Youtube Interviews
In this episode of Roadmap to Heaven, host Adam Wright is joined by Father Wade Menezes to discuss the liturgical season of Advent and the preparations for Christmas. They explore the theme of joyful hope for the second coming of Christ and the prayers of the Mass that ask for protection from distress and anxiety.
Father Menezes shares insights on the significance of Advent, the use of violet as the liturgical color, and the importance of quiet reflection and self-examination during this season. He also mentions the tradition of Christmas Novenas and offers recommendations for online resources for prayer and reflection with family.
Father Menezes also reviews the seven O Antiphons, which each correspond with a day beginning on December 17th and ending on December 23rd. Adam shares a fun fact that the first letter of each, in order from the last O Antiphon to the first, spells “ero cras”, which is Latin for “I will be with you tomorrow”.
This episode of Roadmap to Heaven concludes with a reminder to focus on the spiritual significance of Advent amidst the busyness of the holiday season.
Adam Wright:
Well, the technology just keeps on becoming more and more utilized here, and fabulous, but utilized here at Covenant Network. We’re happy to be on a call with Father Wade Menezes once again, and once again, bringing it to you, not just with audio, but the wonderful world of video. Father Wade, it is good to have you with us today.
Fr. Wade Menezes:
Thanks, Adam. It’s great to be back with you again, this time to talk about a beautiful, beautiful liturgical season, and not only that but the beginning of the new liturgical year.
Adam Wright:
Well, happy New Year to you, I should say.
Fr. Wade Menezes:
That’s right.
Adam Wright:
Now I have to tell you, our youngest, she is in kindergarten, and she has a wonderful companion book that she takes to Sunday Mass with her every week, that walks her through the entrance rites, the readings, and the different visuals. You will see it’s got a whole page of look for these things in the church, the altar, the ambo, the thurible (or as she calls it, the steamer). She’s watched us do the laundry at home a few too many times. One of the pages has the priest, and there’s a little color wheel, and you can change the priest’s vestment, and every day says, “Daddy, what color is today? What color is today?” And I’m so excited that after weeks and weeks and weeks of telling her, “Green,” we get to pick a new color. One we haven’t seen since well, honestly, the season of Lent, and that’s purple or violet. And that’s what brings us together today, Father Wade. The season of Advent. So, where would you like to begin with this wonderful season?
Fr. Wade Menezes:
Well, I’d like to begin by saying I’m so glad that you said violet because I don’t like to use purple. The reason why is because the church’s liturgical documents use the word violet. We think of the flower. We think of violet, something somber, something sober, something awakening, something beautiful, something silent. And really, these are themes of Advent, focusing on the two comings of Christ. His first coming as a babe in a manger in Bethlehem, which is actually the latter part of Advent. And then His second coming as the just judge, merciful and just judge, I might add, which is actually the first part of Advent. So Advent focuses on the two comings of Christ but in a reversed order. We focus on His second coming first, and His first coming last, or secondarily, again at the end part of Advent, the latter part of the beautiful liturgical season. And it actually all begins. This liturgical shift where we begin to focus on the first coming of Christ, again the first part of Advent, it actually begins, Adam, around the latter part of the 32nd week of ordinary time.
So already a few weeks back, where we started getting liturgical readings at the daily Mass from the book of Revelation, from the daily gospels during the latter part of the 32nd week of ordinary time and all throughout the 33rd and 34th week of ordinary time. The gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) focusing on Christ’s second coming where Christ Himself tells us no one knows the day, nor the hour, but there will be these signs. “Many will come in my name”, etcetera, etcetera. So it’s like Holy Mother Church and her last two and a half weeks of the regular liturgical year, of course, which really culminates on the 34th Sunday or last Sunday of ordinary time, of the great solemnity of Christ the King of the universe, is all what catapults us now into this beautiful liturgical season, focusing on His two comings. As St. Augustine teaches very beautifully, “Let us not forget Christ’s first coming precisely so that we do not regret His second coming.”
And in talking about those two comings of Christ during Advent per se, it’s important to remember that many of the church fathers, writing in the first seven to eight centuries of the church, talk about an intermediate coming between these two comings of Christ, and that’s when Christ comes to you personally at your own particular judgment. Alright? And that’s important to remember, too. For that generation of individuals who will not be living at the time of the second coming when it takes place, there is an intermediate coming. Now, many of the church fathers also talked about the intermediate coming of prayer, the intermediate coming of contemplation, the intermediate coming of true mysticism. Where we unite ourselves to the trinitarian Godhead in prayer. Saint Teresa of Avila’s Seven Mansions, for example. Saint John of the Cross’s Dark Night of the Soul. Thomas a Kempis’s Living the Imitation of Christ. These exalted states of prayer is also considered an intermediate third coming.
But in regards to Advent per se, the intermediate coming is more the particular judgment, which lies between the first coming of Christ and His second coming. So it’s just a beautiful, beautiful, liturgical season. And I might add this too, talking about the beginning of Advent. It’s interesting, very interesting. The Holy Mother Church places a lot of martyrs in these last two weeks of ordinary time leading up to Advent. And then even after Advent, right after Christmas is celebrated on December 25th, we have the holy innocence, for example, the massacre of the innocents. We have these other martyrs that come right after the celebration of Christmas, within the Christmas octave, which is supposed to be a celebratory time. Right? Well, why all these martyrs then? Because the martyrs show us the epitome of what it means to live for Christ and thus die for Christ. Right? “No greater love is there than this, than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” Right? Something that Christ Himself did for us, and the martyrs show this. Beginning with, again, the latter part of the 32nd week of ordinary time, leading us right into Advent. And then even the martyrs we have, right after the celebration of Christmas, during the Octave celebration itself.
Adam Wright:
I’m glad we’re talking about this in this context, Father, because one of the things that — and again, I say this often on the show. I remember when this happened for me, when it clicked for the first time, that we talk about Advent as a season of preparing, a season of getting ready. You know, we have to get ready for Christmas. We have to get ready for the coming of Christ. Well, in one sense, the incarnation is a historical event that happened some 2,000 years ago, and the next time we will see our Lord, if we’re alive for the second coming, it’s not going to be a repeat of the event that happened 2,000 years ago in Bethlehem in a manger. And once that clicked for me — and now my kids, again, they’re at that age too. They’re like, “Well, Dad, aren’t we getting ready for the coming of Jesus?” “Well yes, but not in the way that Mary and Joseph did 2,000 years ago.” So what are some of the things we need to keep in mind then, as we journey through this season, as we prepare, as we pray in the Mass for the second coming of our Lord?
