FIRST SUNDAY IN ADVENT

The INTROIT                                                                                                     (Ps. 25:1-3a,4)

Unto Thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul; O my God, I trust in Thee. Let me not be ashamed; let not mine enemies triumph over me. Yea, let none that wait on Thee; be ashamed. Show me Thy ways, O Lord; teach me Thy paths.

(The AGloria in Excelsis@ is omitted during the Penitential Season of Advent)

The COLLECT

Stir up, we beseech Thee, Thy power, O Lord, and come, that by Thy protection we may be rescued from the threatening perils of our sins and saved by Thy mighty deliverance; who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end.

The FIRST LESSON                                                                   Jeremiah 33:14‑18 (NKJV)

ABehold, the days are coming,@ says the LORD, Athat I will perform that good thing which I have promised to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah:

In those days and at that time

I will cause to grow up to David

A Branch of righteousness;

He shall execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. 

In those days Judah will be saved,

And Jerusalem will dwell safely.

And this is the name by which she will be called:

THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.@ 

For thus says the LORD: ADavid shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel; nor shall the priests, the Levites,  lack a man to offer burnt offerings before Me, to kindle grain offerings, and to sacrifice continually.@

The GRADUAL                                                                                                (Ps.25:3-4;85:7)

P:/C:   All they that wait on Thee shall not be ashamed, O Lord. Show me Thy ways, O Lord; teach me Thy paths. Alleluia! Alleluia! 

P:/C:   Show us Thy mercy, O Lord, and grant us Thy salvation. Alleluia! 

The EPISTLE                                                                                Romans 13:11‑14 (NKJV)

And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.  Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy.  But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.

The SENTENCE for the Season                                                                             (Psalm 25:6)

P:/C:   Hallelujah! Remember, O Lord, Thy tender mercies: for they have been ever of old. Hallelujah!

The HOLY GOSPEL                                                                 St. Matthew 21:1‑8 (NKJV)

Now when they drew near Jerusalem, and came to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, AGo into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Loose them and bring them to Me. And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, >The Lord has need of them,= and immediately he will send them.@  All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying:

ATell the daughter of Zion, >Behold, your King is coming to you, Lowly, and sitting on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey.=@

So the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them.  They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set Him on them.  And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road. Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: AHosanna to the Son of David! >Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!= Hosanna in the highest!@