The Advent Antiphons: O Virgo virginum

Icon of Our Lady of the Great Panagiya (Orans), (Russia, 13th c.)
[The State Tretyakov Gallery]

O Virgo virginum, quomodo fiet istud?

Quia nec primam similem visa es nec habere sequentem.

Filiae Jerusalem, quid me admiramini?

Divinum est mysterium hoc quod cernitis.

O Virgin of virgins, how shall this be?

For neither before thee was any like thee, nor shall there be after.

Daughters of Jerusalem, why marvel ye at me?

The thing which ye behold is a divine mystery.

“My soul doth magnify the Lord, 

    and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior. 

For he hath regarded

    the lowliness of his handmaiden. 

For behold from henceforth

    all generations shall call me blessed. 

For he that is mighty hath magnified me,

    and holy is his Name. 

And his mercy is on them that fear him

    throughout all generations. 

He hath showed strength with his arm;

    he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. 

He hath put down the mighty from their seat,

    and hath exalted the humble and meek. 

He hath filled the hungry with good things,

    and the rich he hath sent empty away. 

He remembering his mercy hath holpen his servant Israel,

    as he promised to our forefathers,

    Abraham and his seed for ever.”

Luke 1:46–55

O Virgin of virgins, how shall this be?

For neither before thee was any like thee, nor shall there be after.

Daughters of Jerusalem, why marvel ye at me?

The thing which ye behold is a divine mystery.

[Here is a setting of O Virgo virginum by Josquin de Prez, sung by Chanticleer.]

* English translation from the Church of England’s Advent seasonal resource.

The Advent Antiphons: O Emmanuel

'O Emmanuel' Antiphon for Magnificat during Advent Vespers, Antiphonal (Dominican Archive, Krakow, 16th c.)

O Emmanuel, Rex et legifer noster,

expectratio gentium, et Salvator earum:

veni ad salvandum nos,

Domines, Deus noster.

O Emmanuel, our King and our lawgiver,

the hope of the nations and their Savior:

Come and save us, O Lord our God.

Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23

Jesus the Messiah, born of your mother Mary from the Holy Spirit, you are Emmanuel, God with us (Mt 1:18, 23).  As God you are always with us in the sense that “we live and move and have our being” in you—where can we go and not be with you?  (Ac 17:28; cf. Ps 139:6)  At the same time, as the Creator you are far from creation in that you are life itself and we, your creatures, have life from you, not in ourselves. And we go far from you when we wander from you in sin.  O Lord my God, you are interior intimo meo et superior summo meo (“more inward than my innermost and higher than my highest"). [1]

As God become man you are with us because you “became flesh and lived among us” (Jn 1:14).  Without changing your nature, you took on our nature when you humbled yourself (Phil 2:7).  You who were from the beginning, and are, were “made man” so that we, who were not, but are, might hear you and see you and touch you, that is, that we might have fellowship with you and with your Father and the Holy Spirit. [2]  The fellowship of a bridegroom and bride is like the fellowship we now have with you, because in your mother’s “virginal womb two things were joined, a bridegroom and a bride, the bridegroom being the Word and the bride being the flesh” and they are no longer two “but one flesh, for ‘the Word was made flesh and dwelled among us’.” [3]  In that fellowship, we "have life, and have it abundantly" (Jn 10:10).

Come, Lord Jesus, that we might call you, “My husband” (Hos 2:16).  Hasten the day when your holy city will appear “prepared as a bride adorned for her husband,” when the loud voice will say,

     See, the home of God is among mortals.

     He will dwell with them;

     they will be his peoples,

     and God himself will be with them; 

     he will wipe every tear from their eyes.

     Death will be no more;

     mourning and crying and pain will be no more,

     for the first things have passed away. (Rev 21:2–4)

[Here is a setting of O Emmanuel, sung by Peter Morton (tenor) and the Choir of St John's College Cambridge, conducted by David Hill.]

* English translation from the Church of England’s Advent seasonal resource.

[1] Augustine, Conf. 3.6.11.

[2] Cf. Augustine, Io. ep. tr. 1.5; 1 Jn 1:1–3.

[3] Augustine, Io. ep. tr. 1.2.

The Advent Antiphons: O Rex gentium

Detail of Mosaic of Christ Enthrone as Heavenly King, Basilica di Sant'Apollinare Nuovo (Ravena, Italy, 6th c.)

O Rex gentium, et desideratus earum,

lapisque angularis, qui facis utraque unum:

veni, et salva hominem,

quem de limo formasti.

O King of the nations, and their desire,

the cornerstone making both one:

Come and save the human race,

which you fashioned from clay.

Jeremiah 10:7; Isaiah 28:16;  Ephesians 2:14

Lord Jesus Christ, you are the “King of the nations,” the mysterium tremendum et fascinans, both feared and desired by the nations.  You are feared because, on the one hand, “you are great” and it is your due to be feared (Jer 10:6–7).  On the other, because you are “the living God and the everlasting King,” you inspire terror in the nations insofar as they make “a covenant with death” and seek to conceal their transience with lies; they cannot endure the prospect of your coming to “sweep away the refuge of lies” and annul their death-dealing ((Jer 10:10; Isa 28:15, 17–18).

