Fr. Christian Mathis | December 23, 2009
O Emmanuel, our king and our lawgiver,
the hope of the nations and their Saviour:
Come and save us, O Lord our God.
As the days and now hours until Christmas draw near our prayers seem even more urgent. Come and save us, O Lord our God! The hymn O Come O Come Emmanuel, which draws entirely upon [...]
Fr. Christian Mathis | December 22, 2009
O King of the nations, and their desire,
the cornerstone making both one:
Come and save the human race,
which you fashioned from clay.
We begin and end each liturgical year with our focus on Christ the King. The appearance of the Magi with their gifts are reminders to us that even as a baby, Christ is our [...]
Fr. Christian Mathis | December 21, 2009
O Rising Sun,
splendour of light eternal and sun of righteousness:
Come and enlighten those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.
Today’s antiphon is one of my favorites during this time of Advent preparation as it reminds us that even before Christ’s birth, the joy of his resurrection was present to those whom Isaiah [...]
Fr. Christian Mathis | December 20, 2009
O Key of David and sceptre of the House of Israel;
you open and no one can shut;
you shut and no one can open:
Come and lead the prisoners from the prison house,
those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.
The further we go with the O Antiphons, the more it strikes me that perhaps what [...]
Fr. Christian Mathis | December 19, 2009
O Root of Jesse, standing as a sign among the peoples;
before you kings will shut their mouths,
to you the nations will make their prayer:
Come and deliver us, and delay no longer.
Today we are reminded as we were a few days ago in the daily Gospel reading from the beginning of Matthew’s Gospel, that Jesus is [...]
Fr. Christian Mathis | December 18, 2009
O Adonai, and leader of the House of Israel,
who appeared to Moses in the fire of the burning bush
and gave him the law on Sinai:
Come and redeem us with an outstretched arm.
Today’s antiphon reminds us of Christ’s connection to the people of Israel and the covenant of old. We are often very quick as Christians [...]
Fr. Christian Mathis | December 17, 2009
O Wisdom, coming forth from the mouth of the Most High,
reaching from one end to the other mightily,
and sweetly ordering all things:
Come and teach us the way of prudence.
Today we enter the octave before Christmas and our final preparations of Advent. Traditionally this is a time when we begin the singing of the “O Antiphons”. [...]
