2nd Week of Advent: Saturday

Here is the Collect for the 2nd Week of Advent.

This prayer has its roots in Rotulus 19 published with the Veronese Sacramentary.  It is also in Gelasian Sacramentary.  It was not in any edition of the Missale Romanum before the Council.

COLLECT:
Oriatur, quaesumus, omnipotens Deus, in cordibus nostris,
splendor gloriae tuae,
ut, omni noctis obscuritate sublata,
filios nos esse lucis Unigeniti tui manifestet adventus.

Unless you get that sublata right in the ablative absolute construction, you may go insance working this out.  There are two verbs which cough up the form sublata.  We turn to the mighty The Lewis & Short Latin Dictionary for insight.  First, there is suf-fÄ•ro  (subf- ), sustÅ­li, sublātum, sufferre ("to carry under, to put or lay under"; "to hold up, bear, support, sustain").  Then there is tollo, sustÅ­li, sublātum ("to lift or take up, to raise, always with the idea of motion upwards or of removal from a former situation").  You can see the verbs are related, but the impact they have is entirely different.

LITERAL VERSION:
May the splendor of Your glory arise in our hearts,
Almighty God, we beseech You,
so that once all darkness of night is lifted,
the Coming of Your Only-Begotten may reveal us to be children of the light.

This time of year we of the Northern hemisphere have the constant reminder of the passing of this world written in to the very rhythm of our day.  Not only do the long nights remind us of this world’s brevity, but they evoke in us a deep longing for the light. 

Reflection on our sins must also be a unquieting journey into the darkness we inflict on ourselves and others.  The undying Light is there, however.  Ultimately we need not be afraid.  We have much to do, however, to be children of the light and not the darkness so that God can bring to completion in us what He began in our cooperation.