Fr. Wade Menezes:
Yeah. Which is a very prominent theme throughout the Mass. As we wait in joyful hope for the coming of our savior, Jesus Christ, words that are said by the celebrant at every Mass we attend, right after the Our Father, but the reception of Holy Communion. What are the themes during that part of the Mass right after the Our Father but before receiving Holy Communion? Protect us from all distress. The former translation of the Roman Missal used the word anxiety. Protect us from all anxiety. As we wait in what? Joyful hope for the coming of our savior, Jesus Christ. And then Lord Jesus Christ who said to your apostles, “I leave you peace, my peace, I give you.” In other words, He doesn’t want us to fall to pieces. He wants to give us His peace. So, protect us from all distress or anxiety, as we wait in joyful hope. Okay? So no distress, no anxiety, joyful hope, and peace. My gosh. These are three major themes that Holy Mother Church, the bride of Christ, places before us right before we’re about to receive the source and summit of the entire Christian life. Right? The Most Holy Eucharist, which is the theme of my two Advent missions out in California during Advent this year before Christmas.
I’m going to debut my new series at two parishes, the Most Holy Eucharist gift and sacrament, in response to the USCCB’s call for the three-year Eucharistic Revival, from June 2022 through June 2025, Corpus Christi to Corpus Christi, during this three-year celebration. Talking about the doctrine, the Most Holy Eucharist, the source and summit, but these themes should guide us in what we’re looking at at Advent because the second coming of Christ should not scare us, and His first coming should not scare us. Right? So Advent comes from the Latin word meaning “coming”, okay, “to come”. Advenire. Alright? In general, the word Advent regards the coming or arrival of a notable person, a thing or an event. Right? Well, Jesus is coming. Right? And Advent is intended to be a season of preparation for His arrival. So while we typically regard Advent as a joyous season, it is also intended to be a period, Adam, of preparation, really much like Lent in regards to the preparation that’s involved with it. Okay? But whereas Lent is more penitential, with penance and fasting and so forth. While we can have those during Advent, Advent is more about quiet, reflectiveness, or reflective reality. A sober awakening as we await these two comings of Christ.
So, it’s interesting that many religious order in the church consider — especially the monastic orders, like the Carmelites, and the Benedictines, and the Cistercians. They call Advent the little Lent. How awesome is that? Okay. And so they might take on more penitential practices during Advent, but for the mind of the church in general, while it can surely be penitential in nature, it’s more about quiet, reflective, sober awakening. So while Advent is not strict as Lent, we say, and there are no liturgical guidelines for fasting during Advent in the church’s official teaching, it is meant to be a period of self-preparation and self-examination. For example, the violet color associated with Advent is also the color for penance. Right? That is used liturgically during Lent. That’s important. They use the same colors. The faithful can fast somewhat during the first two weeks in particular and receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation and Preparation for the celebration of Christmas, surely. And then, the color of the third Sunday of Advent (Gaudete Sunday, Rejoice Sunday) is rose. Right? Gaudete means “rejoice” in Latin. This color symbolizes joy and represents the happiness we will experience when Jesus comes again. This third Sunday of Advent then is a day of anticipatory celebration. And think of Lent’s Laetare Sunday, in the latter part of Lent, also Rejoice Sunday. So again, the two seasons kind of share that union as well. Finally, Sundays during Advent, just as during Lent should not be given to fasting, but instead to celebration because we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ every Sunday. Every Sunday is a little Easter, we would say. Just like we can call Advent the little Lent. Every Sunday is a little Easter. It is important to remember, however, that there are no particular liturgical rules for how the laity should observe Advent as, again, it is not as liturgically strict as Lent. So I like to teach (as the church does) a sober, awakening, quiet, reflective, devout, but joyful anticipatory, expective liturgical season focusing on the two comings of Christ.
Adam Wright:
I think of the many great Advent offerings we have locally in my area. We have many parishes where the women of the parish gather for what they call Advent by candlelight or Advent by tealight. And it’s really just an evening of reflection. They have a priest or another speaker come and lead them, and the whole room is dark, and it’s illuminated only by the candles on the table. And it’s very peaceful and reflective. Now for the men, we tailgate. We have our fire pits instead of our candles, and we’re out in the church parking lot. But, again, we have the priest, or the pastor, or another person come and give a reflection, and we have that time in the quiet outdoors in the cold, and it really is wonderful. And Father, you’ve gone to say many times, it’s not as strict as Lent, but if we are striving for peace during the season, and quiet, and reflection, and a somberness, and a solitude, I think of all of the to-do lists that creep up in all of our lives. I have to get my shopping done. I have to get ready for this party. I’ve been invited to this gathering. And to paraphrase Andy Williams as I do terribly every year, instead of the most wonderful time of the year, well it’s the most craziest time of the year in terms of schedule. And I think we would do well to heed your words and make Advent what it’s supposed to be: a time of reflection and a time of quietness.
Fr. Wade Menezes:
Well, one thing I like to tell my listeners, whether in person at the parish missions, retreats, or conferences, or here on the radio with Open Line Tuesday, or with yourself, or with other stations that I guest on. There’s one thing that Lent does share with Advent, and that Advent shares with Lent: Discipline. Discipline, right? For the spiritual life to live truly and sincerely the themes of the particular liturgical season in question, and that’s very important. You know, the 1969 general norms for the liturgical year, number 39 tells us this: “Advent has a twofold character. As a season to prepare us for Christmas when Christ’s first coming to us is remembered and as a season when that remembrance then directs the mind and heart to await Christ’s second coming at the end of time. Advent is thus a period for devout and joyful expectation.”
Let’s say the person hasn’t been to confession for many years, or maybe 5 years, maybe 2 years. What a beautiful time to prepare your soul to receive Jesus eucharistically into your heart and mind. Spiritually, as well as literally in His body, blood, soul, and divinity the most holy eucharist, by making a good, holy, reverent confession, sometime at the beginning of Advent, its first part, surely. And then again, in its latter part, which is just as important. Regarding the whole liturgical year, — which, remember, the first Sunday of Advent, I think we said this at the beginning, Adam, this hour, but Advent inaugurates not only this new liturgical season per se, but it inaugurates the new liturgical year. So this year, the first Sunday of Advent is the 27th, right? Of November. So that’s our New Year’s day as Catholic Christians, really. So you want to talk about making resolutions for the new year? Because our human life should revolve around the beauty of the entire liturgical year in all of its seasons, really for Catholic Christians, in particular for Catholic Christians in general, the New Year’s day is the first Sunday of Advent. Again, November 27th this year. It’s our New Year’s day to make those resolutions, whatever they might be. Spiritual resolutions, you know, temporal resolutions. I’m going to be a more careful driver, for example, say I’m not going to be so rushed when I’m driving. Or something spiritual. Like, I am going to try to make it to confession once a month, twelve times a year, faithfully. That’s a beautiful thing to do.
