Advent
How to Pray the O Antiphons
Advent guide · 9 steps
The seven ancient antiphons sung before the Magnificat at Evening Prayer from 17 to 23 December, each calling on Christ by a title from Isaiah: what they are, one for each evening, and how to pray them with the Magnificat.
9 steps · About 10 minutes
In the last seven days before Christmas Eve the Church's Evening Prayer changes its voice. Before and after the Magnificat, from 17 to 23 December, it sings one of the seven 'O Antiphons', short prayers of great age (they were known in Rome by the eighth century) that address the coming Christ by titles the prophets gave him and end each time with the cry 'Come'. Taken in order they gather the whole longing of the Old Testament into a week. The hymn 'O Come, O Come, Emmanuel' is their paraphrase, and the Alleluia verse at Mass on these days uses them too. They are the simplest way to keep the last week of Advent as the Church keeps it.
What you need
- The Magnificat, in a missal, a Liturgy of the Hours volume, or from the prayer list below
- The seven antiphons (below, and as the O Antiphons prayer entry)
- Five quiet minutes at evening, ideally by the Advent wreath
When to pray it
One antiphon each evening, 17 to 23 December, before and after the Magnificat at Evening Prayer (Vespers), which is prayed at dusk or after the evening meal.
Steps
Step 1: Understand what the O Antiphons are
An antiphon is a short verse sung before and after a psalm or canticle. At Evening Prayer the canticle is always the , Mary's song from Luke's Gospel, and from 17 to 23 December its antiphon is one of the seven 'Great O's', each beginning with the exclamation 'O' and a title of the Messiah drawn from Isaiah and the prophets: Wisdom, Lord, Root of Jesse, Key of David, Dawn, King of the Nations, Emmanuel. Each recalls what Scripture promises under that title and ends by begging Christ to come. To pray them is to stand in Israel's long waiting on the evenings just before it ends.
Step 2: 17 December: O Wisdom (O Sapientia)
O Wisdom, who came forth from the mouth of the Most High, reaching from end to end and ordering all things mightily and sweetly: come, and teach us the way of prudence. The title is from the Wisdom books, where God's Wisdom is present at creation and reaches across the whole world, and from Isaiah's promise that the Spirit of wisdom and understanding will rest on the shoot of Jesse. Pray it before the , then the , then the antiphon once more, and end with a Glory Be.
Step 3: 18 December: O Lord (O Adonai)
O Adonai and leader of the house of Israel, who appeared to Moses in the flame of the burning bush and gave him the law on Sinai: come, and redeem us with outstretched arm. Adonai is the Hebrew word Israel spoke in place of the divine name; the antiphon confesses that the Child of Bethlehem is the God of Exodus. Pray it with the as before, remembering that the arm stretched out to save will be stretched out on the Cross.
Step 4: 19 December: O Root of Jesse (O Radix Jesse)
O Root of Jesse, who stand as a sign among the peoples, before whom kings will keep silence and to whom the nations will make their prayer: come, and deliver us, and do not delay. Jesse was David's father, and Isaiah promised that from his stump a shoot would spring, a sign raised for all the nations. The 's 'he has helped his servant Israel, remembering his promise' is the answer to this antiphon.
Step 5: 20 December: O Key of David (O Clavis David)
O Key of David and sceptre of the house of Israel, who open and no one can shut, who shut and no one can open: come, and lead out the captive from the prison, sitting in darkness and the shadow of death. The image is from Isaiah's promise to Eliakim and is taken up in the book of Revelation for Christ himself. Pray it with the for anyone you know who is imprisoned in any sense, and for the souls in purgatory.
Step 6: 21 December: O Dawn (O Oriens)
O Radiant Dawn, splendour of eternal light and sun of justice: come, and enlighten those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death. This antiphon falls near the shortest day of the year in the northern hemisphere, and the Church chose it for that reason; Zechariah's Benedictus (Canticle of Zechariah) calls the coming Christ 'the dawn from on high'. Pray it at dusk with the , by candlelight if you can.
Step 7: 22 December: O King of the Nations (O Rex Gentium)
O King of the nations and their desire, the cornerstone who make both one: come, and save the human race, whom you formed from the clay. Isaiah's cornerstone and Saint Paul's 'he has made both one' describe a King whose kingdom has no border; the clay is Genesis. Pray it with the , which sings that God 'has cast down the mighty from their thrones and lifted up the lowly', and remember that this King's throne is a manger.
Step 8: 23 December: O Emmanuel
O Emmanuel, our King and Lawgiver, the hope of the nations and their Saviour: come, and save us, O Lord our God. The last title is Isaiah's word to Ahaz, 'God with us', which Matthew's Gospel will apply to the Child of Mary. All seven petitions come to rest here: the coming God is God with us. Pray it with the , and let the 'Come' be the whole prayer of the last full day of Advent.
Step 9: Pray them with the Magnificat
The antiphons are made to frame the , so the full form each evening is: the day's antiphon; the , 'My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord'; a Glory Be; and the antiphon again. If you are praying Evening Prayer in full, it is already there; if not, this alone takes three minutes and is a real Advent Vespers. Pray it standing, with the Sign of the Cross at the 's first words, as the Church does, and sing it if you can. On 24 December Advent ends at the afternoon, and Evening Prayer is already the first Vespers of Christmas.
Tips
- Each antiphon has the same shape: the title, what Scripture says of it, and 'Come'. Say the 'Come' as your own.
- Read backwards, the first letters of the Latin titles (Sapientia, Adonai, Radix, Clavis, Oriens, Rex, Emmanuel) spell ERO CRAS, 'Tomorrow I will be there', a play on words the medieval Church delighted in.
- If you pray the full Liturgy of the Hours, the antiphons are already in place; if you do not, the antiphon and the Magnificat alone are a complete Advent evening prayer.
- Sing 'O Come, O Come, Emmanuel' with the verse that matches the day's antiphon.