Summary: The "O" Antiphons On the evening of December 17 the final phase of preparation for Christmas begins with the first of the great "O Antiphons" of Advent. These prayers are seven jewels of our liturgical song, one for each day until Christmas Eve. They seem to sum up all our Advent longing for the Savior, and each of them ends with a plea for the Messiah to come. As Christmas approaches the cry becomes more urgent. These 7 short verses, the "O Antiphons" are intoned with special solemnity in monasteries during Vespers, before and after the Magnificat, Mary's prayer of praise and thanksgiving from the Gospel of Luke (2:42-55), which is sung every evening as the climax of this Hour of the Divine Office. The nuns at the Carmel of St. Joseph are using these antiphons as part of a Christmas Novena they are praying after the morning mass for the long awaited coming of the Savior! Novena Prayer: O Lord, stir up your might and come! Be our protector and savior. Rescue us from the dangers that threaten us because of our sins, and lead us to salvation. Hear our prayers, O Lord, and enlighten the darkness of our minds by the light of your coming on earth you who live and reign with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever, Amen. Prayer to Obtain Favors: Hail and blessed be the hour and moment in which the Son of God was born of the most pure Virgin Mary, at midnight, in Bethlehem, in the piercing cold. In that hour, vouchsafe O my God! to hear my prayer and grand my desires, through the merits of Our Savior Jesus Christ, and of His Blessed Mother... Amen! The O Antiphons -- for Advent starting at Vespers O Wisdom - to be prayed December 17 O Wisdom. You came forth from the mouth of the Most High and reaching from beginning to end, You ordered all things mightily and sweetly. Come and teach us the way of prudence! O Adonai - to be prayed December 18 O Lord and Ruler of the house of Israel, You appeared to Moses in the burning bush and on Mount Sinai gave him Your Law. Come and with outstretched arm redeem us! O Root of Jesse - to be prayed December 19 O Root of Jesse, You stand for an ensign of mankind; before You kings shall keep silence, and to You all nations shall have recourse. Come, save us and do not delay! O Key of David - to be prayed December 20 O Key of David, and Sceptre of the House of Israel, You open and no man closes; You close and no man opens. Come and deliver him from the chains of prison who sits in darkness and in the shadow of death! O Rising Dawn - to be prayed December 21 O Rising Dawn, Radiance of the Light eternal and Sun of Justice; come and enlighten those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death! O King - to be prayed December 22 O King of Nations and Desired of All, You are the cornerstone that binds two into one. Come, and save poor man whom You fashioned out of clay! O Emmanuel - to be prayed December 23 O Emmanuel, God with us, our King and Lawgiver, the Expected of nations and their Saviour; come and save us , O Lord our God!
