The Feast of Our Lady of Expectation – 18 December

The Feast of Our Lady of Expectation – 18 December

Like a secret told by angels,
getting known upon the earth,
is the Mother’s expectation
of Messiah’s speedy birth.

Fr F W Faber (1814-1863) “Our Lady’s Expectations”

One of the most inspiring days preceding Christmas is the feast of “Our Lady of Expectation,” unknown to many today but still kept alive in many countries like Spain, Portugal, Italy and Poland as well as in a few religious orders.   In older editions of missals, this feast is still listed as a votive Mass.   The feast is celebrated on the 18 December, a week before Christmas Day.

Our Blessed Lady, well advanced in pregnancy, is portrayed in the highest dignity of her Divine Motherhood.   Dressed in royal apparel as daughter of David the King, she awaits with joy the arrival of her divine Son, the Prince of Peace.   Her whole posture suggests how she remains wholly consumed in contemplation of her Son under her heart. Her immaculate womb has become a living portable sanctuary of divinity.   There are special prayers and novenas to “Our Lady of Expectation” available for women who cannot conceive or bear a child.

We can try to imagine what those nine months were like for The Blessed Virgin, knowing that the Lord grew within her, was one with her.   We can only begin to understand the patience she had to possess, looking forward to both the glory and joy of the divine birth. We experience these same feelings—albeit to a lesser extent, no doubt—during this Advent season of preparation.   We examine our lives and look forward to the saving grace of our Lord, as mediated by Our Blessed Mother.   While the Lord’s plan was first enacted at the moment Mary was conceived without sin and made manifest to the Blessed Virgin at the Annunciation, it was made evident to the world at the moment of the Nativity.   Prior to that, Mary had seen and heard what others had not and she had only one more week to anticipate the arrival of her son, Our Lord, the Redeemer of the World!

Our Blessed Mother was the original tabernacle, in which the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.   Saint Augustine wrote that Mary conceived the Word in her heart before she conceived the Word in her flesh—that as she anticipated the birth of Jesus, her faith grew simultaneously.   The second Vatican Council declared that during the time of her pregnancy, the heart of the Incarnate Word beat gently below her immaculate heart – two immaculate hearts, beating silently and prayerfully as one.

We can imagine Mary’s nine-month journey as one of wonder and anticipation but given the circumstances she found herself in, we also know of her difficult journey, the doubts of Saint Joseph, the anxiety that she must have experienced during that time.   But Our Blessed Mother demonstrated not only patience but also forbearance and deep trust in the Lord.   She knew the road would not be easy—in fact, that her joy would almost certainly be linked to suffering throughout her life—but in hope and confidence placed her life in the Lord’s hands.   As she prepared for the birth of Jesus, Mary emptied herself, allowing her body and soul to be filled with the grace and spirit of the Lord. During Advent, we pray for a similar experience, that we might approach the birth of Our Saviour with hope and confidence.

The votive Mass of “Our Lady of Expectation” is theologically enlightening and spiritually enriching for the time of Advent and Christmas.   With the entrance antiphon, the Church prays with the prophet for the coming of the Just One from heaven that the earth may be ready to welcome the Saviour: “Send victory like a dew, you heavens, and let the clouds rain down the just.   Let the earth open for salvation to spring up” (Is 45:8).

In the opening prayer, the Church offers the prayer to God through Mary’s intercession: “O God who wished that your Word would take the flesh from the womb of the Virgin as announced by the Angel and whom we confess to be the true Mother of God, may we be helped by her intercession.”