Preface of Praise: 2nd Advent Preface

This is the second of the two prefaces used in Advent.  For some thoughts on the first one, click here.

It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation,

always and everywhere to give you thanks,

Lord, holy Father, almighty and eternal God, through Christ our Lord.

For all the oracles of the prophets foretold Him, 

the Virgin Mother longed for Him 

with love beyond all telling, 

John the Baptist sang of His coming 

and proclaimed His presence when He came.

It is by His gift that already we rejoice at the mystery of His Nativity, 

so that He may find us watchful in prayer

and exultant in His praise.  

And so, with Angels and Archangels...

After the usual introduction, the preface mentions the oracles of the prophets twice.  Yes, the prophets foretold Him: Micah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Malachi, and more prepared the way of the Lord in the Old Testament.  The preface then names two figures who were objects of some of the prophecies, the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. John the Baptist.  In 1:23, Matthew directs us to Isaiah 7:14: "behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel."  Both Matthew and Luke cite the Old Testament prophet, saying that John the Baptist "is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, 'The voice of one crying in the wilderness: prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.'"  The duo of Mary and John exemplify the Advent virtues of waiting, faithfulness, and preparing for the Messiah.

The inclusion of Mary in this preface is a good reminder to us that this is her special season.  She's the perfect model for us in any aspect of Christian living, but in Advent especially.  She displayed great trust in God to accept His plan of the Incarnation.  When her cousin Elizabeth exclaimed joy at Mary's coming, Mary's response was a song of praise to God: "my soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord..."  She could have given any other response ("thanks, nice to see you too") and chose to praise God.  If

The final portion of the preface references Jesus' coming in a way that includes in three tenses.  We rejoice that He has come already, in the past tense.  He was born, grew up, engaged in His public ministry, was put to death, and rose from the dead.  Christ also comes to us in the present--entering the hearts of all of us, if we let Him.  Conversion is an ongoing process that we should be engaging in until our dying day.  The third and final coming is Christ's triumphant return at the end of time; all things will be revealed, and we'll see a new heaven and a new earth.

All that, encapsulated in one prayer!  In the prefaces, we pray with the entire Church, as she urges us along with the Lord, to "put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch" (Luke 5:4).