O Emmanuel 2024

O Emmanuel, Rex et legifer noster, exspectatio gentium, et Salvator earum: veni ad salvandum nos, Domine, Deus noster.

O Emmanuel, our king and lawgiver, longing of the nations and Savior thereof: Come and save us, O Lord our God. 

An 18th century Greek icon of Christ-Emmanuel, from the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at the University of Oregon.

In various medieval uses of the Roman Rite, but not in that of Rome itself, the vigil of Christmas was extended back to include the Vespers of the preceding day, December 23rd, with the addition of a special responsory to be sung between the chapter and the hymn.

R. De illa occulta habitatione sua egressus est Filius Dei; descendit visitare et consolari omnes, qui eum de toto corde desiderabant. V. Ex Sion species decoris ejus, Deus noster manifeste veniet. Descendit. Gloria Patri. Descendit.

R. From that hidden habitation of His, the Son of God shall go forth; He hath come down to visit and console all those, who long for Him with all their heart. V. Out of Sion the loveliness of His beauty, our God shall come manifestly. He hath come down. Glory be. He hath come down.

O Rex Gentium 2024

O Rex Gentium, et desideratus earum, lapisque angularis, qui facis utraque unum: veni, et salva hominem, quem de limo formasti.

O King of the nations, and desire thereof, and cornerstone that makest of twain one: come and save Man, whom Thou formed from the mire of the earth.

The Creation of Adam, by Andrea Pisano, 1335; from the bell-tower of the Cathedral of Florence.

O Oriens 2024

O Oriens, splendor lucis aeternae, et sol justitiae: veni, et illumina sedentes in tenebris, et umbra mortis.

O Morning Star, splendor of eternal light and sun of righteousness: Come and enlighten those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.

Mosaic of Christ the Pantocrator in Hagia Sophia, Constantinople; after 1261. 

Today is also the feast of St. Thomas the Apostle; many medieval breviaries have a special O antiphon for Vespers of his feast:

O Thoma Didyme, per Christum quem meruisti tangere, te precibus rogamus altisonis, succurre nobis miseris, ne damnemur cum impiis in adventu judicis.

O Thomas the Twin, through Christ, Whom thou didst merit to touch, with prayers resounding on high we beseech thee, come to help us in our wretchedness, lest we be damned with the wicked at the Coming of the Judge.

The St. Thomas Altarpiece, by the Master of the St. Bartholomew Altar, 1501

O Clavis David 2024

O Clavis David, et sceptrum domus Israel; qui aperis, et nemo claudit; claudis, et nemo aperit: veni, et educ vinctum de domo carceris, sedentem in tenebris, et umbra mortis.

O Key of David and sceptre of the House of Israel; who openest and no man shutteth; shuttest and no man openeth: come and lead the prisoners from the prison house, that sit in darkness and the shadow of death. 

The Harrowing of Hell, from an Exsultet scroll of the later 11th century.

O Radix Jesse 2024

O Radix Jesse, qui stas in signum populorum, super quem continebunt reges os suum, quem gentes deprecabuntur: veni ad liberandum nos, jam noli tardare.

O Root of Jesse, which standest as a sign to the peoples, at whom kings shall shut their mouths, whom the gentiles shall beseech, come to deliver us, delay thou not!

The Tree of Jesse, from the chapel of the Conception of the Virgin and of St. Anne in the cathedral of Burgos, Spain.

O Adonai 2024

O Adonai, et Dux domus Israel, qui Moysi in igne flammae rubi apparuisti, et ei in Sina legem dedisti: veni ad redimendum nos in brachio extento.

O Adonai, and Ruler of the house of Israel, who appeared unto Moses in the burning bush, and gave him the Law on Sinai, come to redeem us with arm outstretched!

O Sapientia 2024

O Sapientia, quae ex ore Altissimi prodiisti, attingens a fine usque ad finem, fortiter suaviterque disponens omnia: veni ad docendum nos viam prudentiae.

O Wisdom, that comest from the mouth of the Most High, that reachest from one end to another, mightily and sweetly ordering all things, come and teach us the way of prudence.

A icon of Holy Wisdom, 1860

Many years ago, I stumbled across a book which described a very charming medieval custom, by which the O antiphons were assigned to different members of a cathedral chapter or monastic community, connecting the first words of the antiphons with various positions within the house. One version is given by a post from twelve years ago on the blog A Clerk of Oxford. “The right of intoning one of the O Antiphons was jealously limited by immemorial custom to certain higher officers in the community and each of these great functionaries had his own appropriate antiphon. In most monasteries, the antiphon O Sapientia (O Wisdom) was reserved to the Abbot and O Adonai to the Prior. Some antiphons were intoned by the obedientiary or functionary most closely associated with the theme of the antiphon: O Radix Jesse was reserved to the gardener, O Clavis David to the cellarer whose duty it was to keep things under lock and key, and O Rex Gentium to the infirmarian, since the antiphon contained the clause, ‘Come and save (or heal) man whom you have formed out of clay.’ ” If memory serves, O Sapientia might also be given to the cathedral schoolmaster, and O Emmanuel to one of the boy choristers. If anyone knows more about this custom, or can point to a reference that gives more information, please be so kind as to leave a note in the combox. Prope est jam Dominus: venite, adoremus!

