Fourth Sunday of Advent
Introit
Isaias 45:8; Psalm 18:2
Drop down dew, ye heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain the just: let the earth be opened and bud forth a Saviour. Ps. The heavens show forth the glory of God: and the firmament declareth the work of His hands. Glory be to the Father.
Collect
Stir up Thy power and come, we pray Thee, O Lord, and with great might succour us; that our deliverance, which our sins impede, may be hastened by the help of Thy grace and the forgiveness of Thy mercy: Who livest and reigneth.
Epistle
1 Corinthians 4:1-5
Brethren, let a man so account of us as of the ministers of Christ and the dispensers of the mysteries of God. Here now it is required among the dispensers that a man be found faithful. But to me it is a very small thing to be judged by you or by man’s day: but neither do I judge my own self. For I am not conscious to myself of anything: yet am I not hereby justified, but He that judgeth me is the Lord. Therefore judge not before the time, until the Lord come; who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise from God.
Gradual
Psalm 144: 18, 21
The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon Him: to all that call upon Him in truth. My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord: and let all flesh bless His holy name.
Alleluia
Alleluia, alleluia. Come, O Lord, and tarry not: forgive the sins of Thy people Israel. Alleluia.
Gospel
Luke 3: 1-6
Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and Philip his brother tetrarch of Iturea and the country of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilina, under the high-priests Annas and Caiphas: the word of the Lord was made unto John, the son of Zachary, in the desert. And he came into all the country about the Jordan, preaching the baptism of penance for the remission of sins, as it was written in the book of the sayings of Isaias the prophet: A voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare ye the way of the Lord: make straight His paths: every valley shall be filled: and every mountain and hill shall be brought low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways plain: and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.
Offertory
Luke 1:28, 42
Hail Mary, full of grace: the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.
Secret
Look down favourably upon these sacrifices, O Lord, we beseech Thee: that they may be profitable to our devotion and salvation. Through our Lord.
Communion
Isaias 7:14
Behold a Virgin shall conceive and bear a son: and His name shall be called Emmanuel.
Postcommunion
Having received Thy gifts, we beseech Thee, O Lord, that with the frequentation of the mystery, the work of our salvation may increase. Through our Lord.