Archive for December 2011
O Emmanuel – O God with Us
O Emmanuel, Come!
O Emmanuel, our King and Lawgiver, the Expected of the nations and the Savior of them all, O come and save us, O Lord our God
-source of translation unknown
O Emmanuel, God with us, may we be ever more aware of your presence with us.
This statue of the Madonna is in Musée de Cluny, Paris.
O Rex Gentium – O King of Nations
O Come, King of Nations!
O King of the nations and Desire of the all, you are the Cornerstone who makes both one. O come and save the creatures whom you fashioned out of clay.
- source of translation unknown
O King of the Nations, be our cornerstone on whom we build our lives.
Stained glass of Our Risen King from the Cathedral in Monterey
O Oriens – O Dayspring
O Dayspring, Come!
O Rising Dawn, brightness of the Light Eternal and Son of Righteousness, O come and enlighten those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death.
- source of translation unknown
O Rising Dawn, bring light to the dark places of our lives!
O Clavis David – O Key of David
O Key of David, Come!
O Key of David and scepter of the house of Israel, you open and no one can close; you close and no one can open. O come and bring captives out of the prison house, those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death.
- source of translation unknown
O Key of David, open the gates of our hearts that we might find you there!
O Radix Jesse – O Root of Jesse
O Root of Jesse, Come!
O Root of Jesse, you stand as an ensign to the peoples; before you kings will shut their mouths and nations will bow in worship. O Come and deliver us and do not tarry.
O Root of Jesse, come and bring new life out of what appears lifeless!
O Adonai – O Lord
O Lord, come!
O Adonai and Leader of the House of Israel, you appeared to Moses in the fire of the burning bush and gave him the Law on Sinai. O come and redeem us with an outstretched arm.
-source of translation unknown
Please share your reflections on today’s O Antiphon in the comment section.
Illumination from an ancient Antiphonary in San Rafael
O Sapientia – O Wisdom
O Wisdom, Come!
Today we sing, “O Wisdom”, or as it was in the original Latin in the 7th century, “O Sapientia”.
O Wisdom, you came forth from the mouth of the Most High and reach from one end of the earth to the other, mightily and sweetly ordering all things. O come and teach us the way of prudence.
-source of translation unknown
Please share your reflections on today’s O Antiphon in the comment section.
May we be immersed in the Font of Wisdom.
This baptismal font is in the National Cathedral in Washington, DC.
The O Antiphons are Coming
If you have ever sung the Advent hymn, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel,” you have sung the O Antiphons. And while this song has been sung, in recent years, throughout the Advent and Christmas season. Traditionally, these antiphons are chanted before the Magnificat during evening prayer – from December 17th thru the 23rd (a different antiphon each day). These “O” antiphons address the Christ who is coming to us with a different biblical title. Originally these were chanted in Latin, and the first letters of the titles, read in reverse order, form the acrostic (also in Latin) “Ero cras”, which means “I will be with you tomorrow”, in answer to our prayer for Christ to come to us.
This week, as we anticipate the coming of Christ . . . the dawning of the light . . . in our lives, OPreach will celebrate these O Antiphons each day.
May the Blessings of Emmanuel – God with us – rest upon each of us as we approach Christmas Day.
We wait, in hope, for the coming of New Life.
Why Is It So Difficult for Us to Believe?
Today’s reading in the 3rd Thursday of Advent is from Isaiah 54
So God has sworn not to be angry with you,
or to rebuke you.
Though the mountains leave their place
and the hills be shaken,
My love shall never leave you
nor my covenant of peace be shaken,
says our God, who has mercy on you.
This snowy, seemingly immovable, granite mountain is in Yosemite.
We can believe that the mountains can’t be moved, but we have difficulty believing that God’s love would never leave us.
Let our Advent task be to find our hope in the love of God toward us, stronger and more faithful than anything we know.
