Starting on the feast of St. Andrew on November 30, this prayer is recited till Christmas.
Hail and blessed be the hour and moment in which the Son of God was born of the pure Virgin Mary, at midnight, in Bethlehem, in the piercing cold. In that hour we beseech you O Lord, to hear our prayer, and grant our request.
When the Church celebrates the liturgy of Advent each year, she makes present this ancient expectancy of the Messiah, for the sharing in the long preparation for the Savior's first coming. The faithful renew their ardent desire for His second coming.
We have the privilege of living in the fullness of time. We are not deprived like the Patriarchs, of seeing the reign of the Messiah. We have the special happiness of being among those of whom David sang that we should be Christ’s inheritance.
The Holy Spirit who governs the Church wills that each year the Church should consecrate four weeks in recalling the long duration of the divine preparations, and that she should strive to place our souls in the interior disposition in which the faithful Jews lived whilst awaiting the coming of the Messiah.
You will perhaps say: This preparation for Christ’s coming, these longings, these expectations, all of that was excellent for those living under the Old Covenant. Now that Christ has come, why this attitude which does not seem in accordance with the truth?
The Church encourages us to enter this period of grace for many reasons. God wills to be praised and blessed in all His works. This is especially our responsibility, we, who have the glory of God as our direct end. God wills that we should admire his works and that we should return thanks to Him for having thus prepared, with so much wisdom and power, a place for the kingdom of his Son amongst us.
During this period of grace we recall the prophecies and promises of the Old Covenant. God gave us many different signs, in order that we might recognize as His Son the One Who has fulfilled them in His person. Jesus said, “Search the Scriptures….for all things must need be fulfilled which are written…in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me”. When, therefore, we read the prophecies that the Church proposes to us during Advent, let us in the fullness of our faith say like the first disciples of Jesus: "We have found Him of whom…the prophets did write." Let us repeat to Christ Jesus Himself: You are truly the One who is to come; we believe it, and adore you, who, to save the world did become incarnate and was born of a Virgin. This profession of faith is extremely pleasing to God.
At Christmas, the Church celebrates the Birthday of her Divine Bridegroom. She wills to prepare us, by the weeks of Advent, for the grace of the coming of Christ within us. It is an altogether inward, mysterious advent, which is founded on faith. Christ is already within us by sanctifying grace, which makes us children of God. That is true, but the Church wills that this grace should be renewed, that we should live a new life more exempt from sin and imperfection.
