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Part IV:
For the season of
the Advent of the Lord
Here begin the other psalms, which our
most blessed Father Francis similarly ordained, which are to be said in
place of the above said psalms of the Passion of the Lord from the Advent
of the Lord ‘till the vigil of the Nativity and not further.
At Compline
Psalm XIII
1. Until when, Lord, will You forget
me forever? + How long will You turn your face from me?
2. How long will my soul worry + and
my heart grieve throughout the day?
3. How long will
my enemy be raised above Me? + Remember Me and listen to me, Lord, My God.
4. Light up my
eyes so that I may never fall sleep in death + so that My enemy may never
say; I have overcome him
5. Those who dominate me will glory if
I will have been traumatized + However, I have hoped in Your mercy.
6. For my heart shall rejoice in Your
salvation; I will sing to the Lord who gives good things to me + I will
sing a psalm to the Name of the Lord, the Most high. (Ps 12,1-6).
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Here in this Advent psalm there seems
nothing joyous; we expect joy as we draw closer to the celebration of the
Nativity.
In the beginning, there is the cry to the Father as to whether he will
forget his servant forever. Does Francis infer that God has turned his
face away from His Son for such a long time that it might be forever?
The One about to enter into history as its saviour is worrying and
grieving. Does the eternal one have soul to worry or heart to grieve and
is there any day in heaven?
"How long will my enemy be raised up above me?" As if the Lord should need
to remember his Son, to be reminded to listen to him….
We discovered earlier that for Francis the liturgical year begins with
Holy Thursday Night, with Psalm I and the agony in the garden.
Even now at the commencement of his Fourth Office, we find ourselves amid
the sorrow of the cross.
Our Lord Jesus hangs yet upon the cross atop of Calvary’s hill. Abandoned
by his Father, unheard by his Father, worried and grieving there.
Is the enemy death whose spectre hangs yet above our saviour before he
beats it to the finishing post by giving up his Spirit?
Perhaps it is for we read ‘light up my eyes so that I may never sleep in
death so that my enemy may never say, I have overcome him.’
There will be no exaltation because though the Lord died upon the tree he
has arisen like a fresh new bud in spring. The lord Jesus is saved by his
Father who makes all things new and he will sing a psalm to him, the Lord
most high.
This is advent, still – the contemplation of the miracle of Easter is what
gives Nativity life.
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Peace and All Good