O Adonai: Advent Daybook, 24
This week we are adoring Jesus by praying the prophetic names of the O Antiphons.
O ADONAI (LORD)
Opening Prayer: O Sacred Lord of ancient Israel, who showed yourself to Moses in the burning bush, who gave him the holy law on Sinai mountain: Come, stretch out your mighty hand to set us free.
Read: Isaiah 11: 4; Isaiah 33:21 -22; Exodus 19:9,16 -19, 20:1 - 6 ; Micah 5:2
A Reading from Isaiah 11:4
But with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked.
A Reading from Isaiah 33:21 -22
But there the Lord in majesty will be for us a place of broad rivers and streams, where no galley with oars can go, nor stately ship can pass. For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our ruler, the Lord is our king; he will save us.
A Reading from Exodus 19:9,16 -19, 20:1 - 6
And the Lord said to Moses, “Lo, I am coming to you in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and may also believe you for ever.” On the morning of the third day there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled. Ten Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God; and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain. And Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire; and the smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain quaked greatly. And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him in thunder.
And God spoke all these words, saying, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.”
A Reading from Micah 5:2
But you, O Bethlehem Eph’rathah, who are little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days.
Pray: Read Malcolm Guite's sonnet and then sing the second verse of O Come, O Come, Emmanuel as today's prayer.
Unsayable, you chose to speak one tongue,
Unseeable, you gave yourself away,
The Adonai, the Tetragramaton
Grew by a wayside in the light of day.
O you who dared to be a tribal God,
To own a language, people and a place,
Who chose to be exploited and betrayed,
If so you might be met with face to face,
Come to us here, who would not find you there,
Who chose to know the skin and not the pith,
Who heard no more than thunder in the air,
Who marked the mere events and not the myth.
Touch the bare branches of our unbelief
And blaze again like fire in every leaf.
Sing:
O come, O come, thou Lord of might,
who to thy tribes on Sinai’s height
In ancient times didst give the law,
In cloud and majesty and awe.
Refrain: Rejoice, Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel!
Do: Read the commandments again slowly. Then talk to a trusted friend about any way you’ve sinned against God and others. Receive the forgiveness of our Savior Jesus.
Advent has historically been considered a "little Lent", a season of time set aside to consider the places our lives have become disconnected from God and others. Today’s Old Testament reading gives us the law handed to Moses for God’s people. In the New Testament, James, the brother of Jesus, encourages us to "confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed." As we get ready to enter into the full-fledged celebration of Christmas, set aside some time to check in with a trusted friend who can listen and offer the words of assurance that John, the friend of Jesus, reminds us: "When we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
Thanks be to God for this gracious, life-giving invitation!
O Antiphons
O COME, O COME EMMANUEL!
"In the first centuries, the Church had a beautiful custom of praying seven great prayers calling afresh on Christ to come, calling him by the mysterious titles he has in Isaiah, calling to him; O Wisdom. O Root! O Key O Light! Come to us! "-- Malcolm Guite
Advent slightly shifts its focus beginning December 17 when the antiphons for Vespers, known as the O Antiphons, are sung at the Magnificat. Each O Antiphon addresses Jesus with a title that comes from the prophecies of Isaiah anticipating the coming of the Messiah. The first letters of the titles in the original Latin in reverse order spell "Ero Cras," meaning "Tomorrow, I will come."
The reality is that most of us who celebrate Christmas have been praying the O Antiphons without ever knowing it. The seven prayers comprise the seven verses of the beloved Advent hymn "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel." I know I'm not alone in my love for that hymn. I never get tired of it and enjoy almost every arrangement I've ever heard.
I first learned about the O Antiphons from a beautiful collection of sonnets by poet-priest Malcolm Guite. I began including the seven reflections in my Advent Daybook each year. Later, our Church began celebrating an annual Advent Compline service, incorporating Guite's seven sonnets into an excellent resource from our friends at Modern Liturgic.
This year, I'm adapting the dates to fit the format of Daybook Meditations. For the next seven days, leading up to Christmas, I've shifted our daily lectionary passages to specially selected Scripture for each of the O Antiphons. Instead of including a piece of music, I’ll invite you to sing one verse of O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, each day.
I'll also include a link to each of Malcolm Guite's seven sonnets which invite us to delight in the O Antiphons' deeper meaning:
"... we come to the last of the Seven Great O Antiphons, which was sung on either side of the Magnificat on Christmas Eve, O Emmanuel, O God with us. This is the antiphon from which our lovely Advent hymn takes its name. It was also this final antiphon which revealed the secret message embedded subtly into the whole antiphon sequence. In each of these antiphons we have been calling on Him to come to us, to come as Light as Key, as King, as God with us. Now, standing on the brink of Christmas Eve, looking back at the illuminated capital letters for each of the seven titles of Christ we would see an answer to our pleas: ERO CRAS the latin words meaning 'Tomorrow I will come!" -- Malcolm Guite
Taken together, the O Antiphons circle us back to the heart of Advent: waiting for arrival. I hope you'll find the meditations to take you deeper into the heart of God with us who will surely come again and forever. Let's sing our hearts out this week, friends!
O COME, O COME EMMANUEL!
A few additional resources:
The Homely Hours: The Great O Antiphons Printable Ornaments
God With Us: An Advent Retreat with the O Antiphons from Pray-As-You-Go
You can read thoughtful reflections on each Antiphon at Thinking Faith here.
Hear all seven O Antiphons in order in this beautiful recording of O Come, O Come Emmanuel by the Invitation Project!
An O Antiphons liturgy from Modern Liturgic