And then on January 1st, the secular calendar year, which is the great solemnity of Mary mother of God, it’s the eighth celebration Octave Day of Christmas (December 25th to January 1st). It’s the Octave Day. We want to be able to go ahead and renew those resolutions on the calendar day of January 1st and unite our Blessed Mother Mary in guiding us to be faithful to those resolutions. But, Vatican II in Sacrosanctum Concilium, which is the document on the sacred liturgy, number 102 says this, “Within the cycle of a whole year the church unfolds the whole mystery of Jesus Christ, recalling thus the mysteries of our redemption. The church opens up to all the faithful, the riches of her Lord’s powers and merits so that these are in some way made present for all time. And the faithful are enabled to lay hold of them and become filled with saving grace.” Oh my gosh, Adam. Husbands and fathers, wives and mothers, young single people at college, the diocesan priest, the religious order priest, the active nun, the cloistered nun, the retired grandparent, the recently widowed grandparent, the grandparent who’s still living with their spouse after 68 years. What a beautiful quote, calling us to the holiness that God Himself, our triune Godhead (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) through the redemption of Jesus Christ, the second person of the Trinity, calls us to live that.
Again: “Within the cycle of a whole year, Holy Mother Church unfolds the whole mystery of Christ, recalling thus the mysteries of our redemption. The church opens to all the faithful, the riches of her Lord’s powers and merits so that these are in some way made present for all time, and the faithful are enabled to lay hold upon them and become filled with saving grace.” And it’s Advent that kicks this reality off for us. That’s a very beautiful thing. Two quick quotes from two saints, and then I’d like to talk maybe a little bit about the latter part of Advent. Saint Charles Borromeo, post-Council of Trent Saint, great Bishop. Fearless, absolutely fearless in his love for the church, his teachings of the church, his leadership as a bishop. Great man. He says this: “Beloved, now is the acceptable times spoken of by the Holy Spirit in scripture, this is the day of Salvation, this is the day of the Lord, this is the day of peace, this is the day of reconciliation of our hearts to God, this great season of Advent.” He’s quoting 2 Corinthians 2:16 there. “This is the day of salvation. This is the day of the Lord.” We don’t know if we’re going to be living this afternoon at 5 o’clock, apart from a sudden heart attack. We don’t know if we’re going to be living tomorrow, apart from a sudden car accident. We don’t know. This is the day of Salvation. This is the day of the Lord, here and now. This is the time for Salvation, for peace, for reconciliation with one’s God, the triune Godhead. And again, he was fearless in giving the truth of the faith.
Saint Mary Euphrasia, regarding the liturgical season of Advent, a wonderful fearless female Saint of the church. She says this: “Let us not allow this holy season of Advent to slip by without spiritual fruit. No, it is the time of salvation, let us profit from it. It reminds me of Ephesians 5:16, “Make the most of your present opportunity for these now are evil days, and we are called to sanctify them and make them holy.” Kind of like what you were just saying, Adam, let us not let the shopping, the baking, the company or business Christmas parties get in the way, especially during the last two weeks of Advent or so, where the the baking really revs up. The company parties really rev up and the drinking revs up at those company parties. Not that there’s anything wrong with an occasional drink. But we don’t want to let these things subdue us, and overcome us, and overtake us.
Adam Wright:
We mentioned at the beginning of our interview, Father, that wonderful color, as I have to tell my daughter, violet is what you will be wearing for most of the season, but —
Fr. Wade Menezes:
And I think is your collar kind of violet there, Adam?
Adam Wright:
In the camera, maybe it comes across that way. It’s more of a blue, but —
Fr. Wade Menezes:
Okay. Alright. Well, we’re not Anglican, because there is a blue liturgical color for the Anglicans. But we don’t have blue as Catholics. We can highlight with blue, like in a white or gold vestment for our Blessed Mother, for example, but we want to stay with violet for Advent and Lent.
Adam Wright:
Indeed. I bring that up because as you’ve mentioned, we have Gaudete Sunday in Advent. We have Laetare Sunday in Lent. And for the football fans out there, whether that’s American Football or European, or as we call it soccer here on this side of the pond. I love halftime. It’s a clear indicator. We are halfway. How long will the match last? Well, we’re halfway through it. And so that is always the joy, especially in the penitential season of Lent to say, “Alright. We’re halfway to the joyful season.” So, you’ve mentioned a few times that you would like to focus on this latter half of Advent, and that there is a difference in tone, perhaps. So, what are we talking about there?
Fr. Wade Menezes:
Well, we’re talking specifically about the 17th through the 25th, which guess what? Is a nine-day period. Guess what? Time for the Christmas Novena. Guess what else it’s all about? The Great O Antiphons. It’s the great countdown of Holy Mother Church during the great season of Advent awaiting her Lord and King as an infant babe, a humble infant babe in a manger in Bethlehem. It’s like Fulton Sheen says, you think the Holy Land is Holy? How about the womb from which He came from? The Blessed Mother’s womb. Talk about holiness. There’s your argument against abortion right there, right? The holiness of the womb. Advent is a liturgical season, we’ve already said, of devout and joyful expectation. It focuses on the two comings of Christ, we’ve already said, hence the Mass offers two prefaces. One focuses on the general judgment for the first part of Advent, and then one focuses on the nativity of our Lord itself, and His coming during these days from the 17th is when we can begin to use that daily preface at the Mass. The preface, to remind our listeners, Adam, is that prayer right after the priest says, “The lord be with you. “And with your spirit.” “Lift up your hearts.” “We lift them up to the Lord.” “Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. “It is right and just.” Boom. That’s the preface prayer that comes right after that.
