The O Antiphons and the Observance of Advent

[Salvatore Anthony Luiso]

The O Antiphons and the Observance of Advent

As I write this article, once again we Christians who follow the Western liturgical calendar are almost at the end of a liturgical year—and, therefore, almost at the beginning of a new one. Our calendar begins with the liturgical season of Advent, which begins on Advent Sunday. (According to the Gregorian calendar, this year—2024—that day is December 1st.)

In the last three years, I have written and published here at The Reimagine Forum these two articles which pertain to the observance of Advent:

The Penitential Psalms, Advent, and Lent
Some Ideas for the Observance of Advent

Now, with this article, I write again about another way to observe Advent: with the O Antiphons.

The Wikipedia article "Antiphon" defines an antiphon as "a short chant in Christian ritual, sung as a refrain". The O Antiphons are antiphons which Christians have sung or recited in Advent for generations upon generations. Each of them is a prayer address to the Lord Jesus Christ. Each begins with the vocative particle "O" followed by one of His many scriptural titles. The Wikipedia article about them says "Each antiphon is a cento of passages from the Bible": that is, each of them has been composed with quotations of the Bible.

Scholars differ as to their antiquity, but they were certainly in use during the Early Middle Ages—over 1000 years ago. In the Middle Ages, they were ascribed to St. Gregory the Great (Pope Gregory I), who lived mainly in the 6th Century—a time considered to be within Late Antiquity. The Italian philosopher and author Boethius appears to quote one of them in his book The Consolation of Philosophy, which he wrote in the year 523—which was before St. Gregory was born. So their origin could be as old as over 1500 years ago. (Consider the fact that the temporal distance between the nativity of Moses and the Nativity of Christ could be less than 1500 years, and that between the end of King David's reign seated on the throne of Israel and the beginning of the Son of David's reign seated at the right hand of the throne of heaven is around 1000 years (Hebrews 12:1–2).)

Traditions have varied as to which of the O Antiphons are sung and precisely when in Advent they are sung. One of the most common sets of them contains seven antiphons. Since the Middle Ages, the antiphons of this set have been sung serially over a period of seven days starting on the eighth day before Christmas—that is, from December 16th through December 23rd.

Following is a list of the opening addresses of the O Antiphons, with both the original Latin and English translation, and some of the passages of the Scriptures to which they are related (one could mention many others):

O Sapientia: O Wisdom
Deuteronomy 8:3; Psalm 104:24; Proverbs 1:20–33, 2:1–22, 3:1–24, 4:1–13, 8:1–36, 9:1–6; Wisdom 8:1; Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 24:3; Isaiah 40:22, 42:5; Jeremiah 10:12; Matthew 4:4; Luke 4:4; John 1:1–10; I Corinthians 1:22–24 and 30; Colossians 1:15–16 and 2:3

O Adonai: O Lord
Exodus 3:2, 6:2–3, and 6, and chapters 19–31 and 34; Leviticus 27:34; II Chronicles 6:3–6; John 13:13; Acts 7:30–32; I Corinthians 8:6 and 12:3; Philippians 2:9–11

O Radix Jesse: O Root of Jesse
Job 29:9–10; Psalm 76:8–9; Isaiah 11:10; Isaiah 52:15; Habakkuk 2:20; Zephaniah 1:7; Zechariah 2:13; Romans 15:12; Revelation 22:16

O Clavis David: O Key of David
Genesis 49:10; Numbers 24:17; Job 12:14; Psalm 23:4; Isaiah 9:2, 22:22, 42:7, 49:6–9; and 61:1–3; Matthew 4:14–16; Luke 1:78–79 and 4:17–21; John 1:1–10, 8:12, and 12:46; Revelation 3:7

