LITURGY MATTERS: The whole world being at peace!
By Michael McKenna, Archdiocesan Master of Ceremonies
“The Twenty-fifth Day of December, when ages beyond number had run their course from the creation of the world.” So begins the proclamation of the Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord read out at the Midnight Mass of Christmas. The proclamation declares in a beautifully poetic manner, an accounting of nine major events/persons that help situate Christ’s birth into the context of salvation history.
Though the tradition of the proclamation fell from observance with the liturgical reforms following Vatican II, Pope Saint John Paul II restored its usage during the Papal celebration of the Christmas Midnight Mass at the Vatican in 1980, and reignited interest in the abandoned tradition in parishes around the world.
Originating in the Roman Martyrology as follows:
“In the 5199th year of the creation of the world, from the time when God in the beginning created the heaven and earth; the 2957th year after the flood; the 2015th year from the birth of Abraham; the 1510th year from Moses, and the going forth of the people of Israel from Egypt; the 1032nd year from the anointing of David King; in the 65th week according to the prophecy of Daniel; in the 194th Olympiad; the 752nd year from the foundation of the City of Rome; the 42nd year of the rule of Octavian Augustus, all the earth being at peace, Jesus Christ, the Eternal God, and the Son of the Eternal Father, desirous to sanctify the world by his most merciful coming, being conceived by the Holy Spirit, nine months after his conception was born in Bethlehem of Juda, made Man of the Virgin Mary. The Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, According to The Flesh.”
In its currently approved English translation, the liturgical rendering largely avoids mentioning any specific number of years reflecting a more historical and devotional character designed to prepare us to receive Him who we are expecting and who was promised to us by the Father.
In this regard the Nativity Proclamation renders beautifully that moment in human history where God’s glorious plan for our salvation is made manifest through the Incarnation.
Saint Bernard reflects “The heart, charmed with the honeyed sweetness of the expression, would fain diffuse it and spread it out into more words. But no, it must be given just as it is, or you spoil it: Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is born in Bethlehem of Juda!”
The proclamation observes that “the whole world was at peace”. This Christmas as we turn our hearts and minds once more to the Holy Land with expectant joy, let us join together in praying that the whole world might once again be at peace.
Christmas Blessings to you and your families.