A Medieval Liturgical Commentary on the O Antiphons (Part 2)

In the Middle Ages, many uses of the Roman Rite added one or more new O antiphons to the well-known ancient series of seven. Of these additions, the first given here, O Virgo virginum, was certainly the most widespread, and in fact is still used by the Premonstratensians; many places in Germany lengthened the series to eleven or twelve. There was also one written for Vespers of St Thomas the Apostle, O Thoma Didyme, since the ferial antiphons of the 20th and 21st would normally be used only for the commemoration of Advent on his feast. As noted in an article earlier this week, the Use of Augsburg in Germany supplemented the O antiphons not only by the addition of four new ones, but also with a special chapter and prayer assigned to each day, which refer back to the antiphon itself. The O series began on December 13th; the four additional ones were then sung from December 20th to the 23rd.

The Annunciation, by Jan de Beer (1475-1528); first quarter of the 16th century. (Public domain image from Wikipedia.)

December 20

Capitulum Ecce Virgo conci- piet, et pariet filium, et voca- bitur nomen ejus Emmanuel; butyrum et mel comedet, ut sciat reprobare malum, et eligere bonum.	Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel; he shall eat butter and honey, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good. (Isa. 7, 14-15)
Aña O Virgo virginum, * quomodo fiet istud, quia nec primam visa es, nec habere sequentem? Filiae Jerusalem, quid me admiramini? Divi- num est mysterium hoc quod cernitis.	O Virgin of virgins, how shall this come to pass? For Thou seemest to have none like Thee before, nor any such to follow. Daughters of Jerusalem, why do you regard me in wonder? This which you see is a divine mystery.
Oratio Domine, sancte Pater, omnipotens aeterne Deus, Creator humanae substantiae, qui Verbum tuum in Virginis uterum venire voluisti: sup- plicantium tibi preces beni- gnus intende. Per eundem.	Lord, holy Father, almighty and eternal God, creator of our hu- man nature, who didst will that Thy word come into the womb of the Virgin; listen kindly to the prayer of them that beseech Thee. Through the same...

December 21

Cap. Vidi portam in domo Domini clausam, et dixit ad me Angelus: Solus Dominus veniens ingreditur per eam, et semper erit clausa.	I saw a closed door in the house of the Lord, and the An- gel said to me, “Only the Lord will come and enter through it, and it will always be closed.”
Aña O Gabriel, * nuntius caelorum, qui januis clausis ad me intrasti, et Verbum nuntiasti: Concipies et pari- es, Emmanuel vocabitur.	O Gabriel, messenger of the heavens, who came to me through the closed doors, and announced the Word: Thou shalt conceive, and bear a Son.
Oratio Deus, qui de beatae Mariae Virginis utero Ver- bum tuum, Angelo nuntian- te, carnem suscipere voluisti: praesta supplicibus tuis; ut, qui vere eam Genitricem Dei credimus, ejus apud te inter- cessonibus adjuvemur. Per eundem.	O God, who willed that Thy Word should, by the message of an Angel, take flesh in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary: grant unto us, we be- seech Thee; that we who be- lieve Her to be truly the Mo- ther of God, may be helped by Her intercession. Through the same...

December 22

Cap. Magnificabitur Domi- nus usque ad fines terrae, et in diebus ejus pax et laetitia erit multis.	The Lord shall be magnified unto the ends of the earth, and in his days there shall be peace and joy unto many.
Aña O Rex pacifice, * ante saecula nate, per auream e- gredere portam, redemptos tuos visita, et eos illuc revo- ca, unde ruerunt per culpam.	O peaceable King, born before the ages, go out through the golden gate, visit those whom Thou hast redeemed, and call them back, whence down they fell through sin.
Oratio Redemptor noster, aspice, Deus, et veni ad li- berandum nos de profundo iniquitatis, et dona Eccle- siae tuae perpetuam tran- quillitatem. Qui vivis.	Look upon us, o God, our Re- deemer, and come to deliver us from the depth of iniquity; and grant perpetual peace to Thy Church. Who livest...

The chapter Vidi portam is actually the text of an antiphon written for the feast of the Annunciation, which, however, was apparently not used at Augsburg itself; it alludes to, but does not exactly quote the prophet Ezechiel’s vision of the new and eternal Temple in the final chapters of his book. The chapter of the following day begins as a quotation of Micah 5,4, but is more allusion than quote. As with many such expansions of earlier liturgical customs, these are not of a uniform literary quality. The antiphon O Gabriel is a grammatical fragment, and the prayer assigned to O Virgo virginum is rather vague. Three of the four are not addressed to the Lord, and therefore do not end as the classic seven do with an invocation to Him to finally come to us in His Nativity, as we have longed for throughout Advent.