There’s only two for Advent. The first one that we use for the most part of Advent, the larger part of Advent (the first part, and larger part) is on the second coming of Christ. But from the 17th onward now, the great nine-day countdown, the great O Antiphon countdown, we begin to use the second preface, which focuses on our Lord’s coming. So, Advent is thus divided into two periods: from its beginning to December 16th and then from December 17th to the 23rd. The second half of the liturgical season of Advent has us focus on the nativity of our Lord, especially from the 17th through the 23rd, and then the 24th focuses, of course, on His imminent coming, beginning with midnight Mass. In fact, both the Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours have special texts assigned for all of these days inclusive. Seven days is the 17th through the 23rd. And then again, the last two days really focus on His imminent coming.
Now I want to talk about the O Antiphons. I love these. They’re so beautiful, and they’ve been done to music by some of the greatest masters of music: by Bach, by Mozart, by Wagner. It just goes on and on and on. They’ve all put these to music. December 17th: O Sapientia (O Wisdom). December 18th: O Adonai (O Lord of Might). December 19th: O Radix Jesse (O Flower of Jesse’s Stem). December 20th: O Clavis Davidica (O Key of David). December 21st: O Oriens (O Rising Dawn). December 22nd: O Rex Gentium (O King of Nations). December 23rd: O Emmanuel (O God with Us). Oh come, oh come, Emmanuel. Right? So, during these seven days, of the 17th through the 23rd, we have the great seven O Antiphons that I’ve just given in the Latin and English. And the last two days, the 24th and 25th, which bring us up to the nine days total for that Novena that you want to begin praying on December 17th all the way up to Christmas day inclusive. The ninth day of your Novena prayer is Christmas itself. Tremendous celebration in the church. And people often ask, “Well, what Christmas Novena, Father Wade?” I don’t know. There are so many out there at good Catholic websites. Just pick one. Depends on how in detail you want it. There are some longer Novenas out there. By longer, I mean, there’s still nine days but the daily prayers for them are elongated prayers. Maybe as a family, you want to take on a longer one. Maybe because of your work schedule, you just want to take one that has just a shorter prayer for each day. Could be the same prayer for each day or a different prayer for each of the nine days. It doesn’t matter. The church doesn’t dictate that. Not even for Lent, does the church dictate that. But we know that these last nine days from the 17th to the 25th, Adam, are something very, very special.
Adam Wright:
Father, we have a segment on the show every day called Cate-Quiz, and I think I’m going to put a Cate-Quiz question to you here. Those Latin titles you just gave us for the O Antiphons, if you take the days backwards and you start with Emmanuel working out, you get two Latin words. Do you happen to know what those two Latin words are and what they mean? It’s one of my favorite things about the O Antiphons.
Fr. Wade Menezes:
Say what we would do again, we begin —
Adam Wright:
So if you take the titles and you go in reverse. So, starting with Emmanuel, then Rex Gentium, and then Oriens. So if you do that, you get two Latin words, “ero cras”. This is a neat little devotion. Ero cras. So here’s your Cate-Quiz, friends. E R O C R A S. Ero cras, loosely translated in Latin: “I will be with you tomorrow”.
Fr. Wade Menezes:
I have never heard that. I’ve never heard that.
Adam Wright:
Well, for one time now, I can teach the teacher.
Fr. Wade Menezes:
So you’re saying the first letter, what you’re trying to get at, is the first letter of each of those Latin titles spell something. E from Emmanuel, R from Rex Gentium. I’m going backward now, starting with the 23rd and going back to the 17th. O for Oriens, C for Clavis Davidica, R for Radix Jesse, Adonai A, and then ending with S for O Sapientia, which is actually the first O Antiphon for the 17th. We get E R O C R A S, ero cras, which you’re saying, I am with you?
Adam Wright:
I am with you. I will be with you tomorrow. It’s the loose translation. It’s a very devotional thing.
Fr. Wade Menezes:
That is beautiful. I’m making a note right now. See, Adam, this is why I need you to go with me on the mission band, and you can serve as my opening act.
Adam Wright:
Alright, sign me up, Father, anytime you’re in the Midwest. And you can tell all your listeners on Open Line Tuesday that you have this wonderful little thing on the O Antiphons that you want to share with everyone. And our listeners will know where you got it.
Fr. Wade Menezes:
That’s right.
Adam Wright:
Well, Father Wade. I want to thank you for being with us today to talk about this season of Advent. And friends, we are going to talk a lot about it on the show here this entire season, including more on the O Antiphons. I would encourage you, look in your area for a Christmas Novena. Not only can you find them online, several parishes throughout the listening area host them annually. I know our own Kenrick-Glennon seminary here in St. Louis will be having theirs. They have theirs early because the seminarians all go home to their home diocese for the Christmas break so that they can be with their parishes and with their bishops over the Christmas holiday. But there are many wonderful resources out there online, both in things you can print out and pray with your family, or you can put on a video that you find online and pray along with the video. I know one of my favorite traditions, Father, if I do put it out there, is the service of lessons and carols, where we go through all of the Old Testament readings leading up to the infancy narrative and a beautiful one of those, King’s College in England. Every year, the beautiful choir in the chapel there. It’s a wonderful service. So you’ll have to check that out if your time permits, but it would not be an interview with Father Wade if we did not close in prayer, and invoke the foster father of Jesus. So Father, I’m going to turn it back over to you.
Fr. Wade Menezes:
Amen. I just want tp thank you for this opportunity. I love Advent. It’s my favorite season of the year, apart from Easter. I just love Advent. I think Holy Mother Church sets up the tone for the whole year for us, to be the best version of self that we can become, each one in his or her own vocation and state in life. So that’s the primary message I want your listeners to take, Adam, today from this interview. And just thank you for the opportunity. May the blessing of Almighty God, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit descend upon all of our Covenant Network listeners and remain with each and every one of you this day and always. Saint Joseph terror of demons.
Adam Wright:
Pray for us. Father Wade Menezes, thank you so much for being with us. If you enjoyed this, be sure to share it with your friends, especially the podcast and video versions of this. And as always, you can hear Father Wade every Tuesday here on Covenant Network as he hosts EWTN’s Open Line Tuesday with Jack Williams. And you can call in and ask a question as well. It’s a wonderful opportunity. Until next time, Father Wade, have a blessed season of Advent. And because I know I will not speak with you before Christmas, may you and all of the Fathers of Mercy have a merry Christmas and a blessed New Year.
Fr. Wade Menezes:
Thank you so much, Adam, and the same to all of you there at Covenant Network, and of course to you and your own bride and your children. God bless you all.
Adam Wright:
Thank you all.
