The O Antiphons

“O, aren’t you excited for Christmas?!” is an exclamation you may be hearing more and more these days. “O” is a useful exclamatory word for many sentiments. One of the most common Advent hymns is “O Come, O come, Emmanuel!” It’s easy to sing and we probably have a good part of it memorized. Its words are rich with biblical images and its source comes from titles of Our Lord that have been gathered from what are called the “O antiphons.” They are a little known, but ever-present, part of the Church’s liturgy as we “close in” on Christmas. As we joyfully ring out those names of the Lord (this year with masks on, of course), the spiritual intensity is heightened in anticipation of our liturgical celebration of the Word made Flesh having come among us.

From 17-23 December the titles you see above are used as the gospel acclamations at daily Mass. The same daily antiphon is used with Our Lady’s prayer of the Magnificat (which itself comes from a Gospel) that is prayed at Evening prayer (or Vespers) of the Liturgy of the Hours. And there is an order to these titles. They are all addressed to the same Lord, but they emphasize different elements of Salvation History given in chronological order. In his Advent Sunday homily series Father Cal emphasized that a Catholic reads the Old Testament through the Person of Jesus Christ. It is He who links the Old and New Testaments together. In this example, all the titles are among the writings of the Prophet Isaiah about the Savior. The Word who was present at Creation, the Lord who led His People to the Promised Land. The Word who would be made Flesh through the family of David came as a little child….who is God with us!

Those unnamed monks of centuries ago not only were biblical and quite devout as these titles came to their lips during the formation of the Divine Office, but we now suspect they were also clever. It appears they devised and inserted a cryptogram into the antiphons! When you take the first letter of each of the Latin titles, you’ll find “Ero cras.” That means, “Tomorrow, I will come!” It is the Lord’s response as He comes to meet His People, His Church, His Bride who has been calling and awaiting Him. What a grand fulfillment of the Season!

Suggestion for Advent: Take the O antiphon of the day and reflect on its meaning in your life.

For more on the O Antiphons, go to: https://www.catholiceducation.org/en/culture/catholic- contributions/what-are-the.html

O Wisdom O Sapientia Is You are the Creator of all Dec 17 11:2- things 3, 28:29 O Lord of O Adonai Is You are the Lord in the Israel 33:22 burning bush Dec 18 O Root of O Radix Is 11:2 From the root of Jesse, the Jesse Messiah will be born Dec 19 O Key of O Clavis Is O royal Power of Israel David 22:22 controlling at your will the Dec 20 gate of Heaven O Radiant O Oriens Is 9:1 The People who walked in Dawn darkness have seen a great Dec 21 light O King of the O Rex Is 2:4 The only joy of every human Nations Gentium heart…for us a child is born Dec 22 O Emmanuel O Is 7:14 God is with us! Dec 23 Emmanuel