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(The fourth, fifth, and sixth Sundays after Epiphany have the same chants as the third.) The composer was concerned, above all, to call our attention to the adoring angels at the beginning of the holy Sacrifice. Here they are not so much a model for our own worship of God, as they are the source of our purest joy.

Gone are the shepherds who knelt before the manger, departed the Magi who had there adored and offered their gifts. But the spirit of adoration which animated all of them has remained. It continues to thrive in the Church. This supplies the theme for the Introits of the first, second, and third Sundays after Epiphany.

Here we address the divine Child. We rejoice in the good fortune which St. Joseph and the Mother of God have been chosen to share, namely, that they can call Him their own, their Child, for whose coming the centuries longed and prayed. It was a purely interior joy, yet so mighty that before it all the world paled into nothingness. Hence this jubliant melody.

Over this melody must be inscribed the words: majestic, sublime! Like a king's mantle it spreads itself over the text. Beginning with the grand notes of the "Per omnia saecula," the introduction to the Preface, it emphasizes the words "advenit" increasingly, over "dominator" leaps an interval of a fourth, which supports itself on the dominant "f", lets this dominant resound -- it is really the dominant here -- and over "Dominus" rises above it.

Today's Introit again is a true overture to the liturgy of the Mass. The very first words provide the leitmotif: "In nomine Jesu." Except that it substitutes the word "Jesu" for "Domini," the first phrase, text, and melody, has been borrowed from the Introit of Wednesday in Holy Week.

(Introit as in the Mass of Christmas Day.) The first phrase sings of the Infant, the second stresses His dominion and divine dignity. Here the Christianized Roman sees realized his old dream of the "imperium," of the universal kingdom. The melody attains its peak at "imperium."

EPISODE DESCRIPTION

Could such sublime thoughts be sung more worthily, and at the same time more simply, than is done in this Introit? Just as the eternal sonship is necessary, just as it is something perfectly evident to God Himself, so is there likewise an obvious something in this fragrantly tender song that melts away every last vestige of doubt. An effect is thus produced which, in the field of the liturgy, would be quite unattainable by any elaborate tonal effort.

Perhaps the word "caeli," or the word "desuper," which in late Latin was accented on the second syllable, necessitated the high pitch of the first half of the first phrase, just as "terra" influenced the low pitch of the second phrase. Be that as it may, the chant is not a description of the dew descending from heaven. The melody has quite a different intent. It has more sublime things to tell: it is the expression of a heart full of ardent desires, of intense longing; it would pierce the bleak lowering skies of December.

Some Sundays of the liturgical year sum up their character and spirit in the very first word of the Introit. Thus it today's Introit: "Gaudete" -- 'Rejoice.' The altars are decked with flowers as for a feast; rose-colored vestments are used; we again hear the organ. What is the meaning of all this? What kind of joy is expressed today?

How different is the effect of the ascending fourth in today's Introit from that of the descending fourth in last Sunday's. One seems to hear a herald proclaiming to the people of Sion the most important news ever told, the tidings which mankind had been awaiting for centuries. The messenger commissioned by the Lord Himself, would have this message of joy penetrate into all hearts: "The Lord shall come to save the nations."

"Lift up ('levate') your heads, because your redemption is at hand." Thus the Lord consoles us in the Gospel for today, which, in the main, is intensely serious. He wishes to come as our Redeemer on Christmas night, and for this the Advent season, now beginning, is to prepare us. He wants to free our soul from the foes that press it from every side, from enemies who think they can already rejoice at our defeat.

"Lift up ('levate') your heads, because your redemption is at hand." Thus the Lord consoles us in the Gospel for today, which, in the main, is intensely serious. He wishes to come as our Redeemer on Christmas night, and for this the Advent season, now beginning, is to prepare us. He wants to free our soul from the foes that press it from every side, from enemies who think they can already rejoice at our defeat.