Awaiting the Coming Messiah: The "O Antiphons"

The Poissy Antiphonal, Wikimedia Commons

Beginning on either December 17 in the Roman Catholic tradition or December 16 in the Anglican tradition, a series of antiphons, or responsive songs, that focus on the coming Christ are added to evening prayers.  These antiphons are of considerable antiquity, being attested as early as the sixth century A.D.  They took their present form in Western Christianity when Benedictine monks included them in their Advent liturgy.

Because each one of the seven begins with the interjection "O!," they are commonly called "O Antiphons."  Each  takes a name or title of the Messiah from scripture, particularly from the prophecies of Isaiah.  The titles are as follows:

• Sapientia (Wisdom; see Proverbs 8:1, 22–32)
• Adonai (Lord; see Isaiah 43:1–7)
• Radix Jesse (Root of Jesse; see Isaiah 11:1–9)
• Clavis David (Key of David; see Isaiah 22:20–24)
• Oriens (Day-star; see Isaiah 42:1–7; Luke 1:78)
• Rex gentium (King of the Nations; see Isaiah 45:8–13; Jeremiah 10:7)
• Emmanuel (Immanuel or "God with us"; see Isaiah 33:20–22 and Isaiah 7:14)

The first letters of each title form an acronym, which, when read backwards, reads ero cras, Latin for "I will come tomorrow."

The hymn "O Come, O Come Emmanuel," the preeminent Advent carol that opens the season on the first Sunday of Advent, is a metrical paraphrase of the O Antiphons.

Below appear the traditional, sometimes loose, English translations of the antiphons followed by the corresponding verse of "O Come, O Come Emmanuel."

December 17: O Sapientia.

O Wisdom, who didst issue out of the mouth of the most High, and dost reach from one end of the world to the other, mightily and sweetly ordering all things: Come and teach us the way of prudence.

                    O come, thou Wisdom from on high,
                    Who orderest all things mightily;
                    To us the path of knowledge show,
                    And teach us in her ways to go.
                        Refrain: Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
                        Shall come to thee, O Israel!
                   
                    See Proverbs 8:1, 22–32

 

December 18: O Adonai
   
O Lord and Ruler of the house of Israel, who didst appear to Moses in a burning bush, and didst give him the law on Sinai: Come and deliver us with an outstretched arm.

                    O come, O come, thou Lord of might,
                    Who to thy tribes on Sinai's height
                    In ancient times didst give the law,
                    In cloud and majesty and awe.
                        Refrain: Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
                        Shall come to thee, O Israel!

                    See Isaiah 43:1–7

December 19: O Radix Jesse

O Root of Jesse, who standest for an ensign to the peoples, at whom kings shall shut their mouths, and to whom the Gentiles shall pray: Come and deliver us, and do not delay.

                    O come, thou Rod of Jesse's stem,
                    From every foe deliver them
                    That trust thy mighty power to save,
                    And give them vict'ry o'er the grave.
                        Refrain: Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
                        Shall come to thee, O Israel!

                    See Isaiah 11:1–9

December 20: O Clavis David

O Key of David, and Scepter of the house of Israel; who openest and no one shutteth, who shuttest and no one openeth: come and bring the prisoners out of the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death.

                    O come, thou Key of David, come,
                    And open wide our heav'nly home;
                    Make safe the way that leads on high,
                    And close the path to misery.           
                        Refrain: Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
                        Shall come to thee, O Israel!

                    See Isaiah 22:20–24
 

December 21: O Oriens

O Day-Spring, radiant everlasting Light, and Sun of Righteousness: Come and enlighten those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death.

                    O come, thou Day-spring from on high,
                    And cheer us by thy drawing nigh;
                    Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
                    And death's dark shadow put to flight.           
                        Refrain: Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
                        Shall come to thee, O Israel!   

                    See Isaiah 42:1–7; Luke 1:78

December 22: O Rex gentium

O King of the Nations, and their Desire; the Cornerstone who dost unite the divided into one: Come and save mankind, whom thou didst create out of clay.
   
                    O come, Desire of nations, bind
                    In one the hearts of all mankind;
                    Bid thou our sad divisions cease,
                    And be thyself our King of Peace.           
                        Refrain: Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
                        Shall come to thee, O Israel!   
                   
                    See Isaiah 45:8–13; Jeremiah 10:7

December 23: O Emmanuel

O Emmanuel, our King and Lawgiver, the One whom the Gentiles expect, and their Salvation: Come and save us, O Lord our God.

