The O Antiphons in an Old Favorite Hymn, and in a New Advent Carol
What's an antiphon, you may ask? This post answers that question—and gives answers to other questions you might never have thought to ask, such as Who is Our Lady of O?
I first became intrigued by the relationship between “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel,” the season of Advent, and the O antiphons a few years ago when I found a YouTube video titled “Top Ten Thoughts about Advent from Fr. Rutler.” In that video, Fr. George Rutler presents some of the hymn’s rich history. His “Thought #2” is one topic of this post: “The Church has wonderful hymns for Advent, and if we don’t keep Advent, we are going to miss them. We know one very well, and because we’ve lost Advent, we tend to think of it as a Christmas hymn: ‘O Come O Come Emmanuel.’”
Because many additional fascinating details are associated with the origins and history of this hymn, let’s dig deeper, and look at where the hymn came from.
Fr. Rutler continued, “The Latin version of ‘O Come O Come Emmanuel,’ which came first, is called ‘Veni, Veni, Emmanuel.’”
Corpus Christi Watershed published a post with the original version of Veni, Veni Emmanuel, which was arranged for two voices, which you might like to listen to: here.
A large part of what makes O Come O Come Emmanuel especially interesting is that each verse in the hymn is a modified version of one of the seven O antiphons.
What’s an antiphon? you might ask. As Fr. Rutler explained, an antiphon is a short line that precedes a liturgical hymn. The particular collection of antiphons that made their way into the non-liturgical hymn is called the O antiphons for the somewhat prosaic reason that they each begin with an O.
Each night between Dec. 17 and 23, wherever Latin Vespers or the vernacular Evening Prayer are prayed, one of the O antiphons is sung or recited before and after the Magnificat. In the post-Vatican II form of the Mass, each of the O antiphons is also included as the Gospel Acclamation during the Mass of the day.
The O antiphons powerfully express the Church’s longing and awe at this time of heightened anticipation, while Advent is coming to a close and our celebration of the birth of Christ draws near.
The Magnificat, of course, is the canticle of Our Lady, which she sang under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost during her visit with her cousin Elizabeth soon after the Annunciation. Dom Prosper Gueranger, the great liturgical scholar from the late 19th century, wrote that the O antiphons are sung at the Magnificat, “to show us that the Saviour whom we expect is to come to us by Mary.”
“The Church enters today on the seven days which precede the Vigil of Christmas, and which are known in the liturgy under the name of the Greater Ferias. The ordinary of the Advent Office becomes more solemn; the antiphons of the psalms, both for Lauds and the Hours of the day, are proper, and allude expressly to the great coming. Every day, at Vespers, is sung a solemn antiphon, consisting of a fervent prayer to the Messias, whom it addresses by one of the titles given Him in the sacred Scriptures. . . . The canonical Hour of Vespers has been selected as the most appropriate time for this solemn supplication to our Saviour, because, as the Church sings in one of her hymns, it was in the evening of the world (vergente mundi vespere) that the Messias came amongst us.”
The Catechism of the Catholic Church speaks of Advent as making present the expectation of the Messiah: as we prepare to celebrate His first coming, we also prepare for His second coming.
“524 When the Church celebrates the liturgy of Advent each year, she makes present this ancient expectancy of the Messiah, for by sharing in the long preparation for the Saviour’s first coming, the faithful renew their ardent desire for his second coming.”
Messianic Titles
Each of the seven O antiphons starts with one of the names of a Scriptural type of the Messiah. He is the Wisdom of God, the Ruler of the House of Israel, the Root of Jesse, the Key of David, the Dawn, the King of the Nations, and God with us.
And each O antiphon ends by calling out to the Savior to come and to show us the power that is associated with the particular Messianic name that the antiphon uses.
The hymn verses are much shorter than the corresponding O antiphons, and the verses are not in the same order as the sequence in which the O antiphons are sung. For one example, the last O antiphon on Dec. 23 is addressed to Emmanuel, which means God with us, while the hymn begins with the verse about Emmanuel.
For a concrete example of the pattern followed in each of the O antiphons, the following is the first Antiphon for Dec. 17th. It begins by addressing God as O Sapientia, O Wisdom, then it describes what God’s wisdom does, and it ends with a petition, “come to teach us the way of prudence.”
“O Sapientia, quae ex ore Altissimi prodisti, attingens a fine usque ad finem, fortiter suaviter disponensque omnia: veni ad docendum nos viam prudentiae.
“O Wisdom, that proceedest from the mouth of the Most High, reaching from end to end mightily, and disposing all things sweetly! come and teach us the way of prudence.”
These are the corresponding modified hymn verses.
“Veni, O Sapientia, quae hic disponis omnia, veni, viam prudentiae ut doceas et gloriae. R: Gaude! Gaude! Emmanuel, nascetur pro te Israel!
