The Golden Mass of Ember Wednesday

When examined as a group, the Gospels for the Masses of Advent may seem to be ordered in a rather peculiar way. They are in fact arranged chronologically backwards. On the first Sunday of Advent, the Church reads from Saint Luke Christ’s account of the signs that will precede His return in glory at the end of the world. (21, 25-33) This sets a theological note that will be repeated throughout the season; the first coming of Christ to redeem the world is often contrasted to the second coming, when He shall return to judge it. On the second Sunday, John the Baptist, imprisoned by King Herod, sends his disciples to ask Christ if He is indeed the Redeemer whose coming the world has long awaited. His answer is that the signs of the first coming are already happening, as foretold in the prophets. (Matthew 11, 2-10). The Gospel of the third Sunday recounts an episode from the early days of John’s ministry, before his imprisonment. When men were moved to ask him if he was the Messiah, John confessed that he was but the Forerunner of another who stood in their midst; Christ Himself does not appear or speak in this Gospel. (John 1) The Gospel of the fourth Sunday is the very beginning of John’s mission. Saint Luke speaks once again, and draws us further back in time, to the prophets who foretold not only the coming of Christ, but also that of the Forerunner. This is the only Gospel of the liturgical year in which Christ Himself makes no appearance at all. (3, 1-6)

If we were to consider only the Sunday Gospels, it would almost appear that Christ is drawing away from us as we come closer to the day of His Nativity. However, this backwards motion from the end of the world to the days of the Old Testament places in even greater relief the importance of today’s Mass, the Ember Wednesday of the Advent season. On this day, the Church reads the Gospel of the Annunciation (Luke 1, 26-38), at which point, the beginning of mankind’s redemption, the story begins to move forward. On Friday, there follows the Gospel of the Visitation. (Luke 1, 39-47) In the Breviary homily of that day, Saint Ambrose calls to our attention the first meeting of the Word Incarnate with His Forerunner, while both are still in their mothers’ wombs; “We must consider the fact that the greater one comes to the lesser, that the lesser may be aided: Mary to Elisabeth, Christ to John.” Having announced the mysteries of the Incarnation and the Visitation, the Church then anticipates on Ember Saturday the Gospel of the followed day, the Fourth Sunday of Advent. In the three Ember Day Gospels together, therefore, God becomes Incarnate, goes to the last of His prophets, and sends him forth “to prepare His way.”

The “Missa aurea – Golden Mass”, as it was often called, no longer enjoys the prominence which it once held; even Dom Guéranger, the founder of the original Liturgical Movement, does not include the text of the Mass in his “Liturgical Year” because it was so rarely celebrated in his time. The Breviary and Missal of St. Pius V permitted more or less any feast to impede it, but in the Middle Ages, it was very often the custom to transfer feasts away from it. This custom was partially restored (for a very brief time) by the rubrical reform of 1961.

In the traditional Roman Missal, all four sets of Ember Days have the same stations appointed at major Roman Churches. On Wednesday, the station is at Saint Mary Major, on Friday at the church of the Twelve Apostles, and on Saturday at St. Peter’s Basilica. This last was originally the traditional day for ordinations in the church of Rome; the seven readings (five prophecies, epistle and Gospel) correspond to the seven orders. The medieval liturgical writer Rupert of Tuy (1075-1129) offers this beautiful commentary on the choice of Mary Major for this day.

“On the first day of the (Ember) fast, the station is fittingly appointed at Mary Major; for it is clear that the whole office of that day, properly belongs to that temple of the Lord… in which God entire, dwelling for nine month, deigned to become man. Indeed, from the Gospel is recited the Annunciation or Incarnation of the Lord, that was proclaimed beforehand by the trumpets of the prophets, brought to be present by the Angel, received by the faith of the blessed Virgin, completed and brought forth by Her incorrupt womb.”

Rupert also notes how all of the texts of the Mass are chosen in reference to the Gospel. The Introit is the famous text Rorate caeli, from the forty-fifth chapter of Isaiah, sung in several different places in the Advent liturgy. These words prophecy the coming of the Angel Gabriel to Mary, the belief of the Virgin, and Her reception of the Word Incarnate. The two Epistles (Isaiah 2, 2-5 and 7, 10-15), chosen for their traditional association with the Virgin Mary, “doubly refresh the souls of those who are fasting.”

