antiphons – Mum's devotional

O Emmanuel!

December 23rd

EMMANUEL, our King and our Law-giver, Longing of the Gentiles; yes, and their salvation: come to save us, O Lord our God!

O Emmanuel antiphon

“Shout and be glad, Daughter Zion. For I am coming, and I will live among you,” declares the Lord. “Many nations will be joined with the Lord in that day and will become my people. I will live among you and you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you… Be still before the Lord, all mankind, because he has roused himself from his holy dwelling.”

The angel of the Lord gave this charge to Joshua [the High Priest]: “This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘If you will walk in obedience to me and keep my requirements, then you will govern my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you a place among these standing here.

“ ‘Listen, High Priest Joshua, you and your associates seated before you, who are men symbolic of things to come: I am going to bring my servant, the Branch. See, the stone I have set in front of Joshua! There are seven eyes on that one stone, and I will engrave an inscription on it,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘and I will remove the sin of this land in a single day.

Zechariah 2:10-13, 3:6-9 (NIV)

Here’s Nat King Cole’s Joy to the World on Youtube and Spotify.

…and here is an image of a hydrogen pillar in the Carina Nebula, from last year’s Hubble Advent Calendar in The Atlantic. Also, a Bok globule in the corner there, which is just a fun way of saying a lump of hydrogen (and a few other things).

Here’s this year’s calendar, if anyone’s interested.

Happy Hanukkah!

December 22nd

O King of the Gentiles, yes, and their desire; O Corner-stone, that makes two of one: come to save man, whom You have made of the dust of the earth!

O Rex Gentium antiphon

We thank You also for the miraculous deeds and for the redemption and for the mighty deeds and the saving acts wrought by You, as well as for the wars which You waged for our ancestors in ancient days at this season. …You in your abundant mercy rose up for them in the time of their trouble, pled their cause, executed judgment, avenged their wrong, and delivered the strong into the hands of the weak, the many into the hands of few, the impure into the hands of the pure, the wicked into the hands of the righteous, and insolent ones into the hands of those occupied with Your Torah. Both for Yourself did you make a great and holy name in Thy world, and for Your people did You achieve a great deliverance and redemption. Whereupon your children entered the sanctuary of Your house, cleansed Your temple, purified Your sanctuary, kindled lights in Your holy courts, and appointed these eight days of Hanukkah in order to give thanks and praises unto Your holy name.

Al HaNassim prayer

Because: irony. Since Hannukah starts at sunset tonight: Happy Hanukkah, or “G’mar tov” since I’m typing this and there’s no possible way for me to mispronounce it.

Here is Tom Inglis et al. (on We Are One) singing A King is Born on Youtube and Spotify respectively. This is one of the few Integrity/Hosanna songs I genuinely like.

…and here is an image of Herbig-Haro 110 from last year’s Hubble Advent Calendar in The Atlantic. (Herbig Haro objects are basically like exhaust jets from a star.)

Here’s this year’s calendar, if anyone’s interested.

O, Dayspring!

December 21st

O Dayspring, brightness of the everlasting light, Son of Justice, come to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death!

O Oriens* antiphon

These are the last words of David:

“The inspired utterance of David son of Jesse,
the utterance of the man exalted by the Most High,
the man anointed by the God of Jacob,
the hero of Israel’s songs:

The Spirit of the Lord spoke through me;
his word was on my tongue.
The God of Israel spoke,
the Rock of Israel said to me:
‘When one rules over people in righteousness,
when he rules in the fear of God,
he is like the light of morning at sunrise
on a cloudless morning,
like the brightness after rain
that brings grass from the earth.’
If my house were not right with God,
surely he would not have made with me an everlasting covenant,
arranged and secured in every part;
surely he would not bring to fruition my salvation
and grant me my every desire.”

2 Samuel 23:1-5 (NIV)

*If this sounds familiar it’s because O Come, O Come Emmanuel is based on the Greater [‘O’] Antiphons. As I may have said before, they are very, very old, and have been translated, paraphrased and re-translated many times.

