Advent Photo Post: Rorate Mass at Saint John Henry Newman, Victoria, BC

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Holy Communion by Candlelight

Rorate Caeli is Latin for “Drop down, ye heavens” and are the opening words of the Introit (which is an opening psalm or antiphon), the text from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah 45:8.
Rorate, caeli, desuper, et nubes pluant justum, aperiatur terra, et germinet Salvatorem.

Drop down dew, ye heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain the just: let the earth be opened and bud forth a Savior. – Isaiah 45:8
"A Rorate Caeli Mass" - also known since the 8th Century as the Missa Aurea (Golden Mass) or the Missa Angelica, "is traditionally celebrated just before dawn in Advent as a devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Mass is only lit by candles, representing Mary’s role in bringing the Light of the World into the darkness of the world." - National Shrine in Champion

Photos by D. Duchesne

Saint John Henry's in Victoria, a quasi-parish of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter hosted at Our Lady Queen of Peace Parish, is blessed to have Rorate Masses (according to Divine Worship, the Ordinariate Missal) on the Saturdays of Advent. Mass is followed by a potluck breakfast, Rosary and Benediction.


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