Let us pray (in silence) [that God’s coming casts light into our hearts]
Incline your ear, O Lord, [or Incline your ear, O God,]
to our pleading,
and by the grace of your coming to us
enlighten the darkness of our hearts,
through Jesus Christ, our Saviour,
who is alive with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.
This is part of my reworking collects with history and commentary.
This is a collect in the Gregorian Sacramentary (135). It is in the Sarum Missal as the collect for Advent 3, and remained in the Roman Rite in that position through to the 1962 Missal, only losing that placing following the reforms of Vatican II. This collect is:
Aurem tuam, quaesumus, Domine, precibus nostris accommoda:
et mentis nostrae tenebras, gratia tuae visitationis illustra…
This is a collect shared by Anglicans, Roman Catholics, and others. Advent 3 has John the Baptist as a strong thread, the one who was not the light, but came to testify to the light. We cannot of ourselves, darkness cannot of itself, eliminate darkness, but light shining, by the very act of shining, removes darkness.
Click the link for my commentary for the collect for Advent 3.
Advent 3 – reflection from the collect/opening prayer (used by BCP TEC and others)
Advent 3 – reflection from the collect/opening prayer (used by CofE Common Worship and others)
The Third Sunday of Advent is often referred to as Gaudete Sunday (colour Rose).
Don’t forget the Online Chapel with lots of resources of prayers and readings and reflections – many changing daily.
Advent badges to put on your blog or website
Many people like, from time to time, to add a badge to their website or blog. If you like the idea – send your friends the URL of this blog post.
The HTML for adding the above badge to your blog or website is:
Other Resources
Original, Southern Hemisphere Advent collects
An outline example and resources for an Advent Eucharist
Advent in the Southern Hemisphere
image: John the Baptist from Madonna and Child with St John the Baptist and a Saint by Giovanni Bellini (1500-1504)
In the comments below, please continue adding quality Advent resources and ideas.
During this Southern Hemisphere summer holiday period, posts will be less frequent, and any comments may take longer to get onto the site.
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I have a curiosity about you antipode priests. In the Northern hemisphere, the waining of Autumn and the coming of Winter with the shortest day of the year all sort of fold into rejoicing in the coming of new light.
But it’s the opposite for you lot, the waining of Spring and the beginning of Summer with the longest day of the year. How do you make this celebration relevant to life down under?
Thanks, David. There was a movement to move Christmas to six months later – but it gained little momentum. Concretely, “the world”/surrounding culture celebrates Christmas in the lead up – so the churchy attempt to have 12 days of Christmas following December 25 gets little traction – especially since most Christians are also away on holiday. Including clergy. NZ Anglicanism following mummy CofE and extending the season to Feb 2 is simply esoteric.
Your second paragraph answers your question: we are waiting for exam results, holidays, end of the school year, summer. One of the links in the post points to this: Advent in the Southern Hemisphere.
Blessings.