Sam U Ho
The Church in Germanophone regions has the tradition of celebrating Rorate Mass during Advent. Rorate means “Drop down” in Latin, and is the first word of the Introit for Votive Mass to Our Lady during Advent. The introit is “Rorate caeli desuper, et nubes pluant justum.”
In English that means, “Drop down dew, ye heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain the just.” (Isaiah 45:8)
This Mass is usually offered just before dawn. The electric lights in the church are all switched off. The celebrant priest relies on the light emitted from the tremendous number of candles set up on the altar and within the church in order to read from the Missal. In this darkness, the priest and the faithful await the advent of Christ the Light of the World, and offer thanksgiving to God for sending Our Lady to us. As the Mass proceeds, with the sun slowly rising from the horizon, the darkness in the church is slowly driven away, bearing resemblance to how our faith is enlightened by the Light of Christ.
The Mass reading is taken from Isaiah 7:10-15 which foretells that a virgin will bear child:
And the Lord spoke again to Achaz, saying: Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God either unto the depth of hell, or unto the height above. And Achaz said: I will not ask, and I will not tempt the Lord. And he said: Hear ye therefore, O house of David: Is it a small thing for you to be grievous to men, that you are grievous to my God also? Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign. Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel. He shall eat butter and honey, that he may know to refuse the evil, and to choose the good.
The Gospel reading takes from the Annunciation in the Gospel of St Luke.
As the intention of Rorate Mass is to honor Our Lady, in this Mass the priest does not wear purple vestment in accordance with the liturgical colour of Advent, but instead wears white or blue in honour of Our Lady.
This custom is not only popular in Germanophone regions. Recently it has also been imported into the Church in Anglophone regions. However, the Rorate Mass there is no longer celebrated just before dawn, but rather in the evening for the convenience of the local faithful while maintaining the same atmosphere.
(Photos by Markus Kuncoro of the Charlotte Latin Mass Community)
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