The Fourth Sunday in Advent
The collect for today, the 4th Sunday in Advent, from the 1962 Canadian Book of Common Prayer:
Raise up, we beseech thee, O Lord, thy power, and come among us, and with great might succour us; that whereas, through our sins and wickedness, we are sore let and hindered in running the race that is set before us, thy bountiful grace and mercy may speedily help and deliver us; who with the Father and Holy Spirit livest and reignest, one God, world without end. Amen.
The Epistle: Philippians 4:4-7
The Gospel: St John 1:19-28
Artwork: Francesco del Cossa, St. John the Baptist (Side panel of the “Griffoni Polyptych“), 1473. Oil on panel, Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan.