The Church begins her new liturgical year with the words: "_Ad Te levavi
animam meam_"--To Thee have I lifted up my soul ("Introit" for
to-day)--as though she were straining her eyes to try to see something
on the horizon. She cannot see anything very definite yet, but she is
full of hope. _Deus meus, in Te confido, non erubescam_--My God I trust
in Thee, let me not be ashamed, do not let me lift up my eyes in vain,
she cries; and she keeps on looking. This will be her attitude all
through the season of Advent, an attitude of expectancy, of waiting, of
hope, of trust, of prayer. We know for what she is waiting--the _Ortus
Christi_--the Rising of Christ. "The Lord shall arise upon thee" is the
promise. "To Thee have I lifted up my soul" is her response. What is in
her mind when she sees those first streaks of light? They are to her an
earnest of what is coming, an earnest of the Advent of her Lord. St.
Bernard says that His Advent is threefold, that He comes in three
different ways: (1) In the flesh and in weakness, (2) in the spirit and
in power, (3) in glory and in majesty.
The Church knows how much these three Comings mean to her children, and
so at the first sign of dawn she forgets the long weary night, and calls
to each one: "_Arise_, be enlightened for thy light is come, and the
glory of the Lord is risen upon thee." "Behold the Bridegroom cometh, go
ye forth to meet Him."
Let us then begin our Advent in the spirit of the Church. Let us arise
once more as she bids us, rouse ourselves that is, to look with her at
the dawn, while we say to ourselves: "Behold He cometh leaping upon the
mountains, skipping over the hills. Behold He standeth behind our wall,
looking through the windows, looking through the lattices." As we look
we hear the voice of our Beloved, He is speaking to His Church. What has
He to say as soon as He comes in sight? "_Arise_, make haste, my love,
my dove, my beautiful one, and come" (Cant. II. 8-10). It is the same
injunction: "_Arise_."