You are the desire of the nations because you are the “Prince of Peace” (Isa 9:6).  The nations desire you insofar as there is no creature that does not desire peace, for even when we, in pride, hate your just peace and love our own peace of injustice, we “cannot help loving peace of some kind or other.” [2]  

Christ Jesus, you are “our peace” (Eph 2:14):  in your flesh you have united Jews and Gentiles, breaking down the dividing wall of hostility between us.  You came that you might create in your self “one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace” and that you “might reconcile both groups to God in one body through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it” (vv. 15–16).  You came and proclaimed peace to those of us “who were far off and peace to those who were near”; for through you “both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father” (v. 17).

Come, Lord, and make manifest your peace!

[Here is a setting of O Rex gentium, sung by Peter Morton (tenor) and the Choir of St John's College Cambridge, conducted by David Hill.]

* English translation from the Church of England’s Advent seasonal resource.
[1] Augustine, civ. 19.12.

The Advent Antiphons: O Oriens

Miniature of Christ in glory from the 'Regia Carmina'
(Italy, 14th c.) [British Library, Royal 6 E IX f.4v]

O Oriens, splendor lucis aeternae,

et sol justitiae:

veni, et illumina sedentes in tenebris,

et umbra mortis.

O Morning Star,

splendor of light eternal and sun of righteousness:

Come and enlighten those who dwell in darkness 

and the shadow of death.

Malachi 4:2 

O gracious Light, 

pure brightness of the everliving Father in heaven, 

O Jesus Christ, holy and blessed, [1] 

you are “the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star” (Rev 22:16).  You are the star that has come out of Israel (Num 24:17), the Savior “prepared for all the world to see,”

     a Light to enlighten the nations, 

          and the glory of your people Israel. (Lk 2:31–32)

Lord, we are “in a dark place”: come rise in our hearts at the dawning of the new Day (2 Pt 1:19).  We are in the shadow of death: come and enlighten us, “O Son of God, O Giver of life.”

     Thou splendor of the Father’s glory,

     who brings forth light from light,

     light of light and fount of light,

     day that lights up the day.

     Thou true Sun, shine forth

     blazing with eternal splendor,

     and pour forth into our souls

     the radiance of the Holy Spirit. [2]

[Here is a setting of O Oriens, sung by Peter Morton (tenor) and the Choir of St John's College Cambridge, conducted by David Hill.]

* English translation from the Church of England’s Advent seasonal resource.

[1] Phos hilaron, The Book of Common Prayer, p. 64.

[2] The first two stanzas of Splendor paternae gloriae by Ambrose of Milan (d. 397).  The English text is Thomas Merton's loose translation of the Latin:

     Splendor paternae gloriae,

     de luce lucem proferens,

     lux lucis et fons luminis,

     diem dies illuminans.

     Verusque sol, illabere

     micans nitore perpeti,

     iubarque Sancti Spiritus

     infunde nostris sensibus.

The hymn is most commonly known in English as, “O splendor of God’s glory bright,” after Robert Bridges’ translation.

The Advent Antiphons: O Clavis David

Detail of O Clavis David antiphon for the Magnificat during Advent Vespers,
"The Poissy Antiphonal", f31r (France, 14th c.)

O Clavis David, et sceptrum domus Israel,

qui aperis, et nemo claudit; claudis, et nemo aperuit:

veni, et educ vinctum de domo carceris,

sedentem in tenebris, et umbra mortis.

O Key of David and scepter of the House of Israel;

you open and no one can shut;

you shut and no one can open:

Come and lead the prisoners from the prison house,

those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.

Isaiah 22:22; 42:7; Revelation 3:7–13

Lord Jesus Christ, you are “the Holy One, the True One,” “the first and the last, and the living one” who has “the keys of Death and of Hades” (Rev 3:7; 1:17–18).

     When you became man to set us free 

     you did not shun the Virgin's womb. 

     You overcame the sting of death 

     and opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers. [1]

You have “the key of David” (Rev 3:7; cf. Isa 22:22); it is yours to grant access to the kingdom of your Father, yours to say either, “Come,” or, “Depart” (cf. Mt 25:34, 41).  You set before your faithful disciples “an open door, which no one is able to shut” (Rev 3:7, 8).  To those who persevere in your way, you open the narrow gate that leads to life (cf. Mt 7:14).  You promise entrance to the new Jerusalem to those who, possessing “but little power” in themselves, are enabled by your gift to patiently endure great suffering (Rev 3:8, 10).

Lord, grant that we—who have “but little power”—might heed your words, “I am coming soon; hold fast to what you have” (Rev 3:11).

[Here is a setting of O Clavis David, sung by Peter Morton (tenor) and the Choir of St John's College Cambridge, conducted by David Hill.]

* English translation from the Church of England’s Advent seasonal resource.
[1] From the Te Deum, cf. The Book of Common Prayer, p. 96.