O Oriens: O Dawn (also translated as "O Morning Star")
Psalm 23:4; Wisdom 7:26; Isaiah 9:2, 42:7, 49:6–9; Malachi 4:2; Matthew 4:14–16; Luke 1:78–79 and 4:17–21; John 1:1–10, 8:12, 12:46, 14:9–11; Hebrews 1:3 and 3:20; II Peter 1:9; Revelation 22:16

O Rex Gentium: O King of the Nations
Genesis 2:7; Psalm 118:22; Ecclesiastes 12:7; Isaiah 28:16; Jeremiah 10:7 and 23:5; Haggai 2:8; Matthew 21:42; Mark 12:10; Luke 20:17; Acts 4:11; Ephesians 2:14 and 20; I Timothy 6:15–16; I Peter 2:6–7; Revelation 17:14 and 19:16

O Emmanuel: O Emmanuel (God with Us)
Genesis 49:10; Isaiah 7:14; Isaiah 9:2–7, 33:22, 42:7, and 49:6–9; Matthew 1:23, 4:14–16, Matthew 21:9; Mark 11:9–10; John 4:14 and 12:12–13; I Timothy 4:10; I John 4:14

Note: Wisdom and Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) are considered by Catholic and Orthodox Christians to be books of the Old Testament—other Christians consider them to belong to the Apocrypha.

The Wikipedia article "O Antiphons" says:

The first letters of the titles, from last to first, appear to form a Latin acrostic, Ero cras, meaning 'Tomorrow, I will be [there]', mirroring the theme of the antiphons. This is formed from the first letter of each title – Emmanuel, Rex, Oriens, Clavis, Radix, Adonai, Sapientia. Such acrostics were popular among early medieval writers, and some scholars have taken this as further evidence for their antiquity, but this view is not universally accepted.[3][1]

The famous hymn "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" is based upon a Latin paraphrase of the O Antiphons. This paraphrase originally had only five titles of Christ—two others were added later. English translations of the hymn vary in the number of His titles they contain. (English translations of it have been published at various places on the Internet, such as the widely-used translation that is here: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/o/c/o/m/ocomocom.htm)

Various English translations of the O Antiphons have been published on the Internet. Here are links to four of them:

1. The Wikipedia article "O Antiphons" contains a contemporary Anglican translation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O_Antiphons#cite_note-8

2. The website of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops contains a contemporary Catholic translation (one which appears to me to be much abbreviated and simplified): https://www.usccb.org/prayers/o-antiphons-advent

3. The website of Convent Friends has published has an older Catholic translation (one which appears to me to be unabbreviated and generally literal): https://conventfriends.org/o-antiphons-advent/

4. The article "The Scriptural Depth of the Great 'O' Antiphons", by Andrew R. Jones, contains a contemporary Lutheran translation: https://blog.cph.org/study/the-scriptural-depth-of-the-great-o-antiphons:

Following is an English translation of the O Antiphons which is printed on pages 249 and 250 of The Annotated Book of Common Prayer: Being an Historical, Ritual, and Theological Commentary on the Devotional System of The Church of England, edited by John Henry Blunt, D.D. (1907), and on pages 219 and 220 of The Liturgical Year: an explanation of the Origin, History & Significance of the Festival Days Fasting Days of The English Church, by Vernon Staley (1907):

O Wisdom, which didst come forth from the mouth of the Most High, reaching from the one end of all things to the other, and ordering them with sweetness and might: Come, that Thou mayest teach us the way of understanding.

O Lord of lords, and Leader of he house of Israel, Who didst appear unto Moses in a flame of fire in the bush, and gavest Thy law in Sinai: Come, that Thou mayest redeem us with Thy stretched-out arm.

O Root of Jesse, which standest for an ensign of the people, before whom kings shall shut their mouths, and to whom the Gentiles shall seek: Come, that Thou mayest deliver us; tarry not, we beseech Thee.

O Key of David, and Sceptre of the house of Israel: Thou Who openest and no man shutteth, Who shuttest and no man openeth: Come, that Thou mayest bring forth from the prison-house him that is bound, sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death.