On the night of December 23, the last of the O antiphons is sung; in the Middle Ages, many churches celebrated this final Vespers of the Advent season with great solemnity, like the First Vespers of a feast. At Augsburg and elsewhere, it had the peculiar name “Vigil of the Vigil of the Nativity”; the word “vigilia” was often used in medieval liturgical books to mean “First Vespers.” The psalms were said of the weekday, all five of them with a single proper antiphon. After the chapter, a responsory was added, according to the general medieval custom for First Vespers. The responsory in question, De occulta illa, is very ancient, and found in many medieval breviaries. The custom of the special antiphon for the psalms appears to be uniquely German, and varies from use to use. In the table below, I have noted another common one, Paratus esto, which in the reform of St Pius X was added to the Roman Breviary at Lauds of the Ember Saturday of Advent.

December 23

Aña super psalmos Levate * capita vestra; ecce appropin- quat redemptio vestra. (alia Paratus esto, * Israel, in occursum Domini, quoniam veniet.)	Lift up your heads, behold, your redemption approacheth. (elsewhere Be thou prepared, o Israel, to meet the Lord, for He shall come.)
Cap. Leva, Jerusalem, oculos et vide potentiam Regis; ecce Salvator venit solvere te a vinculo.	Lift up thy eyes, o Jerusalem, and see the might of the King; behold the Savior cometh to release Thee from thy bond.
R. De occulta illa habitatione sua egressus est Filius Dei: * descendit visitare et consola- ri omnes qui eum devoto corde desiderant. V. Ex Sion species decoris ejus: Deus noster manifeste veniet. Descendit. Gloria Patri. Descendit.	R. From His hidden abode the Son of God has gone forth: * He has come down to visit and console all those who long for Him with a devout heart. V. Out of Sion the loveliness of His beauty, our God shall come manifestly. He has come down. Glory be. He has come down.
Aña O Jerusalem, * civitas Dei summi, leva in circuitu oculos tuos, et vide Domi- num, Deum tuum, qui jam veniet te solvere a vinculis.	O Jerusalem, city of God most high, lift up thy eyes around thee, and see the Lord, thy God, who will now come to release thee from thy bond.
Oratio Vincula, quaesumus, Domine, humanae pravitatis abrumpe; ut ad Unigeniti tui Nativitatem libera mente curramus. Qui tecum.	Break, we beseech Thee, o Lord, the bonds of human wickedness, so that with free minds we may run forth to the birth of Thy Only-begotten Son. Who with Thee...

The east choir of Augsburg Cathedral. The town of Wigratzbad, the home of the Fraternity of St Peter’s European seminary, is within the diocese of Augsburg.

O Radix Jesse

O Root of Jesse, which standest as a sign to the peoples, at whom kings shall shut their mouths, whom the gentiles shall beseech, come to deliver us, delay thou not!

This particularly beautiful painting of the Tree of Jesse, which is referred to in today’s O antiphon, is attributed with some uncertainty to a Dutch painter named Gerrit Gerritsz, generally known as Geertgen tot Sint Jans, of whom very little is known for certain. His birth is placed by conflicting sources ca. 1455 or 1465, in either Harlaam, where he also died at the age of about 30, or Leiden. The nickname “tot Sint Jans” refers to his membership in the Knights of St John of Jerusalem. Like many Dutch and Flemish artists of the period, he revels in delicate colors and extremely very fine decoration. The subject, the line of kings from David to the Virgin Mary, offers an opportunity to dress his figures in refined clothing with many small details.

Jesse, King David’s father, is usually shown in this motif sleeping on the ground, with a tree coming out of his side, populated with Christ’s ancestors; the Virgin and Child may be at the top, as here, or in the middle. Since the inclusion of all 27 ancestors given in St Matthew’s Gospel between Jesse and Christ would make the composition far too crowded, a selection of them is given, twelve kings of Judah, from David to Manasseh. King David, the author of the Psalter, is depicted with a harp on the lowest branch; Solomon is shown half kneeling to the right. Further up, Abia lifts his father Roboam onto the next branch, next to whom are shown Abia’s son Asa, Ozias with a book, Josaphat with a hawk, a large necklace and a purse, Joram with a fur hat in his hands, and Joatham. Around the Virgin at the top are Achaz, a wicked and idolatrous king, Ezechias, one of the holy kings, and Manasses (to the right of the Virgin, with the crown and scepter), an idolatrous king who repented. (It is Achaz to whom the Prophet Isaiah speaks when he foretells that “a virgin shall conceive and bear a son.”)

Abia (next to Solomon, shown from behind) wears both a crown and sash of roses, while Josaphat’s necklace is made of larger and smaller beads, both of which remind one of the rosary. (The Dutch word for “rosary – rozenkrans” literally means “crown of roses.”) In this regard, it should be remembered that the root of Jesse was long associated by the Fathers with the Virgin Mary. As St Jerome writes in his commentary on Isaiah 11, “We understand the rod (virga) from the root of Jesse to be the Holy Virgin (virgo) Mary.” This passage is read in the Breviary of St Pius V in the second nocturn of the Second Sunday of Advent, commenting on the reading of the first nocturn, Isaiah 11, 1-10, which begins “And there shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise up out of his root.” Jerome continues, “the flower we understand to be the Lord and Savior, who says in the Canticle of Canticles, ‘I am the flower of the field, and the lily of the valleys.’ ” The garden refers to the words of Canticles 4, 12, “A garden enclosed is my sister, my spouse, a garden enclosed, a fountain sealed up”, which are constantly used as an image of Mary’s virginity.

