O Emmanuel

23 December 2022 Annual, Chant, Divine Office, Dom Guéranger, Holy Days, Latin, Seasons

At last we come to the final O Antiphon, for tomorrow is Christmas Eve, the great Vigil of the Nativity.

We adore Thee, O Emmanuel! in this Thy journey, and we reverence the fidelity wherewith Thou fulfillest all that the prophets have written of Thee; for Thou wouldst give to Thy people the certainty of Thy being the Messiah, by showing them that all the marks, whereby He was to be known, are to be found in Thee.

And now, the hour is near; all is ready for Thy birth; come then, and save us; come, that Thou mayst not only be called our Emmanuel, but our Jesus, that is, He that saves us.

(The Liturgical Year, Dom Guéranger)

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

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

Which is pretty neat.