In non-Roman Western rites, it was the custom to celebrate the feast of the Annunciation shortly before Christmas; the Ambrosian liturgy keeps the last Sunday of Advent as the “feast of the Incarnation”, while the Mozarabs fix the Annunciation to December 18th. In a similar vein, some churches in the Middle Ages, used white vestments for the Ember Wednesday Mass instead of violet, with the deacon and subdeacon in dalmatic and tunicle, the vestments of joy, rather than the penitential folded chasubles. This manner of treating the day almost as a second feast of the Annunciation was observed at Paris, for example, well-known for its strong devotion to Our Lady; it was retained in the neo-Gallican revision of the Parisian liturgy, and continued in use until Paris adopted the Roman liturgy in 1873.

In many places, it was also the custom to sing the Gospel with special solemnity on this day. Mario Righetti notes in his “Storia liturgica” that in the church of Bayeux, the Gospel was sung by a priest (rather than a deacon) wearing a white cope, holding a palm branch in his hand. It was also a common custom to ring the Angelus bell during the singing of the Gospel.

In the use of Sarum, the reading of the Gospel and Homily at Matins was the subject of a particularly beautiful ritual. “The deacon proceeds with the subdeacon, (both) dressed in white,…bearing a palm from the Holy Land in his hand, with the thurifers and torch-bearers…and he incenses the altar. And so he proceeds through the middle of the Choir to the pulpit, to proclaim the Exposition of the Gospel, …with the torch-bearers standing to either side of (him), …and he holds the palm in his hand while he reads the lesson.” The Sarum Rite further underlines the festive quality of the day by omitting most of the penitential features of the Divine Office at Lauds, such as the ferial prayers and the prostrations. Some art historians believe that the dress of the Angel Gabriel as represented in paintings of the Annunciation reflects the local liturgical use observed in the celebration of the “Missa aurea”.

The Gospel of the Annunciation is not, of course, entirely absent from the traditional texts of Advent before the Mass of Ember Wednesday. It is read as the Matins lessons of the Little Office of Our Lady throughout the season, and it provides the text of many of the antiphons and responsories from the very first day of Advent. When the Church began to celebrate the daily Office and Mass of the Virgin, a special version of both was used in many places for the Advent season, and most of the texts for the Mass of the Blessed Virgin in Advent are borrowed from the “Missa aurea”. Several places retain the custom of celebrating this “Rorate” Mass early in the morning, and by candlelight if possible. King Sigmund the First of Poland loved the Rorate Mass so much that in the year 1540, he built a special Lady Chapel within the Cathedral of Krakow, in which the it would be celebrated every day, regardless of the season. (pictured right, exterior view) The choristers of this Chapel were called “Rorantists”, and were also responsible for singing the Gloria in excelsis at the principal Mass of the main choir. A similar custom prevails to this day at the Holy House of Loreto, in which all Masses, public and private are the votive Mass of the Annunciation.

Thanks to readers of the NLM

I wish to express on behalf of myself and my family our most heartfelt thanks for the many prayers and Masses which have been offered for the repose of my father Thomas. We are all more grateful than I can properly say. I would ask you to pray also for my mother, who is quite ill as well. The soon-to-be-posted article on today’s Ember Mass does not mean that the Breviary series is being abandoned; I plan on resuming it very shortly.

New Dominican Rite Resources

I have the pleasure to announce that a number of new resources for the Dominican Rite are now available on Dominican Liturgy through the generosity and work of readers.

These include:

James Harrison's How to Sing Plainchant: Chiefly for the Use of Dominican Choirs (Ditchling: St. Dominic's Press, 1920)

Ceremonies of the Dominican Rite (New York: McBreen, 1877)

Dominican Rite Liturgical Calendar for 2010

And a font for creating the Flex Character in the Psalter.

R.I.P. Mr. Michel Guy, Father of Philppe Guy

It is with sadness that I have to make another such announcement in such a brief period of time, but please, in your charity, offer your prayers for the repose of the soul of the Father of NLM writer Philippe Guy, Mr. Michel Guy, who passed away on December 13th.

A Solemn Requiem Mass will be offered this Saturday, December 19th at 11 am at the Cathedral of Saint-Bénigne de Dijon in France.

Ember Wednesday in Advent (Feria Quarta Quatuor Temporum Adventus)

Today is Ember Wednesday in Advent in the usus antiquor. While I only have a very brief few moments, there are some interesting aspects to today's Mass which are certainly worth briefly highlighting.

