To help us experience Advent more deeply this year, we asked the Ursuline Sisters what words or phrases made them think of the Advent/Christmas season? This feature is called “What Advent is All About.” Sister Ruth Gehres shares her love for Advent hymns, especially the ones she learned during her time ministering in Chile.

Since my grade school days, Advent has been my favorite liturgical season. This attraction came especially from music. The first time I heard “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” (probably in Latin in those days), this moving hymn became my most loved Advent hymn, and it still is. And now I have another favorite to offer.

During the six years I lived in Chile, I learned to love the liturgy in Spanish . . . especially the music. My little choir of Casa Ursulina women sang on one Sunday each month at our lovely Chapel of the Divine Teacher, just up the street. All who came received a small badge illustrating the theme of that Sunday’s liturgy. Being part of this celebration was a joy for all of us. And learning the new Spanish Advent hymns was a special joy for me. My favorite was and still is: “Toda la Tierra Espera al Salvador” . . . “All the Earth waits for the Savior.”

Here is the English translation:

All earth is waiting to see the Promised One,
and open furrows, the sowing of our God.
All the world, bound and struggling, seeks true liberty;
it cries out for justice and searches for the truth.

Thus says the prophet to those of Israel:
“A virgin mother will bear Emmanuel”:
One whose name is “God with us,” our Savior shall be,
through whom hope will blossom once more within our hearts.

Mountains and valleys will have to be made plain;
open new highways, new highways for our God,
Who is now coming closer, so come all and see,
and open the doorways, as wide as they can be.
In a lowly stable the Promised One appeared,
yet we feel that presence throughout the earth today,
For Christ lives in all Christians and is with us now;
Again, on arriving, Christ bring us liberty.”

This was one of the last songs I led with the Casa Ursulina choir during Advent 2012.
Since I learned this hymn, we have come to know a new leader – Pope Francis, a man of the people whose leadership is characterized by humility and outspoken support of the world’s poor and marginalized people, political diplomacy and care for the environment. This hymn speaks to me of the spirit of Pope Francis . . . as he keeps leading us to our Savior, born in a manger.

You can hear the hymn sung in Spanish by a group of young people. Follow this link:  https://youtu.be/EbqF3hoEGqg?si=LH1IxL9sPl0G-eJn