The Eve of the Nativity of Our Lord! The Song of Zechariah.

O Emmanuel! The birth of the Herald of the Lord. Hi name is JOHN!

O King of the Nations! Rejoice in His calling on your life, just as Our Lady did. Below is a copy of the reading as sent to me by Father Augustine. The bolded bits are the pieces that Our Blessed Mother quoted directly from the Hebrew Scriptures. Visitation and Magnificat Luke 1 39 to 56 Mary Visits Elizabeth 39 In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, 40 where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit 42 and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. 43 And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? 44 For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. 45 And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.” Mary’s Song of Praise 46 And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 48 for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; 49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. 50 His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. 51 He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. 52 He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; 53 he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. 54 He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, 55 according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever.” 56 And Mary remained with her about three months and then returned to her home.

Fourth Sunday in Advent - O Rising Sun! Let Him build His house, using us in whatever way He sees fit in order to accomplish the task. Father asked me to include St. Ambrose's commentary on The Visitation from Luke's Gospel

O Key of David! Blessed are they who believe without seeking to understand. Verbum Caro Hic Factum Est:

O Root of Jesse! Saints, sinners, unbelievers - all created by the Father for His Glory. Benedictus Blessed be the Lord, The God of Israel; He has come to His people and set them free. He has raised up for us a mighty Saviour, Born of the house of His servant David. Through His holy prophets He promised of old That He would save us from our enemies, From the hands of all who hate us. He promised to show mercy to our fathers And to remember His holy Covenant. This was the oath He swore to our father Abraham: To set us free from the hands of our enemies, Free to worship Him without fear, Holy and righteous in His sight All the days of our life. You, My child shall be called The prophet of the Most High, For you will go before the Lord to prepare His way, To give his people knowledge of salvation By the forgiveness of their sins. In the tender compassion of our Lord The dawn from on high shall break upon us, to shine on those who dwell in darkness And the shadow of death, And to guide our feet into the way of peace. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning. is now, and will be forever. Amen.

O Lord! The Holy Family is also a very human family.

O Wisdom! Jesus family tree in the Gospel reading today. I loved re-reading this in our New Testament class. It is Matthew's way of demonstrating the legitimacy of Jesus in his father Joseph's Davidian and Abrahamic lines, from which the Messiah was prophesied to come. Quite an interesting list of saints, sinners, and heros.

Who does the Father's will?

In water and the Holy Spirit.