“O Come Thou Wisdom from on high, that orderest all things mightily. to us the path of knowledge show, and teach us in your ways to go. R: Rejoice! Rejoice! O Israel, to thee shall come Emmanuel!”
To show how deeply it is possible to delve when exploring the meaning of each antiphon, here is Dom Gueranger’s commentary about this first O antiphon.
O uncreated Wisdom, who art so soon to make Thyself visible to Thy creatures, truly Thou disposest all things. It is by Thy permission that the emperor Augustus issues a decree ordering the enrollment of the whole world. Each citizen of the vast empire is to have his name enrolled in the city of his birth. This prince has no other object in this order, which sets the world in motion, but his own ambition. Men go to and fro by millions, and an unbroken procession traverses the immense Roman world; men think they are doing the bidding of man, and it is God whom they are obeying. This world-wide agitation has really but one object; it is, to bring to Bethlehem a man and woman who live at Nazareth in Galilee, in order that this woman, who is unknown to the world but dear to heaven, and who is at the close of the ninth month since she conceived her Child, may give birth to this Child in Bethlehem; for the Prophet has said of Him: ‘His going forth is from the beginning, from the days of eternity. And thou, O Bethlehem! art not the least among the thousand cities of Juda, for out of thee He shall come.’ O divine Wisdom! how strong art Thou in thus reaching Thine ends by means which are infallible, though hidden; and yet, how sweet, offering no constraint to man’s free-will; and withal, how fatherly, in providing for our necessities! Thou choosest Bethlehem for Thy birth-place, because Bethlehem signifies the house of bread. In this, Thou teachest us that Thou art our Bread, the nourishment and support of our life. With God as our food, we cannot die. O Wisdom of the Father, living Bread that hast descended from heaven, come speedily into us, that thus we may approach to Thee and be enlightened by Thy light, and by that prudence which leads to salvation.”
Bringing the O Antiphons Home
Many Catholics are including the O antiphons as part of their Advent preparations, by singing or reciting or listening to recordings (or doing all of these things) between Dec. 17 and 23. For those who are looking to incorporate the O Antiphons into their home life, here are some free printable ornaments from The Homely Hours, and here is a PDF made from a common graphic that can be used as a coloring page.
ERO CRAS: I Will Be Tomorrow
When I taught middle school Latin for a while, my students were greatly impressed with this tidbit about the O antiphons, and I know other children (and grown-ups) are too. The initials of the first words of the O antiphons form an acrostic when you reverse them: ERO CRAS.
Ero cras is understood as Christ saying to us, “I will be [here] tomorrow.” I don’t know about you, but that gives me goosebumps.
Bringing the O Antiphons to Facebook
Every year, starting on December 17, I usually post a link on Facebook, each day until December 23. Each link goes to a post about the O antiphon of the day from The New Liturgical Movement website. I admire the way the NLM articles about the O antiphons concisely bring together the Latin, the English, a link to the sung antiphon, and how they also provide a lovely image for each. Here are the links in case you might want to them yourself.
12/17 O Sapientia
12/18 O Adonai
12/19 O Radix Jesse
12/20 O Clavis David
12/21 O Oriens
12/22 O Rex Gentium
12/23 O Emmanuel
How the O Antiphons Are Used in My Poem, The Love Song of Our Lady of O, and How that Poem Became a New Advent Carol
"The Love Song of Our Lady of O,” is the first poem I ever wrote on a sacred subject, which is also the first poem I ever published, back in 2020. In my poem, Mary sings the words from the O antiphons to the baby Jesus in her womb.
Maggie Gallagher, Executive Director of Archbishop Cordileone’s Benedict XVI Institute for Sacred Music and Divine Liturgy, was the judge of the Catholic Literary Arts Advent Sacred Poetry Contest in 2020, in which my poem "The Love Song of Our Lady of O,” received an honorable mention. The poem was subsequently published at Catholic Literary Arts and Catholic Arts Today. A few months ago, I was surprised and delighted that Maggie remembered my poem these three years later and suggested it when the institute decided to commission new music for the Advent and Christmas seasons.
It’s profoundly satisfying when an opportunity like that comes my way without my having done anything to seek it. Like a gift. Out of the blue. From above.
Maggie wrote me, “You have written a beautiful poem, and I want to launch it into the liturgy of the Church. Down the road, I would like to record with our premiere choir and release a Christmas album.” If her ambitious plans succeed in this case (and due to her intelligence, drive, and connections her far-reaching creative plans quite often bear great fruit), my poem set in this carol could conceivably become part of the permanent repertoire of songs Catholics sing every Advent.
I’m also gratified that behind the scenes, in order to be part of this commission, my poem also must have gained the approval of Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone, founder of the institute and that last week when I ran into Frank La Rocca, the B16 institute’s composer in residence, he told me it is a fine poem.
It’s delightful to imagine all the possibilities that might come about because this poem has been set to music. But even the already-known realities are pretty exciting too.
