1st Sunday of Advent (A) Year of Matthew

Is 2:1-5; Rom 13:11-14; Mt 24:37-44

• Mass setting: Missa simplex
• Motet: O, thou the central orb* (Orlando Gibbons)
• Communio: Dominus dabit benignitatem, et terra nostra dabit fructum suum. The Lord will bestow his loving kindness, and our land will yield its fruit.
• Hymns: Advent prose (Rorate caeli); Lo, He comes with clouds descending HELMSLEY
• Organ Prelude: Veni Emmanuel (Advent Suite) – Pietro Yon (1886-1943)
• Organ Voluntary: Wachet Auf, BWV 645 – J. S. Bach (1685-1750)

Organist: Bransby Byrne

*O, thou the central orb of righteous love,
Pure beam of the most high, eternal light of this our bleak world,
Where thy radiance bright awakes new joy in faith, hope soars above.

Come, quickly come, and let thy radiant glory shine,
Gilding our darksome heaven with rays divine.

Thy saints with holy lustre round thee move, as stars about thy throne,
Set in the height of God’s ordaining counsel, as thy sight
Gives measured grace to each, thy power to prove.

Let thy bright beams disperse the gloom of sin,
Our nature all shall feel eternal day, in fellowship with thee,
Transforming clay to souls erewhile unclean, now pure within.
Amen.