The ministers' bible study group that meets in Durham recently had a pre-Advent session led by Ruth Crofton on the Advent Antiphons, introduced with prayers byStephen Collinson.
Members felt both parts of the morning were of such value that they wanted the materials to be shared as widely as possible, and asked for them to be posted here.
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The Topography of Terror Memorial, Berlin
On the site of the SS and Gestapo
headquarters, this exhibition outlines the oppression
in Hitler’s Germany (1933-1945) and is set against a section of the Berlin Wall (1961-1989).
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When we erect our
walls of division,
forgive us, Lord,
and help us bridge the divide.
When we are
suspicious by default,
forgive us, Lord,
and help us be more discerning.
When we adopt a
‘them and us’ attitude,
forgive us, Lord,
and help us have more humility.
When, in our
self-confidence, we forget you,
forgive us, Lord,
and help us hear your still small voice.
When, in our fear of
change, we bar the doorway into your Church,
forgive us, Lord,
and help us hold out the hand of welcome.
Silence
Conscious of the
divisions of our world,
we pray now for
those situations particularly on our minds.
A time of open or silent prayer.
Loving God, hear our
prayers.
Heal our divisions,
unite us with each other,
and with you,
in the fullness of your kingdom.
Amen.
Photograph and Prayer © Stephen Collinson, 2014
_____________
O
come! O come! Immanuel
The
Advent (Great O) Antiphons
The familiar hymn is based upon the
Advent, or ‘Great O’ antiphons. These antiphons, or refrains, all beginning
‘O’, were sung before and after the Magnificat at Vespers, according to the
Roman use, on the seven days preceding Christmas Eve (17–23 December).
17
December – O Sapientia
O Wisdom, coming forth
from the mouth of the Most High,
reaching from one end
to the other mightily,
and sweetly ordering
all things:
Come and teach us the
way of prudence.
18
December – O Adonai
O Adonai, and leader of
the House of Israel,
who appeared to Moses
in the fire of the burning bush
and gave him the law on
Sinai:
Come and redeem us with
an outstretched arm.
19
December – O Radix Jesse
O Root of Jesse,
standing as a sign among the peoples;
before you kings will
shut their mouths,
to you the nations will
make their prayer:
Come and deliver us,
and delay no longer.
20
December – O Clavis David
O Key of David and sceptre
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.
21
December – O Oriens
O Morning Star,
splendour of light
eternal and sun of righteousness:
Come and enlighten
those who dwell in darkness
and the shadow of
death.
22
December – O Rex Gentium
O King of the nations,
and their desire,
the cornerstone making
both one:
Come and save the human
race,
which you fashioned
from clay.
23
December – O Emmanuel
O Emmanuel, our King
and our lawgiver,
the hope of the nations
and their Saviour:
Come and save us, O
Lord our God.
They are addressed to God with a series of
scriptural titles that describe his saving work in Christ. In the medieval rite
of Salisbury Cathedral, widely followed in England before the Reformation, the
antiphons began on 16 December and there was an additional antiphon (‘O Virgin
of virgins’) on 23 December;
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 ye behold is a divine mystery.
It is not known when and by whom the antiphons
were composed, but they were already in use by the eighth century. Originally incorporated into the monastic office in the
Middle Ages, these antiphons, often called the "Greater Antiphons" or
the "O Antiphons’ are messianic,
stressing the hope of the Saviour's coming. Jesus is invoked by various
titles, mainly taken from the prophet Isaiah. The sequence progresses
historically, from the beginning, before creation, to the very gates of
Bethlehem, formed from a composite of Scripture texts:
Wisdom: the beginning of all
Adonai – the exodus and the giving of the law
Root of Jesses – the remnant
Key of David – freedom/death & resurrection
Dayspring – the coming of light
King of the nations – the coming kingdom
Emmanuel – all drawn into a final hymn of praise
.
In
their structure, each of the seven antiphons follows the same pattern,
resembling a traditional liturgical prayer. Each O Antiphon begins with
an invocation of the expected Messiah, followed by praise of him under one of
his particular titles. Each ends with a petition for God's people,
relevant to the title by which he is addressed, and the cry for him to
"Come".
