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Friday 24 March 2017

The Angel Gabriel

Today is March 24. it is the Eve of the Annunciation of the Lord. There is no Mass for the Vigil of the Annunciation. We are in Lent and in the proper Rite of the Mass in the Latin Church, all Lenten days have their own liturgy. This is supplanted only by First Class Feasts, in which case there is still a Commemoration, a second Collect. Secret (Offertory Prayer or "Prayer over the Gifts"" and a Postcommunion.

Before the modernist liturgical butchers got together to destroy our religious patriomony and liturgical clock, this was the feast of St. Gabriel the Archangel. Now, Gabriel and Raphael, who also had his own day, are combined with Michael in the modernist rite on September 29.

Do you see the pattern?

We had St. Joseph, today is the Angel Gabriel and tomorrow, the Incarnation of the Lord is given to our sweet Mary at her Annunciation?


It all makes so much sense, it is all so Catholic.

Will you fight with all that is in you to bring it back?

A little bit of Christmas, in March. ...



 Chapter Hymn Verse {from the Proper of Saints}
Dan 9:21-22
Behold, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation; and he informed me, and talked with me, and said: O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding.
R. Thanks be to God.

Hymn
O Christ, Redeemer of mankind,
Thy servants here protect and spare,
Who hearest with a loving mind
The Blessed Virgin's holy prayer.

Be ever present, Angel high,
Whose name God's might doth signify;
To all the weak new strength impart,
And solace to the sad of heart.

May those glad hosts which see Thy Face,
The spirits of the heavenly home,
Away from us all evils chase,
Both past, and present, and to come.

Then purge away all unbelief,
From every land where Christians dwell,
That unto Thee, our Victor Chief,
Our thanks and praises we may tell.

The Father Unbegot we laud,
We praise the sole-begotten Son,
And Holy Spirit, with them God,
Now, and while endless ages run.
Amen.

V. An Angel stood at the Altar of the Temple.
R. Having a golden censer in his hand.

Prayer {from the Proper of Saints}
V. O Lord, hear my prayer.
R. And let my cry come unto thee.
Let us pray.
O God, Who didst choose the Archangel Gabriel from among all Thine other Angels, and send him to herald the mystery of Thine Incarnation, mercifully grant that we who keep his feast upon earth may feel his protection in heaven.
Who livest and reignest with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end.
R. Amen

O God, our Lord, having received the sacrament of Your Body and Blood, we ask of Your mercy that, as Your incarnation was made known to us by the message of Gabriel, so by his help we may reap the benefits of that same incarnation.
Who livest and reignest with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end.
R. Amen

5 comments:

FarmerJ said...

Speaking of the way things used to be, I was just wondering how the discipline of abstaining from meat on Fridays was observed before all the changes. Since Catholics abstained every Friday back then, did that just carry through Lent the same, or was some additional sacrifice also observed during Lent? Also, since I now realize that we are still obliged to make some sort of sacrifice on all Fridays (although not necessarily abstaining from meat), does the requirement of abstaining from meat during Lent satisfy all requirements or should more be done?

Anonymous said...

In the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, there's two (2) feasts of the Archangel Gabriel - March 26th and July 13th.

Excerpts from Great Vespers:

In Tone 1

For with the Lord there is mercy, and with Him there is plentiful redemption;* and He shall redeem Israel from all its iniquities.

The archangel Gabriel, the spirit who sees God face to face,
gazes upon the brilliant, saving, and gleaming Light.
He sings heavenly and awesome hymns with the ranks on high.
He implores God to grant peace and great mercy to our souls.

Praise the Lord, all the nations;* proclaim His glory, all you people.

The great mystery, previously unknown to the angels and hidden from eternity,
is made known to you alone, O Gabriel.
When you came to Nazareth, you told it to the pure One.
Together with her, implore God to grant peace
and great mercy to our souls.

Strong is the love of the Lord for us;* eternally will His truth endure.

O prince of angels, all-perfect Gabriel,
you are filled with the divine brightness.
You fulfill the wishes and commands of the Almighty.
Save those who lovingly venerate you.
Always ask God to grant peace and great mercy to our souls.

Isn't it lovely that the feast of the Archangel Gabriel (March 24 on the Latin calendar and March 26 on the Byzantine calendar) "protects" in a way the feast of the Annunciation?

Margaret


Vox Cantoris said...

Thank you Margaret!

Vox Cantoris said...

FarmerJ,

Fridays were always meatless unless it was a Holy Day of Obligation, all year, not just in Lent. Our ancestors were a lot stricter, to be sure. Ember and Rogation days were also meatless.

Here is a post from Father Z a few weeks ago that describes the typical situation in North America.

http://wdtprs.com/blog/2017/03/how-you-would-have-observed-lent-in-1873-2/

Anonymous said...

You're welcome. I posted some for the Annunciation too. :-)

Margaret