Preparation for Christmas: The O Antiphons - December 19
The tree of Jesse
From December 17 to 23, the Catholic Church prepares for Christmas by singing the great O Antiphons at the office of Vespers. You will find them accompanied by meditations by Pope Pius XII. These texts emphasize how the Child in the manger is the peaceful King who came to save all men and reign over the nations.
| O Radix Iesse, qui stas in signum populorum, super quem continebunt reges os suum, quem gentes deprecabuntur : veni ad liberandum nos, iam noli tardare. | O Root of Jesse, Which standest for an ensign of the people, before Whom kings shall keep silence, Whom the Gentiles shall beseech: come and deliver us, and tarry not! |
“The Christian will for peace comes from God. He is the God of peace (Rom. 15:33); He has created the world to be an abode of peach; He has given His commandment of peace, that ‘tranquility in order’ of which St. Augustine speaks. The Christian will for peace has its weapons too. But its principal arms are those of prayer and love; constant prayer to the Father in Heaven, Father of us all; brotherly love among all men and all nations, since all are sons of the same Father Who is in Heaven; love which, with patience, always succeeds in being disposed and ready to achieve understanding and agreement with everyone.”
Pius XII, Radion Message to the World, December 24, 1948.
Illustration : Giogo, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
