The Church Year begins with the Advent of our Lord, His threefold coming:in the flesh, conceived and born of the Blessed Virgin Mary; in the preaching and administration of the Gospel in His name and stead; and in the Final Judgment at the last. It is a season of repentance, marked especially by the preaching of St. John the Baptist, who goes before the Lord to prepare His way. Gerhardt does not mention St. John by name in either of his two hymns for Advent, but he serves the great forerunner’s task; not so much by a proclamation of repentance, as by the prayer of repentance that he gives the people to sing.
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