REFLECTION ON THE ‘O’ ANTIPHONS

REFLECTION ON THE ‘O’ ANTIPHONS

DECEMBER 17 – 23

The Advent season is a time of preparation that directs our hearts and minds to Christ’s second coming at the end of time and also to the anniversary of the Lord’s birth on Christmas. (USCCB)  It is a grace-filled time of anticipation and preparation, a time to also reflect on how Christ is present in our lives each day, most importantly, in the Blessed Sacrament.  He is also often present in hidden ways. In our time and society, the preparation all too often takes priority over the anticipation, the waiting with great expectation.  Our challenge as Catholic Christians – especially as Catholic Christian women – is to embrace the waiting and prolong as much as possible the preparation.

We think of Mary and Martha in Luke’s Gospel.  Martha was about preparation; Mary understood the idea of presence and anticipation.  Sometimes what we most need is that silent presence with our Lord – without activity, just being with him.

 

As we move through Advent the waiting and longing for Christ intensifies.  We experience this in the Scripture we hear at Mass.  We experience it in the season itself – as time grows short, the anticipation is almost palpable.  Those with young children awaiting all that Christmas Day will bring understand this well!  Our hearts yearn for Christ to come with even greater anticipation than little ones awaiting the appearance of Santa.

 We often miss daily opportunities to be aware of the presence of Christ in our life – in the many small ways, particularly.  These days of Advent are an open invitation to us to spend time with a heightened awareness of God among us.

The final days of Advent, from December 17 to December 24, focus particularly on our preparation for the celebrations of the Nativity of our Lord (Christmas). (USCCB)

 

During these days, the Church gives us signposts that we are soon to behold the coming of Christ.  The Lectionary readings at Mass are specific to these days, allowing us to reflect on the passages in the Old Testament which point to the coming of our Savior.  Additionally during these final days of Advent, the Church gives us what we call the ‘O’ Antiphons.  These are prayed at Vespers each day just before the singing of Mary’s hymn, the Magnificat.  The words of these antiphons are also used in Mass each day in the verse of the Gospel Alleluia Acclamation.  The exact origin of the antiphons is unknown, but they date back to the 6^th century.  The importance of the O Antiphons is twofold. First, each one is a title for the Messiah. Secondly, each one refers to the prophecy of Isaiah of the coming of the Messiah. 

 The text of these antiphons appears in the hymn, O Come, O Come, Emmanuel and in other modern Advent songs (e.g., My Soul in Stillness Waits).

They are a magnificent theology that uses ancient biblical imagery drawn from the messianic hopes of the Old Testament to proclaim the coming Christ as the fulfillment not only of Old Testament hopes, but present ones as well. Their repeated use of the imperative "Come!" embodies the longing of all for the Divine Messiah. (USCCB)

 The original antiphons are, of course, in Latin.  We will look at the first word(s) of each in the Latin and then the English.

 So we begin on December 17^th, the first of what are sometimes called the “Golden Nights.”

 English translations from USCCB

 

O Sapientia

O Wisdom, you came from the mouth of the Most High,
reaching from end to end mightily

and loving disposing all things:

Come and teach us the way of prudence.

 

Wisdom is here personified, present with God at the beginning of creation.  This is a prefigurement of Jesus, the eternal Word of God, the "logos" John described in the opening of his gospel.  In our finite way of thinking, it is difficult to grasp the eternal nature of God – Wisdom reaching from “end to end.”  Wisdom is the foundation of fear of the Lord, of holiness, or right living: it is wisdom whom we bid to come and teach us prudence.  The cry "Come" will be repeated again and again, insistent and hope-filled. 

 

O Adonai

O Adonai and Leader of the House of Israel,
You appeared to Moses in the burning bush

and gave him the law on Sinai:
Come, with outstretched arm, redeem us.

 "Adonai" is Hebrew for "my Lord", and was substituted by devout Jews for the name "Yahweh", out of reverence.  With this second antiphon we progress from creation to the familiar story of God manifesting himself by name to Moses and giving his law to Israel as their way of life.  We are also reminded of the Israelites' deliverance from bondage under pharaoh - a foreshadowing of our own redemption from sin.  The image of God's arm outstretched in power to save his chosen people also brings to mind the later scene of Jesus with his arms outstretched for us on the cross. 