The kneeling nun in the lower left, who is holding a rosary, was at one time painted over with an extension of the brick wall next to her, perhaps even by Gerritsz himself; she was uncovered by a restoration in 1932. The man behind her may be the prophet Isaiah, who is of course the prophet of the Virgin Mary par excellence. The man on the lower left, richly dressed and holding a book, may be the rector of the convent or charitable institution to which the nun belonged. Finally, we should note to the left of the man a peacock, the symbol from very ancient times of the resurrection of the body and eternal life.

This painting has been in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam since 1956.

The video above is from the Dominican house at Oxford University, Blackfriars, where our long-time contributor Fr Lawrence Lew has recently taken up residence there after several years at the Shrine of the Holy Rosary and St Dominic in London. As you know, Fr Lew is an extremely talented photographer, and very kindly shared with us this splendid image of the Tree of Jesse. This is a section of an altarpiece in one of the side chapels of the church of St Francis in Porto, Portugal, carved by Filipe da Silva and António Gomes, ca. 1718.

A Medieval Liturgical Commentary on the O Antiphons (Part 1)

We are now more than two-thirds of the way through Advent, and yesterday, the Church begin to sing the famous O antiphons at Vespers. These are one of the most loved features of the Church’s liturgy, and for good reason; the texts are especially rich in references to the Old Testament prophecies of the Divine Redeemer and His coming for the salvation of the human race, and the Gregorian chant with which they are sung is extremely beautiful. The Roman Rite has seven of these, and it of course well known that the first letters of the seven titles (O Sapientia, O Adonai etc.) form an acrostic when read backwards, ERO CRAS, Latin for “Tomorrow I will be.”; this is completed on the last day before the Christmas season formally begins on the evening of the 24th. I have previously explained how they are also arranged to be read forward as a catechism on the history of salvation.

The first six O antiphons in the Antiphonary of Hartker, written at the monastery of St Gallen in Switzerland at the end of the 10th century. (Stiftsbibliothek, Cod. Sang. 390, p. 40 – Antiphonarium officii, https://www.e-codices.unifr.ch/en/list/one/csg/0390)

When semidoubling antiphons was the norm in the Use of Rome, the O’s were always doubled, and the choir did not sit after they were intoned, as one usually does for the Magnificat antiphon. Various other particular customs were observed in other places. In the very ancient abbey of Fleury, for example, the intonation of each antiphon was assigned to a particular member of the monastic community: O Wisdom to the abbot, O Lord to the prior, O Root of Jesse to the gardener, O Key of David to the cellarer, (who held the key to all of the storehouses), etc. (Martene, De antiquis Ecclesiae ritibus IV.3.3)

The medieval use of Augsburg in Germany contains a particularly interesting enrichment of the liturgy on these days. Each O is accompanied by a special chapter, and a special concluding oration, both of which refer back to it; these form a kind of scriptural and euchological commentary on the much older antiphons. Like many medieval uses, that of Augsburg also added other antiphons to the series, which I will note in another post later this week; here are the chapters and prayers which go with the seven oldest antiphons, those found in the Roman Breviary. At Augsburg, the Os began on December 13th, and so I have noted them here.

December 13 (17 in the Roman Breviary)

Capitulum Ego Sapientia ex ore Altissimi prodivi, primogenita ante om- nem creaturam. Transite ad me, omnes qui concupiscitis me, et a generationibus meis implemini.	The Chapter I Wisdom came out of the mouth of the Most High, the firstborn before all creatures. Come over to me, all ye that desire me, and be filled with my fruits. (Sirach 24, 5 & 26)
Aña O Sapientia, * quae ex ore Altissimi prodiisti: attin- gens a fine usque ad finem, fortiter suaviterque disponens omnia: veni ad docendum nos viam prudentiae.	Aña O Wisdom, * that comest out of the mouth of the Most High, that reachest from end to end, mightily and sweetly ordering all things: come and teach us the way of prudence.
Oratio Festinantes, omnipotens Deus, in occursum Filii tui, Domini nostri, nulli impediant actus tereni, sed caelestis sapientiae eruditio faciat nos ejus esse consortes. Qui tecum.	The Prayer Almighty God, let no earthly actions hinder them that ha- ten to meet Thy Son, our Lord, but let the teaching of heavenly wisdom make us His fellow heirs, Who with Thee...

