Saint Mary's Roman Catholic Parish of Pittsfield, IL

12/18/2025

12/18/2025

Christmas Mass times for St. Mary's and St. Mark's

Dec. 24th - 5pm St. Mark's and 8pm St. Mary's
Dec. 25th - 8:30am St. Mary's and 10:30am St. Mark's

12/18/2025

The rose vestments which the priest wears and the rose Advent candle are expressions of the joy which sparks in the heart of the Church. The color is “rose” not “pink,” because of the symbolic meaning behind the color “rose.” The color pink is produced by blending red and white; however, to produce rose you need to add violet to the mixture. This mixture tells you something about the Church’s prayer at this moment in time, because the colors have a symbolic meaning.

Red is often meant to signify the blood of martyrs, the fire of the Holy Spirit, or the Passion of Our Lord. White signals the Glory of God which is shared with the Saints, and is proclaimed in Christmas and Easter and throughout the life of the Church. But violet is a sign of repentance or mourning, of those activities we engage in to renew and focus our prayer.

Rose is a blending of three things. Our own repentance and renewal (VIOLET), the Glory of God (WHITE), and Christ’s Incarnation, which happened so that He could redeem us through His Passion
(RED). The joy of the Church this week is not compelled simply because Advent is halfway done, and the priests don’t wear rose simply for the sake of diversity. Rather we rejoice that the activity of our lives (VIOLET) is so near to the glory of Heaven (WHITE), and because our redemption is at hand (RED).

12/18/2025

The O Antiphons: O LORD / O ADONAI 🔥 The traditional symbol of this O Antiphon is the Ten Commandments, to symbolize the law of God. "For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our ruler, the Lord is our king; he will save us." Isaiah 33:22

🎶 O come, O come thou Lord of might, Who to thy tribes on Sinai’s height, In ancient time did give the law, In cloud, and majesty, and awe. Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel, Shall come to thee, O Israel. 🎶

It’s the third day of the Christmas Novena and the second day of the O Antiphons. The O Antiphons trace titles of God through salvation history and are traditionally recited or sung at vespers (evening prayers) or as part of the Novena prayers for the last seven days of Advent (before Christmas Eve).

12/18/2025

18 December | Our Lady of Expectation

The feast especially invites the faithful to envision what it was like to be the Blessed Virgin Mary, about to give birth to the Savior of the world.
Benedict XVI spoke of her with this title in a prayer: O Mary, Virgin of expectation and Mother of hope, revive the spirit of Advent in your entire Church...
An interesting twist to this devotion is that she is also known as Our Lady of the O, and her December 18 feast day, the Feast of the O.
This of course comes from the fact that on December 18, the Church has just begun to pray with the O Antiphons.
The great O Antiphons –– seven antiphons, or short chants, are sung at the beginning of the Magnificat each evening at Vespers (Evening Prayer) from December 17 through December 23.
The O Antiphons have been chanted in the Church since at least the 8th century. There are many levels to the symbolism and foreshadowing of the antiphons. Individually, they each speak on their own, addressing our Lord by a different title or name given to him in Old Testament prophecies, imploring him to come and save his people. These antiphons are called the “O Antiphons” because each chant begins with great cry, “O …” :
O Sapientia — O Wisdom
O Adonai — O Lord
O Radix Jesse — O Root of Jesse
O Clavis David — O Key of David
O Oriens — O Dayspring
O Rex Gentium — O King of the Nations
O Emmanuel — O God with Us
So as we head into these last days of Advent, we call on the Virgin of Expectation and Mother of Hope, the Lady of the O, and ask her to intercede for us, that we might embrace her Son with the same fervor that she has.
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Source:
1. Turn to Our Lady of Expectation for the last graces of Advent [Kathleen N. Hattrup on 12/18/20] — Aleteia

12/18/2025

👑✨ Day 2: O Leader! ✨👑
O Leader of the House of Israel, giver of the law to Moses on Sinai: come to rescue us with your mighty power!
As we step into the second day of the O Antiphons, let's reflect on the radiant theme of O Leader. Today, we celebrate the guiding light that leads us with love.
This comes from our O Antiphons ornaments.

12/16/2025

12/16/2025

🎄✨ Join Us for a Christmas Novena ✨🎄

As we prepare our hearts for Christmas, we invite you to pray a Christmas Novena with us. From Day 1 through Day 9, we’ll unite our prayers, offering them together for our families, our intentions, and the needs of the world.

Let’s walk this journey of faith side by side and keep Christ at the center of this holy season. 💕🙏

You can find the novena prayers here:
👉 https://americaneedsfatima.org/prayers/christmas-novena

Invite your friends and family to pray along. There is great strength in praying together! 🙏✨

12/16/2025

Here's a unique novena to help prepare for the birth of Jesus.

12/16/2025

"He embraced His bride, and held her Lovingly upon His breast, And the gracious Mother laid Him In the manger down to rest."

12/16/2025

Daily Bible Readings, Podcast Audio and Videos and Prayers brought to you by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

12/16/2025

The "O Antiphons" of Advent

The Roman Church has been singing the "O" Antiphons since at least the eighth century. They are the antiphons that accompany the Magnificat canticle of Evening Prayer from December 17-23. They are a magnificent theology that uses ancient biblical imagery drawn from the messianic hopes of the Old Testament to proclaim the coming Christ as the fulfillment not only of Old Testament hopes, but present ones as well. Their repeated use of the imperative "Come!" embodies the longing of all for the Divine Messiah.
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