Thursday, 20 December, 2007
Ferial (III)
"On this day the Church urges us to gladness in the middle of this time of expectation and penance: the coming of Jesus approaches more and more. St. John, the holy precursor, announces to the Jews the coming of the Saviour, ‘The Saviour’, he says to them, ‘lives already among us, though unknown. He will soon appear openly.’ Now is the time for fervent prayers and for imploring Jesus to remain with us by His mercy. Let us prepare the way for Him by repentance and penance and by a worthy reception of the Sacraments. All the prayers of this Mass are filled with what the Church wishes our souls to possess at the approach of the Saviour.”

Collect: Incline thine ear, we beseech Thee, O Lord, to our petitions: and, by the grace of Thy visitation, enlighten the darkness of our minds: Who livest and reignest with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Ghost, world without end.
Epistle: Bl. Paul the Apostle to the Philippians, 4:4-7.
Gospel: Continuation of the holy Gospel according to St. John, 1:19-28.

Remarks are abstracted from The Daily Missal and Liturgical Manual, from Editio Typica of the Roman Missal and Breviary, 1962
(Baronius Press Limited, London, 2004, in conjunction with the Fraternal Society of St. Peter, www.baroniuspress.com)