Thank you to the good folk at Saint Mary Star of the Sea in Jackson and Saint Matthew in Flint for sending us some beautiful images of their Advent Rorate Masses which are offered in many parishes at this time of year in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary and always during the hours of the early morning by candlelight. Why? The pastor of Saint Matthew, Father Anthony Strouse, pictured above, now explains. Father Strouse says:
On the First Saturday of December, the day that the Church especially remembers the Immaculate Heart of Mary, we celebrated our annual Rorate Coeli Mass. The name of the Mass comes from the first two words of the Introit, "Drop down, ye heavens,” which is taken from Isaiah 45:8. It is a Mass celebrated in the darkness of the morning, usually right before sunrise, and lit only by candles and the growing light from the rising sun.
The whole season of Advent has an interplay between light and darkness. Advent is during the darkest part of the year, with December 21 being the day with the least amount of daylight of the year. But then, shortly after that at Christmas, as we welcome the birth in the flesh of Jesus Christ, the daylight gradually increases each day. We also see growing light as we light the successive candles of the Advent wreath each week.
But in our own spiritual lives, we are also meant to be the people who walked in darkness who have seen a great light (cf. Isaiah 9:2), as we work to be more and more receptive to the grace of God which leads us from the darkness of sin to the light of holiness.
But this process is generally a gentle process, with the light slowly growing in our lives from baptism through the rest of our days. Yes, sometimes the light comes very quickly, like in the case of Saint Paul who saw the light of Christ in an incredible way, a light which rendered him blind at first, but most of us experience metanoia, change of heart, little-by-little.
God helps our souls become more and more accustomed to him, as our eyes grow accustomed to the slowly growing daylight in the morning hours. Hopefully this Advent, and throughout the year, we continue to grow more accustomed to the Light of Christ and welcome Him in our lives more and more each day.