O Radix Jesse

O Root of Jesse,
You are a sign for all the people,

Before you kings remain silent and to you the nations make supplication:
Come to deliver us and do not delay!

Isaiah prophesied a restoration of David's throne - a new branch budding out 
of the old root.  Christ is the root of Jesse in a two-fold sense: he is the descendant of David, who was the youngest son of Jesse, and he inherited the royal throne.  The angel foretold to Mary, "The Lord God will give him the throne of David his father.  He will rule over the house of Jacob forever and his reign will be without end" (Luke 1:32-33).

Our hearts more and more urgently cry out for God's reign to extend over all humanity: "Come, save us, and do not delay". 

 O Clavis David

O Key of David,
and scepter of the house of Israel,

You open and no one shuts,
You shut and no one opens:
Come, and free the prisoners sitting in darkness,
And in the shadow of death.

The key and scepter are traditional symbols of kingly power and authority. Christ, the anointed one, is the heir of David and possessor of the kingdom. Jesus himself also made use of this symbol, showing the prophetic relationship of the earthly kingdom of David to the kingdom of God.  All power and authority was given to him after the resurrection, and he entrusted this power to "bind and to loose" to Peter and the ministers of his church.

In the closing petition we look to Jesus to unlock the fetters of sin that keep us tightly chained.  It is he who frees us from our captivity.  We recall the deliverance proclaimed by the psalmist of old: "they dwelt in darkness and gloom, bondsmen in want and in chains,...and he led them forth fromdarkness and gloom and broke their bonds asunder" (Psalm 107: 10, 14).

 O Oriens

O Rising Sun, brightness of eternal Light

And Sun of Justice:
Come and enlighten those that sit in darkness
And in the shadow of death.

 

This title is variously translated "morning star", "Dayspring", "rising sun", "radiant dawn", "orient".  All beautifully express the idea of light shattering the darkness of night, of sin and death, of sickness and despair, with its brightness bringing healing and warmth to cold hearts.  Jesus is indeed the true light, the radiance of his Father's splendor. The church prays this petition daily in the Benedictus, joining in the words of Zechariah: "He, the Dayspring, shall visit us in his mercy to shine on those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death" (Luke 1:78-79).
 

O Rex Gentium

O King of the nations,

and their Desired,the Cornerstone,
you make all things one:
Come and save mankind whom You have formed out of clay.

The earlier antiphons have already alluded to the Messiah coming not only to Israel  but to convert the gentile nations and redeem them for his own. Now this sixth antiphon clearly addresses the savior as the king of the gentiles (Jer.10:7) and the Desired One of the nations.  The Messiah is the cornerstone on whom our spiritual foundations are laid, but on whom unbelievers stumble (Matt. 21:42).  This cornerstone unites and binds Jew and gentile into one, making peace between them.

The plea is that God save all humanity, all his creation that he formed from the dust of the earth (Gen.2:7).  We yearn for him once again to breathe the breath of his new life into us.

O Emmanuel

O Emmanuel, our King and Lawgiver,

you are the Expected of nations and their savior:
Come and save us, O Lord our God.

With this last antiphon our expectation finds joy now in the certainty of fulfillment.  We call Jesus by one of the most personal and intimate of his titles, Emmanuel, God-with-us.  We recall that in his birth from the Virgin Mary God takes on our very flesh and human nature: God coming nearer to us than we could have ever imagined!  Yet he is also to be exalted above us as our king, the lawgiver and judge, the one whom we honor and obey.  And he is our savior, long-expected by all creation.  The final cry rises from us urgent in our need for daily salvation and forgiveness of our sins, and confident that our God will not withhold himself from us.  

 

In Latin the initials of the titles make an acrostic which, when read backwards. means: "Tomorrow I will be there" ("Ero cras").  To the medieval mind this was clearly a reference to the approaching Christmas vigil.

 As we move ever closer to the celebration of Christmas, please know that you all are remembered in our prayer of the Christmas Novena.  May you and your loved ones be abundantly blessed these holy days.

 

Sister Christine