OK, so the Fourth Sunday of Advent doesn't quite have a name like "Gaudete" on the Third Sunday of Advent, or "Laetare" on the Fourth Sunday of Lent, but if the Fourth Sunday of Advent was to have a name, "Rorate" would be it, as, like the other two, it's the first word of the Introit of the day in Latin.
Rorate caeli desuper, et nubes pluant justum.
Let the heavens drop down dew, and the clouds rain down the Just One.
For this Fourth Sunday, we will once again be singing O come, O come, Emmanuel, which is based on the "O" Antiphons. There are seven "O" Antiphons, and while they're not specifically used at Holy Mass, they are used at Vespers (Evening Prayer) along with the Magnificat from December 17-23, with a different antiphon assigned for each date.
MUSIC FOR HOLY MASS
ORDINARY OF THE MASS:
Kyrie, Sanctus and Agnus Dei: Mass XVII
The Gloria is OMITTED.
Memorial Acclamation: Mortem tuam annuntiamus, Domine... (Jubilate Deo chant)
Amen: adapted from the Sanctus melody from Mass VIII
ALLELUIA "Conditor Alme" (BMP) (PDF)
The rest:
Entrance hymn: O come, O come, Emmanuel ("Veni, Emmanuel")
Psalm 80: R./ Lord, make us turn to you, let us see your face, and we shall be saved. (Fr. Samuel Weber, OSB)
Offertory hymn: Come, thou long-expected Jesus ("Stuttgart")
Music during Communion:
- Responsory: Psalm 19, R./ Behold a Virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and his Name shall be called Emmanuel. (BMP) (PDF)
- - The text is that assigned for Communion by the Graduale Romanum. The melody given is based on the hymntune "O Heiland, Reiss", the German translation of the Rorate caeli mentioned at the top of this post.
- or hymn: Alma Redemptoris Mater (sung to an altered form of the Samuel Webbe tune "Consolation").
- - Every season has a Marian antiphon assigned to it, even that "green season" known to many as "Ordinary Time". "Alma Redemptoris Mater" is the Marian antiphon given for Advent and Christmas seasons, and up to February 2, the Presentation of the Lord (or traditionally known as the Purification of Mary).
Recessional hymn: O come, divine Messiah ("Venez, Divin Messie") (Listen)
Quod scripsi, scripsi!
BMP
BMP
