O Emmanuel “O God with us, our king and our lawgiver, the hope of the nations and their Savior: Come and save us, O Lord our God.”

This Antiphon is probably the most familiar to us because of the traditional Advent hymn, O Come, O Come Emmanuel. This hymn, in its original Latin, dates from the 12th century. The carol is actually based upon the O Antiphons, but moves the O Emmanuel Antiphon into first place, instead of last, as it should be. This is probably to emphasize the imminence of God.

For Israel God was imminent, in the burning bush (Exodus 3:1-15), in the pillars of fire (Exodus 13:21) that led the Israelites out of Egypt, in the tent of the Ark of the Covenant (Exodus 40:34), and in the Temple (1 Kings 8:1-11), God’s imminence was very much part of the prophetic tradition which constantly confronted Israel with God’s word.

Classical prophets of the Old Testament were aware that their oracles were from God. They also knew that they were admonitions, threats or promises which addressed an immediate contemporary situation. What they were unaware of was that in addition to the immediate situation, their utterance might have a higher “Messianic” level which would only become clear at some future time.

Such was the case with the Emmanuel prophecy of Isaiah which was addressed to King Ahaz of Judah who was reluctant to seek divine guidance that he might not want to heed.

“Then Isaiah said, “Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of humans? Will you try the patience of my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Emmanuel.”

At Isaiah’s contemporary level, who was Emmanuel and who was the woman to whom he was born? We do not know. Biblical exegetes (scholars) have theorized but without agreement. Pope Benedict XVI in his book on the infancy narratives published in English earlier this month thoroughly reviewed the scholarship on the question and concludes that “it is a word in waiting…not merely addressed to Ahaz. Nor is it merely addressed to Israel. It is addressed to humanity.” It does not concern a specific political situation “but the whole history of humanity.”

Indeed it is in exactly that context that Matthew quotes the incident. “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,” which means “God is with us.” (Matthew 1:20-23)

Once again the God-with-us theme is picked up by John in the ancient hymn with which he begins his Gospel. “…and the Word was made flesh, and dwelled among us,” (John 1:14) which in the original Greek read “pitched his tent among us,” echoing Exodus 40:34 above. Of course Jesus’ presence par-excellence among us is in the Eucharist which John addresses so beautifully in his sixth chapter. “I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died; this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die.”

We are Emmanuel people. We are the Body of Christ, the sacrament of Emmanuel.

In our reflection on the O Antiphons once again we are reminded of Israel’s longing for an ideal king in the Antiphon:

O Rex Gentium: “O King of all the nations, the only joy of every human heart; O Keystone of the mighty arch of man, come and save the creature you fashioned from the dust.”

Israel’s experience with kings was not a happy one. It began with her desire to have a king, like other nations (1 Samuel 8:6). God gave them a king (Saul) with a caveat about abuse of royal power. Saul was a disaster and his anointed successor, David, did fine until he spotted Bathsheba,. Their son Solomon was wise but his wisdom did not extend to choosing pagan wives. After Solomon, amidst a crumbling monarchy, through Isaiah, the Lord promised salvation under a new Davidic King.

“For a child is born to us, a son is given to us; upon his shoulder dominion rests? They name him Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero, Father-Forever, Prince of Peace. His dominion is vast and forever peaceful, upon David’s throne, and over his kingdom, which he confirms and sustains by his judgment and justice, both now and forever.“(Isaiah 9:5-6)

Jeremiah announced that this Davidic monarch would not only rule over Israel but the world: “No one is like you, Lord,, you are great, great and mighty is your name. Who would not fear you, King of the nations, for it is your due! Among all the wisest of the nations, and in all their domains there is none like you.” (Jeremiah 10:6-7)

But Israel’s longing for an ideal king would not be fulfilled by a mighty warrior king who would use his power to smite their enemies but by the Prince of Peace whose reign would bring peace, justice and reconciliation

“But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have become near by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, he who made both one and broke down the dividing wall of enmity, through his flesh.” (Ephesians 2:13-14)

Israel’s long wait was nearing an end.

In continuing our examination of the O Antiphons we reflect on O Oriens or O Radiant Dawn

O Oriens: “O Radiant Dawn, splendor of eternal light, sun of justice: come, shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.”