Adam Wright:
Well, the technology just keeps on becoming more and more utilized here, and fabulous, but utilized here at Covenant Network. We’re happy to be on a call with Father Wade Menezes once again, and once again, bringing it to you, not just with audio, but the wonderful world of video. Father Wade, it is good to have you with us today.
Fr. Wade Menezes:
Thanks, Adam. It’s great to be back with you again, this time to talk about a beautiful, beautiful liturgical season, and not only that but the beginning of the new liturgical year.
Adam Wright:
Well, happy New Year to you, I should say.
Fr. Wade Menezes:
That’s right.
Adam Wright:
Now I have to tell you, our youngest, she is in kindergarten, and she has a wonderful companion book that she takes to Sunday Mass with her every week, that walks her through the entrance rites, the readings, and the different visuals. You will see it’s got a whole page of look for these things in the church, the altar, the ambo, the thurible (or as she calls it, the steamer). She’s watched us do the laundry at home a few too many times. One of the pages has the priest, and there’s a little color wheel, and you can change the priest’s vestment, and every day says, “Daddy, what color is today? What color is today?” And I’m so excited that after weeks and weeks and weeks of telling her, “Green,” we get to pick a new color. One we haven’t seen since well, honestly, the season of Lent, and that’s purple or violet. And that’s what brings us together today, Father Wade. The season of Advent. So, where would you like to begin with this wonderful season?
Fr. Wade Menezes:
Well, I’d like to begin by saying I’m so glad that you said violet because I don’t like to use purple. The reason why is because the church’s liturgical documents use the word violet. We think of the flower. We think of violet, something somber, something sober, something awakening, something beautiful, something silent. And really, these are themes of Advent, focusing on the two comings of Christ. His first coming as a babe in a manger in Bethlehem, which is actually the latter part of Advent. And then His second coming as the just judge, merciful and just judge, I might add, which is actually the first part of Advent. So Advent focuses on the two comings of Christ but in a reversed order. We focus on His second coming first, and His first coming last, or secondarily, again at the end part of Advent, the latter part of the beautiful liturgical season. And it actually all begins. This liturgical shift where we begin to focus on the first coming of Christ, again the first part of Advent, it actually begins, Adam, around the latter part of the 32nd week of ordinary time.
So already a few weeks back, where we started getting liturgical readings at the daily Mass from the book of Revelation, from the daily gospels during the latter part of the 32nd week of ordinary time and all throughout the 33rd and 34th week of ordinary time. The gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) focusing on Christ’s second coming where Christ Himself tells us no one knows the day, nor the hour, but there will be these signs. “Many will come in my name”, etcetera, etcetera. So it’s like Holy Mother Church and her last two and a half weeks of the regular liturgical year, of course, which really culminates on the 34th Sunday or last Sunday of ordinary time, of the great solemnity of Christ the King of the universe, is all what catapults us now into this beautiful liturgical season, focusing on His two comings. As St. Augustine teaches very beautifully, “Let us not forget Christ’s first coming precisely so that we do not regret His second coming.”
And in talking about those two comings of Christ during Advent per se, it’s important to remember that many of the church fathers, writing in the first seven to eight centuries of the church, talk about an intermediate coming between these two comings of Christ, and that’s when Christ comes to you personally at your own particular judgment. Alright? And that’s important to remember, too. For that generation of individuals who will not be living at the time of the second coming when it takes place, there is an intermediate coming. Now, many of the church fathers also talked about the intermediate coming of prayer, the intermediate coming of contemplation, the intermediate coming of true mysticism. Where we unite ourselves to the trinitarian Godhead in prayer. Saint Teresa of Avila’s Seven Mansions, for example. Saint John of the Cross’s Dark Night of the Soul. Thomas a Kempis’s Living the Imitation of Christ. These exalted states of prayer is also considered an intermediate third coming.
But in regards to Advent per se, the intermediate coming is more the particular judgment, which lies between the first coming of Christ and His second coming. So it’s just a beautiful, beautiful, liturgical season. And I might add this too, talking about the beginning of Advent. It’s interesting, very interesting. The Holy Mother Church places a lot of martyrs in these last two weeks of ordinary time leading up to Advent. And then even after Advent, right after Christmas is celebrated on December 25th, we have the holy innocence, for example, the massacre of the innocents. We have these other martyrs that come right after the celebration of Christmas, within the Christmas octave, which is supposed to be a celebratory time. Right? Well, why all these martyrs then? Because the martyrs show us the epitome of what it means to live for Christ and thus die for Christ. Right? “No greater love is there than this, than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” Right? Something that Christ Himself did for us, and the martyrs show this. Beginning with, again, the latter part of the 32nd week of ordinary time, leading us right into Advent. And then even the martyrs we have, right after the celebration of Christmas, during the Octave celebration itself.
Adam Wright:
I’m glad we’re talking about this in this context, Father, because one of the things that — and again, I say this often on the show. I remember when this happened for me, when it clicked for the first time, that we talk about Advent as a season of preparing, a season of getting ready. You know, we have to get ready for Christmas. We have to get ready for the coming of Christ. Well, in one sense, the incarnation is a historical event that happened some 2,000 years ago, and the next time we will see our Lord, if we’re alive for the second coming, it’s not going to be a repeat of the event that happened 2,000 years ago in Bethlehem in a manger. And once that clicked for me — and now my kids, again, they’re at that age too. They’re like, “Well, Dad, aren’t we getting ready for the coming of Jesus?” “Well yes, but not in the way that Mary and Joseph did 2,000 years ago.” So what are some of the things we need to keep in mind then, as we journey through this season, as we prepare, as we pray in the Mass for the second coming of our Lord?
Fr. Wade Menezes:
Yeah. Which is a very prominent theme throughout the Mass. As we wait in joyful hope for the coming of our savior, Jesus Christ, words that are said by the celebrant at every Mass we attend, right after the Our Father, but the reception of Holy Communion. What are the themes during that part of the Mass right after the Our Father but before receiving Holy Communion? Protect us from all distress. The former translation of the Roman Missal used the word anxiety. Protect us from all anxiety. As we wait in what? Joyful hope for the coming of our savior, Jesus Christ. And then Lord Jesus Christ who said to your apostles, “I leave you peace, my peace, I give you.” In other words, He doesn’t want us to fall to pieces. He wants to give us His peace. So, protect us from all distress or anxiety, as we wait in joyful hope. Okay? So no distress, no anxiety, joyful hope, and peace. My gosh. These are three major themes that Holy Mother Church, the bride of Christ, places before us right before we’re about to receive the source and summit of the entire Christian life. Right? The Most Holy Eucharist, which is the theme of my two Advent missions out in California during Advent this year before Christmas.