"Our Lady Expectant: An Advent Carol” premiered December 10, 2023 at "A Very Marian Advent Prayer Service" at 4 PM at Star of the Sea Church, 4420 Geary Boulevard, San Francisco, CA 94118. I also was asked to read the poem at a dinner party at Archbishop Cordileone’s residence after the prayer service.
Expectans Expectavi
All Israel was waiting for the coming of the Messiah when the angel Gabriel visited Mary. Some say that every girl dreamed of being the Messiah’s mother after she married. Mary learned that she would be His mother although she knew not man.
Each O antiphon ends by calling out to the Savior to come and to show us the divine power that is associated with the particular Messianic name that the antiphon uses. Each of the stanzas of my poem uses one of these titles of Our Lord.
During these last Great Days of Anticipation, Our Lady with her Holy Child in her womb are at the center of salvation history.
The O Antiphons and Our Lady of O
On December 18, in the waning days of Advent, a feast was dedicated to Our Lady’s expectation of her son’s birth. Because an ancient law of the Church prohibited the celebration of feasts during Lent, the Tenth Council of Toledo in 656 A.D. transferred the feast of the Annunciation from March 23 to December 18. Eventually, Annunciation regained its former day. So December 18 later came to be known as the Feast of the Expectation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, or the Feast of Our Lady’s Expectancy, also commonly called Santa Maria de la O, or Our Lady of O, even in the liturgical books.
A few weeks ago, Fr. James Geoghehan, O.C.D., former editor of Carmelite Digest, corroborated that the feast was still observed when he was a new Carmelite priest, when he emailed me “December 18 is the feast of Our Lady's Expectancy, the anniversary of my First Mass,” sixty-plus years ago.
Though it might be a reasonable assumption that the Feast of Holy Mary of O (or Our Lady of O) would be related to the O Antiphons, the 1909 Catholic Encyclopedia states that the name “Our Lady of O” stems from the custom of the clerics in the choir after Vespers on the 18th of December to utter a loud and protracted “O,” expressing the longing of the universe for the coming of the Redeemer.
Following is the poem with a slightly expanded epigraph from the original.
The Love Song of Our Lady of O
Exspectans exspectavi Dominum, et intendit mihi.
Et exaudivit preces meas . . .With expectation I awaited the Lord, and he was attentive to me. And he heard my prayer.— Psalm 39:2-3a, Douay Rheims
Knowing you so near, I yearned to know you,
O Wisdom.Trembling, I bent and bowed toward you,
O Lord.Searching the Scriptures, I sought you,
O Root of Jesse.Awaiting David’s son, I awaited you,
O Key of David.Longing for light, I long longed for you,
O Dayspring.Hoping, I hoped with all who hoped for you,
O King of Nations.Expecting now, I expect you, tomorrow,
You are coming—through only human me—
Long desired One, to make your people free.
O God with us—Emmanuel.
Our Lady Expectant: An Advent Carol
Notes from Mina Pariseau, the composer:
“Roseanne's poem provides a wealth of imagery, history, and feeling from which I took much inspiration when creating the musical setting for it. Her unique idea of writing from Mary's perspective in late pregnancy paints a tender and intimate picture of expectant motherhood. . . . Thinking back to Mary's experience, one can imagine that she would have meditated on her Child week by week as well, drawing on her knowledge of the scriptures and history and her vibrant relationship with God in prayer to unceasingly ponder the miracle of the Redeemer coming to the world through her. I drew upon this image of Mary when writing the melody for the advent hymn - the melody is simple and lilting, like a lullaby, and has a sense of bittersweet yearning behind it. While the same melody is used repeatedly, each verse recontextualizes the simple tune to reflect on the different titles of Christ explored in the hymn.
These verses are where I incorporated quotes from the "O Antiphons" original Gregorian chant setting as well as quoting the Latin titles from the antiphons. This contrast between the new melody and old quotations, as well as the use of both English and Latin, for me illustrates the contrast between the Old and New Testaments - the promise of the Redeemer steeped in prophecy and mystery becoming a vulnerable, approachable little child. Mary was the first to experience this shift, she was the first to have a truly "personal" relationship with Jesus, and it is through her loving example that we can learn how to continually ponder Christ. In this Advent Carol, the song of Mary is set for us all to sing - an invitation this Advent to joyful expectation.
The last verse has been turned into the refrain, which is repeated after every two lines of the poem.
Expecting now, I expect you, tomorrow.
You are coming—through only human me—
Long desired One, to make your people free.
O God with us—Emmanuel.—RefrainKnowing you so near, I yearned to know you,
O Wisdom.
Trembling, I bent and bowed towards you,
O Lord.Refrain.
Searching the Scriptures, I sought you,
O Root of Jesse.
Awaiting David’s son, I awaited you,
O Key of David.Refrain.
Longing for light, I long longed for you,
O Dayspring.Hoping, I hoped with all who hoped for you,
O King of Nations.Refrain.