🕯️This liturgical celebration, marked by the penitential and sacred character of the Ember Days, constitutes one of the most sublime moments of Advent, historically known as the "Missa Aurea" or Golden Mass, due to its solemnity and focus on the mystery of the Incarnation. The station takes place at the Basilica of Saint Mary Major, the reliquary of the crib in Rome, as the liturgy of this day anticipates the joy of Christmas by proclaiming the Gospel of the Annunciation, the moment when the Word became flesh. The Ember Days, instituted to consecrate the four seasons of the year to God through fasting and prayer, here acquire a tone of profound messianic expectation; we do not celebrate a specific saint, but the "Holy of Holies" Himself who descends into the womb of the Virgin Mary. The Church unites Isaiah's prophecies about the Virgin who shall conceive with the historical realization narrated by Saint Luke, inviting the faithful to transform their souls into worthy dwelling places for the Savior who is coming.
📜Introit (Is 45, 8 | Ps. 18, 2)
Roráte, cœli, désuper, et nubes pluant justum: aperiátur terra, et gérminet Salvatórem. Ps. Cœli enárrant glóriam Dei: et ópera mánuum ejus annúntiat firmaméntum.
Drop down dew, ye heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain the Just: let the earth be opened and bud forth a Savior. Ps. The heavens show forth the glory of God: and the firmament declareth the work of his hands.
📜I Reading (Is 2, 2-5)
In those days, the prophet Isaiah said: And in the last days the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be prepared on the top of mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go, and say: Come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob, and he will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall come forth from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And he shall judge the Gentiles, and rebuke many people: and they shall turn their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into sickles: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they be exercised any more to war. O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the Lord our God.
📜II Reading (Is 7, 10-15)
In those days, the Lord spoke to Achaz, saying: Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God, either unto the depth of hell, or unto the height above. And Achaz said: I will not ask, and I will not tempt the Lord. And he said: Hear ye therefore, O house of David: Is it a small thing for you to be grievous to men, that you are grievous to my God also? Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign. Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel. He shall eat butter and honey, that he may know to refuse the evil, and to choose the good.
✝️Gospel (Lc 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 the angel being come in, said unto her: Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. Who having heard, was troubled at his saying, and thought with herself what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said to her: Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found grace with God. Behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and shalt bring forth a son; and thou shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of David his father; and he shall reign in the house of Jacob for ever. And of his kingdom there shall be no end. And Mary said to the angel: How shall this be done, because I know not man? And the angel answering, said to her: The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee. And therefore also the Holy which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. And behold thy cousin Elizabeth, she also hath conceived a son in her old age; and this is the sixth month with her that is called barren: Because no word shall be impossible with God. And Mary said: Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to thy word.
👑The Mystery of the Fiat and the Restoration of Creation
🙇The liturgy of the Ember Wednesday of Advent places us before the vertex of salvation history: the moment when eternity enters time through the consent of the Virgin Mary. The readings from Isaiah draw the scenario of the promise: the "mountain of the house of the Lord" raised above all others prefigures the Church and, eminently, the Virgin herself, who by her humility attracted the gaze of the Most High. Isaiah's prophecy about the Virgin who will conceive Emmanuel (God with us) finds its tangible realization in the Gospel of the Annunciation. Saint Augustine, reflecting on this mystery, teaches that Mary conceived Christ in her mind by faith before conceiving Him in her womb (Sermon 215). Mary's "Fiat" is not merely a passive acceptance, but an active and theological cooperation that reverses Eve's disobedience; where there was pride and perdition, now there is humility and salvation. Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, in his famous homilies on the "Missus Est", dramatically describes how the whole universe—the patriarchs in limbo, the angels in heaven, and suffering humanity—hung in suspense, awaiting Mary's answer. The silence of God is broken by the Virgin's voice: "Be it done to me according to thy word." At this instant, the "earth opened and budded forth a Savior" (Introit). The grace that "rains from the clouds" (Rorate coeli) is the Holy Spirit overshadowing her, operating the hypostatic union without violating her virginal integrity, but consecrating it. The butter and honey prophesied (Is 7, 15) symbolize the true humanity of Christ, who assumes our nature to heal it. Thus, the liturgy invites us to imitate the Marian disposition: to empty oneself so that the Word may be spiritually generated in our souls, as the Catechism of the Catholic Church reminds us, by stating that the Virgin is the eschatological image of the Church (CCC 972), the perfect model of faith and charity.
🇺🇸See English version of the critical articles here.
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