Here is another John Wesley hymn: literally the only version of Hark! The Herald Angels Sing I found that I liked, by the U.S. Army Band of all things. (I think it’s just because it needs a lot of deep voices, but most of the men’s choruses that did it used the Willcocks arrangement, which I loathe with a passion.)

…and here is an image of another spiral galaxy, M74, from last year’s Hubble Advent Calendar in The Atlantic.

Here’s this year’s calendar, if anyone’s interested.

O, Key of David!

December 20th

O Key of David, and Scepter of the house of Israel; that opens and no man shuts; and shuts and no man opens: come to bring out the prisoner from the prison, and those that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death.

O Clavis David antiphon

On that day I will call for my servant… and he will be like a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the House of Judah. I will place the key of the House of David on his shoulder; what he opens, no one can close; what he closes, no one can open.

Isaiah 22:20-22 (HCSB)

Write to the angel of the church in Philadelphia:

“The Holy One, the True One, the One who has the key of David, who opens and no one will close, and closes and no one opens says: I know your works. Because you have limited strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name, look, I have placed before you an open door that no one is able to close. Take note! I will make those from the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews and are not, but are lying — note this — I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and they will know that I have loved you. Because you have kept My command to endure, I will also keep you from the hour of testing that is going to come over the whole world to test those who live on the earth. I am coming quickly. Hold on to what you have, so that no one takes your crown. The victor: I will make him a pillar in the sanctuary of My God, and he will never go out again. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God — the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God — and My new name.

“Anyone who has an ear should listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.”

Revelation 3:7-13 (HCSB)

Oops, more from Isaiah (I did warn you), but since we did the worst church from Revelation, so I thought we could do the nice one now. It being Christmas and all.

I’m actually enjoying this though. Yesterday I asked C how many Christmases she was actually going to have -because, by my count, she’s already had the four Friendsmases, the weekend gathering, and presumably something will actually happen on Christmas Eve and Day- and she looks at me with a completely straight face and goes ‘As many as I can [obviously]’

Here is Red Mountain Music’s version of Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus on Youtube and Spotify.

…and here is an image of a comparatively young globular cluster, NGC 362, from last year’s Hubble Advent Calendar in The Atlantic.

Here’s this year’s calendar, if anyone’s interested.

O, Root of Jesse!

December 19th

O Root of Jesse, which stands for a banner of the people, at whom the kings will shut their mouths, whom the Gentiles will seek: come to deliver us, do not delay.

O Radix Jesse antiphon

A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord— and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.

He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked. Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist.

The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling a together; and a little child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play near the cobra’s den, and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his resting place will be glorious.

Isaiah 11:1-10 (NIV)

Sorry, we’re going to be seeing a lot of Isaiah this week, but… at least it’s not Luke 2?

On a similar note, I figure everyone’s pretty sick of Christmas songs by this point —and I’m guessing that if you want to listen to Handel’s Messiah you can do so on your own— so here’s Psalm 2 from the Psalm Project on Youtube and Spotify. (To be honest, I find the singer incredibly annoying, but they managed to put Psalm 2 to music, which I would say is impossible except for the fact that it’s, you know, a song.)

…and here is an image of the Bubble Nebula from last year’s Hubble Advent Calendar in The Atlantic, which is super cool in many ways.

Here’s this year’s calendar, if anyone’s interested.

O Adonai!

December 18th

O Adonai, and Ruler of the house of Israel, who appeared to Moses in the burning bush, and gave him the law in Sinai: come to redeem us with an outstretched arm!

O Adonai antiphon

Meanwhile Moses was shepherding the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. …Then the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire within the bush.

God said “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob… I have observed the misery of My people in Egypt and have heard them crying out because of their oppressors, and I know about their sufferings. I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and to bring them from that land to a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey… The Israelites cry for help has come to Me, and I have also seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. Therefore, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh so that you may lead My people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.

