ADVENT TIP OF THE DAY 16: O Antiphons - O come, O come, Emmanuel

MJ. Smith

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QUESTION: What are the O Antiphons?

ANSWER: from Logos/Verbum smart search

From the synopsis:

The "O Antiphons" are a set of seven special antiphons used in the Roman Catholic Church during the week before Christmas. These antiphons, which begin with the exclamation "O," are sung before and after the Magnificat during Vespers in the seven days preceding Christmas Eve. Each antiphon addresses Christ using a different Biblical title and includes a petition related to that title. The traditional O Antiphons are: O Sapientia (Wisdom), O Adonai (Lord), O Radix Jesse (Root of Jesse), O Clavis David (Key of David), O Oriens (Dayspring), O Rex Gentium (King of Nations), and O Emmanuel. Some medieval traditions included additional antiphons, bringing the total to eight or even twelve. The O Antiphons are considered a significant feature of Advent services and have inspired hymns such as "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel".1

From Henry, Hugh. “O Antiphons.” Edited by Charles G. Herbermann, Edward A. Pace, Condé B. Pallen, Thomas J. Shahan, and John J. Wynne. The Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church. New York: The Encyclopedia Press; The Universal Knowledge Foundation, 1907–1913.

O Antiphons

(Roman Breviary: Antiphonæ majores, “greater antiphons”).

The seven antiphons to the Magnificat in the ferial Office of the seven days preceeding the vigil of Christmas; so called because all begin with the interjection “O”. Their opening words are: (1) “O Sapientia”, (2) “O Adonai”, (3) “O Radix Jesse”, (4) “O Clavis David”, (5) “O Oriens”, (6) “O Rex Gentium”, (7) “O Emmanuel”. Addressed to Christ under one or other of His Scriptural titles, they conclude with a distinct petition to the coming Lord (e.g.: “O Wisdom … come and teach us the way of prudence”; “O Adonai … come and redeem us by thy outstretched arm”; “O Key of David … come and lead from prison the captive sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death” etc.). Couched in a poetic and Scriptural phraseology they constitute a notable feature of the Advent Offices. These seven antiphons are found in the Roman Breviary; but other medieval Breviaries added (1) “O virgo virginum quomodo fiet” etc., still retained in the Roman Breviary as the proper antiphon to the Magnificat in the second Vespers of the feast Expectatio Partus B. M. V. (18 December), the prayer of this feast being followed by the antiphon “O Adonai” as a commemoration of the ferial office of 18 December; (2) “O Gabriel, nuntius cœlorum”, subsequently replaced, almost universally, by the thirteenth-century antiphon, “O Thoma Didyme”, for the feast of the Apostle St. Thomas (21 December). Some medieval churches had twelve greater antiphons, adding to the above (1) “O Rex Pacifice”, (2) “O Mundi Domina”, (3) “O Hierusalem”, addressed respectively to Our Lord, Our Lady, and Jerusalem. Guéranger gives the Latin text of all of these (except the “O Mundi Domina”), with vernacular prose translation (“Liturgical Year”, Advent, Dublin, 1870, 508–531), besides much devotional and some historical comment. The Parisian Rite added two antiphons (“O sancte sanctorum” and “O pastor Israel”) to the seven of the Roman Rite and began the recitation of the nine on the 15th of December. Prose renderings of the Roman Breviary O’s will be found in the Marquess of Bute’s translation of the Roman Breviary (winter volume). Guéranger remarks that the antiphons were appropriately assigned to the Vesper Hour because the Saviour came in the evening hour of the world (vergente mundi vespere, as the Church sings) and that they were attached to the Magnificat to honour her through whom He came. By exception to the rule for ferial days, the seven antiphons are sung in full both before and after the canticle. “In some Churches it was formerly the practice to sing them thrice: that is, before the Canticle, before the Gloria Patri, and after the Sicut erat” (Guéranger). There are several translations into English verse, both by Catholics and non-Catholics, the most recent being that in Dom Gregory Ould’s “Book of Hymns” (Edinburgh, 1910, no. 5) by W. Rooke-Ley, in seven quatrains together with a refrain-quatrain giving a translation of the versicle and response (“Rorate”, etc.). The seven antiphons have been found in manuscripts of the eleventh century. A paraphrase of some of these is found in the hymn “Veni, veni, Emmanuel” given by Daniel in his “Thesaurus Hymnologicus” (II, 336) and translated by Neale in his “Medieval Hymns and Sequences” (3rd ed., London, p. 171) and others, and used in various hymn-books (Latin text in “The Roman Hymnal”, New York, 1884, 139). Neale supposed the hymn to be of the twelfth century, but it has not been traced back further than the first decade of the eighteenth century. For first lines of translations, see “Julian’s Dict. of Hymnol.” (2nd ed., London, 1907, 74, i; 1551, i; 1721, i). For the Scriptural sources of the antiphons see John Marquess of Bute, “Roman Breviary”, Winter, 203, also Marbach’s “Carmina Scripturarum” etc. (Strasburg, 1907) under “O” in the Index Alphabeticus.

