{"id":36294,"date":"2014-11-29T09:09:30","date_gmt":"2014-11-29T14:09:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/?p=36294"},"modified":"2016-09-30T15:42:35","modified_gmt":"2016-09-30T19:42:35","slug":"will-you-be-chanting-the-christmas-proclamation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2014\/11\/will-you-be-chanting-the-christmas-proclamation\/","title":{"rendered":"Will you be chanting the Christmas Proclamation?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"hqdefault\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A deacon reader asked me if I had a copy of this lying around, and I was able to find this very good version<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>(at the bottom of the page.)<\/p>\n

This\u00a0chant isn\u2019t mandatory and could even be read; unlike The Exsultet<\/em>, the rubrics don\u2019t even mention the deacon doing it. But this exquisite proclamation\u00a0can set a beautiful, mystical tone for the Christmas celebration. Some background:<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

This Proclamation of the Birth of Christ comes from the Roman Martyrology, the official listing of the saints celebrated by the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church. Traditionally, it has been read on Christmas Eve, before the celebration of Midnight Mass. It situates the Nativity of Christ within the context of salvation history, making reference not only to biblical events but also to the Greek and Roman worlds. The coming of Christ at\u00a0Christmas, then, is seen as the summit of both sacred and secular history.<\/p>\n

In the 1980\u2019s, Pope John Paul II restored the Proclamation of the Birth of Christ to the papal celebration of Midnight Mass. (It had been removed during the reform of the liturgy.) Many parishes have followed the Holy Father\u2019s lead.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

In my parish, it is chanted by one of our priests with the lights dimmed just before the long entrance processional for Midnight Mass\u2014which, I have to say, is no small thing. The procession\u00a0includes about 40 altar servers, candles, torches, incense, three priests, the deacon and, bringing up the rear, the pastor carrying the infant Jesus in his arms, all slowly gliding down the aisle to the glorious strains of \u201cOnce in Royal David\u2019s City.\u201d Reaching the altar, the pastor places the infant in the manger and the choir segues into \u201cO Come All Ye Faithful,\u201d complete with trumpets.\u00a0My\u00a0pastor has described this liturgy\u00a0as \u201cmagical,\u201d and\u00a0I wouldn\u2019t disagree. More than a few times, I\u2019ve found myself stumbling down the aisle, blinking back tears.<\/p>\n

Anyway: a few years ago Jimmy Akin offered a very good dissection of the Christmas Proclamation<\/a><\/strong>, noting all the events it mentions and how they situate the birth of Christ. It can help anyone planning to undertake this proclamation understand when and where it all took place.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re going to undertake this beautiful chant, start practicing<\/strong>.<\/a> And good luck! The text, via the USCCB<\/a><\/strong>, below:<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n

The Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ<\/h3>\n

The Twenty-fifth Day of December,<\/p>\n

when ages beyond number had run their course
\nfrom the creation of the world,<\/p>\n

when God in the beginning created heaven and earth,
\nand formed man in his own likeness;<\/p>\n

when century upon century had passed
\nsince the Almighty set his bow in the clouds after the Great Flood,
\nas a sign of covenant and peace;<\/p>\n

in the twenty-first century since Abraham, our father in faith,
\ncame out of Ur of the Chaldees;<\/p>\n

in the thirteenth century since the People of Israel were led by Moses
\nin the Exodus from Egypt;<\/p>\n

around the thousandth year since David was anointed King;<\/p>\n

in the sixty-fifth week of the prophecy of Daniel;<\/p>\n

in the one hundred and ninety-fourth Olympiad;<\/p>\n

in the year seven hundred and fifty-two
\nsince the foundation of the City of Rome;<\/p>\n

in the forty-second year of the reign of Caesar Octavian Augustus,
\nthe whole world being at peace,<\/p>\n

JESUS CHRIST<\/strong>, eternal God and Son of the eternal Father,
\ndesiring to consecrate the world by his most loving presence,
\nwas conceived by the Holy Spirit,
\nand when nine months had passed since his conception,
\nwas born of the Virgin Mary in Bethlehem of Judah,
\nand was made man:<\/p>\n

The Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to the flesh.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n<\/p><\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A deacon reader asked me if I had a copy of this lying around, and I was able to find this very good version\u00a0(at the bottom of the page.) This\u00a0chant isn\u2019t mandatory and could even be read; unlike The Exsultet, the rubrics don\u2019t even mention the deacon doing it. But this exquisite proclamation\u00a0can set a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":132,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36294","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-liturgy"],"yoast_head":"\nWill you be chanting the Christmas Proclamation?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A deacon reader asked me if I had a copy of this lying around, and I was able to find this very good version\u00a0(at the bottom of the page.) This\u00a0chant isn't\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2014\/11\/will-you-be-chanting-the-christmas-proclamation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Will you be chanting the Christmas Proclamation?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A deacon reader asked me if I had a copy of this lying around, and I was able to find this very good version\u00a0(at the bottom of the page.) This\u00a0chant isn't\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2014\/11\/will-you-be-chanting-the-christmas-proclamation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Deacon's Bench\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-11-29T14:09:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-09-30T19:42:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/files\/2014\/11\/hqdefault.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Deacon Greg Kandra\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Deacon Greg Kandra\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2014\/11\/will-you-be-chanting-the-christmas-proclamation\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2014\/11\/will-you-be-chanting-the-christmas-proclamation\/\",\"name\":\"Will you be chanting the Christmas Proclamation?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-11-29T14:09:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-09-30T19:42:35+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#\/schema\/person\/7466606aa54639bf56a17705dcfc0970\"},\"description\":\"A deacon reader asked me if I had a copy of this lying around, and I was able to find this very good version\u00a0(at the bottom of the page.) This\u00a0chant isn't\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2014\/11\/will-you-be-chanting-the-christmas-proclamation\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2014\/11\/will-you-be-chanting-the-christmas-proclamation\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2014\/11\/will-you-be-chanting-the-christmas-proclamation\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Will you be chanting the Christmas Proclamation?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/\",\"name\":\"The Deacon's Bench\",\"description\":\"Where a Roman Catholic deacon ponders the world\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#\/schema\/person\/7466606aa54639bf56a17705dcfc0970\",\"name\":\"Deacon Greg Kandra\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7332f32e3041fc2061e292186274b171?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7332f32e3041fc2061e292186274b171?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Deacon Greg Kandra\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/author\/deacon-greg-kandra\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Will you be chanting the Christmas Proclamation?","description":"A deacon reader asked me if I had a copy of this lying around, and I was able to find this very good version\u00a0(at the bottom of the page.) This\u00a0chant isn't","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2014\/11\/will-you-be-chanting-the-christmas-proclamation\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Will you be chanting the Christmas Proclamation?","og_description":"A deacon reader asked me if I had a copy of this lying around, and I was able to find this very good version\u00a0(at the bottom of the page.) This\u00a0chant isn't","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2014\/11\/will-you-be-chanting-the-christmas-proclamation\/","og_site_name":"The Deacon's Bench","article_published_time":"2014-11-29T14:09:30+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-09-30T19:42:35+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/files\/2014\/11\/hqdefault.jpg"}],"author":"Deacon Greg Kandra","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Deacon Greg Kandra","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2014\/11\/will-you-be-chanting-the-christmas-proclamation\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2014\/11\/will-you-be-chanting-the-christmas-proclamation\/","name":"Will you be chanting the Christmas Proclamation?","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#website"},"datePublished":"2014-11-29T14:09:30+00:00","dateModified":"2016-09-30T19:42:35+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#\/schema\/person\/7466606aa54639bf56a17705dcfc0970"},"description":"A deacon reader asked me if I had a copy of this lying around, and I was able to find this very good version\u00a0(at the bottom of the page.) This\u00a0chant isn't","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2014\/11\/will-you-be-chanting-the-christmas-proclamation\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2014\/11\/will-you-be-chanting-the-christmas-proclamation\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2014\/11\/will-you-be-chanting-the-christmas-proclamation\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Will you be chanting the Christmas Proclamation?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/","name":"The Deacon's Bench","description":"Where a Roman Catholic deacon ponders the world","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#\/schema\/person\/7466606aa54639bf56a17705dcfc0970","name":"Deacon Greg Kandra","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7332f32e3041fc2061e292186274b171?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7332f32e3041fc2061e292186274b171?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Deacon Greg Kandra"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/author\/deacon-greg-kandra\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36294","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/132"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36294"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36294\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36294"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}