Advent Devotions
PSALMS FOR PRAYER AND MEDITATION
Drop down dew from above, ye heavens, and let the clouds rain the just one; let the earth be opened and bud forth a Saviour. (Isa. XIV.8)
After each verse below, recite the following antiphon in unison:
“COME, LET US ADORE OUR LORD AND KING WHO IS ABOUT TO COME TO US!”
First Week
1. Rejoice, O daughter of Sion, and be jubilantly glad, O daughter of Israel . Behold, thy Lord comes and in His day a great light shall arise; the mountains shall drop down sweetness and the hills shall flow with milk and honey, for the great prophet shall come and He shall renew Jerusalem. (R. Brev)
2. Behold, Thy God comes, the Man of the house of David, to sit upon the throne; and you shall see and your heart shall rejoice. (R. Brev)
Second Week
3. Behold, the Lord, our protector, comes, the Holy One of Israel, having on His Head the regal crown, and He shall rule from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth. (Apoc. XIV, 14; Ps. LXXI.8.)
4. Behold, the Lord comes, and He will not lie; should He tarry, await Him, for He shall assuredly come and shall not delay. (R. Brev.)
Third Week
5. The Lord shall come down as rain upon the fleece, and in His days shall justice spring up and abundance of peace; and all kings of the earth shall adore Him, all nations serve Him. (Ps. LXXI. 6,7,11.)
6. A Child is born to us, and He shall be called the Mighty God; and He shall sit upon the throne of David, His Father, and shall rule; for the government is upon His shoulders. (Isa. IX.6)
Fourth Week
7. Bethlehem, city of the most High God, out of thee shall go forth the ruler of Israel, and His proceeding, is from the beginning, even from the days of eternity; and He shall be exalted in the midst of the whole earth, and peace shall hold sway in the day of His coming. (Mich. V. 2)
8. Our forerunner Jesus, the Lamb undefiled, has entered the Holy of Holies for us, having become a High Priest forever, according to the order of Melchisedech… He is the King of Justice… having neither beginning of days nor end of life. (Heb. VI. 20)
Advent Prayer
Hail and Blessed be the hour and the moment in which the son of God was born of the most pure blessed Virgin Mary at midnight in Bethlehem, in the piercing cold. In that hour, vouchsafe, O my God, to hear my prayer and grant my petitions, through the merits of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Hymn
O come, O come, Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear
Rejoice! Rejoice! O Israel
Shall come to thee, Emmanuel.
O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan’s tyranny
From depths of Hell Thy people save
And give them victory o’er the grave
Rejoice! Rejoice! O Israel
Shall come to thee, Emmanuel.