Evidently, one of the most well known aspects of this Mass is surely its introit: "Rorate coeli, desuper, et nubes pluant justum, aperiatur terra, et germinet Salvatorem..." Drop down dew, ye heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain down the Just: let the earth open and bud forth a Saviour...

In addition, however, there are some other aspects to today's Mass which are worth taking note of. The first is that it includes kneeling after the Kyrie when the priest says, "Flectamus genua"; it also includes three readings: two lessons from the Book of Prophet Isaiah and, of course, the gospel. The first lesson is from Isaiah 2:2-5 and the second is from Isaiah 7:10-15.

Let us read what Blessed Cardinal Schuster had to say about today's Mass in his work, The Sacramentary, which also gives some historical insight into some of these variations:

The Introit is from Isaias xiv, 8, in which the meek and peaceful character of this first coming of the Word of God upon earth is wonderfully expressed in two brilliant figures of speech -- namely, the heavens distilling refreshing dew upon Gedeon's fleece, and the earth producing the little flower of the fields upon the mystic stem of Jesse...

Originally, on the days of the stational processions, when the great Litany was sung on the way, the Introit was omitted, and the Pope, on reaching the church, recited the Collect after the last Kyrie. The deacon first invited the faithful to prostrate themselves so that they might pray for awhile in secret -- Flectamus genua; then after a few moments spent in prayer, he gave the signal to get up again, and the Pontiff summed up the petitions of the assembly in a brief formula -- collecta -- and presented them to God...

The Mass for today still keeps the rite of the threefold scriptural lesson which in early times usually preceded the Offertory; the first lesson was as a rule from the Old Testament, the second from the New Testament, and the third from the Gospel.

As mentioned yesterday, until the mid-1960's, today was traditionally a day of fasting and at least partial abstinence. While no longer obligatory, do consider making that choice, adopting this practice for yourself today, Friday and Saturday.

Mass at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, Rome

From the Roman Basilica of St. Apollinaris, which is entrusted to Opus Dei's Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, via John Sonnen, comes this suggestive photograph of a priest celebrating Mass at one of the side altars, dedicated to the founder of Opus Dei, St. Josemaría Escrivá. The priest celebrates versus Deum, thus echoing the posture of St. Josemaría in the altar painting, which strikes me as a remarkable visual expression of the hermeneutic of continuity.


The altar painting is evidently modeled on one of the most well known pictures of St. Josemaría celebrating Mass (in the usus antiquior):


Another picture of St. Josemaría celebrating Mass at the same altar was featured on the NLM before:

Rose Vestments from Hungary -- and Others

A number of photos have come in recently from Gaudete Sunday.

The first I wished to highlight is this particularly splendid set sent in by our friends in Hungary.

(Detail from back of Cope)


(Detail from Dalmatic)

They also sent in this additional photo of another rose vestment in the gothic style.



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In addition to these, some other readers sent in some photos from their own locales.

St. Mary's, Norwalk, Connecticut





Some of our Anglican readers from the Church of the Resurrection in New York, NY sent in this photo of their vestments:




Finally, one our priestly readers sent in this photo.


(This particular vestment was designed by one of our priestly readers in conjunction with Gardiner-Hall)

Old Catholic Books from Minnesota

Vincent John Kranz (651-227-3412) is a parishioner at St. Agnes, in St. Paul, Minnesota, and he is going through his mother's old collection of books, and many of them are Catholic classics from the turn of the century to the 1950s. He is looking for a dealer who might be interested in buying them or possibly a collector who could use them. Give him a call if you want to talk more.

Transformation of St. Ann Catholic Church, Charlotte, NC

Source: Dedication of St. Ann Catholic Church 2009

Quatuor Tempora: Advent Embertide this Wednesday, Friday and Saturday

At four periods of the year, the liturgical calendar of the usus antiquior observes Ember days. (In the context of the modern Roman calendar, their observance is to be determined by the national conference of bishops as per paragraph 394 of the General Instruction of the Roman Missal.) These Ember days align to the four seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter.

Until the 1960's these were days of obligatory fast and full or partial abstinence. While no longer obligatory, this long-standing discipline would still be of merit to practice; indeed, I would take this opportunity to encourage our readers to take up this discipline tomorrow, Friday and Saturday.

Within the usus antiquior there are some interesting aspects to the Masses for these days, but for the moment, let us simply take a brief survey of the history of Ember days generally, by way of Josef Jungmann, the Catholic Encyclopedia, Bl. Ildefonso Schuster, Dom Gueranger and Fr. Francis Weiser.

