Advent: December 22nd
Monday of the Fourth Week of Advent
Other Titles: Day 6 O Antiphons: O Rex Gentium (O King of the Nations)
MASS READINGS
December 22, 2003 (Readings on USCCB website)
COLLECT PRAYER
God our Father, you sent your Son to free mankind from the power of death. May we who celebrate the coming of Christ as man share more fully in his divine life, for he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, 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 sixth 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.
Ember Friday of Advent
Station ad Santi Dodici Apostoli, also Santi Apostoli (Station at the Twelve Holy Apostles):
The stational church for today's Mass is the church of the Twelve Apostles in Rome. Mary is the apostle of the liturgy, the Mediatrix of all grace. She is the root from which springs the full bloom, Christ. "And of His fullness we all have received, and grace for grace" (John 1:16). It was erected by Julius I (337-352) over the barracks of ancient Rome's firemen and entrusted since 1463 to the Conventual Franciscans. Originally dedicated to the Apostles St. James and St. Philip, it was rededicated to all the Apostles in the 16th century. It is currently in the care of Conventual Franciscans.
For more on Santi Dodici Apostoli, see:
For further information on the Station Churches, see The Stational Church.
