Tuesday 17 December 2019
From today, we are entering the period of preparation for Christmas, where the liturgy has us sing the “great Ô Antiphons”. We suggest presenting these Antiphons day by day, followed by a meditation which links them to the mystery of the Heart of Jesus.
“Ô Wisdom from the mouth of the Most High, you who revolves around the Universe with force and gentleness, teach us the way of truth, come Lord, come to save us !”
Jesus tells us that He is “the Way, the Truth and the Life” (John 14). Moreover, St John also tells us that Jesus is the Word (wisdom from the mouth of the Most High), through whom everything has been made. (John 1).
It is He who “rules over the Universe with force and gentleness”. Contemplating the pierced Heart of Jesus from where flow blood and water, we enter through the “Holy Door”, wide open for us, the mystery of our Lord, meek and humble, and at the same time all powerful ; He opens the way for us to quench our thirst in his Truth and already participate in his Life.
Prayer :
Heart of Jesus, substantially united with the Word of God, have mercy on us.
A furnace which never burns out
Wednesday 18 December 2019
“Ö Head of your people of Israel, you reveal yourself to Moses in the burning bush and you give him the commandments on the mountain, deliver us through the strength of your arm, come, Lord, come and save us !”
“The Heart of Jesus is a furnace which never burns out. In this it resembles this “burning bush” of the Book of Exodus, in which God reveals himself to Moses. The bush which was burning… “did not burn out”.” (John Paul II)
Prayer :Heart of Jesus, House of God and Gateway to Heaven, have mercy on us.
Deliver us
Thursday 19 December 2019
“Ô Rod of Jesse, standard raised before the nations, kings are silent before You, whilst people call on You : deliver us, delay no longer, come, Lord, come to save us !”King David is the best known of the ancestors of Jesus, and he is often invoked in the Gospels : “Jesus, son of David”. Jesse is the father of David, and in the liturgical tradition of the church, one talks of “the Rod of Jesse” as symbolising the most noteworthy of his descendants, Jesus the Messiah. Already, with regard to King David, God had said in the Old Testament, that He was “a man of his own heart”. And we know that the voice of the Father is heard on two occasions, in the New Testament, to call Jesus his “beloved Son” (at the Baptism of Jesus and at his Transfiguration). Jesus had said (see John 14) : “whoever sees Me sees the Father”. We can now say : whoever contemplate the Heart of Jesus contemplates the “Heart” of the Father.
Prayer :
Heart of Jesus, object of complacency of the Heavenly Father, have mercy on us.
Tear the captives away from the darkness
Friday 20 December 2019
“Ô Key of David, ô Sceptre of Israel, you open it, and none will close it, you close it, and none will open it: tear the captives away from the darkness, come, Lord, come to save us !”
During the closing ceremony of the great jubilee of the year 2000, on January 6th 2001, we had proceeded to the closing of the Holy Door of st Peter’s Basilica in Rome, this Door which remained open during the whole jubilee year. After the closing, John Paul II in his homely on that day, said : “With the closing of the Holy Door, it is a symbol of Christ which closes. But the Heart of Jesus remains more than ever open, for our contemporary humanity…”. We have just read : “you open it, and none will close it….”. In another context, the glorious Christ appearing to John, the visionary of the Apocalypse, says : “here am I, alive for centuries to come. I hold the keys of death and Hades.” Let us then enter through this very Holy Door which is the open Heart of Jesus in order to enter the fullness of Life.
Prayer :
Heart of Jesus, holy temple of the Lord, have mercy on us.
Rising Sun
Saturday 21 December 2019
“Ô rising Sun, splendor of justice and eternal light, enlighten those who live in darkness and the shadow of death, come, Lord, come and save us !”
The father of John the Baptist, Zechariah, sings in his thanksgiving cantique (Luke 1) this “He will cause the bright dawn of salvation to rise on us and to shine from heaven on all those who live in the dark shadow of death”, a sign of the “feelings of the Heart of our God”” (ibid.). The Heart of Jesus, comet of life, “Sun of justice with healing in its rays” (Malachi 3, see above), comes to pierce the shadows of our lives. This is particularly significant on this December 21st, as we enter the longest night of the year. On the other hand, the Virgin Mary evoked this passage of Malachi 3 in order to describe the Heart of Her Divine Son, during the great vision of July 2nd 1688… the vision st Margaret Mary had.
Prayer :
Heart of Jesus, highly worthy of all praises, have mercy on us.
Jerusalem from above.
Sunday, December 22, 2019
“O King of the universe, O Desired of the nations, cornerstone that joins together one and the other wall, strength of the man kneaded with silt, come, Lord, come to save us! “
Meditation:
This invocation is very rich in scriptural mentions. Christ, King of the universe, is awaited in his glorious advent by all of Creation and by the nations which ardently desire Him (consciously or not). He was the cornerstone (I Peter 2) rejected by men during the Passion, but chosen by God for the edification of his Body which is the Church. In his Body and therefore in his Heart, he makes the unity of all in universal reconciliation (cf. Ephesians 2). The first man, Adam, was kneaded from the ground, the new Adam, the Christ, comes from Heaven to make us pass from this state of corruptibility in which we are in this world, towards the incorruptible world, the Jerusalem from above. In contact with his Heart, our “heart of stone” can be changed into “heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 36). The Heart of Jesus can become our abode now; It will be in Eternity.
Prayer – litany of the Sacred Heart:
Heart of Jesus, the desired of the eternal hills, have mercy on us
Pray :
“I adore you, I love you, O divine Heart of Jesus living in the heart of Mary. I implore you to live and reign in all hearts, I urge you to consume them in your pure love. “(Saint Marguerite Marie)
Hope and salvation of the nations
Monday 23 December 2019
“Ô Emmanuel, our Lawgiver and our King, our hope and salvation of the nations, come, Lord, come and save us !”
Old Simeon welcomed the little child Jesus in his arms and announced him as the “light to reveal to the nations” (Luke 2). This child is “God with us”, Emmanuel. He lives in the midst of his people, an immense family “that no- one could number” (Apocalypse 7). And He lives in us. The hidden sign of his presence are the beatings of his Heart, which you can detect in the centre of our lives and of history.
Prayer :
Heart of Jesus, salvation of those who hope in You, have mercy on us.
Source: https://www.sacrecoeur-paray.org/en/jour/come-to-save-us/