                    O come, O come, Emmanuel,
                    And ransom captive Israel,
                    That mourns in lonely exile here
                    Until the Son of God appear.           
                        Refrain: Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
                        Shall come to thee, O Israel!   

                    See Isaiah 33:20–22 and Isaiah 7:14

Christmas Quick Links 

Preparing for Christmas  |  Celebrating Advent  |  First Advent  |  Second Advent  |  Third Advent  |  O Antiphons: The Coming Messiah  |  Fourth Advent  |  Christmas Eve  |  The Focus of Advent and Christmas  |   Daily December Christmas Devotional Ideas  |  Christmas throughout the Year  |   
Epiphany  |   The Presentation

The Presentation

Andrea Celesti, Presentación de Jesús en el Templo (Wikimedia Commons)

Although our family commemorates the events of Luke 2:21-40 shortly after Christmas, usually on the Sunday following it, traditionally they are recognized in the liturgies of many Christian churches 40 days after the Feast of the Nativity.  This is because the Presentation of Jesus in the temple is associated in the Lucan narrative with Mary's purification, which came forty day's after Jesus' birth.  In the Anglican tradition (and formerly in the Catholic), the Presentation is celebrated as "Candlemas," partially as a recollection of the lamps of the temple, when candles for the coming year are brought to the church and blessed.  In the Eastern Orthodox churches, the feast is often called Hypapante, Greek for "meeting," which recollects how the prophet Simeon and the prophetess Anna met the Messiah in the temple.


Sections of the Presentation Episode (Luke 2:21–40)

• Circumcision and Naming of Jesus (Luke 2:21)
• Mary’s Purification (Luke 2:22–24)
• Simeon’s Testimony (Luke 2:25–35)
• Canticle: Nunc Demittis (Luke 2:29–32, “Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace”)
• Anna’s Testimony (Luke 2:36–40)

Mary and Joseph bring Jesus to the Temple (see Good Tidings of Great Joy, 88-90) 

Leviticus 12:1–8 mandated that when a woman gave birth, she must be purified of ritual uncleanliness after a period of forty days. As diligent keepers of the law of Moses, Joseph and Mary took advantage of their proximity to Jerusalem to make the appropriate offering at the temple in connection with her purification. Although the designated offering was a yearling lamb along with a dove, they took advantage of the alternative that the Law allowed those who were poor to substitute a pair of doves. References to Mary’s purification (Luke 2:22a, 24) frame a second ceremony, the redemption of the firstborn (Luke 2:22b–23). After the Lord delivered the children of Israel from Egypt, he had claimed the firstborn of every family in return for having spared them the night of the first Passover, requiring them to be consecrated to his service (see Exodus 13:2, 12–15). Although the Lord later accepted the service of the entire tribe of Levi in place of the firstborn of all Israel, the Lord still required that the firstborn be redeemed by the price of five shekels (Numbers 18:15–16).

The redemption of the firstborn did not need to take place in the temple, but the presence of the holy family in the sanctuary for Mary’s purification provided Luke with the opportunity for some important symbolism. While we can assume that Joseph and Mary paid the required five shekels required by the law, by not mentioning the actual payment, Luke implies that Jesus continued in the service of the God rather than being redeemed from it. In this the story of the Old Testament prophet Samuel had served as an anticipation: after he had been weaned, Elkanah and Hannah had brought the boy Samuel to the sanctuary at Shiloh, where he was presented and left for a lifetime of service to God (1 Samuel 1:24–28). Recalling how Hannah’s song had served as a model for Mary’s own Magnificat strengthens the connection, suggesting that Mary too was willingly presenting her son to God. While Jesus does not remain in the temple, during his later boyhood visit, he makes it clear that he belongs there and that his mission is to be about his Father’s business (Luke 2:46–49).

Simeon's Testimony (see Good Tidings of Great Joy, 91-92)

Greg Olsen, Simeon Reverencing the Christ Child

The name Hebrew Šimʿon (Greek Symeōn and hence Symeon or Simeon) may mean both “[YHWH] had heard” and “one who hears and obeys.” While numerous early Christian legends grew up about Simeon, Luke simply introduces him by describing Simeon as “just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him” (Luke 2:25, emphases added). The term translated “consolation” is the Greek paraklēsin; in addition to meaning help, comfort, or relief, in origin it means “summons” or “encouragement” and has the same root as “Comforter” (paraklētos; see John 14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7).

