The word "Advent" in English comes from the Latin Adventus which means "Coming." During the Advent season, most Catholics focus on one coming of Christ: His coming into the world 2000 years ago in Bethlehem at Christmas. This is, of course, the primary purpose of Advent: to prepare for the celebration of the Nativity of Our Lord at Christmas. The word Christmas comes from Christ's Mass, the Mass of Our Lord's birth into this world.
Some Catholics are familiar with the idea that the first part of Advent focuses on the Second Coming of Christ at the end of time, instead of focusing on Christmas directly. Thus, they understand that Advent invites the faithful to contemplate both the Birth of Jesus at Christmas and His return in glory at the consummation of the world. Two comings of Christ: one in humility and gentleness, and one in glory and majesty.
Many Catholics are surprised, therefore, to hear that the Church Fathers speak not of two but of three Comings (Advents) of Christ. This idea is especially well expressed in an Advent sermon given by the 12th-century Cistercian Abbot St. Bernard of Clairvaux, who is a Doctor of the Church and to whom the Catholic Church gives the title of The Mellifluous Doctor, because his words of preaching were as sweet to the ears as is honey (in Latin, mel) to the taste.
What then is the Third Coming of Christ? St. Bernard expresses it in these words (translated from the Latin):
We know that the Coming of Our Lord is threefold: the Third Coming is between the other two and it is not visible in the way they are.
At His First Coming, Our Lord was seen on earth and lived among men, who saw Him and hated Him.
At his Second Coming, all flesh shall see the salvation of our God, and "they shall look upon Him whom they have pierced" (Zach. 12:10, quoted in Jn. 19:37).
In the Third Coming, the Hidden Coming which lies between the First and the Second, only the chosen see Him, and they see Him within themselves; and so their souls are saved. The First Coming was in flesh and weakness; the Middle Coming is in spirit and power; and the Final Coming will be in glory and majesty.
St. Bernard refers to the Third Coming of Christ as the Adventus Medius or Middle Coming, and situates it between the First Coming (Christmas) and the Second Coming (the end of time). St. Bernard says that this Middle Coming
is like a road that leads from the First Coming to the Last. At the First, Christ was our redemption; at the Last, He will become manifest as our life; but in this Middle Coming, He is our rest and our consolation.
St. Bernard goes on to prove his point by referring directly to Our Lord's words in the Gospel:
If you think that I am inventing what I am saying about the Middle Coming, listen to the Lord himself: "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My words, and the Father will love him, and We shall come to him."
Thus we have Christ coming to us in flesh and in weakness (Christmas), in glory and in majesty (end of time), and in spirit and in power (grace). In the flesh, in grace, and in glory!
The Middle Coming of Christ in grace takes place primarily through the Sacraments, for the Seven Sacraments of the Catholic Church are the primary instruments of God's grace in the world. And of all the Sacraments, there is one that surpasses all the others. We call it The Most Blessed Sacrament to show its primacy over the other six. The Holy Eucharist is therefore the primary means of this Middle Coming of Christ in grace.
The Blessed Sacrament is the place where we encounter Christ between Christmas and the end of time. It is, as the Melliflous Doctor so beautifully states, Christ who comes to us as our rest and our consolation.
The Real and True Presence of Jesus Christ in the Most Blessed Sacrament is the place where we find rest in this world. This is why Eucharistic Adoration renews our soul and strengthens our interior life. As the Beloved Disciple, St. John the Apostle, rested his tired head upon the Sacred Heart of Jesus at the Last Supper, so too it is to the Blessed Sacrament that we must go if we wish to do the same. In the Blessed Sacrament is contained both the Christ who came in the flesh and in humility at Christmas, and the Christ who will come in glory and in majesty at the end of time. Let us meditate upon this truth whenever we find ourselves before the Blessed Sacrament, and especially during this season of Advent.
