The Advent Cycle: Prophecies of Isaiah

Advent is a liturgical season that derives from the Latin verb venire (to come, to arrive).  The ad- is a prefix that normally designates movement towards something [e.g. the term adversary is a word that derives from the Latin expression to "face off" or to go meet somebody face-to-face, i.e. your enemy].  

The celebration of Advent is preparation for the Feast of the Nativity, or Christmas [i.e. Christ's Mass].  Traditionally, Advent often starting around the Feast of St. Andrew's Martyrdom (and often more or less with the beginning of December) is considered the "New Year's Day" of the Liturgical Calendar.   

It is uncertain when this sense of a beginning actually began.  Advent in general is a great mystery of the Church along with the murky but venerable legacy of the liturgies and the lines of apostolic succession.

This liturgical preparation is very ancient and goes back to the celebration of St. Martin's Day where the local prelate St. Perpetuus (r. 460-490 AD), the sixth bishop of Tours, ordered in his local dioceses to observe fasting at regular times between the saint's feast day of November 11 up to the Vigil of Christmas on December 24.  This observance grew more popular outside of the region of Centre-Val de Loire (alongside the devotion to the unbelievably awe-inspiring St. Martin of Tours), and eventually became known as "St. Martin's Lent."  By the time the Galesian Sacramentary is composed around 750 AD, give or take, we have explicit ecclesiastical codification of Advent as a liturgical cycle.

Liturgically, the inclusion of propers of the season in the Divine Office must have occurred well after these times, and certainly after the creation of St. Benedict's Rule (ca. 535 AD), because there is no mention of this season explicitly.  The same cannot be said of Lent which is likely a far older observance [see Chapter 49 of the Holy Rule of St. Benedict] from the Christian East.

Advent is considered a time of penance, albeit in a far less severe sense than Lent, which is why the priestly vestments and much of the decorations of the churches are in purple.

But it must be noted that the attitude of the liturgical season is more expectant, anticipatory, and vigilant than anything else.

This last point brings us to the heavy reliance upon the Book of Isaiah throughout the season of Advent:

(1) Within the Ordinary of the Ferial Office in Advent, the selected reading is Isaiah 2:3 - "Come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob, and He will teach us His ways, and we will walk in His paths, for the law shall come forth from Sion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem." [Note the use of the future tense!].

• "He will teach us His ways" - Jesus as Rabbi or "Teacher" [Mark 9:5, etc.] as well as His teaching through Parables [compare Mark 4:12 where Jesus explicitly quotes Isaiah 6:9-10].
• "We will walk in His paths" is quite literally an invitation to Martyrdom [Matthew 16:24] for "Cross" could only mean the Roman manner of execution at the time.  All 12 Apostles (save for John the Beloved) as well as many of the 70 disciples, including Timothy, would go on to walk in His paths (so again, taken quite literally in a martyr's death!).
• "The law shall come forth from Sion" could be read as a new kind of law [see John 13:34-36] as well as the fulfillment of the Old Law [see Matthew 5:7].
• "The Word of the Lord from Jerusalem", meanwhile, could be identified with Christ in His divine personhood [see the opening of the Gospel of John, where Christ is called "the Word" co-Eternal with the Father; importantly, this is traditionally called the "Last Gospel" at Mass.  Before Vatican II reforms, this reading was done immediately by the end of Mass and we should pray for its reintroduction so as to remind people of the Hypostatic Union after Communion!].

At other points in Advent, there is great use of Isaiah:

(2) The Preface of Advent that begins on the First Sunday addresses God the Father directly: "...for in Thy mercy and fidelity Thou hast promised Him as Savior to the lost race of men, to instruct the ignorant with His truth, justify the wicked with His holiness, and help the weak by His power. Now that the time draweth nigh that He Whom Thou art to send should come, and the day of our liberation should dawn, with faith in Thy promises, we rejoice with holy exultation."  And these promises were voiced in the books of the prophets, the most notable of which is Isaiah (see below).  [WHAT IS INTERESTING TO NOTE HERE: the universality of Isaiah's message: what we have is not simply a savior for Israel; but rather, the "lost race of men".  When you read all of Isaiah, you realize early on that what he is voicing is the expectation that all idolatry will be cast away and all of Mankind shall recognize their Creator, see Isaiah 66:23 (only one of many examples in Isaiah)].

(2) The Introit of the Second Sunday of Advent directly comes from Isaiah 30:30 - "People of Sion, behold the Lord shall come to save the nations: and the Lord shall make the glory of His voice to be heard, in the joy of your heart."

(3) The Communion Prayer from Gaudete Sunday (the Third Sunday of Advent), meanwhile, is taken from Isaiah 35:4: "Say, ye faint-hearted, take courage and fear not: behold our God will come, and will save us." (Two things worth noting here: first is the evidence from Isaiah of what Christ will be called 'God...will save us' is exactly what Jesus means!  SECOND NOTE: this deprecation of the term "faint-hearted" evidences the penitential nature of the liturgical season that is often lost on most modern Christians!  Advent is kind of a stretched-out vigil; and traditionally, vigils were days of fasting!).

(2) The Introit (or, opening chant) for the Fourth Sunday of Advent directly comes from Isaiah 45:8 -  "Drop down dew, ye heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain the Just One: let the earth be opened and bud forth a Savior. (Ps. 18: 2) The heavens show forth the glory of God: and the firmament declares the work of His hands."  [As you can see, the Church has Isaiah juxtaposed with the Psalms which corresponds with Isaiah's use of the potter metaphor.  The inter-textuality of the Old Testament is something that few Christians truly grasp given their focus on New-Old Testament typology, but that is an aside...  What is most curious of Isaiah's phrasing here is that this Messiah was said to be from Heaven itself.  In a sense, the Pharisees should not have been scandalized in principle at Christ's words when speaking of the Messiah, see Luke 5:21; for it appears in Isaiah and the Psalms (esp. Psalm 103: 10) that the Messiah would be Divine and thus "from Heaven".  Thus, Christ says "Before Abraham was, I am" (John 8:58).  It is interesting that Christ ironically expresses His mild surprise that these learned men of Israel (the Pharisees and Scribes) would be so blind to the logical implications of the prophecies, see John 8:21-59].

(5) Lastly, the Christmas Eve Vigil Mass has another Communion prayer that comes from Isaiah 40:5 - "The glory of the Lord shall be revealed: and all flesh shall see the salvation of our God," which again emphasizes the salvational role of Christ in the Holy Name of Jesus!

(5) Above all, as monks of the traditional observances would remind us, the lectionary from the office of Matins focuses intently on Isaiah for all four weeks (!).  Indeed, along with the Book of Wisdom (see the "O Antiphon" of December 17), the entire Book of Isaiah is read, or rather chanted, from beginning to end over the course of a month.  In only four weeks' time for the nocturnal office only, that is no meager task!

So, why the heavy reliance both in the New and Old Rite upon Isaiah?  Principally, because so many of the prophecies of Christ's arrival come from this book:

• He will be born of a Virgin [vide Isaiah 7:14, then Matt. 1:18, 24-25; Luke 1:26-35]
• His ministry will make Galilee glorious [vide Isaiah 9:1, then Matt 4:12-17]
• He shall be called "Emmanuel", meaning 'God is with us.' [vide Isaiah 9:6, then Luke 1:35 where the evangelist writes that Jesus is the Son of God and His Presence by the Cloud, see Numbers 9:15, will overshadow her.  In this sense, "God is indeed with us."  Importantly, Luke emphasizes that this was more of a title than a proper name of Jesus in Luke 1:23 where he calls Jesus by the title of Immanuel]. (FUTURE POST ON THE PHILOLOGICAL MEANING AND CHRISTOLOGICAL NATURE OF THE TITLE OF 'IMMANUEL')
• The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him [vide Isaiah 11:2, then the descent of the Holy Ghost in the form of a dove above Christ during His baptism in the Jordan in Matt. 3:16-17].
• He shall perform miracles by curing the blind, deaf, lame and dumb explicitly [vide Isaiah 32:3-4; 35:5-6, which Jesus Himself directly cites as evidence in Luke 7:22, etc.].
• He shall be heralded by a messenger who goes before Him [vide Isaiah 40:3, then refer to the mention of John the Baptist as a "forerunner" in Mat. 3:1-3; 11:10; Luke 1:17; John 1:23, etc.].
• He will be a descendent of King David [vide Isaiah 11:1 in which Christ was said to be a "shoot of Jessee", then the use of "Son of David" in Luke 18:38-40 as well as the opening genealogy of Jesus in Matthew which is an explicit acknowledgement of this prophecy.].
• He will be rejected by His people [vide Isaiah 53:3, then John 1:11; 7:5 as well as Psalm 118:22, Matthew 21:42, Acts 4:11, Romans 9:33, Ephesians 2:20, 1 Peter 2:4-1 Peter 2:6, etc.].

• He will be spat upon [see Isaiah 50:6, then Matt. 26:67; Mark 15:19].

• His cheek shall be struck [see Isaiah 50:6; Mic. 5:1, then Matt. 26:67; Luke 22:63; John 18:22]

• Others (taken from the website scripturecatholic.com):

  Isaiah 53:5; Zech. 13:6 – He was wounded, bruised and scourged for us – Matt. 27:26; Mark 15:15; John 19:1 – Jesus was wounded, bruised and scourged for us.

  Isaiah 53:7 – He will remain silent before His accusers – Matt. 27:12,14; Mark 14:61;15:5; Luke 23:9; John 19:9 – Jesus remained silent before His accusers.

  Isaiah 53:8-10; Dan. 9:26 – the anointed one shall be cut off and die – Luke 23:46; 24:7; John 19:30 – Jesus the Messiah died.

  Isaiah 53:9 – He will be buried in a rich man’s tomb – Matt. 27:57-60; Mark 15:42-46; Luke 23:50-53; John 19:38-42 – Jesus was buried in a rich man’s tomb (the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea).

  Isaiah 53:12 – He will make intercession for the transgressors – Luke 23:34,43 – Jesus made intercession for the transgressors on the cross.

There is a lot of material contained above that is worthy of contemplation, and Advent above all is a time for contemplation in the promises of Christ and the Last Things [that is, Death, Judgement, Heaven and Hell, as each was traditionally a topic for Sunday sermons during Advent.].  There was a time when all Christians saw Advent as prefiguring the Parousia or "Second Coming", but that connection has been obscured by the naturalization of the Gospel message through the 20th century, emphasizing, say, the poverty of Jesus' upbringing or the refuge into Egypt, etc. at the expense of the supernatural.

May God grant you and your family a Merry Christmas!

Be well!