| DIES | 14 Sun | 15 Mon | 16 Tue | 17 Wed | 18 Thu | 19 Fri | 20 Sat | 21 Sun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Officium | | In OCTAVA Conceptione Beatæ Mariæ Virginis | S. Eusebii Episcopi et Martyris | Feria IV Quattuor Temporum in Adventu | In Expectatione Partus Beatae Mariae Virginis | Feria VI Quattuor Temporum in Adventu | Sabbato Quattuor Temporum in Adventu | Dominica IV Adventus |
| Classis | Dominica I. classis | Duplex | Semiduplex | Feria major | Duplex major | Feria major | Feria major | Dominica I. classis |
| Color* | Rosa/Purpura | Albus | Rubeum | Purpura | Albus | Purpura | Purpura | Purpura |
| Missa | Gaudéte | Salve sancta | Sacerdótes Dei | Roráte, cœli | Roráte, caeli | Prope es tu | Veni, et osténde | Gaudéte |
| Orationes | 2a. De VII die Infra Oct. Concept.BMV3a. Contra Persecutores | 2a. Feria II , II Adventus | 2a. Feria III, III Adventus | 2a. de S. Maria 3a. Contra Persecutores | 2a. Feria V , III Adventus | 2a. Feria V , III Adventus | 2a. In Vigilia S. Thomæ Ap. 3a. de S. Maria | 2a. de S. Maria 3a. Contra Persecutores |
| Notae | no Gl. Cr. Pref. de sanctissima Trinitate | Gl. Cr. Pref. de BMV | Gl. Cr. Pref. de Communis | no Gl. Pref. de Communis | Gl. Cr. Pref. de BMV | no Gl. Pref. de Communis | no Gl. Pref. de Communis | no Gl. Cr. Pref. de sanctissima Trinitate |
| Nota Bene/Vel/Votiva | O Sapientia | O Adonai | O Radix Jesse | O Clavis David | O Oriens |
14 December — Dominica III Adventus (Gaudete Sunday)
The Third Sunday of Advent takes its name from the Introit Gaudete in Domino semper (Phil. 4:4), marking a restrained but real relaxation of penitential austerity. The rose vestments, permitted organ use, and floral moderation do not interrupt Advent’s gravity but interpret it: joy arises not from sentiment, but from proximity. Salvation is “at hand.” The Collect prays that God may “incline His ear” to our petitions, underscoring that joy is born of divine condescension. Patristically, this Sunday anticipates the manifestation of the heavenly Jerusalem already present sacramentally in the Church, even as it awaits consummation in the Incarnation and the Parousia.
15 December — In Octava Conceptione Beatæ Mariæ Virginis
Within the Octave of the Immaculate Conception, the Church continues her contemplation of Mary as the terra intacta from which the Redeemer will come. Liturgically, this day sustains the Marian focus without eclipsing Advent’s Christological thrust. Mary’s preservation from original sin is not an abstraction but a preparation: she is immaculate for Christ. The faithful are invited to see in her not merely an object of devotion, but the prototype of the Church made ready for the coming of the Lord.
16 December — S. Eusebii Episcopi et Martyris
St Eusebius, bishop and martyr of the Arian crisis, stands as a powerful Advent witness. Exiled for his defence of Nicene orthodoxy, he embodies fidelity to the truth of Christ’s divinity at a time when ambiguity was politically expedient. His feast reminds the Church that Advent is not passive waiting but active resistance to false Christs and diluted doctrine. The coming Judge is the same Lord whose consubstantiality Eusebius defended at great cost.
17 December — Feria IV Quattuor Temporum in Adventu
With Ember Wednesday, the Church enters the ancient Roman discipline of fasting, prayer, and petition tied to the sanctification of time and the ordering of society. The propers return insistently to Isaiah, whose prophetic longing gives voice to the Church’s own cry: Rorate caeli desuper. Ember Days are vocational and ecclesial, traditionally associated with ordinations, reminding the faithful that preparation for Christ’s coming includes the purification of His ministers and His people.
17 December — O Sapientia
Latin
O Sapientia, quæ ex ore Altissimi prodiisti,
attingens a fine usque ad finem,
fortiter suaviterque disponens omnia:
veni ad docendum nos viam prudentiæ.
