Preparation for Christmas : The O Antiphons – December 22
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 Rex gentium, et desideratus earum, lapisque angularis, qui facis utraque unum : veni, et salva hominem, quem de limo formasti. | O King of the Gentiles and the desire thereof, Thou cornerstone that makest both one, come and deliver mankind, whom Thou didst form out of clay. |
“And where could you with greater assurance and trust and with more efficacious faith place this vow for the renewal of society than at the feet of the ‘Desired of all Nations’ Who lies before us in the crib with all the charm of His sweet humanity as a babe, but also in the dynamic attraction of His incipient mission as Redeemer? Where could this noble and holy crusade for the cleansing and renewal of society have a more significant consecration or find a more potent inspiration than at Bethlehem, where the new Adam appears in the adorable mystery of the Incarnation? For it is at His fountains of truth and grace that mankind should find the water of life if it is not to perish in the desert of this life; of His fullness we all have received.' His fullness of grace and truth flows as freely today as it has for twenty centuries on the world. His light can overcome the darkness, the rays of His love can conquer the icy egoism which holds so many back from becoming great and conspicuous in their higher life. Do you, crusader-volunteers of a distinguished new society, lift up the new call for moral and Christian re-birth, declare war on the darkness which comes from deserting God, on the coldness that comes from strife between brothers. It is a fight for the human race, which is gravely ill and must be healed in the name of conscience ennobled by Christianity.”
Pius XII, Christmas Radio Message, December 24, 1942
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Illustration : Flickr / Fr Lawrencw Lew, O.P. (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
