Preparation for Christmas: The O Antiphons – December 23
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 Emmanuel, Rex et legifer noster, exspectatio gentium, et Salvator earum : veni ad salvandum nos, Domine, Deus noster. | O Emmanuel, our King and Law-giver, the desire of the nations and the Savior thereof, come to save us, O Lord our God. |
“As the successor of Him to Whom the Divine Promise was addressed: ‘I have prayed for you’ (Lk. 22:32), We know full well that when the fight against the powers of darkness is most arduous and enters phases that are decisive and, humanly speaking, alarming, it is then that the Lord.is all the closer to His Church and to His faithful. Fully convinced and aware of this Divine assistance, We remind all those who glory in the name of Catholic Christians of a twofold sacred duty indispensable for the bettering of the present condition of human society: An unshakeable fidelity to the patrimony of truth brought to the world by the Redeemer and conscientious fulfillment of the precept of justice and love, which is a necessary presupposition for the triumph on earth of a social order worthy of the Divine King of Peace.”
Pius XII, Radio Message to the World, December 24, 1948
Related Articles:
- Preparation for Christmas : The O Antiphons – December 22
- Preparation for Christmas : The O Antiphons – December 21
- Preparation for Christmas : The O Antiphons – December 20
- Preparation for Christmas: The O Antiphons - December 19
- Preparation for Christmas: The O Antiphons - December 18
- Preparing for Christmas: The O Antiphons - December 17
(Illustration : Flickr / Fr Lawrence Lew, O.P. (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
