O Emmanuel

We come to the last of the O Antiphons, for tomorrow is Christmas Eve, the Vigil of the Nativity.

I mentioned yesterday that the O Antiphons were arranged backwards into the song Veni, Veni Emmanuel. This was by design, for the Antiphons themselves are a backwards acrostic.

The first letters of the Messianic titles — Emmanuel, Rex, Oriens, Clavis, Radix, Adonai, Sapientia — spell out the Latin words ero cras, meaning, “Tomorrow, I will come”.

Which is pretty neat.

O Emmanuel, Rex et légifer noster,
exspectátio Géntium, et Salvátor eárum:
veni ad salvándum nos, Doómine, Deus noster.

Englished:

O Emmanuel, our king and our lawgiver,
the hope of the nations and their Saviour:
Come and save us, O Lord our God.

Merry Christmas, everyone!