As Advent Approaches: Weekday Readings and Liturgical Notes

It was with some mild surprise that I found myself contemplating preparations for Advent. All Saints? This Sunday? I can’t imagine how this happened. So it goes.

The approach of Advent frequently brings with it the planning of additional midweek services. And, as you may have guessed, the preliminary research for The Lutheran Missal has allowed us to provide some resources to help you along the way.

As mentioned elsewhere, the lectionary contains readings for most Wednesdays and Fridays throughout the year, including those of Advent. So, without further delay, here are the Advent pericopes for mass as found in late medieval and Lutheran books, together with some hymn suggestions:

Day	Readings	Hymn Suggestions
Advent I	Jeremiah 23:5-8 / Romans 13:11-14 / Matthew 21:1-9
Advent I – Wed.	James 5:7-10 / Matthew 3:1-6	LSB 331/TLH 68 – The Advent of Our King LSB 343 – Prepare the Royal Highway LSB 344/TLH 63 – On Jordan’s Banks the Baptist’s Cry
Advent I – Fri.	Titus 2:1-10 / Luke 3:7-18	LSB 333/TLH 74 – Once He Came in Blessing LSB 345/TLH 60 – Hark, A Thrilling Voice Is Sounding LSB 354/TLH 75 – Arise, O Christian People
Advent II	Malachi 4:1-6 / Romans 15:4-13 / Luke 21:25-36
Advent II – Wed.	Malachi 3:1-5; 4:5-6a / Matthew 11:11-15	LSB 338 – Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus LSB 346/TLH 272 – When All the World Was Cursed TLH 69 – Arise, Sons of the Kingdom
Advent II – Fri.	2 Corinthians 3:18-4:5a / John 1:15-18	LSB 332/TLH 95 – Savior of the Nations, Come LSB 402 – The Only Son from Heaven LSB 546 – O Jesus So Sweet, O Jesus So Mild
Advent III	Isaiah 40:1-8 / 1 Corinthians 4:1-5 / Matthew 11:2-10
Ember Wednesday*	Isaiah 2:2-5 / Isaiah 7:10-15 / Luke 1:26-38a	LSB 332/TLH 95 – Savior of the Nations, Come LSB 356 – The Angel Gabriel from Heaven Came LSB 359/TLH 645 – Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming
Ember Friday*	Isaiah 11:1-5 / Luke 1:39-47	LSB 346/TLH 272 – When All the World Was Cursed LSB 348 – The King Shall Come When Morning Dawns LSB 351 – Creator of the Stars of Night
Ember Saturday*	2 Thessalonians 2:1-8 / Luke 3:1-6	LSB 343 – Prepare the Royal Highway LSB 345/TLH 60 – Hark, A Thrilling Voice Is Sounding LSB 347/TLH 61 – Comfort, Comfort Ye My People
Advent IV	Deuteronomy 18:15-19 / Philippians 4:4-7 / John 1:19-28
Advent IV – Wed.	2 Peter 3:8-14 / Matthew 3:7-11	LSB 340&341/TLH 73 – Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Mighty Gates LSB 349/TLH 66 – Hark the Glad Sound LSB 357/TLH 62 – Oh Come, Oh Come, Emmanuel
Advent IV – Fri.	James 4:17-5:7a / Mark 1:1-8	LSB 344/TLH 63 – On Jordan’s Banks the Baptist’s Cry LSB 345/TLH 60 – Hark, A Thrilling Voice Is Sounding LSB 354/TLH 75 – Arise, O Christian People

A few more notes on the readings: The Old Testament readings given on Sundays are, of course, a modern phenomenon, and these selections reflect the readings given in Lutheran Service Book. The Ember Days in the third week of Advent marked with an asterisk (*) properly have their own mass, with distinct introits, collects, graduals, and so on. In addition, Ember Saturday has another five readings before those listed (Isaiah 19:20b-22 / Isaiah 35:1-7a / Isaiah 49:9-11a / Isaiah 45:1-8 / Prayer of Azariah 1:24-28) which are situated in a quite distinctive mass that follows the pattern of the ancient Saturday vigil, somewhat similar to what you may have observed in the Vigil of Easter in LSB. The remainder of the weekday masses follow the ordinary pattern of reiterating the Sunday propers (introit, collect, etc.) apart from the readings. Keep an eye out for an upcoming post on weekday masses.

Returning again to the Daily Office, I ought to mention that that the traditional office hymns for Advent in Lutheran usage are as follows:
Vespers: Conditor alme siderum (LSB 351 – Creator of the Stars of Night)
Compline: Veni redemptor gentium (LSB 332/TLH 95 – Savior of the Nations, Come)
Matins: Vox clara ecce personat (LSB 345/TLH 60 – Hark, A Thrilling Voice Is Sounding)

For the above hymns according to their plainchant melodies in either Latin or English, see Liber Hymnorum, nos. 24-26.

While the above readings are most likely to be used by the reader in the context of the Daily Office, they are most properly assigned to the Divine Service, which, in Advent, has just a couple of changes. First, the Gloria in excelsis is not sung in Advent, apart from a handful of feasts. Second, the early Lutheran books (but not, as far as I see, any of the medieval books) appoint the sequence Mittit ad virginem, normally sung on the Annunciation, to be sung on Sundays in Advent. The text with music can be found in Lutheran Sequences.