EMBER DAY OF ST LUCY WEDNESDAY 16th DECEMBER
EMBER DAY OF ST LUCY WEDNESDAY 16th DECEMBER Rorate Caeli, desuper, et nubes pluant justum. Drop down dew, ye heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain down the just. The Roman Missal entry for this day provides as follows: On the Wednesday of Ember week in Advent, the Mystery of the Annunciation is commemorated by many churches. The Mass is sung early in the morning. That Mass is sometimes called the Golden Mass, Rorate Mass or Messias Mass. On that occasion the church is lit up as a token that the world was still in darkness when the light of the world appeared. The Mass is called the Golden Mass possibly because in the Middle Age the whole of the Mass or at least the initial letters were written in gold, or on account of the golden magnificence of the solemnity, or more probably on account of the special, great, ‘golden’ grace which, at that time, is obtained by the numerous prayers. It is called Rorate Mass after the first words of the Introit of the Mass: Rorate Caeli; an...