This good man, assumed to be elderly and approaching death because of his subsequent words, had received a promise by the Holy Ghost “that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ” (Luke 2:26). Accordingly, the Spirit brought him to the temple at just the right time to encounter the holy family, whereupon he takes the child in his arms and blesses him (Luke 2:28). This Simeon at the beginning of the story of Jesus thus finds a certain parallel with Joseph of Arimathaea at its end: that Joseph is also just, waits for the kingdom of God, and, in taking Jesus down from the cross and burying him, likewise takes him in his arms (see Luke 23:50–53).

At that moment Simeon blesses God and utters an inspired song, the fourth and final canticle in Luke’s Infancy Narrative (Luke 2:29–32). By tradition it is known as the Nunc Demittis, from the Latin for the first line: “Now you are sending away your servant in peace” (KJV, “Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word”). Having at last seen the promised Savior, Simeon feels that he can die comforted and reassured “for mine eyes have seen thy salvation.” He then continues by describing this salvation in terms rich with Old Testament allusions (see Psalm 98:3; Isaiah 40:5, 42:6, 49:6, 52:9–10). However, whereas Zacharias had also sung of salvation in the Benedictus, his prophecy had centered on the deliverance that would come to Israel. Simeon, by contrasts, speaks of how Christ has been prepared for all people, and he balances both Gentiles and Israel in the final line, calling him “a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel” (Luke 2:32).

Concluding the canticle, Simeon turns to Mary and speaks a final prophecy, telling her, “this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against” (Luke 2:34), prophesying that while Jesus was the glory of Israel, many of his own people would reject him and he would cause divisions even within families (see Luke 12:51–53). Finally, Simeon alludes to the Passion and death of Jesus that Mary would witness so poignantly, telling her that her own soul would be pierced but that in the end judgment would come through her son’s sacrifice (Luke 2:35; see John 19:25, 33–34).

Simeon and Believers Today

The image of the aged Simeon in the temple, meeting at last his promised Savior, is one that resonates with many believers today. It is also one that has come to have special, personal meaning to me. In 2010, just four days before Christmas, my grandfather, Cannon Huntsman, died. Two days after Christmas we buried him. Funerals at Christmastime are always poignant, even when they are held for good men and women who die at an old age. The sense of loss and sadness can weigh heavily on and even dampen the Christmas spirit.

But it was the story of Simeon that gave me great comfort the day after Christmas. I read it that night to Elaine and the children, and I decided to use it in my remarks at the funeral the next day. As long as health permitted, Grandpa spent as much time as he could in the temple. And like Simeon, he had a powerful faith in his Savior and Redeemer. While he did not hold the Baby Jesus in his arms nor see the Risen Lord in the flesh, Grandpa had seen the hand of the Lord all his life and rejoiced in his testimony of Jesus.

While modern revelation tells us “thou shalt live together in love insomuch that thou shalt weep for the loss of them that die,” it also reassures us that “those that die in me shall not taste of death, for it shall be sweet unto them” (D&C 42:45–46). I have come to believe that men and women of Christ, like Grandpa, can share the sentiment of Simeon when their time comes, crying out in their hearts, “Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace” (Luke 2:29).

 
Anna's Testimony (see Good Tidings of Great Joy, 92)

James Tissot, The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple 
(Wikimedia Commons)

Luke’s narrative provides a second witness in the temple in the person of Anna, an elderly widow who spent every day in the temple in prayer and fasting (Luke 2:36–37). Significantly, she is described as a prophetess, connecting her with Deborah, Huldah, the wife of Isaiah, and perhaps Samuel’s mother, Hannah. Indeed, Anna is the Greek transliteration of the Hebrew name Ḥannah, providing another connection with the story of Jesus’ birth and that of the prophet Samuel. At a time when most Jews were from the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and Levi, Luke notes that Anna was from the tribe of Asher, perhaps suggesting that the lost tribes of Israel too await the coming of Christ. Having married young, perhaps between 10 and 14, she had lost her husband after seven years, and, depending upon how the next verse is read, she was either 84 years old or had lived another 84 years after her husband’s death, making her as old as 103 or 105. While the actual words of this faithful woman are not preserved, like Simeon she first blesses or thanks God and then “spake [Greek, elalei or “kept speaking”] of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem” (Luke 2:38).

Christmas Quick Links

Preparing for Christmas | Celebrating Advent | First Advent | Second Advent | Third Advent | O Antiphons: The Coming Messiah | Fourth Advent | Christmas Eve | The Focus of Advent and Christmas | Daily December Christmas Devotional Ideas | Christmas throughout the Year |
Epiphany | The Presentation