December 14

Capitulum Ecce Deus noster: ecce Domi- nus Deus in fortitudine veniet, et brachium ejus dominabitur: ecce merces ejus cum eo, et opus illius coram illo.	The Chapter Behold our God: behold the Lord God shall come with strength, and his arm shall rule: Behold his re- ward is with him, and his work is before him. (Isaiah 40, 9-10)
Aña O Adonai, * et Dux domus Israël, qui Moysi in igne flam- mae rubi apparuisti, et ei in Si- na legem dedisti: veni ad redi- mendum nos in brachio exten- to.	Aña O Adonai, * and leader of the house of Israel, who didst ap- pear to Moses in the fire of the burning bush, and gavest him the Law on Sinai; come thou to redeem us with arm outstretched.
Oratio Deus, qui hominem de lapsu in mortem Unigeniti tui adventu redimisti: praesta, quaesumus; ut qui ejus gloriosam fatentur Incarnationem, ipsius Redemp- toris consortia mereantur: Qui tecum.	The Prayer God, who didst redeem man from the fall unto death by the coming of Thy Only begotten Son; grant, we beseech Thee, that they who confess His glorious Incarnation may merit the fellowship of that very Redeemer; who liveth and reigneth with Thee...

December 15

Capitulum Ecce radix Jesse ascendet in salutem populorum: ipsum gentes deprecabuntur: et erit nomen ejus gloriosum.	The Chapter Behold the root of Jesse shall arise for the salvation of the peoples; him the Gentiles shall beseech, and his name shall be glorious. (Isaiah 11, 10)
Aña O Radix Jesse, * qui stas in signum populorum, super quem continebunt reges os suum, quem gentes depreca- buntur: veni ad liberandum nos, jam noli tardare.	Aña O root of Jesse, * that stand- est as an ensign of the peoples, at whom the kings shall shut their mouths, whom the Gentiles shall beseech: come thou to deliver us, delay thou not.
Oratio Festina, ne tardaveris, Domi- ne, Deus noster: et a diaboli- co furore nos potenter libera- re dignare: Qui cum.	The Prayer Hasten, delay Thou not, o Lord, our God; and deign Thou mightily to deliver us from the wrath of the devil. Who with the Father...

The Prophet Isaiah, by Antonio Balestra (1666-1740). “And one of the seraphim flew to me, and in his hand was a live coal, which he had taken with the tongs off the altar. And he touched my mouth, and said: Behold this hath touched thy lips, and thy iniquities shall be taken away, and thy sin shall be cleansed.” (Isaiah 6, 6-7 – Public domain image from Wikipedia.)

December 16

Capitulum Dedi te in foedus populi, in lucem gentium, ut aperires oculos caecorum, et educe- res de conclusione vinctos, de domo carceris sedentes in tenebris.	The Chapter I have given thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles: that thou may open the eyes of the blind, and bring forth the prisoners out of prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house. (Isa. 42, 6-7)
Aña O clavis David, * et sceptrum domus Israël; qui aperis, et nemo claudit; clau- dis, et nemo aperit: veni, et educ vinctum de domo car- ceris, sedentem in tenebris, et umbra mortis.	Aña O key of David, * and sceptre of the house of Israel; who openest, and no man shut- teth; shuttest, and no man open- eth: come thou, and lead forth the prisoner from the prison- house, and him that sitteth in darkness, and in the shadow of death.
Oratio Aurem tuam, quaesumus, Domine, precibus nostris ac- commoda: et mentis nostrae tenebras gratia tuae visita- tionis illustra: Qui vivis.	The Prayer Incline Thy ear, Lord, we be- seech Thee, unto our prayers, and lighten the darkness of our minds by the grace of Thy visitation; Who livest.

December 17

Capitulum Orietur vobis timentibus no- men meum sol justitiae, et sanitas in pennis ejus.	The Chapter Unto you that fear my name, the Sun of justice shall arise, and health in his wings. (Malachi 4, 2)
Aña O Oriens, * splendor lu- aeternae, et sol justi tiae: veni, et illumina sedentes in tenebris, et umbra mortis.	Aña O Dayspring, * splendor of the light eternal, and sun of justice; come thou, and enlighten them that sit in darkness and the shadow of death.
Oratio Mentes nostras, quaesumus, Domine, gratia tuae visita- tionis illustra: ut esse te lar- giente mereamur et inter prospera humiles, et inter adversa securi. Qui cum.	The Prayer Enlighten our minds, we be- seech Thee, Lord, by the grace of Thy visitation; that of Thy bounty we may merit to be humble in prosperity, and safe in adversity. Who with the Father.

December 18

Capitulum Ecce dies veniunt, dicit Do- minus, et suscitabo David germen justum: et regnabit rex, et sapiens erit, et faciet judicium et justitiam in terra.	The Chapter Behold the days come, saith the Lord, and I will raise up to David a just branch: and a king shall reign, and shall be wise, and shall execute judgment and justice upon the earth. (Jeremiah 23, 5)
Aña O Rex gentium, * et desi- deratus earum, lapisque angu- laris, qui facis utraque unum: veni, et salva hominem, quem de limo formasti.	Aña O King of the gentiles, * and the Desire thereof, and cornerstone that makest of twain one: come, to save man, whom Thou didst make from the mud of the earth.
Oratio Excita, quaesumus, Domine, potentiam tuam, et veni: ut ab imminentibus peccatorum nostrorum periculis, te mere- amur protegente eripi, te libe- rante salvari: Qui vivis.	The Prayer Stir up Thy strength, o Lord, we beseech Thee, and come; that we may merit to be deli- vered from the imminent dan- gers of our sins by Thee our protector, and saved by Thee our liberator. Who livest.

