Suffering With Joy

Celebrating the Golden Nights of Advent

December 16, 2009

Now is a busy time for many.  In the midst of the Christmas preparations, we mustn’t forget Who is coming, Whom we are getting ready for.  In all the rushing around this season, what are we doing to prepare to receive Him? I found three beautiful traditions, one liturgical, any one of which adopted or varied helps to keep our eyes on Jesus.

Thanks to the Catholics of Central Europe, we have the beautiful tradition of the “Golden Nights” of Advent, so called because the festivities took place after dark or before sunrise.  From the Alps comes the custom of carrying an image or statue of the Blessed Virgin from house to house on the nine evenings before Christmas Eve.  It is placed on a table between candles and flowers with families gathered around singing hymns of honor to Our Lady the Expectant Mother.

In Central and South America, the Novena of the Holy Child is celebrated in churches around the Christmas crib which is empty until Jesus arrives at midnight, Christmas. People sing hymns and carols and say prayers.(Francis X. Weisner, “Handbook of Christian Feasts and Customs.”  New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1958, p. 56-57)

Vespers is the hour of the Divine Office the Church has chosen to celebrate the solemn supplication to the Divine Redeemer through the “O Antiphons”, yet another way of bringing the Golden Nights alive every Advent. Dom Gueranger tells us in his The Liturgical Year that Vespers was chosen because “it was in the evening of the world that the Messias came amongst us.”  I love the antiphons – they make me think hard on what Jesus means to all mankind and me personally, and how God kept his promise to Adam.

This is a time when some who are sick and suffering can do what others cannot because of pressing responsibilities: pray the Divine Office, one of the official liturgies of the Church.  It is also a time when a great kindness can be done for those who cannot help themselves, or who are especially lonely or sad during the Christmas season.  Finding a way to make the Golden Nights come alive for others is a way to bring Jesus into their hearts and perhaps help them look forward to His birthday with more joy.  It can lighten the load of a troubled heart. We are only limited by our creativity.

I will post the “O Antiphon” of the day each day at this site, along with related scripture and comments.

Tags: Advent, Blessed Virgin, liturgy

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