I’m going to debut my new series at two parishes, the Most Holy Eucharist gift and sacrament, in response to the USCCB’s call for the three-year Eucharistic Revival, from June 2022 through June 2025, Corpus Christi to Corpus Christi, during this three-year celebration. Talking about the doctrine, the Most Holy Eucharist, the source and summit, but these themes should guide us in what we’re looking at at Advent because the second coming of Christ should not scare us, and His first coming should not scare us. Right? So Advent comes from the Latin word meaning “coming”, okay, “to come”. Advenire. Alright? In general, the word Advent regards the coming or arrival of a notable person, a thing or an event. Right? Well, Jesus is coming. Right? And Advent is intended to be a season of preparation for His arrival. So while we typically regard Advent as a joyous season, it is also intended to be a period, Adam, of preparation, really much like Lent in regards to the preparation that’s involved with it. Okay? But whereas Lent is more penitential, with penance and fasting and so forth. While we can have those during Advent, Advent is more about quiet, reflectiveness, or reflective reality. A sober awakening as we await these two comings of Christ.
So, it’s interesting that many religious order in the church consider — especially the monastic orders, like the Carmelites, and the Benedictines, and the Cistercians. They call Advent the little Lent. How awesome is that? Okay. And so they might take on more penitential practices during Advent, but for the mind of the church in general, while it can surely be penitential in nature, it’s more about quiet, reflective, sober awakening. So while Advent is not strict as Lent, we say, and there are no liturgical guidelines for fasting during Advent in the church’s official teaching, it is meant to be a period of self-preparation and self-examination. For example, the violet color associated with Advent is also the color for penance. Right? That is used liturgically during Lent. That’s important. They use the same colors. The faithful can fast somewhat during the first two weeks in particular and receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation and Preparation for the celebration of Christmas, surely. And then, the color of the third Sunday of Advent (Gaudete Sunday, Rejoice Sunday) is rose. Right? Gaudete means “rejoice” in Latin. This color symbolizes joy and represents the happiness we will experience when Jesus comes again. This third Sunday of Advent then is a day of anticipatory celebration. And think of Lent’s Laetare Sunday, in the latter part of Lent, also Rejoice Sunday. So again, the two seasons kind of share that union as well. Finally, Sundays during Advent, just as during Lent should not be given to fasting, but instead to celebration because we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ every Sunday. Every Sunday is a little Easter, we would say. Just like we can call Advent the little Lent. Every Sunday is a little Easter. It is important to remember, however, that there are no particular liturgical rules for how the laity should observe Advent as, again, it is not as liturgically strict as Lent. So I like to teach (as the church does) a sober, awakening, quiet, reflective, devout, but joyful anticipatory, expective liturgical season focusing on the two comings of Christ.
Adam Wright:
I think of the many great Advent offerings we have locally in my area. We have many parishes where the women of the parish gather for what they call Advent by candlelight or Advent by tealight. And it’s really just an evening of reflection. They have a priest or another speaker come and lead them, and the whole room is dark, and it’s illuminated only by the candles on the table. And it’s very peaceful and reflective. Now for the men, we tailgate. We have our fire pits instead of our candles, and we’re out in the church parking lot. But, again, we have the priest, or the pastor, or another person come and give a reflection, and we have that time in the quiet outdoors in the cold, and it really is wonderful. And Father, you’ve gone to say many times, it’s not as strict as Lent, but if we are striving for peace during the season, and quiet, and reflection, and a somberness, and a solitude, I think of all of the to-do lists that creep up in all of our lives. I have to get my shopping done. I have to get ready for this party. I’ve been invited to this gathering. And to paraphrase Andy Williams as I do terribly every year, instead of the most wonderful time of the year, well it’s the most craziest time of the year in terms of schedule. And I think we would do well to heed your words and make Advent what it’s supposed to be: a time of reflection and a time of quietness.
Fr. Wade Menezes:
Well, one thing I like to tell my listeners, whether in person at the parish missions, retreats, or conferences, or here on the radio with Open Line Tuesday, or with yourself, or with other stations that I guest on. There’s one thing that Lent does share with Advent, and that Advent shares with Lent: Discipline. Discipline, right? For the spiritual life to live truly and sincerely the themes of the particular liturgical season in question, and that’s very important. You know, the 1969 general norms for the liturgical year, number 39 tells us this: “Advent has a twofold character. As a season to prepare us for Christmas when Christ’s first coming to us is remembered and as a season when that remembrance then directs the mind and heart to await Christ’s second coming at the end of time. Advent is thus a period for devout and joyful expectation.”
Let’s say the person hasn’t been to confession for many years, or maybe 5 years, maybe 2 years. What a beautiful time to prepare your soul to receive Jesus eucharistically into your heart and mind. Spiritually, as well as literally in His body, blood, soul, and divinity the most holy eucharist, by making a good, holy, reverent confession, sometime at the beginning of Advent, its first part, surely. And then again, in its latter part, which is just as important. Regarding the whole liturgical year, — which, remember, the first Sunday of Advent, I think we said this at the beginning, Adam, this hour, but Advent inaugurates not only this new liturgical season per se, but it inaugurates the new liturgical year. So this year, the first Sunday of Advent is the 27th, right? Of November. So that’s our New Year’s day as Catholic Christians, really. So you want to talk about making resolutions for the new year? Because our human life should revolve around the beauty of the entire liturgical year in all of its seasons, really for Catholic Christians, in particular for Catholic Christians in general, the New Year’s day is the first Sunday of Advent. Again, November 27th this year. It’s our New Year’s day to make those resolutions, whatever they might be. Spiritual resolutions, you know, temporal resolutions. I’m going to be a more careful driver, for example, say I’m not going to be so rushed when I’m driving. Or something spiritual. Like, I am going to try to make it to confession once a month, twelve times a year, faithfully. That’s a beautiful thing to do.