December 19

Capitulum Dominus enim judex noster, Dominus legifer noster, Do- minus rex noster, ipse sal- vabit nos.	The Chapter For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king: he will save us. (Isaiah 33, 22)
Aña O Emmanuel, * Rex et legifer noster, exspectatio gentium, et Salvator earum: veni ad salvandum nos, Do- mine, Deus noster.	Aña O Emmanuel, * our King and Lawgiver, longing of the Gentiles, and Savior thereof: come Thou to save us, o Lord our God.
Oratio Omnipotens Christe, Unige- genite Dei, propitius ad sal- vandum populum in te cre- dentem veni: ut benignitate solita ab omni dubietate et metu temporis nos jubeas liberari: Qui cum Deo Patre.	The Prayer Christ Almighty, Onlybegotten Son of God, of Thy mercy come Thou to save the people that believeth in Thee; that by Thy wonted kindliness, Thou mayest command us to be freed of every doubt, and fear of our times. Who with the Father...

The translations of the Scriptural passages are taken from the Douay-Rheims version; where the quotation is different from the actual words of Scripture (a common enough feature of medieval liturgical texts), I have placed the changed words in italics. The translations of the antiphons are based on those in the English version of the Roman Breviary by the Marquess of Bute, with many modifications; those of the prayers are my own. The Chapter which accompanies O Radix Jesse is based on Isaiah 11, 10, but is actually quoted from a responsory of the Third Sunday of Advent. Likewise, the prayer which accompanies O Clavis David is that of the Third Sunday of Advent, and that which accompanies O Rex gentium is that of the First Sunday.

A 15th century stained glass window of Augsburg Cathedral, showing the Coronation of the Virgin Mary at top, the Annunciation on the lower left, and the Birth of Christ on the lower right.

Gaudete Sunday 2023: O Sapientia

Truly it is worthy... through Christ our Lord; by Whose incarnation was accomplished the salvation of the world, and by Whose Passion was effected the redemption of man. May He lead us, we ask, to eternal reward, Who redeemed us from the darkness of hell, and justify us in His second coming, Who redeemed us in the first; so that His exaltedness may defend us from evil, Whose lowliness raised us up unto life. Through Whom the angels praise Thy majesty... (An ancient preface for Gaudete Sunday.)

The Annunciation, by Fra Bartolomeo (1472-1517), a Florentine Dominican friar and painter who made this image for the cathedral of Volterra in 1497. Note the medallion above the door, which shows the Biblical episode of the Sacrifice of Isaac, and in this context, indicates that the purpose of Christ’s Incarnation was to redeem the human race through His Passion. (Public domain image from Wikimedia Commons.)

VD: Per Christum, Dóminum nostrum. Cujus incarnatióne salus facta est mundi, et passióne redemptio procreáta est hómini. Ipse nos, quáesumus, ad aeternum perdúcat praemium, qui redémit de ténebris infernórum, justificetque in adventu secundo, qui nos redémit in primo; quátenus illíus nos a malis defendat sublímitas, cujus nos ad vitam erexit humílitas. Per quem majestátem tuam laudant Angeli...

This evening at Vespers, the Church sings the first of the O Antiphons.

O Sapientia, quae ex ore Altissimi prodiisti, attingens a fine usque ad finem, fortiter suaviterque disponens omnia: veni ad docendum nos viam prudentiae.

O Wisdom, that comest from the mouth of the Most High, that reachest from one end to another, mightily and sweetly ordering all things, come and teach us the way of prudence.

Christ and Lady Wisdom, from a missal made in Germany ca. 1170. Beneath Wisdom are shown Zachariah, the father of St John the Baptist (who is wearing a miter to indicate that he is a priest), and below him the patriarch Jacob; to either side of them, Isaiah (left) and Daniel; to either side of Wisdom, David (left) and Abraham; the small figures not to them are Malachi (left) and Balaam. Public domain image from Wikimedia Commons.  

The Fourth Sunday of Advent 2022: O Adonai

O Adonai, et Dux domus Israel, qui Moysi in igne flammae rubi apparuisti, et ei in Sina legem dedisti: veni ad redimendum nos in brachio extento.

O Adonai, and Ruler of the house of Israel, who appeared unto Moses in the burning bush, and gave him the Law on Sinai, come to redeem us with arm outstretched!

Reading the O Antiphons Forward

It is a well-known fact that the first letters of the seven titles with which the O antiphons begin, when read in reverse order, form an anagram, ERO CRAS, Latin for “tomorrow I shall be.” The order in which they are sung, however, is not purely casual, nor arranged solely for the sake of the anagram; it also forms a catechesis on the history of salvation in Christ. They also contain certain allusions to the liturgical texts of Christmas Day, which are made with great subtlety, in a manner very typical of Advent.

