In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, 2 during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. 3 He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, 4 as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah,
“The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord;
make his paths straight.
5 Every valley shall be filled,
and every mountain and hill shall be made low,
and the crooked shall be made straight,
and the rough ways made smooth,
6 and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’ ”
7 John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Therefore, bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. 9 Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”
-Luke 3:1-9 NRSVUE
O! Antiphons!
Today marks the beginning of the final week before Christmas. For much of the world, life speeds up even more just about now. Things get more hectic, both in and outside of the Church. Right in the middle of this week lies the winter solstice, the turning point of the progression of darkness to light in the northern hemisphere. Even as human life speeds up, nature slows down.
The date of Christmas has much less to do with the solstice than popular culture would have us believe. December 25th falls exactly nine months after the Feast of the Annunciation on March 25th. But nonetheless, this turning of the year does make a good metaphor for the coming of Christ - “the Light shines in the darkness.”
In the liturgical year, this final week before Christmas is when the Great Advent Antiphons, or “O Antiphons,” make their appearance. An antiphon is a verse of scripture or short prayer that frames a psalm or canticle. The O Antiphons are at least as old as the 6th century. If you have ever sung the hymn “O Come, O Come Emmanuel,” you’ve encountered the O Antiphons as they were translated from the Latin by the Anglican priest John Mason Neale in 1853. You may have noticed that each verse in our hymnal has a date in front of it. Each day, from December 17-23, one of the “O Antiphons” is used before the Magnificat (aka the Song of Mary) in Evening Prayer. They are:
17 December: O come, O Wisdom from on high, who orderest all things mightily; to us the path of knowledge show and teach us and its ways to go.
18 December: O come, O come, the Lord of might, who to the tribes on Sinai‘s height in ancient times didn’t give the law, and cloud, and majesty, and awe.
19 December: O come, O come, thou branch of Jessie’s tree, free them from Satan’s tyranny that trust thy mighty power to save, and give them victory o’er the grave.
20 December: O come thou key of David, come, and open wide our heavenly home; make safe the way that leads on high, and close the path to misery.
21 December: O come, thou Dayspring from on high, and tear us by thy drawing nigh; disperse the gloomy clouds of night, and deaths dark shadow put two flight.
22 December: O come, Desire of the Nations, bind in one the hearts of all mankind; bid thou our sad divisions cease, and be thyself our King of Peace.
23 December: O come, O come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel, that mourns in lonely exile here until the son of God appear.
Like the words of John the Baptist, and the Song of Mary, each of these names or attributes of the coming Messiah has their source in the Old Testament. Like everything in Advent, they look back to where we have been, and ahead to the future. The yearning for God to come among us is something we share with every generation in the Church. It’s something we share with Mary and with John the Baptist. It’s something we share with each other today, and with generations to come. The yearning for the light of Christ (notice that “Dayspring” falls on 12/21) is something that every single one of us can relate to.
One of the most rewarding aspects of being part of an historic, liturgical Church, is the ability of simple words to connect us to the faithful throughout the ages. You may not be in the habit of reading Evening Prayer, but you can incorporate the O Antiphons into your daily prayer during this final week of Advent, either by reciting or singing each antiphon alone, or before and after the Song of Mary, or Magnificat on page 65 (Rite I) or 119 (Rite II) in the Book of Common Prayer.
The Rev. Mary Ann Hill
Rector
St. Dunstan’s, Tulsa