And then on January 1st, the secular calendar year, which is the great solemnity of Mary mother of God, it’s the eighth celebration Octave Day of Christmas (December 25th to January 1st). It’s the Octave Day. We want to be able to go ahead and renew those resolutions on the calendar day of January 1st and unite our Blessed Mother Mary in guiding us to be faithful to those resolutions. But, Vatican II in Sacrosanctum Concilium, which is the document on the sacred liturgy, number 102 says this, “Within the cycle of a whole year the church unfolds the whole mystery of Jesus Christ, recalling thus the mysteries of our redemption. The church opens up to all the faithful, the riches of her Lord’s powers and merits so that these are in some way made present for all time. And the faithful are enabled to lay hold of them and become filled with saving grace.” Oh my gosh, Adam. Husbands and fathers, wives and mothers, young single people at college, the diocesan priest, the religious order priest, the active nun, the cloistered nun, the retired grandparent, the recently widowed grandparent, the grandparent who’s still living with their spouse after 68 years. What a beautiful quote, calling us to the holiness that God Himself, our triune Godhead (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) through the redemption of Jesus Christ, the second person of the Trinity, calls us to live that.
Again: “Within the cycle of a whole year, Holy Mother Church unfolds the whole mystery of Christ, recalling thus the mysteries of our redemption. The church opens to all the faithful, the riches of her Lord’s powers and merits so that these are in some way made present for all time, and the faithful are enabled to lay hold upon them and become filled with saving grace.” And it’s Advent that kicks this reality off for us. That’s a very beautiful thing. Two quick quotes from two saints, and then I’d like to talk maybe a little bit about the latter part of Advent. Saint Charles Borromeo, post-Council of Trent Saint, great Bishop. Fearless, absolutely fearless in his love for the church, his teachings of the church, his leadership as a bishop. Great man. He says this: “Beloved, now is the acceptable times spoken of by the Holy Spirit in scripture, this is the day of Salvation, this is the day of the Lord, this is the day of peace, this is the day of reconciliation of our hearts to God, this great season of Advent.” He’s quoting 2 Corinthians 2:16 there. “This is the day of salvation. This is the day of the Lord.” We don’t know if we’re going to be living this afternoon at 5 o’clock, apart from a sudden heart attack. We don’t know if we’re going to be living tomorrow, apart from a sudden car accident. We don’t know. This is the day of Salvation. This is the day of the Lord, here and now. This is the time for Salvation, for peace, for reconciliation with one’s God, the triune Godhead. And again, he was fearless in giving the truth of the faith.
Saint Mary Euphrasia, regarding the liturgical season of Advent, a wonderful fearless female Saint of the church. She says this: “Let us not allow this holy season of Advent to slip by without spiritual fruit. No, it is the time of salvation, let us profit from it. It reminds me of Ephesians 5:16, “Make the most of your present opportunity for these now are evil days, and we are called to sanctify them and make them holy.” Kind of like what you were just saying, Adam, let us not let the shopping, the baking, the company or business Christmas parties get in the way, especially during the last two weeks of Advent or so, where the the baking really revs up. The company parties really rev up and the drinking revs up at those company parties. Not that there’s anything wrong with an occasional drink. But we don’t want to let these things subdue us, and overcome us, and overtake us.
Adam Wright:
We mentioned at the beginning of our interview, Father, that wonderful color, as I have to tell my daughter, violet is what you will be wearing for most of the season, but —
Fr. Wade Menezes:
And I think is your collar kind of violet there, Adam?
Adam Wright:
In the camera, maybe it comes across that way. It’s more of a blue, but —
Fr. Wade Menezes:
Okay. Alright. Well, we’re not Anglican, because there is a blue liturgical color for the Anglicans. But we don’t have blue as Catholics. We can highlight with blue, like in a white or gold vestment for our Blessed Mother, for example, but we want to stay with violet for Advent and Lent.
Adam Wright:
Indeed. I bring that up because as you’ve mentioned, we have Gaudete Sunday in Advent. We have Laetare Sunday in Lent. And for the football fans out there, whether that’s American Football or European, or as we call it soccer here on this side of the pond. I love halftime. It’s a clear indicator. We are halfway. How long will the match last? Well, we’re halfway through it. And so that is always the joy, especially in the penitential season of Lent to say, “Alright. We’re halfway to the joyful season.” So, you’ve mentioned a few times that you would like to focus on this latter half of Advent, and that there is a difference in tone, perhaps. So, what are we talking about there?
Fr. Wade Menezes:
Well, we’re talking specifically about the 17th through the 25th, which guess what? Is a nine-day period. Guess what? Time for the Christmas Novena. Guess what else it’s all about? The Great O Antiphons. It’s the great countdown of Holy Mother Church during the great season of Advent awaiting her Lord and King as an infant babe, a humble infant babe in a manger in Bethlehem. It’s like Fulton Sheen says, you think the Holy Land is Holy? How about the womb from which He came from? The Blessed Mother’s womb. Talk about holiness. There’s your argument against abortion right there, right? The holiness of the womb. Advent is a liturgical season, we’ve already said, of devout and joyful expectation. It focuses on the two comings of Christ, we’ve already said, hence the Mass offers two prefaces. One focuses on the general judgment for the first part of Advent, and then one focuses on the nativity of our Lord itself, and His coming during these days from the 17th is when we can begin to use that daily preface at the Mass. The preface, to remind our listeners, Adam, is that prayer right after the priest says, “The lord be with you. “And with your spirit.” “Lift up your hearts.” “We lift them up to the Lord.” “Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. “It is right and just.” Boom. That’s the preface prayer that comes right after that.
There’s only two for Advent. The first one that we use for the most part of Advent, the larger part of Advent (the first part, and larger part) is on the second coming of Christ. But from the 17th onward now, the great nine-day countdown, the great O Antiphon countdown, we begin to use the second preface, which focuses on our Lord’s coming. So, Advent is thus divided into two periods: from its beginning to December 16th and then from December 17th to the 23rd. The second half of the liturgical season of Advent has us focus on the nativity of our Lord, especially from the 17th through the 23rd, and then the 24th focuses, of course, on His imminent coming, beginning with midnight Mass. In fact, both the Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours have special texts assigned for all of these days inclusive. Seven days is the 17th through the 23rd. And then again, the last two days really focus on His imminent coming.
