The 4th Sunday of Advent - 2012

The Fourth Sunday in Advent.

The Collect.

O LORD, raise up (we pray thee) thy power, and come among us, and with great might succour us; that whereas, through our sins and wickedness, we are sore let and hindered in running the race that is set before us, thy bountiful grace and mercy may speedily help and deliver us; through the satisfaction of thy Son our Lord, to whom with thee and the Holy Ghost be honour and glory, world without end. Amen.

The Collect from the First Sunday in Advent is to be repeated every day, with the other Collects in Advent, until Christmas-Eve.

Old Testament Reading: Isaiah 40.1-11

Psalter: Morning-98, 99; Evening-101, 103

Epistle Reading: Philippians 4.4-7

Gospel Reading: St. John 1.19-28

Barbee and Zahl:

“This Collect is from the Gelasian Sacramentary ( . . . ) absorbed into the Sarum Liturgy, from which Archbishop Cranmer translated and adapted it for use in the 1549 Prayer Book. It was expanded in the 1662 Book ( . . . ). To be “sore let” is to be thwarted ( . . . )

Cranmer’s panoramic vision and sense of the big picture of our life as ‘hid with Christ” (Colossians 3:3) comes through loud and clear in this prayer. ( . . . ). The prayer represents us as being hindered through our sins and wickedness. We are thwarted in all our attempts at self-deliverance. This is a grievous admission. We are unable to help ourselves: trapped, stripped, caught by outward circumstances and inward tendencies. (   . . . ). No one can appreciate the power of this prayer without first making the admission that all human hopes of self-redemption are a delusion. Is that too much to admit? But as we are “sore hindered,” even so is the mercy of God bountiful and speedy. Moreover, the mercy of God is not a facile fiat. It is grounded in something” “the satisfaction of thy Son our Lord.” ( . . . ). With sins forgiven, the human spirit is no longer obstructed and caved in on its own insatiable hungers” (8-9).

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

Words: Latin, twelfth century;
trans. John Mason Neale (1818-1866), 1851

O come, O come, Emmanuel,
and ransom captive Israel,
that mourns in lonely exile here
until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, O come, great Lord of might,
who to thy tribes on Sinai's height
in ancient times once gave the law
in cloud and majesty and awe.

Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, thou Rod of Jesse, free
thine own from Satan's tyranny;
from depths of hell thy people save,
and give them victory over the grave.

Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, thou Dayspring, come and cheer
our spirits by thine advent here;
disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
and death's dark shadows put to flight.

Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, thou Key of David, come,
and open wide our heavenly home;
make safe the way that leads on high,
and close the path to misery.

Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.