O Root of Jesse: Advent Daybook, 25

This week we are adoring Jesus by praying the prophetic names of the O Antiphons.

O RADIX JESSE (ROOT OF JESSE)

A note about today’s illustration from St. Benedict’s Abbey in Atchison, KS:

"One might think that the illuminator of this O Antiphon took liberties with O Radix Jesse. That translation, however, is an eighth O Antiphon from the Parisian Rite (the one corresponding to this Antiphon was unavailable). That inconsistency can still bring us to a deeper understanding of this day, for it may be that Divine Province has called us to combine the two!

Christ came forth from the “stump of Jesse.” In the line of Jesse’s son, King David, comes forth another King, the King of kings. This is the One whom kings will worship—especially three Gentile kings from the East. They represent the seekers among the peoples of the Earth, those who look for salvation in a darkened and troubled world. And once they find Him, they will be surprised. For they seek another King, crowned in glory, and yet instead they will find a babe. “And I too, when born, inhaled the common air, and fell upon the kindred earth; wailing, I uttered the first sound common to all” (Wisdom 7:3). Coming from darkness and suffering, they will pray for deliverance: “Come to deliver us, and do not delay!”

Come, O Shepherd of Israel! Come and feed us in Your strength, for we need it! We are weak and powerless, even when we think we are not. We need You! We need to need You and Your power and strength! Come quickly, Lord! Otherwise we shall perish.”

Opening Prayer: O Root of Jesse, you have been raised up as a sign for all peoples; kings stand silent in your presence; the nations bow down in worship before you. Come, let nothing keep you from coming to our aid.

Read: Isaiah 10:33 -11 :2a,11:5 -10; Isaiah 52:13-15; Habakkuk 2:3

A Reading from Isaiah 10:33 -11:2a,11:5 -10

Behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts will lop the boughs with terrifying power; the great in height will be hewn down, and the lofty will be brought low. He will cut down the thickets of the forest with an axe, and Lebanon with its majestic trees will fall.

There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him...

Righteousness shall be the girdle of his waist, and faithfulness the girdle of his loins. The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall feed; their young shall lie down together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The sucking child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den.

They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. In that day the root of Jesse shall stand as an ensign to the peoples; him shall the nations seek, and his dwellings shall be glorious.

A Reading from Isaiah 52:13-15

Behold, my servant shall prosper, he shall be exalted and lifted up, and shall be very high. As many were astonished at him— his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the sons of men— so shall he startle many nations; kings shall shut their mouths because of him; for that which has not been told them they shall see, and that which they have not heard they shall understand.

A Reading from Habakkuk 2:3

For still the vision awaits its time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seem slow, wait for it; it will surely come, it will not delay.

Pray: Read Malcolm Guite's sonnet and then sing the third verse of O Come, O Come, Emmanuel as today's prayer.

O Radix

All of us sprung from one deep-hidden seed,

Rose from a root invisible to all.

We knew the virtues once of every weed,

But, severed from the roots of ritual,

We surf the surface of a wide-screen world

And find no virtue in the virtual.

We shrivel on the edges of a wood

Whose heart we once inhabited in love,

Now we have need of you, forgotten Root

The stock and stem of every living thing

Whom once we worshiped in the sacred grove,

For now is winter, now is withering

Unless we let you root us deep within,

Under the ground of being, graft us in.

Sing:

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan's tyranny;
From depths of hell Thy people save,
And give them victory o'er the grave.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

Do: Create more space for God throughout your day today (and maybe the remaining days of Advent!) by eliminating an unnecessary daily habit.

Remove some or all internet access, news, music, email, or texts from your morning routine, your drive to work, during a lunch break, from dinner through the bed, or even throughout the whole day. Allow God to fill this new empty space.

Resist the temptation to fill the space with other distractions, and instead use the time to reflect on how this kind of fasting is affecting your openness to God.

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: