day the Church celebrated the “golden mystery” of our Faith, the moment the Word became flesh, the Incarnation of Christ in Mary’s womb. In the current Roman Missal, the Golden Mass is not lost but celebrated in the liturgy on December 20, the O Antiphon day “O Key of David.”
The Stational churches were part of the Ember Days, with Ember Wednesdays always being with Mary, Station with Santa Maria Maggiore (St. Mary Major).
—adapted from Saint Andrew Daily Missal, Pius Parsch, OSB, The Church's Year of Grace and Benedict Baur, The Light of the World
O Lord and Ruler
Thou art He "who didst appear to Moses in the burning bush." "I have seen the affliction of My people in Egypt, and I have heard their cry because of the rigor of them that are over the works. And knowing their sorrow, I am come down to deliver them out of the hands of the Egyptians and to bring them out of that land into a good and spacious land, into a land that floweth with milk and honey" (Exod. 3:7 f.). Thus spoke the Lord to Moses from the bush which burned but was not consumed, which is a figure of God's condescension to assume the weakness of human nature. The human nature of Christ is united to the burning divine nature, and yet it is not consumed.
As Moses approached the burning bush, so we approach the divine Savior in the form of a child in the crib, or in the form of the consecrated host, and falling down we adore Him. "Put off the shoes from thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. . . . I am who am" (Exod. 3:5, 14).
O Adonai, almighty God! Mighty in the weakness of a child, and in the helplessness of the Crucified! Thou, almighty God, mighty in the wonders that Thou hast worked! Mighty in guiding, sustaining, and developing Thy Church! "The gates of hell shall not prevail against it" (Matt. 16:18).
"Come with an outstretched arm to redeem us." This is the cry of the Church for the second coming of Christ on the last day. The return of the Savior brings us plentiful redemption. "Come, ye blessed of My Father, possess you the kingdom prepared for you" (Matt. 25-34).
—Excerpted from The Light of the World by Benedict Baur, O.S.B.
Second O Antiphon:
Symbols: The Tablets
Come and redeem us with outstretched arm.
O Lord and Ruler of the House of Israel, who appeared to Moses in the flame of the burning bush and gave him the law on Sinai: Come and redeem us with outstretched arm.
O Adonai, et dux domus Israel, qui Moyse in igne flammae rubi apparuisti, et ei in Sina legem dedisti: veni ad redimendum nos in brachio extento.
The tablets of stone are a picture of the Ten Commandments given by God to Moses on Mt. Sinai. They may be used to represent the whole of God's law, the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible, the Torah), or the entire Old Testament.
Recommended Readings: Micheas 5:1-9
Today is Day Three of the Christmas Novena
Saint Winebald
Winebald was born in 701 at Wessex, England. He was born a prince, the son of Saint Richard the King and Saint Wunna of Wessex. He was the brother of Saint Willibald and Saint Walburga and the nephew of Saint Boniface.
During a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, he became ill and spent seven years in Rome, Italy recovering and studying before finally returning to England. Winebald was ordained in 739.
Winebald became a missionary under St. Boniface and, with his sister St. Walburga. He worked in Thuringia, Bavaria and Mainz. He governed as the first abbott of the double monastery of Heidenheim in Bavaria that their brother St. Willibald had established. His missionary work was hampered by bad health and by the ill will of his heathen neighbors. He died on December 18, 761 at Heidenheim, Germany.
Patronage: construction workers; engaged couples; Wimborne, England
Symbols and Representation: abbot‘s staff; trowel, referring to the churches and abbey he built
Highlights and Things to Do:
- Read more about Winebald:
Ember Wednesday of Advent
Station with Santa Maria Maggiore (St. Mary Major):
The station church for Ember Wednesday in Advent is the church of St. Mary Major in Rome. The liturgy invites us to visit the home of the Virgin of Nazareth and presents us the scenes of the Annunciation. Reverently beholding the holy Virgin, we contemplate the great mystery of the Incarnation. The traditional Mass text for the Golden Mass, or Rorate Mass or Missa Aurea, just before Christmas, emphasizes the Old Testament background leading to His birth. In the great Church of St. Mary Major the crib is venerated, which brings Bethlehem very close; Mary is our patron. She typifies the Church, for the role she played at Christ's first advent, the Church now takes in the Savior's liturgical advent as He manifests Himself in the mysteries (adapted from Pius Parsch, OSB, The Church's Year of Grace and Benedict Baur, The Light of the World).
For more on Santa Maria Maggiore, see:
For further information on the Station Churches, see The Stational Church.
