Fourth Sunday of Advent


20 December 2020

Today is the fourth Sunday of Advent, a day when we celebrate the love of God. Our focus is on Mary, the Mother of God

We have so many wonderful images of Mary meeting the angel Gabriel and receiving the news that she will bear the Christ. This is a carving in ivory from the Eastern Mediterranean – it is housed in the Institute of the Arab World (L’Institut du Monde Arabe) in Paris.

Follow the service on this page by using the down arrows to open and close the sections. If you prefer a printable PDF please click on the link below.


O come, O come, Emmanuel,
and ransom captive Israel,
that mourns in lonely exile here
until the Son of God appear.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.
O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan’s tyranny
From depths of Hell Thy people save
And give them victory o’er the grave
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel
O come, Thou Day-Spring, Come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here   
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death’s dark shadows put to flight
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.
O come, O come, Thou Lord of might
Who to Thy tribes, on Sinai’s height
In ancient times did’st give the Law
In cloud, and majesty and awe
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.
O come, Thou Key of David, come
And open wide our heavenly home
Make safe the way that leads on high
And close the path to misery
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.






John Mason Neale and Henry Sloane Coffin

Prayers at the Advent Wreath

We light the fourth Advent Candle as a sign of our faith in God’s redeeming love. God’s promised Messiah is coming. He brings good news for the poor and oppressed. He will bind up broken hearts. He will proclaim release to those who are held captive.

Loving God, we thank you for your gift of love, shown to us perfectly in Jesus Christ our Lord. Help us prepare our hearts to receive him. Bless us in our prayer. Help us to hear and do your word. We ask it in the name of the one born in Bethlehem, Jesus our Lord. Amen

Introductory rites

Entrance antiphon – Isaiah 45.8

Drop down dew from above, you heavens, and let the clouds rain down the Just One; let the earth be opened and bring forth a Saviour.

Drop down ye heavens from above,
And let the skies pour down righteousness.

Comfort ye, comfort ye my people;
My salvation shall not tarry.
I have blotted out as a thick cloud,
Thy transgressions:

Fear not, for I will save thee;
For I am the Lord thy God,
The holy one of Israel, thy redeemer.

Greeting

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.

The grace and peace of God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
And also with you.

Kyrie eleison, Christe eleison, Kyrie eleison

Liturgy of the word

Anna reads from the second book of Samuel, Alison reads from Psalm 89, Stephanie reads from the letter of Paul to the Romans

Fra Angelico painted so many beautiful frescoes of the annunciation. This one adorns one of the original monk cells in the Museum of San Marco in Florence.

Sr Juliana reads from the gospel of Luke, Alison reads a reflection from Fr Graeme Kaines

Ave Maria Stravinsky

Greeting of Peace

We are the body of Christ.
God’s Spirit is with us.

The peace of the Lord be always with you.
And also with you.

Liturgy of the Eucharist

Magnificat anima mea Dominum
Jacques Berthier 1923-94

Pray, brothers and sisters, that my sacrifice and yours
may be acceptable to God, the Father almighty.

May the Lord accept our sacrifice
for the praise and glory of God’s name,
for our good, and the good of all God’s holy Church.

Communion rite

The Angel Gabriel

Communion Antiphon – Isaiah 7.14

Behold, a Virgin shall conceive and bear a son;
and his name will be called Emmanuel

Prayer after Communion

Let us pray.

Faithful God,
in this sacrament we receive the promise of salvation.
May we, like the Virgin Mary,
be obedient to your will.
We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ the Lord. Amen.

Lo! he comes with clouds descending,
   once for favoured sinners slain;
thousand thousand saints attending
   swell the triumph of his train:
         Alleluya!
   God appears, on earth to reign.
Every eye shall now behold him
   robed in dreadful majesty;
those who set at naught and sold him,
   pierced and nailed him to the tree,
         deeply wailing
   shall the true Messiah see.
Those dear tokens of his passion
   still his dazzling body bears,
cause of endless exultation
   to his ransomed worshippers:
         with what rapture
   gaze we on those glorious scars!
Yea, Amen! Let all adore thee,
   high on thine eternal throne;
Saviour, take the power and glory,
   claim the kingdom for thine own;
         O come quickly;
   Alleluya! Come, Lord, come!
Charles Wesley 1707–88

Blessing and Dismissal

The Lord be with you.
And also with you.

May the almighty and merciful God,
by whose grace you have placed your faith
in the First Coming of his Only Begotten Son
and yearn for his coming again,
sanctify you by the radiance of Christ’s Advent
and enrich you with his blessing. Amen.

As you run the race of this present life,
may he make you firm in faith,
joyful in hope and active in charity. Amen.

So that, rejoicing now with devotion
at the Redeemer’s coming in the flesh,
you may be endowed with the rich reward of eternal life
when he comes again in majesty. Amen.

And may the blessing of almighty God,
the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
come down on you and remain with you for ever. Amen.

Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.
In the name of Christ. Amen.


Enjoy this lovely time of the year as we are preparing for Christmas. Here are some more images of the annunciation that come to us across the centuries.

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