Feria IV Quattuor Temporum in Adventu ~ Feria major

Wed, 12/17/25: Today is the Ember Wednesday of Advent under the 1954 (simple) and 1962 (II class) rubrics. Mass: Proper Mass. Violet. Flectamus genua/Levate, additional collect, prophecy, and Gradual after the Kyrie. Omit Gloria. Proper collect. Gradual with neither Alleluia nor Tract. Omit Credo. Common Preface (1962: optional Preface of Advent). Benedicamus (1954)/Ite (1962). Under 1954, 2nd prayer Deus qui de beatae of Our Lady. 3rd prayer either Ecclesiae tuae for the Church or Deus omnium for the pope. No commemorations or additional prayers under 1962. Office: Ferial office. Violet. Matins of 1 nocturn of 3 lessons (all proper). Omit Te Deum. Psalms (Lauds = schema II) of the feria. At Lauds and the hours, antiphons Prophetae praedicaverunt etc. of feria IV (Wednesday) before the vigil of Christmas. All else from the ferial office for Advent. Under 1954, preces at Lauds and the hours. Under 1962, preces at Lauds only. Proper collect of the Ember Wednesday. No commemorations at Lauds. Omit suffrage (1954). Under 1954, add displaced psalm 96 at Prime. (Source: LB236 on Twitter/X.)

Introitus
Is 45:8
Roráte, cœli, désuper, et nubes pluant justum: aperiátur terra, et gérminet Salvatórem
Ps 18:2.
Cœli enárrant glóriam Dei: et ópera mánuum ejus annúntiat firmaméntum.
℣. Glória Patri, …

Collect
Let us pray.
℣. Let us kneel.
℟. Arise.
Grant us, we beseech You, almighty God, that the coming feast of our redemption may bring us both help for our present life, and the reward of everlasting happiness.
Through Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end.
℟. Amen.

Lesson
Lesson from the book of Isaias
Isa. 2:2-5
In those days the prophet Isaiah said: In days to come, the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established as the highest mountain and raised above the hills. All nations shall stream toward it; many peoples shall come and say: ‘Come, let us climb the Lord’s mountain, to the house of the God of Jacob, that He may instruct us in His ways, and we may walk in His paths.’ For from Sion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and impose terms on many peoples. They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; one nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war again. O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord, our God.
Deo Gratias

Gradual
Ps 23:7; 23:3-4
Lift up, O gates, your lintels; reach up, you ancient portals, that the King of glory may come in!
℣. Who can ascend the mountain of the Lord? or who may stand in His holy place? He whose hands are sinless, whose heart is clean.

Collect
℣. The Lord be with you.
℟. And with thy spirit.
Let us pray.
Hasten, we beseech You, O Lord, and delay not; bestow upon us the help of power from on high, that they who trust in Your goodness may be supported by the encouragement of Your coming.
Who livest and reignest with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, world without end.
℟. Amen

Let us pray.
de S. Maria Advent
O God, Who, by the message of an Angel, willed to take flesh in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary, grant that we, your suppliants, who believe her to be truly the Mother of God, may be helped by her intercession with You.

for the Pope
O God, the shepherd and ruler of all the faithful, graciously look upon thy servant Leo, who thou hast willed to be chief pastor of thy Church; grant him we beseech thee, by word and example to profit those over whom he rules, that together with the flock entrusted to him, he may attain to life everlasting.
Through Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end.
℟. Amen.

From the Holy Gospel according to Luke

Luke 1:26-38
At that time the angel Gabriel was sent from God into a city of Galilee, called Nazareth, To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. And so on.

Homily by St. Ambrose, Bishop of Milan.
Bk. ii on Luke
The mysteries of God are unsearchable, and it is especially declared by a Prophet, that a man can hardly know His counsels. Wisd. ix. 13. Nevertheless, some things have been revealed to us, and we may gather from some of the words and works of the Lord our Saviour, that there was a special purpose of God, in the fact that she who was chosen to be the mother of the Lord was espoused to a man. Why did not the power of the Highest overshadow her before she was so espoused? Perhaps it was lest any might blasphemously say that she had conceived in fornication the Holy One.

Post Communion
P. The Lord be with you.
S. And with thy spirit.
Let us pray.
Refreshed by the sacramental gift of Your salvation, we humbly beseech You, O Lord, that enjoying its savor we may be made new by its action.
Through Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end.
℟. Amen.

Let us pray.
de S. Maria Advent
May this Communion, O Lord, cleanse us of sin, and by the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, may it make us sharers of heavenly healing.

for the Pope
Let the reception of this divine Sacrament protect us, O Lord, we beseech theee: and may thy servant Leo, whom thou has chosen as the chief pastor of thy Church, along with the flock committed to him derive always from it protection and help.
Through Jesus Christ, thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end.
℟. Amen.