Now I want to talk about the O Antiphons. I love these. They’re so beautiful, and they’ve been done to music by some of the greatest masters of music: by Bach, by Mozart, by Wagner. It just goes on and on and on. They’ve all put these to music. December 17th: O Sapientia (O Wisdom). December 18th: O Adonai (O Lord of Might). December 19th: O Radix Jesse (O Flower of Jesse’s Stem). December 20th: O Clavis Davidica (O Key of David). December 21st: O Oriens (O Rising Dawn). December 22nd: O Rex Gentium (O King of Nations). December 23rd: O Emmanuel (O God with Us). Oh come, oh come, Emmanuel. Right? So, during these seven days, of the 17th through the 23rd, we have the great seven O Antiphons that I’ve just given in the Latin and English. And the last two days, the 24th and 25th, which bring us up to the nine days total for that Novena that you want to begin praying on December 17th all the way up to Christmas day inclusive. The ninth day of your Novena prayer is Christmas itself. Tremendous celebration in the church. And people often ask, “Well, what Christmas Novena, Father Wade?” I don’t know. There are so many out there at good Catholic websites. Just pick one. Depends on how in detail you want it. There are some longer Novenas out there. By longer, I mean, there’s still nine days but the daily prayers for them are elongated prayers. Maybe as a family, you want to take on a longer one. Maybe because of your work schedule, you just want to take one that has just a shorter prayer for each day. Could be the same prayer for each day or a different prayer for each of the nine days. It doesn’t matter. The church doesn’t dictate that. Not even for Lent, does the church dictate that. But we know that these last nine days from the 17th to the 25th, Adam, are something very, very special.
Adam Wright:
Father, we have a segment on the show every day called Cate-Quiz, and I think I’m going to put a Cate-Quiz question to you here. Those Latin titles you just gave us for the O Antiphons, if you take the days backwards and you start with Emmanuel working out, you get two Latin words. Do you happen to know what those two Latin words are and what they mean? It’s one of my favorite things about the O Antiphons.
Fr. Wade Menezes:
Say what we would do again, we begin —
Adam Wright:
So if you take the titles and you go in reverse. So, starting with Emmanuel, then Rex Gentium, and then Oriens. So if you do that, you get two Latin words, “ero cras”. This is a neat little devotion. Ero cras. So here’s your Cate-Quiz, friends. E R O C R A S. Ero cras, loosely translated in Latin: “I will be with you tomorrow”.
Fr. Wade Menezes:
I have never heard that. I’ve never heard that.
Adam Wright:
Well, for one time now, I can teach the teacher.
Fr. Wade Menezes:
So you’re saying the first letter, what you’re trying to get at, is the first letter of each of those Latin titles spell something. E from Emmanuel, R from Rex Gentium. I’m going backward now, starting with the 23rd and going back to the 17th. O for Oriens, C for Clavis Davidica, R for Radix Jesse, Adonai A, and then ending with S for O Sapientia, which is actually the first O Antiphon for the 17th. We get E R O C R A S, ero cras, which you’re saying, I am with you?
Adam Wright:
I am with you. I will be with you tomorrow. It’s the loose translation. It’s a very devotional thing.
Fr. Wade Menezes:
That is beautiful. I’m making a note right now. See, Adam, this is why I need you to go with me on the mission band, and you can serve as my opening act.
Adam Wright:
Alright, sign me up, Father, anytime you’re in the Midwest. And you can tell all your listeners on Open Line Tuesday that you have this wonderful little thing on the O Antiphons that you want to share with everyone. And our listeners will know where you got it.
Fr. Wade Menezes:
That’s right.
Adam Wright:
Well, Father Wade. I want to thank you for being with us today to talk about this season of Advent. And friends, we are going to talk a lot about it on the show here this entire season, including more on the O Antiphons. I would encourage you, look in your area for a Christmas Novena. Not only can you find them online, several parishes throughout the listening area host them annually. I know our own Kenrick-Glennon seminary here in St. Louis will be having theirs. They have theirs early because the seminarians all go home to their home diocese for the Christmas break so that they can be with their parishes and with their bishops over the Christmas holiday. But there are many wonderful resources out there online, both in things you can print out and pray with your family, or you can put on a video that you find online and pray along with the video. I know one of my favorite traditions, Father, if I do put it out there, is the service of lessons and carols, where we go through all of the Old Testament readings leading up to the infancy narrative and a beautiful one of those, King’s College in England. Every year, the beautiful choir in the chapel there. It’s a wonderful service. So you’ll have to check that out if your time permits, but it would not be an interview with Father Wade if we did not close in prayer, and invoke the foster father of Jesus. So Father, I’m going to turn it back over to you.
Fr. Wade Menezes:
Amen. I just want tp thank you for this opportunity. I love Advent. It’s my favorite season of the year, apart from Easter. I just love Advent. I think Holy Mother Church sets up the tone for the whole year for us, to be the best version of self that we can become, each one in his or her own vocation and state in life. So that’s the primary message I want your listeners to take, Adam, today from this interview. And just thank you for the opportunity. May the blessing of Almighty God, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit descend upon all of our Covenant Network listeners and remain with each and every one of you this day and always. Saint Joseph terror of demons.
Adam Wright:
Pray for us. Father Wade Menezes, thank you so much for being with us. If you enjoyed this, be sure to share it with your friends, especially the podcast and video versions of this. And as always, you can hear Father Wade every Tuesday here on Covenant Network as he hosts EWTN’s Open Line Tuesday with Jack Williams. And you can call in and ask a question as well. It’s a wonderful opportunity. Until next time, Father Wade, have a blessed season of Advent. And because I know I will not speak with you before Christmas, may you and all of the Fathers of Mercy have a merry Christmas and a blessed New Year.
Fr. Wade Menezes:
Thank you so much, Adam, and the same to all of you there at Covenant Network, and of course to you and your own bride and your children. God bless you all.
Adam Wright:
Thank you all.
In this episode of Roadmap to Heaven, host Adam Wright is joined by Father Wade Menezes to discuss the liturgical season of Advent and the preparations for Christmas. They explore the theme of joyful hope for the second coming of Christ and the prayers of the Mass that ask for protection from distress and anxiety.
Father Menezes shares insights on the significance of Advent, the use of violet as the liturgical color, and the importance of quiet reflection and self-examination during this season. He also mentions the tradition of Christmas Novenas and offers recommendations for online resources for prayer and reflection with family.
Father Menezes also reviews the seven O Antiphons, which each correspond with a day beginning on December 17th and ending on December 23rd. Adam shares a fun fact that the first letter of each, in order from the last O Antiphon to the first, spells “ero cras”, which is Latin for “I will be with you tomorrow”.
This episode of Roadmap to Heaven concludes with a reminder to focus on the spiritual significance of Advent amidst the busyness of the holiday season.
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