The
seven titles attributed to Jesus in the antiphons are Wisdom (Sapientia in Latin), Ruler of the House of
Israel (Adonai), Root of Jesse (Radix), Key of David (Clavis),
Rising Dawn (Oriens), King of the Gentiles (Rex). and
Emmanuel. In Latin the initials of the titles make an acrostic which,
when read backwards, was held to mean "Tomorrow I will be there"
("Ero cras") but “Ero Cras” more accurately means “tomorrow I will
be.” Given that there is little evidence for such puzzles in other liturgical
materials, and the fact that the arrangement of the O Antiphons varied from
time to time, and in different occasions, it is unlikely that this is
deliberate.
The
antiphon references are mainly to the Old Testament words that can be
interpreted from a Christian perspective
as looking to the coming of Christ and hence refer to Christ’s first
coming. They echo the OT longing for salvation from the enemy; from the
oppressor (cf. Simeon and Anna. ‘looking for the consolation of Israel.’ (Luke
2:25)
The Antiphons
O Wisdom, coming forth from the
mouth of the Most High,
reaching
from one end to the other mightily,
and
sweetly ordering all things:
Come
and teach us the way of prudence.
Sirach
24:3: "From the mouth of the Most High I came forth, and like mist
covered the earth".
Wisdom
8:1: "She reaches from end to end mightily and governs all things
well".
1
Corinthians 1: 24 “Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God.”
Wisdom
is here personified, present with God at the beginning of creation. Some
argue that this is a prefigurement of Jesus, the eternal Word of God, the
"logos" John described in the opening of his gospel. (2000 Jeanne
Kun)
Wisdom is the foundation of fear of the Lord,
of holiness, or right living: it is wisdom whom we bid to come and teach us
prudence. Wisdom is significant: personified in the Old Testament, eg.
“Wisdom has built her a house . . . “
But already we are beginning to question: to whom are the
antiphons addressed? Apparently
the coming Messiah – yet some are apparently addressing God the Father; this
first may be argued to address the Spirit . . . a question worth keeping in
mind.
O Adonai, and leader of the
House of Israel,
who
appeared to Moses in the fire of the burning bush
and
gave him the law on Sinai:
Come
and redeem us with an outstretched arm.
Exodus
3:2: "An angel of the Lord appeared to him in fire flaming out of a
bush. As he looked on, he was surprised to see that the bush, though on
fire, was not consumed".
Exodus
6:6: "Therefore say to the Israelites: I am Yahweh. I will free you
from the enforced labour of the Egyptians and will deliver you from their
slavery. I will rescue you by my outstretched arm and with mighty acts of
judgment".
Exodus
20 ff (the giving of the Law)
With
this second antiphon we progress from creation to the familiar story of God
manifesting himself by name to Moses (though "Adonai" is Hebrew for
"my Lord", and was substituted by devout Jews for the name
"Yahweh", out of reverence) and giving his law to Israel as their way
of life. We are also reminded of the Israelites' deliverance from bondage
under pharaoh - a foreshadowing of our own redemption from sin. The image
of God's arm outstretched in power to save his chosen people may also brings to
mind the later scene of Jesus with his arms outstretched for us on the cross. (Jeanne Kun)
At
the Transfiguration, Moses appears with Elijah alongside Jesus, sometimes held
to be a sign of Jesus as the giver of the new law. There are also many
references in the New Testament to the Law, eg.
O Root of Jesse, standing as a sign
among the peoples;
before
you kings will shut their mouths,
to
you the nations will make their prayer:
Come
and deliver us, and delay no longer.
Isaiah
52:13, 15; 53:2: "See, my servant shall prosper...So shall he startle many
nations, because of him kings shall stand speechless. ...He grew up like a
sapling before him, like a shoot".
Isaiah
11: 10, “On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples;
the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious.”
Isaiah
prophesied a restoration of David's throne - a new branch budding out of the old root. Christ is the
root of Jesse in a two-fold sense: he is the descendant of David, who was the
youngest son of Jesse, and he inherited the royal throne. The angel
foretold to Mary, "The Lord God will give him the throne of David his
father. He will rule over the house of Jacob forever and his reign will
be without end" (Luke 1:32-33).
Probably
the exile, and the concept of the remnant is also in mind, with the connecting
thought that God brings strength from weakness. It may be worth reflecting that
Jesse himself is an obscure figure, only famous because of his son, David – one
of the many obscure figures necessary to the salvation story.
The
image has inspired art:– the Jesse Tree.
