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Advent Antiphons: O Radix Iesse

19th December 2020

19th December - O Radix Iesse

“O stock of Jesse, you stand as a signal for the nations; kings fall silent before you whom the peoples acclaim.
O come to deliver us, and do not delay.”

Today’s antiphon follows on from Exodus by turning to the prophecies of the Promised Messiah.

The first sentence of the antiphon is a reference to Isaiah 11:10 (“In that day the root of Jesse shall stand as an ensign to the peoples; him shall the nations seek”). It is also quoted by St Paul (Romans 15:12), who confirms that the long-awaited Messiah has arrived.

However, inserted into this reference to Isaiah 11 is the phrase, “Kings fall silent before you”. This does not relate to any of the glorious and kingly prophecies, but comes from the Song of the Suffering Servant, in Isaiah 52. After describing how this Servant will suffer and be disfigured beyond recognition, Isaiah adds: “kings shall shut their mouths because of him”.

So this antiphon, in its first line, succinctly refers us directly to the Easter mystery, forecasting the Passion, but more significantly, the exultation of the Servant that will follow, through His Resurrection. And crucially, as Isaiah already suggests, this Redemption will be universal: for all the nations, the kings and peoples.

The final phrase, “do not delay,” is a direct reference to a particular prophecy of Habakkuk, who is given a vision by the Lord. In the Jewish tradition, this vision, which “awaits its time”, concerns the promised Messiah. In the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the pronouns referring to the vision are changed to masculine (whereas “vision” is feminine in Hebrew), as a direct reference to the Messiah. The prophecy is then picked up by both the letter to the Hebrews and by St Peter’s letter in the New Testament, thus taking up this refrain again in expectation of Christ’s Second Coming.

In this way, the third antiphon at once captures both the historic manifestation of the Messiah, with His Saving Mission, and His future arrival with the renewal of the heavens and the earth.

Listen to the O Radix Iesse antiphon here

Stefan Kaminski

Director, The Christian Heritage Centre

How to support The Christian Heritage Centre at Stonyhurst The Christian Heritage Centre at Stonyhurst

is a registered charity, established to increase access by the Catholic community to the Stonyhurst Collections.

Images from the Collections are kindly reproduced by permission of the Society of Jesus and Stonyhurst College.

The Christian Heritage Centre at Stonyhurst has built Theodore House to enable visitors, scholars, parishes, schools and retreatants to deepen their Christian faith.

Further details of how to support the project or to book Theodore House are available from 01254 827329.

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Advent Antiphons: O Adonai

18th December 2020

18th December - O Adonai

“O Adonai and leader of Israel, you appeared to Moses in a burning bush and you gave him the Law on Sinai.
O come and save us with your mighty power.”

The word “Adonai” is a particular Hebrew term for “Lord”. Yet it is retained in the original Latin antiphon, rather than being translated to “Dominus”. The term is only used twice in the Vulgate (Latin) Bible. The only explanation for its usage in the antiphon is the author’s intended acrostic (see above)!

The first time “Adonai” is used in the Bible is when God reveals His name as “the LORD” to Moses. And so this second antiphon points us to the second essential thing that we, with our Jewish ancestors, can say about God: He is the Lawgiver.

The Latin words that refer to the Lord’s appearance in the burning bush are not taken directly from Exodus, but are a literal quotation from St Stephen’s speech in the Acts of the Apostles. Thus a discrete reference is inserted to the New Testament and to Christ.

The words either side of that phrase – referring to the leader of Israel and the Law on Sinai – are not found directly anywhere in the Old Testament, although they refer to Israel’s exodus from Egypt and to the Covenant formed with them. Equally, the last phrase, “Come and save us…” seems to refer to Moses’ song of thanksgiving after the crossing of the Red Sea.

So how does all this relate to Christmas? According to ancient Christian tradition, the revelation of the Old Testament was considered to be the Revelation, however veiled, of the Son, the Second Person of the Trinity. The God Who spoke to our ancestors spoke through His Word, Who becomes incarnate in the Christmas mystery. Hence Catholic theology has always seen a spiritual prefigurement or foreshadowing of the New Testament in the physical events of the Old Testament.

The leader of Israel, the One Who sets us free from the land of slavery, Who leads us through the waters of Baptism that wipe away all evil, and Who forms an irrevocable covenant in His blood on the mount, is Christ the Lord: the One Whose coming we await.