Sources

THURSTON, The Great Antiphons, Heralds of Christmas in The Month (Dec., 1905), 616–631, gives liturgical uses, literary illustrations, and peculiar customs relating to the antiphons; questions the view of CARROL, L’Avent Liturgique in Revue Bénédictine (1905), n. 4, that they do not antedate the ninth century, gives much illustration (notably from The Christ of Cynewulf written circa 800) to show that they “are much older”, and knows “no valid reason for regarding them as posterior to the rest of the Roman Antiphonary or to the time of Pope Gregory himself”; CARROL in Dict. d’archéologie et liturgie chrétienne, s.v. Avent, repeats (col. 3229) his view, but in a foot-note refers the reader to THURSTON’S article in The Month; BAYLEY, Greater Antiphons of Advent in Pax (an Anglican periodical, 6 Dec., 1905), 231–239; STALEY, O Sapientia in Church Times (13 Dec., 1907), p. 812; WITHERBY O Sapientia, Seven Sermons on the Ancient Antiphons for Advent (London, 1906).[2]

From Webber, Robert. The Services of the Christian Year. Vol. 5. The Complete Library of Christian Worship. Nashville, TN: Star Song Pub. Group, 1994.

167◆ The “O” Antiphons

The seven “O” Antiphons are ancient texts developed for use during the last seven days of Advent (December 17–23). Eventually these antiphons were gathered into the well-known hymn “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.” Today these ancient prayers can be used in a variety of ways during the season of Advent, as the following examples suggest.

The Traditional Texts

First antiphon, December 17

O Wisdom, O holy Word of God (Sir. 24:3), you govern all creation with your strong yet tender care (Wisd. of Sol. 8:1). Come and show your people the way to salvation (Isa. 40:3–5a).

Second antiphon, December 18

O sacred Lord of ancient Israel (Exod. 6:2–3), who showed yourself to Moses in the burning bush (Exod. 3:2), who gave him the holy law on Sinai mountain: come, stretch out your mighty hand to set us free (Exod. 6:6).

Third antiphon, December 19

O Flower of Jesse’s stem, you have been raised up as a sign for all peoples (Isa. 11:10; Rom. 15:12); kings stand silent in your presence (Isa. 5:15); the nations bow down in worship before you. Come, let nothing keep you from coming to our aid (Hab. 2:3; Heb. 10:37).

Fourth antiphon, December 20

O Key of David, O royal Power of Israel, controlling at your will the gate of heaven (Isa. 22:22; Rev. 3:7): come, break down the prison walls of death for those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death; and lead your captive people into freedom (Isa. 42:7; Ps. 107:14; Luke 1:79).

Fifth antiphon, December 21

O Radiant Dawn (Isa. 58:8), splendor of eternal light (Heb. 1:3), sun of justice (Mal. 4:2): come, shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death (Luke 1:78–79; Isa. 9:2).

Sixth antiphon, December 22

O King of all the nations, the only joy of every human heart (Hag. 2:8); O Keystone (Isa. 28:16) of the mighty arch of man (Eph. 2:14): come and save the creature you fashioned from the dust (Gen. 2:7).

Seventh antiphon, December 23

O Emmanuel (Isa. 7:14, 8:8), king and lawgiver (Isa. 33:22), desire of the nations (Gen. 49:10), Savior of all people, come and set us free, Lord our God.

A Traditional Form of the “O” Antiphons for Use as a Call to Worship

O Wisdom proceeding from the mouth of the highest,

reaching from eternity to eternity

and disposing all things with strength and sweetness:

Come, teach us the way of knowledge.

O Lord and Leader of Israel,

you appeared to Moses in the burning bush

and delivered the law to him on Sinai:

Come, redeem us by your outstretched arm.

O Root of Jesse,

you stand as a sign of the people;

before you rulers do not open their mouths;

to you all nations shall pray:

Come and deliver us, do not delay.

O Key of David and Scepter of Israel,

you open and no one shuts;

you shut and no one opens:

Come and release from prison those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.

O Dayspring, Splendor of Eternal Light and Sun of Righteousness:

Come and enlighten those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.

O King of nations,

Come and save those whom you formed of clay.

O Emmanuel, our King and Lawgiver,

the Expectation and Savior of the nations:

Come and save us, O Lord our God.

This source also includes additional forms for use in worship.

1 Hugh Henry, “O Antiphons,” in The Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church, ed. Charles G. Herbermann et al. (New York: The Encyclopedia Press; The Universal Knowledge Foundation, 1907–1913). and John F. A. Sawyer, “Antiphon,” in A Concise Dictionary of the Bible and Its Reception (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2009), 15.

[2] Hugh Henry, “O Antiphons,” in The Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church, ed. Charles G. Herbermann et al. (New York: The Encyclopedia Press; The Universal Knowledge Foundation, 1907–1913).