The Jesse
Tree is
a pictorial representation of Jesus’ ‘family tree’,
showing a tree or vine with spreading branches to represent the genealogy in
accordance with Isaiah's
prophecy. The 12th-century monk Hervaeus expressed the medieval
understanding of the image, based on the Vulgate text: "The patriarch
Jesse belonged to the royal family, which is why the root of Jesse signifies
the lineage of kings. As to the rod, it symbolises Mary as the flower
symbolises Jesus Christ." In
the medieval period, when heredity was all-important, much greater emphasis than
today was placed on the actual royal descent of Jesus, especially by royalty
and the nobility, including those who had joined the clergy.
In addition, there was a belief that the
house of David only married within the extended family (not entirely implausible
when you read 1 Kings!) and it was argued that thus Mary, as well as Joseph,
was a descendant of Jesse, Hmm.
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The Jesse Tree in the Lambeth Psalter,
by
an unknown English miniaturist, (1140s).
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The Jesse Tree is the subject of many stained
glass windows
and illuminated manuscripts;
is found in wall paintings,
architectural carvings, funerary monuments, floor tiles and embroidery.
Jesse is lying on the ground or a couch
and the tree grows from his ribs (perhaps reflecting the legend that God took
one of Adam’s ribs to form Eve) or from his side. Significant individuals, like
Kings David and Solomon, appear in the branches,
The
first representations of the passage in Isaiah, from about 1000 AD in the West,
show a "shoot" in the form of a straight stem or a flowering branch
held in the hand most often by the Virgin, or by Jesus when held by Mary, by
the prophet Isaiah or by an ancestor figure. In
the Byzantine world, the Tree figures only as a normal-looking tree in the
background of some Nativity scenes.
And might there be some
thought of the wise men coming to Jesus?
There is also the reference to the messiah not tarrying:
Isaiah
46: 13, “I bring near my deliverance, it is not far off, and my salvation will
not tarry.”
Habakkuk
2: 3, “For there is still a vision for the appointed time; it speaks of the end
and does not lie. If it seems to tarry, wait for it; it will surely come; it
will not delay.”
O Key of David and sceptre 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: "I will place the key of the House of David on his shoulder. When
he opens, no one shall shut; when he shuts, no one shall open.
Revelation
3:7: "To the presiding spirit of the church in Philadelphia write this:
'The holy One, the true, who wields David's key, who opens and no one can
close, who closes and no one can open'".
Isaiah
42:6-7: "I formed you, and set you as a covenant of the people, a light
for the nations, to open the eyes of the blind, to bring out prisoners from
confinement, and from the dungeon those who live in darkness".
The
key and sceptre are traditional symbols of kingly power and authority. Christ,
the anointed one, is the heir of David and possessor of the kingdom. Jesus
himself also made use of this symbol, showing the prophetic relationship of the
earthly kingdom of David to the kingdom of God. All power and authority
was given to him after the resurrection, and he entrusted this power to
"bind and to loose" to Peter and the ministers of his church.
Traditionally, the ministry of absolution has been known as ‘the ministry of
the keys’.
Jesus
unlocks the fetters of sin that keep us tightly chained. It is he who
frees us from our captivity. We recall the deliverance proclaimed by the
psalmist of old: "they dwelt in darkness and gloom, bondsmen in want and
in chains,...and he led them forth from darkness and gloom and broke their
bonds asunder" (Psalm 107: 10, 14).
Note the icon of the resurrection, with the doors of hell broken, and the key and locks falling
into obscurity.
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Modern Russian Orthodox icon
Iconographer: Tatiana Kolibaba.
Though modern, it is faithful to former icons of
the Resurrection.
Jesus catches the hand of Adam (in some icons, he
also takes Eve’s hand)
Behind Adam are Old Testament figures waiting for
release and behind Eve, New Testament.
Jesus is surrounded by a radiant
‘mandorla’ indicating his state of glory.
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O Morning Star,
splendour
of light eternal and sun of righteousness:
Come
and enlighten those who dwell in darkness
and
the shadow of death.
Isaiah 9:1: "The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light. Upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has
shone". cf. Luke 1: 76 “By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on
high will break upon us to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the
shadow of death.”
Psalm 130: 6, “My soul waits for the Lord, more than
those who watch for the morning, more than those who watch for the morning.”
Malachi 3:20:
"For you who fear my name, there will arise the sun of justice with its
healing rays".
2 Peter 1:19:
"Keep your attention closely fixed on it, as you would on a lamp shining
in a dark place, until the first streaks of dawn appear and the morning star
rises in your heart".