“O Sapientia” refers to the eternal pre-existence of the Word, and His role in creation, an idea of which the Church Fathers often speak. St Paul calls Christ “the wisdom of God” in 1 Corinthians 1, 24; the antiphon says that Wisdom “came forth from the mouth of the Most High”, i.e. it is spoken, like the Word. St Hilary of Poitier writes in his book On the Trinity, 3, 21, commenting on the figure of Wisdom who speaks in Proverbs 8, “There is with God Wisdom, begotten before the worlds; and not only present with Him, but setting in order, for it was with Him, setting them in order. Mark this work of setting in order, or arranging. The Father, by His commands, is the Cause; the Son, by His execution of the things commanded, sets in order.”

A Russian icon of Holy Wisdom, ca. 1670, from the church of St Nicholas in Yaroslavl. The figure of Wisdom is painted red in accordance with a well-known, although now archaic, feature of the Russian language, that the word “ krasni” means both “red” and “beautiful.”

The words of this antiphon “fortiter suaviterque disponens omnia – mightily and sweetly ordering all things” are taken from Wisdom 8, 1, the conclusion of a passage (7, 21 – 8, 2) in which the author lists the attributes of Wisdom: “the worker of all things … holy, one, … having all power, overseeing all things, and containing all spirits … more active than all active things: and reacheth everywhere by reason of her purity. … a certain pure emanation of the glory of the almighty God … the brightness of eternal light, and the unspotted mirror of God’s majesty, and the image of his goodness.” Catholic Biblical commentaries rightly note that these words are similar to the beginning of the Epistle to the Hebrews, which describes the Son of God as the “brightness of His glory, and the figure of His substance, and upholding all things by the word of His power.” This latter passage (Hebrews 1, 1-12) is the Epistle of the third Mass of Christmas, the one which speaks particularly of the eternal birth of the Son from the Father; the Gospel with which is it paired, the Prologue of St John, tells us of the Word whose Incarnation is revealed in the Nativity.

“O Adonai” speaks of Christ as the one who appeared to Moses in the burning bush, and gave him the Law on Mount Sinai; “Adonai”, Hebrew for “My Lord”, is the word which Jews, when reading the Bible, say in place of the Divine Name YHWH that was revealed to Moses in Exodus 3. The prayer to “come to redeem us with arm extended” refers to God’s own words when speaking to Moses in Exodus 6, 6, “I am the Lord who will bring you out from the work-prison of the Egyptians, and will deliver you from bondage: and redeem you with a high arm, and great judgments,” as well as the canticle which Moses sings after the crossing of the Red Sea, “Let fear and dread fall upon them, (i.e. upon the Egyptians) in the greatness of thy arm.” (Exod. 15, 16)

Moses and the Burning Bush, by Nicholas Froment, 1476, in the Cathedrale Saint Sauveur in Aix-en-Provence. The artist is here inspired by one of the Lauds antiphons of the feast of the Circumcision: “The bush which Moses saw unburnt, we acknowledge as Thy praiseworthy virginity; Mother of God, intercede for us.” This also refers to the Law of Moses, in obedience to which Christ was circumcised on the eighth day after His birth.

“O Radix Jesse” quotes two chapters of the prophet Isaiah (11 and 52) which are cited by St Paul in Romans 15, although the citations are not exactly the same. (After the Psalms, Isaiah is the Old Testament book most often quoted in the New.) This antiphon and its predecessor demonstrate that in the Old Testament, both the Law and the Prophets bear witness to the coming of Christ, just as Moses and Elijah appeared to either side of Him at the Transfiguration, the former as the representative of the Law, the latter of the Prophets. The Lord Himself taught this to His disciples: “These are the words which I spoke to you, while I was yet with you, that all things must needs be fulfilled, which are written in the Law of Moses, and in the Prophets, and in the Psalms, concerning me.” (Luke 24, 44) St Leo the Great, in a homily on the Transfiguration (51, 4; PL 54, 331B), says that in the preaching of the Word, “the pages of the two covenants agree with each other; and the splendor of the present glory shows manifestly and clearly Him whom the signs that went before Him had promised under the veil of mysteries.”

The O antiphons do not explicitly mention the Incarnation, to which the whole season of Advent is dedicated; nor do they anticipate the birth of Christ, which is celebrated at Christmas. Likewise, it would also be out of keeping with the joyful nature of the season to work in any explicit reference to Christ’s passion and death; instead, these are spoken of obliquely in the fourth and fifth antiphons.

“O Clavis David – o key of David” and the term that follows, “scepter of the house of Israel” refer to the Angel Gabriel’s words to the Virgin Mary at the Annunciation, that Her Son would be given the seat of David, and rule in the house of Jacob, whose other name is Israel. (Genesis 32, 28) Where the antiphon prays that Christ may come “to lead out the prisoner from the house of the prison, and him that sitteth in the darkness and the shadow of death”, the prisoner is Adam, the forefather of the human race, and by inference, all the just who died before the death and resurrection of Christ had opened the gates of heaven, and thus remained “in darkness and the shadow of death.” Note in the image below how Christ at the Harrowing of Hell is shown holding the Cross, which is suggestive of a key in its form. Behind, the locks and bars of the Limbo of the Fathers are broken. Of course, the Harrowing of Hell is necessarily preceding by the passion and death of Christ, which in turn are necessarily preceded by the Incarnation. This text also looks forward to the reading of Isaiah 9, 1-6 at Christmas Matins: “The people that walked in darkness, have seen a great light: to them that dwelt in the region of the shadow of death, light is risen.”