This Antiphon is rich in meaning on many levels. The Latin title O Oriens can be translated several ways. Oriens simply means East, but is also translated as Dawn, Daystar and Morning Star because they all rise in the East. All are harbingers of the sunrise which dispels the darkness.

The significance of this is often lost on those of us who dispel the darkness with our artificial sun, but in a world lit only by fire life was ruled by sunrise and nightfall. Not surprisingly sunrise has been associated with the coming of the Messiah. Thus Radiant Dawn of the Antiphon is reflected in Hosea 6:3: “Let us know, let us strive to know the Lord; as certain as the dawn is his coming?”

Luke 1:77-79 carries the theme into the New Testament: “And you, child, will be called prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord* to prepare his ways, to give his people knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God by which the daybreak from on high will visit us to shine on those who sit in darkness and death’s shadow, to guide our feet into the path of peace.” This text has been associated with both Jesus and his precursor, John the Baptist since the words are attributed by Luke to Zechariah , John’s father.

For Christians, the rising sun has always been associated with the Risen Son. The early Christians prayed facing East and altars faced East. In his book, The Spirit of Liturgy, Pope Benedict XVI wrote: “Despite all the variations in practice that have taken place far into the second millennium, one thing has remained clear for the whole of Christendom: praying towards the East is a tradition that goes back to the beginning.” Because the altars faced East, when the priest faced the altar he was said to be offering the Mass “ad orientem,” or towards the Risen Christ.

Still another example of the spiritual significance of Oriens, is the designation of the Virgin Mary as Morning Star, the precursor of the Risen Son..

“O Key of David and scepter of the House of Israel controlling at your will the gate of Heaven: 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.”

We do not know for certain when the O Antiphons were composed, but there are indications they originated about the seventh century with Benedictine monks reflecting on the Old Testament events leading up to the birth of Jesus, the Messiah. They were well aware of the fact that the Documents of Vatican II points out, namely that the New Testament is concealed in the Old and the Old revealed in the New.

They saw predictions of Jesus’ coming as Messiah and scion of the House of David in Isaiah: “I will place the key of the House of David on his shoulder; what he opens, no one will shut,what he shuts, no one will open.”(Isaiah 22:22) and Isaiah 61:1 “He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free.”

The Isaiah 6 passage is the text quoted by Jesus in Luke 4:18-19 where He stands up in his home synagogue at Nazareth and quotes Isaiah 61:1: “He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written: ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free…'” He then stood before the synagogue and said : “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

Isaiah’s text is echoed in Jesus’ giving the power of the keys to Peter in Matthew 16:18-19: “I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church… I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

An interesting note is that it is said that the Benedictine monks ordered the O Antiphons in the manner they did so that when the first letters of the Latin names were reversed they formed a Latin acrostic spelling out e r o c r a s or Ero Cras, which in Latin means “Tomorrow I will come.”

In our reflections on the O Antiphons this Advent Our path to redemption tokes us into Jesus’ ancestral line with O Radix Jesse or O Root of Jesse.

O Radix Jesse: “O Root of Jesse, you have been raised up as a sign for all peoples; kings stand silent in your presence; the nations bow down in worship before you. Come, let nothing keep you from coming to our aid.”

We Turin to the Prophet Isaiah for the scriptural basis of this Antiphon.

“But a shoot shall sprout from the stump* of Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall blossom.” (Isaiah 11:1) ” Justice shall be the band around his waist, and faithfulness a belt upon his hips. Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat; The calf and the young lion shall browse together,
with a little child to guide them.” (Isaiah 11:5-6)

King Saul, Israel’s first king, had abandoned God and the Prophet Samuel was sent by God to anoint a son of Jesse as his successor (1 Samuel 16:1-13) As we see on many occasions God’s ways are not human ways. to Samuel’s dismay, the chosen king is not Jesse’s eldest son, but his youngest, David.

“Jesse had the young man brought to them. He was ruddy, a youth with beautiful eyes, and good looking. The Lord said: There—anoint him, for this is the one! Then Samuel, with the horn of oil in hand, anointed him in the midst of his brothers, and from that day on, the spirit of the Lord rushed upon David.”(1 Samuel 16:12-13

Our journey to redemption continues as David, the Root of Jesse, becomes the ideal king the root from whom Jesus will spring.

