O Antiphons: O Wisdom
Fall is now upon us. Advent is near.
Christmas is coming.
We might begin thinking of our Lord's
coming by using a lovely Advent tradition of calling upon the Lord Jesus Christ
with one of his messianic titles, such as “O Wisdom.” Liturgically and
traditionally, they start on Dec. 17th, but we might prepare ourselves for
Advent and Christmas by taking more time, starting today, to meditate on these seven
different themes.
The tradition is commonly called the “O
Antiphons” because each begins with an “O.” (An “antiphon” is a verse added
before and/or after a Psalm or canticle from Scripture; something like we use a
refrain for songs and hymns today.)
The popular Advent and Christmas hymn, “O
Come, O Come, Emmanuel,” is an English paraphrase of these seven O Antiphons.
They probably began in the 5th or 6th Century and traditionally were only used at Vespers (Evening Prayer), but today they are also used for the Alleluia before the Gospel at Mass. So we will hear these in the Liturgy starting on Dec. 17th, but in these articles from now until Christmas we will meditate on each one individually.
O Wisdom, O holy Word of God,
you govern all creation
with your strong yet tender care.
Come and show your people
the way to salvation.
The lectionary for Mass modifies it to read: “O wisdom of our God Most High, guiding creation with power and love: come to teach us the path of knowledge!”
You can immediately see that the
“knowledge” here parallels “salvation,” so it is the knowledge of salvation we
beg from the Lord.
Each of the O Antiphons also points to
fulfillment of a prophecy from Isaiah. “O Wisdom” points to Isaiah 11:2, “The
spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him: a spirit of wisdom and of
understanding...,” and Isaiah 28:28, “Wonderful is His counsel and great is His
wisdom.”
Think of human knowledge. What knowledge a
doctorate in chemistry required in the early 1900's is now taught in high
school. We once thought a cell was the basic unit of life, but today what we
know goes on inside a cell is as vast as an entire galaxy. And God created it
all! Everything! He knows when a butterfly flaps its wings what effects will
result; it’s not chaos to Him. Every minute intricacy God made. He designed
electrons, photons, quarks; hormones, amino acids, neurotransmitters; fingers,
knees, elbows. It’s wonderful to have hands, isn’t it? Dogs can paw and cats
can claw, but I can pick up a pin, fry and egg, and drive a car! And because God
created my individual soul I can think and write, pray and know God's
friendship.
God, in his wisdom, created all the marvelous
complexity of the universe – material, intellectual, spiritual. To us,
unfathomable, mind-boggling. “O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in
all the earth!” (Ps 8:1.)
All God made, designed, and created he
“spoke” into being by his Word, his Wisdom (Gen 1). The same Word continually
“speaks” in upholding the universe, keeping it in existence (Heb 1:3).
“In the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God; all
things were made through him.... And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”
(John 1:1-3, 14.) Christ is the Wisdom of God (1 Cor 1:30).
O Wisdom, O Holy Word of God, Christ Jesus: come to us once again!
Fr. William Saunders, What are the "O Antiphons"?, https://www.catholiceducation.org/en/culture/catholic-contributions/what-are-the.html (10/27/20).
“O Antiphons,” Catholic Encyclopedia, https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11173b.htm (10/27/20).
John Brook, The School of Prayer (Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 1992) p. 10-14.
Robert Taft, S.J., The Liturgy of the Hours in East and West (Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 1986), p. 13, ff.