….And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: I am the Lord that appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, by the name of God Almighty [El-shaddai]: and my name ADONAI* did not shew them. Therefore say to the children of Israel: I am the Lord who will bring you out from the work-prison of the Egyptians, and will deliver you from bondage: and redeem you with a high arm, and great judgments. And I will take you to myself for my people, I will be your God: and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from the work-prison of the Egyptians: And brought you into the land, concerning which I lifted up my hand to give it to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: and I will give it you to possess: I am the Lord.

Exodus 3:1,7-8,9-10 (HCSB)
Exodus 6:2-3,6-8 (DRB)

*The word is actually Yehovah in the Masoretic Text. But because that is usually translated as ‘Lord God” or “Lord,’ and Adonai is normally translated as ‘lord’ or ‘Lord of Lords,’ the creators of the Douay Rheims Bible —who, in their infinite wisdom, decided to make an English translation by using for their text yet another translation, the Vulgate— translated it back to ‘Adonai.’ This is, however, very much in accord with the complete lack of scholarship on this blog, and it works out quite conveniently for us, so no more about it.

Here is Robin Mark et al. singing Days of Elijah on Youtube and Spotify.

…and here is a “close-up” of the Lagoon Nebula from last year’s Hubble Advent Calendar in The Atlantic.

Here’s this year’s calendar, if anyone’s interested.

O, Wisdom!

December 17th

O Wisdom, that comes out of the mouth of the Most High, that reaches from one end to another, and does mightily and sweetly order all things: come to teach us the way of prudence!

O Sapientia antiphon

“I, wisdom, dwell with prudence,
And I find knowledge and discretion.
…The LORD possessed me at the beginning of His way,
before His works of old.
From everlasting I was established,
From the beginning, from the earliest times of the earth.
Before the mountains were settled,
Before the hills I was brought forth;
While He had not yet made the earth and the fields,
Nor the first dust of the world.
When He established the heavens, I was there,
When He inscribed a circle on the face of the deep,
When He made firm the skies above,
When the springs of the deep became fixed,
When He set for the sea its boundary
So that the water would not transgress His command,
When He marked out the foundations of the earth;
Then I was beside Him, as a master workman;
And I was daily His delight,
Rejoicing always before Him,
Rejoicing in the world, His earth,
And having my delight in the sons of men.

“Now therefore, O sons, listen to me, for blessed are they who keep my ways, heed instruction and be wise, and do not neglect it. Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at my doorposts. For he who finds me finds life And obtains favor from the LORD.

Proverbs 8:22-35 (NASB)

Here is the Talbot Brother’s Advent Suite on Youtube and Spotify, which I have been waiting all year to post. I actually meant to post it at the beginning of Advent, and Veni, Veni Emmanuel now, because Veni is actually a paraphrase of the Great Antiphons, which are very, very old. I’m not sure what happened there.

…and here is an image of a galaxy, Galaxy UGC 12591, that is not quite lenticular and not quite a spiral from last year’s Hubble Advent Calendar in The Atlantic.

Here’s this year’s calendar, if anyone’s interested.

Truly, Tomorrow

December 16th

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 at me?
The thing ye behold’s a divine mystery.

translation of the O Virgo Virganum antiphon

This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet he did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).

Matthew 1:18-23 (NIV)

Because I got ahead of myself and covered Mary’s story in July, and the context of Isaiah’s ‘Emmanuel prophecy’ is actually pretty complicated, I thought we’d look at Joseph’s point of view, because that really required a lot of faith too, and I feel like he doesn’t get enough credit.

Here is Pentatonix’s version of Mary Did You Know? on Youtube and Spotify. (Voctave also has an amazing version with Mark Lowry, but they already got a turn, and the Pentatonix one is easier listening, even if Voctave’s is just technically wow. You know what? Just listen to both of them. There, problem solved.)

Today’s picture in last year’s Hubble Advent Calendar in The Atlantic is boring, so here is Van Eyck’s Annunciation because I adore this painting.