Romans 13 12, “the night is far gone, the day is
near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armour of
light.”
And from the Apocrypha:
Wisdom 7: 26, “For she (wisdom) is a reflection of
eternal light, a spotless mirror of the working of God, and an image of his
goodness.”
John’s Gospel, of course, contains most references
to light.
This title is
variously translated "morning star", "Dayspring",
"rising sun", "radiant dawn", "orient", all
expressing the idea of light shattering
the darkness of night, of sin and death, of sickness and despair, with its
brightness bringing healing and warmth to cold hearts. Jesus is the true
light, the radiance of his Father's splendour. The church prays this petition
daily in the Benedictus, joining in the words of Zechariah: "He, the
Dayspring, shall visit us in his mercy to shine on those who sit in darkness
and in the shadow of death" (Luke 1:78-79).
But interestingly,
the reference is to dawn which does
not come swiftly (other than in the tropics), but is a gradual increase of
light; an idea worth exploring, perhaps. Is the Biblical imagery of sudden
light, or gradual? Does the concept of dawn and a gradual shift from light to
dark have more to say to people? The dawn, like the dusk, is also a time of
shadow – does this move us into the references to justice and to understanding?
And is there a reference back to the previous verse about bringing freedom from
fetters?
Isaiah 60:1 - “Arise, shine; for your light has come, and
the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.”
What is
‘enlightening’? Is it a transformation of our natures or of undrstanding? cf.
Hebrews 10: 32 – “But recall those earlier days when, after you had been
enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings.”
O King of the nations, and their desire,
the
cornerstone making both one:
Come
and save the human race,
which
you fashioned from clay.
Isaiah 28:16: "Therefore, thus says the Lord God: See, I am laying
a stone in Zion, a stone that has been tested, a precious cornerstone as a sure
foundation".
Ephesians 2:14:
"He it is who is our peace, and who made the two of us one by breaking
down the barrier of hostility that kept us apart".
Ephesians 2: 20,
“(the household of God), built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets
with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone.”
Genesis 2: 7, “then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground,
and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.”
Earlier we have seen
allusions to the Messiah coming all nations and redeem them for his own. Now
the saviour is addressed as the king of
the gentiles (Jer.10:7) and the Desired One of the nations.
Is there also a link
to the vision of the celestial city in Revelation 21: 24 – “The nations will
walk by its light, and the kings of the earth shall bring their glory into it”?
The Messiah is the cornerstone on whom our spiritual foundations
are laid, but on whom unbelievers stumble (Matt. 21:42). This cornerstone
unites and binds Jew and gentile into one, making peace between them. (Jeanne Kun)
The plea is that God
save all humanity, all his creation that he formed from the dust of the earth
(Gen.2:7). We yearn for him once again to breathe the breath of his new
life into us.
O Emmanuel, our King and our
lawgiver,
the
hope of the nations and their Saviour:
Come
and save us, O Lord our God.
Isaiah
7:14: "Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign: the virgin
shall be with child, and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel".
Isaiah
33:22: "Indeed the Lord will be there with us, majestic. Yes,
the Lord our judge, the Lord our lawgiver, the Lord our king, he it is who will
save us".
Romans
8: 19, “For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the
children of God.”
Finally
expectation finds joy in the certainty of fulfilment. Jesus is called by
one of the most personal and intimate of his titles, Emmanuel, God-with-us: God
incarnate. Yet he is also to be exalted above us as our king, the lawgiver and
judge, the one whom we honour and obey. He is the saviour, long-expected by all
creation. The final cry is for our God and Lord to bring salvation to us.
In
the hymn, O Come! O come! Immanuel, we
sing the last verse both at the beginning and end, and in doing so perhaps lose
some of the power of the antiphon. When we have read through it, thoughtfully
and prayerfully, the recitation of the final section has a power it often lacks
through repetition. Worth trying!
Ruth Crofton
Material
from (c) 2000 Jeanne Kun,(Internet)
William Marshall, O Come,
Emmanuel 1993 The Columba Press
Solrunn Nes, The Mystical
Language of Icons 2004 The Canterbury Press
Other material, Ruth Crofton
[1] ‘marvel ye at me’ – the other verses speak to God
[2] During the Medieval era the
symbol of the tree as an expression of lineage was adopted by the nobility and
has passed into common usage initially in the form of the family tree
and later as a mode of
expressing any line of descent.