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Josef Jungmann, The Early Liturgy to the time of Gregory the Great:

These [the Ember weeks] are among the most ancient institutions of the Roman liturgy. We say quattuor tempora [the four times], but the most ancient sources of the Roman liturgy speak only of three such times. Three times a year a sort of retreat period was held... during the months of June, September and December one week was especially devoted to prayer and fasting. Wednesday and Friday were kept as days of fast, with the fasting continuing on Saturday. And then on Saturday evening a vigil was held in much the same way as the Easter vigil, with twelve lessons and with corresponding songs and prayers. This vigil service continued far into the night... These Ember weeks...were spaced three months apart, in the summer, in autumn and in winter...

The Catholic Encyclopedia:

At first the Church in Rome had fasts in June, September, and December; the exact days were not fixed but were announced by the priests. The "Liber Pontificalis" ascribes to Pope Callistus (217-222) a law ordering the fast, but probably it is older. Leo the Great (440-461) considers it an Apostolic institution. When the fourth season was added cannot be ascertained, but Gelasius (492-496) speaks of all four. This pope also permitted the conferring of priesthood and deaconship on the Saturdays of ember week -- these were formerly given only at Easter. Before Gelasius the ember days were known only in Rome, but after his time their observance spread... The present Roman Missal, in the formulary for the Ember days, retains in part the old practice of lessons from Scripture in addition to the ordinary two: for the Wednesdays three, for the Saturdays six, and seven for the Saturday in December. Some of these lessons contain promises of a bountiful harvest for those that serve God.

Blessed Ildefonso Schuster, The Sacramentary: Historical and Liturgical Notes on the Roman Missal:

The solemn fast of the three days in Ember Week seems to have been originally peculiar to the Roman Church, whence it was afterwards borrowed by the other Latin dioceses. St. Leo I explains its meaning clearly, especially on the occasion of the December fasts, when he remarks that, at the end of the year, and before beginning to draw upon the winter resources, it is very fitting that we should dedicate the firstfruits to the divine Providence by a freewill offering of abstinence and almsgiving. In this case there was a further motive. An ancient tradition reserved the ordinations of priests and deacons to the month of December, and the faithful -- following a custom introduced by the Apostles themselves -- felt constrained to unite with the bishop in prayer and fasting, in order to call down from God an abundance of priestly gifts upon the heads of those newly chosen to minister at the altar.

Dom Prosper Gueranger, The Liturgical Year:

This observance is not peculiar to the Advent liturgy; it is one which has been fixed for each of the four seasons of the Ecclesiastical Year. We may consider it as one of those practices which the Church took from the Synagogue; for the prophet Zacharias speaks of the fourth, fifth, seventh and tenth months... From the first ages, the Quatuor Tempora were kept, in the Roman Church, at the same time of the year as at present. As to the expression, which is not unfrequently used in the early writers, of The Three Times and not The Four, we must remember that, in the spring, these Days always come in the first week of Lent, a period already consecrated to the most rigorous fasting and abstinence... The intentions, which the Church has in the fast of the Ember Days, are the same as those of the Synagogue; namely, to consecrate to God by penance the four seasons of the year. The Ember Days of Advent are known, in ecclesiastical antiquity, by the name of the Fast of the tenth Month; and St. Leo, in one of his sermons on this Fast...tells us that a special fast was fixed for this time of the year, because the fruits of the earth had then all been gathered in, and that it behooved Christians to testify their gratitude to God by a sacrifice of abstinence... The fast of the Ember Days has another object besides that of consecrating the four seasons of the year to God by an act of penance; it has also in view the Ordination of Ministers of the Church, which takes place on the Saturday... The faithful should unite with the Church in this her intention, and to offer to God their fasting and abstinence for the purpose of obtaining worthy Ministers of the Word and the Sacraments, and true pastors of the people.

Fr. Francis X. Weiser, Christian Feasts and Customs:

In the earliest liturgical books the Ember Days are simply called "the fast of the first, fourth, seventh and tenth month" (that is, March, June, September, December)... During the sixth century the term Quatuor Tempora (Four Times or Seasons) was introduced, and has remained ever since as the official ecclesiastical name for the Embertides. From the Latin word most European nations coined their popular terms... The English term Ember seems to derive from the Anglo-Saxon ymbren (season, period).

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Those of you who are interested in this subject may also find this article of interest, The Glow of Ember Days by Michael P. Foley, an associate professor of patristics at Baylor university.

His article was originally published in The Latin Mass Magazine in Fall 2008.