“O Oriens” is about the Resurrection, since “Oriens” means “the rising one.” This antiphon describes Christ as “the splendor of eternal light, the sun of justice”, which is to say, the Light and Sun that shall see no setting. Here the Church professes its hope in the future resurrection, by speaking of the “eternal light” on December 21, the day of the winter solstice and the shortest hours of daylight. It is surely not a coincidence that this is also the shortest of the O antiphons. The object of the prayer at the antiphon’s end is repeated from yesterday, but now in the plural: “come and shine upon those who sit in the darkness, and the shadow of death.” This indicates that the fruits of Christ’s passion and resurrection are to be shared with the whole of the human race in each of its members.

“O Rex gentium”, therefore, refers to the Ascension, Pentecost, and the establishment of the Church. On the feast of the Ascension, the first words of the Magnificat antiphon at Second Vespers are “O Rex gloriae”, sung in the same mode and with the same notes as the beginning of the O antiphons. These are the only two antiphons of the ancient corpus in general use throughout the Roman Rite that begin with the words “O Rex”. The word “gloriae – of glory” is substituted by “gentium – of the nations” to symbolize the nations that come into the Church, beginning with the Apostles’ preaching to nations of diverse languages at Pentecost.

Christ is then called “desideratus earum – the one desired by (the nations)”, words taken from the prophecy of Haggai 2, 8, in which God says that He will fill His house, i.e. the Church, with glory when He stirs up all nations. He is also called “lapis angularis – the corner stone”, in reference to the corner stone rejected by the builders in Psalm 117, and also to the Lauds hymn for the Dedication of a Church, “Angularis fundamentum – Christ is sent as the corner stone and foundation.”

On the morning of December 23rd, the Church sings the canticle Benedictus with the antiphon “Behold, all things are completed which were said through the Angel about the Virgin Mary.” This being so, the last O antiphon, “O Emmanuel”, addresses Christ with the name meaning “God is with us”, the name of the child whose coming was prophesied by Isaiah when he foretold that “a Virgin shall conceive and bear a Son.” This also looks forward to the reading of Isaiah 9 at Christmas Matins, “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given.”

There follow the titles “our King and lawgiver, the expectation of the nations, and the Savior thereof.” The words “God with us, our King and Lawgiver” refer to Christ’s abiding presence in the Church and in the world, as He said to His disciples on meeting them after the Resurrection: “All power is given to me in heaven and in earth. Behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world.” (Matt. 28, 20) In the previous antiphon, the word “desideratus – the desired (of the nations)” is a past participle, indicating that the longing of the nations for the first coming of Christ has been fulfilled. Here He is “the expectation of the nations”, the Latin word “expectatio” indicating an ongoing action, as we await the Second Coming of Christ, who “shall come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and His kingdom shall have no end.” This returns us to a theme which has been present from the very beginning of Advent, which recalls both the First Coming of Christ in the fullness of time, and His Second Coming at the end of the world.

Christ the Savior, by El Greco, 1610-14

O Emmanuel 2021

O Emmanuel, Rex et legifer noster, exspectatio gentium, et Salvator earum: veni ad salvandum nos, Domine, Deus noster.

O Emmanuel, our king and lawgiver, longing of the nations and Savior thereof: Come and save us, O Lord our God. 

An 18th century Greek icon of Christ-Emmanuel, from the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at the University of Oregon.

O Rex Gentium 2021

O Rex Gentium, et desideratus earum, lapisque angularis, qui facis utraque unum: veni, et salva hominem, quem de limo formasti.

O King of the nations, and desire thereof, and cornerstone that makest of twain one: come and save Man, whom Thou formed from the mire of the earth.

The Creation of Adam, by Andrea Pisano, 1335; from the bell-tower of the Cathedral of Florence.

O Oriens 2021

O Oriens, splendor lucis aeternae, et sol justitiae: veni, et illumina sedentes in tenebris, et umbra mortis.

O Morning Star, splendor of eternal light and sun of righteousness: Come and enlighten those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.

A 17th century Russian icon of Christ the High Priest

Today is also the feast of St. Thomas the Apostle; many medieval breviaries have a special O antiphon for Vespers of his feast:

O Thoma Didyme, per Christum quem meruisti tangere, te precibus rogamus altisonis, succurre nobis miseris, ne damnemur cum impiis in adventu judicis.

O Thomas the Twin, through Christ, Whom thou didst merit to touch,with prayers resounding on high we beseech thee, come to help us in our wretchedness, lest we be damned with the wicked at the Coming of the Judge.

The St. Thomas Altarpiece, by the Master of the St. Bartholomew Altar, 1501