Listen to the O Adonai antiphon here

Stefan Kaminski

Director, The Christian Heritage Centre

How to support The Christian Heritage Centre at Stonyhurst The Christian Heritage Centre at Stonyhurst

is a registered charity, established to increase access by the Catholic community to the Stonyhurst Collections.

Images from the Collections are kindly reproduced by permission of the Society of Jesus and Stonyhurst College.

The Christian Heritage Centre at Stonyhurst has built Theodore House to enable visitors, scholars, parishes, schools and retreatants to deepen their Christian faith.

Further details of how to support the project or to book Theodore House are available from 01254 827329.

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Advent Antiphons: O Sapientia

17th December 2020

17th December - O Sapientia

“O Wisdom, you come forth from the mouth of the Most High. You fill the universe and hold all things together in a strong yet gentle manner. O come to teach us the way of truth.”

Wisdom is the explicit theme of seven of the Old Testament books, all of which personify her as coexistent with God.

In the Book of Sirach, she says of herself, “I came forth from the mouth of the Most High”: a reference to the creative Word of God in Genesis 1. This is the same Word through whom all things were made (cf. John 1:3): the Incarnate Lord, Jesus Christ.

In the Book of Wisdom, Solomon writes of her, “She reaches mightily from one end of the earth to the other, and she orders all things well”. Thus the antiphon picks up the long-held understanding of creation as, not simply a momentary act akin to setting things off, but a continuous and permanent act of holding all things in being. As St Augustine is keen to emphasise, though Christ became incarnate and therefore mortal insofar as He took on our human nature, in His Divinity He remained present everywhere and in all things.

Finally, Wisdom invites us to “walk in the way of insight”, following her invitation to her banquet (Proverbs 9). And so the antiphon concludes by asking Him who is “the way, the truth and the light” (John 14) to teach us His way as we walk towards the great Mystery of His birth on earth.

And so the first of the seven antiphons sets the metaphysical scene, pointing us to “the beginning” of both the Old Testament and the New, to the Coming of the Almighty One in human form.

Listen to the O Sapientia antiphon here

Stefan Kaminski

Director, The Christian Heritage Centre

How to support The Christian Heritage Centre at Stonyhurst The Christian Heritage Centre at Stonyhurst

is a registered charity, established to increase access by the Catholic community to the Stonyhurst Collections.

Images from the Collections are kindly reproduced by permission of the Society of Jesus and Stonyhurst College.

The Christian Heritage Centre at Stonyhurst has built Theodore House to enable visitors, scholars, parishes, schools and retreatants to deepen their Christian faith.

Further details of how to support the project or to book Theodore House are available from 01254 827329.

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The “Great Os”: the Advent Antiphons

16th December 2020

The Great Os: The Seven Advent Antiphons

Have you ever wondered what the “O Antiphons” of Advent are? You might have heard religious or priests getting excited about these every year; the “great Os”, as they are also known.

These are the seven antiphons that accompany the recitation of the Magnificat at Evening Prayer, over the seven days from 17th to 23rd December.

Each begins with an “O”, invoking the Lord Jesus who is to come, with a different title. They were instituted in the 7th century, and each has deep theological roots in the Old Testament. Reading the first letter of each title (in the Latin) provides an interesting acrostic in reverse:

Sapientia – Wisdom

Adonai – Lord

Radix – Root

Clavis – Key

Oriens – Dayspring

Rex – King

Emmanuel – Emmanuel

“Ero cras” means “I will be [there] tomorrow”.

Beginning tomorrow, we will examine each of the antiphons on its proper day, offering some reflections and insights into the Scriptural roots and the theology of each of the seven acclamations.

Stefan Kaminski

Director, The Christian Heritage Centre

How to support The Christian Heritage Centre at Stonyhurst The Christian Heritage Centre at Stonyhurst

is a registered charity, established to increase access by the Catholic community to the Stonyhurst Collections.

Images from the Collections are kindly reproduced by permission of the Society of Jesus and Stonyhurst College.

The Christian Heritage Centre at Stonyhurst has built Theodore House to enable visitors, scholars, parishes, schools and retreatants to deepen their Christian faith.

Further details of how to support the project or to book Theodore House are available from 01254 827329.