O dawning Brightness of the everlasting Light, and Sun of Righteousness: Come, that Thou mayest enlighten those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.

O King and Desire of all nations, the Corner-Stone uniting all in one: Come, that Thou mayest save man, whom Thou hast formed out of the ground by Thy hand.

O Emmanuel, our King and our Lawgiver, the Expectation and the Saviour of the Gentiles: Come, that Thou mayest save us, O Lord our God.

The O Antiphons are so theologically, Christologically, and scripturally rich and profound, they are suitable not just for chanting or reciting in worship services in the last days of Advent, but as the basis of spiritual disciplines practiced throughout Advent (and any other time of year).

For example, the spiritual discipline of doing one or more of the following every day of Advent:

1. Reading one of the O Antiphons
2. Meditating on one of the O Antiphons
3. Reading a passage of the Scriptures which is related to one of the O Antiphons (such as the ones mentioned above)
4. Meditating on a passage of the Scriptures which is related to one of the O Antiphons (such as the ones mentioned above)
5. Searching for another passage of the Scriptures which is related to one of the O Antiphons than the ones mentioned above
6. Praying one of the O Antiphons
7. Listening to a musical performance of one of the O Antiphons
8. Singing one of the O Antiphons
9. Learning about one of the O Antiphons
10. Composing a new prayer to the Lord Jesus which is like the O Antiphons: one that begins with "O" followed by a title of Christ, and which consists of quotations of the Bible

The Wikipedia article "O Antiphons" has a section entitled "Musical settings". One can find recordings of musical performances of them on YouTube and elsewhere on the Internet. One can learn about the O Antiphons from many resources on the Internet, including articles which are devotional.

I recommend that as we think on these ancient prayers to the Lord, we imagine what it was like to be a God-fearing and faithful Israelite who looked forward to, and longed for, the first advent of the Messiah. Remember that they knew much less about how His first advent would fulfill the prophecies of Scripture than we do with our hindsight and the books of the New Testament. As the apostle Peter says in I Peter 1:10–12, even the prophets who prophesied them knew less about their fulfillment than we do—or, at least, than we can know and we should know.

Notice that Peter also says "which things the angels desire to look into". If even the angels desire to look into the first advent of Christ, how much more so should we?

As we ponder the O Antiphons, may we be motivated by them to live more like Peter, the other apostles, and multitudes of other disciples of the Lord have lived throughout church history: looking forward to, and longing for, His fulfillment of yet more prophecies with His second advent: when, as He Himself said, He will come not in humility and obscurity, but "in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory" (Matthew 24:30 (AV/KJV)).

If we desire His second advent, we should also desire to learn what we can about it from the Scriptures. Thanks be to God we can do that!

May God bless our use of the O Antiphons to the preparation and adornment of His church for the return of her Lord and Bridegroom, who is worthy of a bride who has neither spot, nor wrinkle, nor any such thing, but is holy and without blemish (Ephesians 5:27). By His grace, may we all be expecting Him, prepared and adorned for Him, and faithfully and attentively waiting for Him, until He comes and fulfills all our desires for Him (Matthew 25:1–10; Titus 2:10; I Peter 3:3–5; Revelation 19:7–8, 22:1–2). Amen.

Questions for consideration
1. What do you think about the O Antiphons?
2. What do you think about the idea of observing Advent with the O Antiphons?
3. Would you like to observe Advent with the O Antiphons? If so, why? If not, why not?
4. Would you like to learn more about the O Antiphons? If so, why? If not, why not?
5. What are some other spiritual disciples one could perform with the O Antiphons?

This article was written with information obtained from the following two Wikipedia articles:

"Antiphon", Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 1 August 2024 00:45 UTC, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Antiphon&oldid=1237890807

"O Antiphons", Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 24 May 2024 05:51 UTC, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=O_Antiphons&oldid=1225397803