Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Time Out’s O Great Antiphons

Dan at Necessary Roughness has been posting the O Great Antiphons on his Time Out website daily and leading up to Christmas.

What are the great O Antiphons? Quoting über-blogger Rev. Paul McCain’s website extraordinaire CyberBrethren:

The “O Antiphons” refer to the seven antiphons that are recited (or chanted) preceding the Magnificat during Vespers of the Liturgy of the Hours. They cover the special period of Advent preparation known as the Octave before Christmas, Dec. 17-23, with Dec. 24 being Christmas Eve and Vespers for that evening being for the Christmas Vigil

Here are the O Antiphons:

O Wisdom, proceeding from the mouth of the Most High,
Pervading and permeating all creation, mightily ordering all things:
Come and teach us the way of prudence.


O Adonai and ruler of the house of Israel,
Who appeared to Moses in the burning bush and gave him the Law on Sinai:
Come with an outstretched arm and redeem us.


O Root of Jesse, who stands for an ensign before the people,
Before whom kings are mute and to whom the nations will do homage:
Come quickly to deliver us.


O Key of David and scepter of the house of Israel,
You open and no one can close, You close and no one can open:
Come and rescue the prisoners who are in darkness and in the shadow of death.


O Dayspring, splendor of light everlasting:
Come and enlighten those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death
.

O King of the nations,
The ruler they long for, the cornerstone uniting all people:
Come and save us all, whom You formed out of clay.

O Emmanuel, our King and our Lord,
The anointed for the nations and their Savior:
Come and save us, O Lord our God.


Click on the O Antiphons above and the link will send you to Dan’s corresponding Time Out episode.

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