O Magnum Mysterium

The first weekend of Advent.

O Magnum Mysterium
et admirabile sacramentum,
ut animalia viderent Dominum
natum, jacentum in praesepio!
Beata Virgo, cujus viscera
meruerunt portare
Dominum Christum. Alleluia!

O great mystery
and wondrous sacrament
that animals should see the new-
born Lord, lying in their manger!
Blessed is the Virgin whose womb
was worthy to bear the Lord Jesus Christ! Alleluia!


Juxtaposition, my choral notes say. Exalted with the lowly. I sang this piece with the ISC last year, and will at All Saints again this Christmas. It is one of my favorite pieces of choral literature for the advent season. The moment when the altos reverently disclose "ut animalia" is particularly arresting. With animals. Advent is a moment of preparedness, for a savior born unto beasts.

I got into a lengthy discussion several days ago with someone I dearly love and respect who is not a believer in the deity of Jesus Christ. I state this with some particularity because I think it is impossible to not believe in the personhood of Jesus, to say that he never lived or established a presence in ancient Israel. But the scandal of his Godhood- that was what was called into question. Of course, if you are going to talk about Christ, you must talk about his death, which was largely the focal point for his incarnation.

Judea in those days was a land under siege from Rome. Jesus' life was an advent for the Israelites. They were looking for a leader, for a strong king that would launch a revolution. They sought freedom. And in this national, political, and militaristic arena, Jesus failed them. My conversation partner just couldn't understand this. wouldn't his impact have been greater if he had ascended to an earthly throne? United Israel? Thrown off the yoke of the oppressor?

It is debatable. I don't want to be the heretical schmuck that says Jesus would have failed. But the one thing he told his disciples was that "my kingdom is not of this world." (John 18:36) Had he wanted it, it would have been. That whole triumphal entry thing was meant as a welcome for a conquering hero, not the prelude to an execution. But Jesus was about renewal. Jesus was about the culmination and fulfillment of the Law, not sitting as reinforcing ruler. He brought a new covenant, the king of kings born unto animals. The first was made last so that the last may be first.

Is there ever a way to be prepared for this kind of God? Possibly not. We get 25 days each year in the advent season to try. Any less than that, or holding the cycle with less frequency, would render the task utterly impossible. As it is, I must pray for eyes to see, ears to hear this miracle lying in a feedbox.

The preparation has begun. O Emmanuel, come.

(below is a clip of a choral ensemble singing the setting of the text above by composer Morten Lauridsen. They do it more than justice.)