Preparation for Christmas : The O Antiphons – December 20
Christ triumphant holding the key of David
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 Clavis David, et sceptrum domus Israel ; qui aperis, et nemo claudit ; claudis, et nemo aperit : veni, et educ vinctum de domo carceris, sedentem in tenebris et umbra mortis. | O Key of David, and Scepter of the house of Israel, that openest and no man shutteth, and shuttest and no man openeth: come and bring the prisoner forth from the prison-house, and him that sitteth in darkness and in the shadow of death. |
“During the coming days let there rise to the throne of God, the Father of Mercies, a pentecostal paean of praise and adoration. ‘We extol thee, 0 God, and we bless Thy name for ever. Thy kingdom is a kingdom of all ages, and Thy dominion endureth throughout all generations’ (Ps. 144:13). ‘All things are in thy power and there is none that can resist thy will’ (Esther 13:9). Thou art, O God, of all things the Author and Maker, their Exemplar, their Measure, and their End. And then following this act of faith, with humble and contrite heart let men make their own the prayer of Daniel: ‘We have sinned, we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and have revolted; and we have gone aside from thy commandments and thy judgments. The Lord our God is just in all His works which He has done: for we have not hearkened to His voice’ (Dan. 9: 5, 14). Then haply God, infinitely wise and infinitely good, moved by the chastened faith and repentance of His creatures will incline His ear, will look upon their desolation and come to their assistance. Surely He has proved His love for men, when He sent His only-begotten Son into the world, so that they might have life through Him (1 Jn. 4:9).”
Pius XII, Address Of His Holiness Pius XII to the First Great American Pilgrimage in the Post-War, September 1, 1948
Illustration : Flickr / Fr Lawrence Lew, O.P. (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