English
O Wisdom, who camest forth from the mouth of the Most High,
reaching from end to end,
mightily and sweetly ordering all things:
come to teach us the way of prudence.
18 December — Expectatio Partus Beatæ Mariæ Virginis (The Expectation of the Blessed Virgin Mary)
This ancient Marian feast, originating in the Hispanic liturgical tradition and later received into wider Western usage, places the Church in deliberate vigil with the Blessed Virgin Mary on the threshold of the Nativity. Celebrated one week before Christmas, it contemplates not doctrine in abstraction but the concrete, bodily expectation of the Incarnation. Mary is honoured not only as Immaculate and Mother of God, but as the Woman who waits — in faith, silence, and obedience — bearing within her the fulfilment of the promises made to Israel.
Liturgically, the feast does not interrupt Advent’s penitential character but deepens it, focusing attention on the hiddenness of God’s coming. The Church learns here that authentic expectation is not restless anticipation but interior readiness. As Mary carries Christ unseen through the roads of Judea, so the Church carries Him sacramentally and interiorly through the darkness of the world, awaiting the hour when Emmanuel is revealed.
18 December — O Adonai
Latin
O Adonai, et Dux domus Israël,
qui Moysi in igne flammæ rubi apparuisti,
et ei in Sina legem dedisti:
veni ad redimendum nos in brachio extento.
English
O Lord and Leader of the house of Israel,
who didst appear to Moses in the flame of the burning bush,
and gavest him the law on Sinai:
come to redeem us with an outstretched arm.
19 December — Feria VI Quattuor Temporum in Adventu
Ember Friday intensifies the penitential character of the week. The fast is not merely ascetical but eschatological: a bodily expression of the Church’s longing for redemption. The readings continue to emphasize repentance, divine judgment, and mercy. Here Advent strips away complacency. The faithful are reminded that the Lord who comes as an Infant is also the One before whom every conscience must stand.
19 December — O Radix Jesse
Latin
O Radix Jesse, qui stas in signum populorum,
super quem continebunt reges os suum,
quem Gentes deprecabuntur:
veni ad liberandum nos, jam noli tardare.
English
O Root of Jesse, who standest as a sign to the peoples,
before whom kings shall shut their mouths,
whom the nations shall entreat:
come to deliver us; delay no longer.
20 December — Sabbato Quattuor Temporum in Adventu
Commemoratio in Vigilia S. Thomæ Apostoli
Ember Saturday traditionally features multiple lessons, offering a sweeping catechesis of salvation history. The long arc of promise and fulfilment culminates in the imminence of Christ’s birth. The commemoration of the Vigil of St Thomas the Apostle subtly anticipates the post-Nativity Church: Thomas, who would later demand to see and touch, reminds us that faith matures through encounter with the risen Christ, not mere expectation.
20 December — O Clavis David
Latin
O Clavis David, et sceptrum domus Israël,
qui aperis et nemo claudit,
claudis et nemo aperit:
veni, et educ vinctum de domo carceris,
sedentem in tenebris et umbra mortis.
English
O Key of David and sceptre of the house of Israel,
who openest and no one shuts,
shuttest and no one opens:
come, and lead forth the captive from the prison house,
him who sitteth in darkness and the shadow of death.
21 December — Dominica IV Adventus
(S. Thomas Apostolus transferred to Monday)
The Fourth Sunday of Advent is marked by immediacy. The Gospel narratives move decisively toward Bethlehem. The Virgin is no longer simply foretold but present; Emmanuel is no longer distant but at the threshold. Liturgically, this Sunday is sober and intense, with no relaxation of discipline. The Church stands at the edge of fulfilment, calling the faithful to silence, recollection, and interior readiness. St Thomas’s transfer underscores this transition: from Advent expectation to apostolic witness grounded in the Incarnation now accomplished.
21 December — O Oriens
Latin
O Oriens, splendor lucis æternæ, et sol justitiæ:
veni, et illumina sedentes in tenebris
et umbra mortis.
English
O Dayspring, splendour of eternal light and sun of justice:
come, and enlighten those who sit in darkness
and in the shadow of death.
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