Advent: December 18th
Thursday of the Third Week of Advent
Other Titles: Day 2 O Antiphons: O Adonai (O Lord and Ruler)
MASS READINGS
December 18, 2003 (Readings on USCCB website)
COLLECT PRAYER
Father, you show the world the splendor of your glory in the coming of Christ, born of the Virgin. Give to us true faith and love to celebrate the mystery of God made man. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever. Amen.
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In the General Roman Calendar, this date is a weekday in Advent. No feast of a saint is celebrated. The readings lead us to prepare for Christmas when Christ's first coming to us is remembered and to direct our mind and heart to await Christ's Second Coming at the end of time. Advent is thus a period for devout and joyful expectation.
Today is the second of the O Antiphons, the seven jewels of our liturgy, dating back to the fourth century, one for each day until Christmas Eve. These antiphons address Christ with seven magnificent Messianic titles, based on the Old Testament prophecies and types of Christ. The Church recalls the variety of the ills of man before the coming of the Redeemer.
Saint Winebald
Winebald was born in 701 at Wessex, England. He was born a prince, the son of Saint Richard the King and Saint Wunna of Wessex. He was the brother of Saint Willibald and Saint Walburga and the nephew of Saint Boniface.
During a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, he became ill and spent seven years in Rome, Italy recovering and studying before finally returning to England. Winebald was ordained in 739.
Winebald became a missionary under St. Boniface and, with his sister St. Walburga. He worked in Thuringia, Bavaria and Mainz. He governed as the first abbott of the double monastery of Heidenheim in Bavaria that their brother St. Willibald had established. His missionary work was hampered by bad health and by the ill will of his heathen neighbors. He died on December 18, 761 at Heidenheim, Germany.
Patronage: construction workers; engaged couples; Wimborne, England
Symbols and Representation: abbot‘s staff; trowel, referring to the churches and abbey he built
Highlights and Things to Do:
- Read more about Winebald:
Ember Wednesday of Advent
Station with Santa Maria Maggiore (St. Mary Major):
The station church for Ember Wednesday in Advent is the church of St. Mary Major in Rome. The liturgy invites us to visit the home of the Virgin of Nazareth and presents us the scenes of the Annunciation. Reverently beholding the holy Virgin, we contemplate the great mystery of the Incarnation. The traditional Mass text for the Golden Mass, or Rorate Mass or Missa Aurea, just before Christmas, emphasizes the Old Testament background leading to His birth. In the great Church of St. Mary Major the crib is venerated, which brings Bethlehem very close; Mary is our patron. She typifies the Church, for the role she played at Christ's first advent, the Church now takes in the Savior's liturgical advent as He manifests Himself in the mysteries (adapted from Pius Parsch, OSB, The Church's Year of Grace and Benedict Baur, The Light of the World).
For more on Santa Maria Maggiore, see:
For further information on the Station Churches, see The Stational Church.
