Words for our Advent Journey

Since December 25^th falls on Sunday this year, Advent is as long as it can be. We take advantage of that extra week to present some reflections on the Mass entrance antiphons for the four Sundays of Advent.

First Sunday of Advent

The season begins with the Ad te levavi ,  the first verses of Psalms 25: “ To you I have lifted up my soul; My God, in you I trust; let me not be put to shame, nor let my enemies rejoice over me; let all those who trust in you not be confounded. O Lord, show me your ways, lead me in your paths.”

            This antiphon sends us on our Advent journey very realistically. Enemies, shame, and confusion are real, but our Lord does not leave us without his help and guidance. There is also a movement from and individual point of view to invoking God’s help for all who trust in him. The watchwords are trust and way.

Second Sunday of Advent

The prophet of the season, Isaiah, now makes his appearance in the Sunday antiphons, in a free combination of verses 19 and 30 from his chapter 30. “People of Zion, behold, the Lord will come to save the nations, and the Lord will make the glory of his voice heard in the joy of your heart.”

            Although the prophetic voice addresses the people of Zion, it announces universal salvation, carrying on the communal theme of the first week. Just what is “the glory of his voice”? How can it be made audible in the joy of our hearts? Will it perhaps be made more audible, the more joyful our hearts become? Perhaps resting in deep joy at God’s coming can help more people to hear the Lord’s voice and its glory.

Third Sunday of Advent

This is Gaudete Sunday, taking its name from the opening words of the entrance antiphon: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice. Let your moderation be known to all people; the Lord is near. Be worried over nothing, but let your prayers and petitions be known before God.” 

These beautiful words from Paul’s letter to the Philippians exhort us to trust in God’s nearness. If God is close by, there is no reason to worry, so rejoice! As in our antiphon for the Second Sunday, perhaps the more wholeheartedly we rejoice, the more clearly God’s voice will be heard, and his nearness recognized by others.

Fourth Sunday of Advent

            This Sunday’s antiphon has also made its opening words famous: Rorate caeli: “Drop down dew, ye heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain down justice; let the earth be opened, and let the salvation spring up.”

            Another way of translating this thought from Isaiah 45:8 is to personify the objects of the verbs. Thus we ask the clouds to rain down the Just One, that the earth may bring forth the Savior. In either case, the vivid agricultural imagery invites us to meditate on the collaboration of heaven and earth, for our spiritual well-being as well as for our physical survival. God’s grace invigorates our souls just as the rain brings growth to the arid soil. We continue to trust that God will supply grace, and we pray that we may be open and “porous” enough to receive it, that we may help salvation to germinate throughout the world.

Corpus Christi Weekend -- Chant Workshop and Eucharistic Procession

 This past Sunday we celebrated the Solemnity of the Most Precious Body and Blood of Christ -- still known popularly by its former Latin name, Corpus Chisti. We took advantage of the beautiful Latin Vespers and Mass propers of the day's liturgy to schedule our annual Gregorian Chant Workshop for the days preceding the feast.

Chant workshop participants sing with Sr. Hildegard as they practice the Latin Introit for Sunday's Mass of the Solemnity of Corpus Christi.

 We had fifteen chanters this year, ranging in age from 10 to 83 years old, and coming from New Mexico, Montana, and even Minnesota as well as from Colorado.

Nuns, retreatants, and visitors gather around an outdoor altar in the guest courtyard after Sunday Mass to pray at our first stop in our Eucharistic Procession on the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ.

The weather smiled upon our Corpus Christi procession, with cool temperatures and fluffy white clouds scudding through the blue Colorado sky to give some relief from the sun, especially for those of us dressed in black. We sang our way around the Abbey building, pausing to pray at four altars which had been tastefully decorated by teams of Sisters with textiles, statues, and flower arrangements.

Springtime Solemnities

Sacristan Sr. Maria Gabriel arranges the bounty of beautiful cut flowers donated for our Abbey Church from our florist friends at Flower Corner in Fort Collins.

This is one of those years where, as some say, the June solemnities all come in May. The celebration of the 50 days of Eastertide ends with the Solemnity of Pentecost, preceded by the Solemnity of the Ascension of our Lord. (Along with the rest of the Archdiocese of Denver, we now celebrate Ascension Thursday on the Seventh Sunday of Easter. Some of us are still adjusting to that, but it seems less odd every year.)

Following Pentecost this Sunday, we look forward to Holy Trinity and Corpus Christi on the next two Sundays. (Properly, this last is now known as "The Solemnity of the Most Holy Boy and Blood of Christ", but the old Latin name is much handier.)

Since all of these liturgical celebrations depend on the date of Easter, they frequently fall in June, but this year's early Easter brings them all into May. It remains to be seen whether we will have an outdoor procession this year for Corpus Christi, but many of us have vivid memories of past years, marching around the Abbey grounds in flowing black cucullas, singing and reciting litanies while roasting in the alpine sunshine under the bright blue Colorado sky. It's always a nice custom, but having the feast fall in May increases the likelihood of cooler weather.

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?

For Sunday dinner yesterday we were delighted to be able to welcome an old friend, J. Francis Cardinal Stafford. Back when he was Archbishop of Denver, Cardinal Stafford accompanied us through some of the more dramatic events of our Abbey's history, including our elevation to the status of Abbey and the visit of Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, both of which took place in 1989.

During his visit, His Eminence reminisced about our 1995 decision to relocate the Abbey from Boulder to the far north of Colorado, and also expressed his gratitude for the postulants and novices with which the Lord has blessed our community. He said he had asked both our current Abbess, Mother Maria Michael, and our Abbess Emerita, Mother Maria-Thomas, to what they attribute this flow of new vocations. Both listed, as the first consideration, the beauty of our liturgy. This is, indeed, what strikes everyone who visits and is able to pray with us. It's good to be reminded of this treasure. Praising God every day in song, one might get spoiled and forget what an awesome privilege it is.