Some families celebrate Advent with a Jesse Tree, a small tree with ornaments representing the Old Testament events leading up to Jesus’ birth. Ornaments might symbolize, Adam and Eve, Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Jesse, David, Isaiah, Ruth and others. A good way to teach how Advent, awaiting the birth of Jesus, recalls the long period of Jewish history awaiting the Messiah.

We continue our reflections on the O Antiphons with O Adonai or O Sacred Lord

Because the Hebrews believed the name of God was too holy to speak or even write, they used the word Adonai, which means Sacred Lord or simply Lord, to refer to the Holy One.

“O sacred Lord of ancient Israel, who showed yourself to Moses in the burning bush, who gave him the holy law on Sinai mountain: come, stretch out your mighty hand to set us free.”

God’s relationship with the Hebrews as his Chosen People was first manifested with his choice of Moses to lead the Children of Abraham out of slavery and to a promised land. Their choseness was not for privilege but as the vehicle through which the world might be reconciled to Him.

From the burning bush, “The Lord said [to Moses] I have witnessed the affliction of my people in Egypt and have heard their cry against their taskmasters, so I know well what they are suffering…” I have come to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and lead them up from that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey.”(Exodus 3:7-8)

In Egypt the Children of Israel were welcomed as the family of Joseph, but as their numbers increased they became unwelcome guests. The Exodus transformed them into a nation. The making of a nation requires a great leader- Moses; a common experience of tribulation- slavery; territory- the promised land, and law. It Was at Sinai that this last element was added.

“Moses went up to the mountain of God. Then the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying: This is what you will say to the house of Jacob; tell the Israelites: You have seen how I treated the Egyptians and how I bore you up on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now, if you obey me completely and keep my covenant, you will be my treasured possession among all peoples, though all the earth is mine. You will be to me a kingdom of priests,* a holy nation.” (Exodus 19:3-6)

The path to redemption which we call the Economy of Salvation continued to move forward in the Lord’s mysterious ways.

Since the time of the early Church part of the observance of Advent has been the chanting of the O Antiphons before the Magnificat during Vespers (Evening Prayer) from December 17 to December 23, a period known as the octave before Christmas. Each of the O Antiphons refers to a title of the Messiah, and a messianic passage from the Old Testament.

Consider the O Antiphons a kind of mini Advent Calendar, each a window opening up a different perspective of God.

Here are the seven titles, or first words of each in Latin, followed by the English: O Sapientia (O Wisdom), O Adonai (O Lord), O Radix Jesse (O Root of Jesse), O Clavis David (O Key of David), O Oriens (O Rising Sun), O Rex Gentium (O King of the Nations), and O Emmanuel (O God with us)

During Advent we will reflect on the O Antiphons, not during the Octave before Christmas, but over the entire Advent Season.

The first is O Sapientia or O Wisdom.

“O Wisdom, O holy Word of God, you govern all creation with your strong yet tender care. Come and show your people the way to salvation.”

In Isaiah Chapter 11 verses 2 and 3 we find: “The spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, a spirit of wisdom and of understanding, a spirit of counsel and of strength, a spirit of knowledge and of fear of the LORD, and his delight shall be the fear of the LORD.”

Here we find the basis for the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit, with Catholic tradition following St. Jerome’s substituting piety or Godliness for the second reference to fear of the Lord. The Hebrew word used here yirah, actually refers to reverence or awe, a holy fear, as opposed to the fear that means dread or terror which is pachad, a different word entirely. Thus it refers back to the antiphon’s reference to “you govern all creation with your strong yet tender care.”

In the Hebrew Scriptures wisdom sees God alone as truly wise. It appears as a person accompanying God in his creation (Proverbs 8). In Job wisdom is seen in God’s mysterious management of human history. There is no true wisdom without fear of the Lord (Proverbs 1:7). Wisdom is seen as God’s word (Sirach 24:3). Much of the wisdom literature in the Old Testament has to do with how to succeed in daily living (Proverbs) but wisdom is seen as a moral as well as a practical way of life. St. Thomas Aquinas sees wisdom as the strength to choose the spiritual over the material.

Like the people at the time of Isaiah, we live with turmoil and uncertainty. And, like them, we long for God’s wisdom to come and teach us the “way of salvation.”