The “O” antiphons are the prelude to Christmas. The spirit of Advent is enraged by the imminent arrival of the child Jesus, the Savior and God with us.
We want the spirit of Augustine to illuminate the deep meaning of these seven antiphons that the evening liturgy of the Church sings with ardour. It will be the Augustinian Recollect Enrique Eguiarte who guides us day after day with his comments based on texts by the Bishop of Hippo.
In the time of Saint Augustine, despite the richness of the nascent liturgy of North Africa – of which very significant traces have been left within of the current liturgy thanks to the Gelasian Ritual—, they were not prayed nor they knew the so-called “O” antiphons, that is, the antiphons used in the prayer of Vespers starting on December 17, as a preparation for Christmas, and through which three elements are revealed.
The first is patent and Christological, that is, it highlights various dimensions and aspects of the one who is going to be born, Jesus the Lord and Redeemer.
Secondly, the Mariological sense, since the antiphons correspond to the evening prayer of the Magnificat—of which Saint Bede the Venerable already speaks in the 8th century—which is the Canticle of praise that the Virgin Mary raises to God for the wonders wrought in her own being. These antiphons of the “O” and the initial words of them have a Marian meaning, since it is played with the idea that the Virgin Mary not only ponders the attributes of her own Son, but she also invites us to meditate with them on these titles and characteristics of the Redeemer. Hence the initial of all of them and what gives them their name, the admiring exclamation “Oh” (which in Latin is written without ax).
On the other hand, there is a latent element that is somewhat convoluted, very much to the taste medieval, which is found in the acrostic that is formed from the reading of the initials of said Latin antiphons read from the last to the first.
Let’s explain it in more detail.
The seven antiphons of the “O” in Latin are the following:
Sapientia (Wisdom)
Adonai (My Lord)
Radix (Root)
Clavis (Key)
Oriens (East)
Rex (King)
Emmanuel (God with us)
If the initials of said antiphons are read from the last to the first, it is form two Latin words ERO CRAS, which means “I will arrive or I will be tomorrow”, to highlight that Christ comes to us on the day of his birth, from December 24 to 25. The last antiphon is prayed on the eve of the 23rd from December. In this way, the 24th at night is when what is fulfilled is fulfilled reads the inverted acrostic formed with the initials of the first letter of said antiphons. Christ arrives the next day, that is, the 24th at night.
As we said, Saint Augustine did not know this ingenious and convoluted medieval invention, however, has left us very profound texts to know who Christ is and how he uses any of these titles in his works to introduce us to Christ.
In the following days we will stop briefly to consider some Augustinian reflections on the Christological meaning that these antiphons, as a help and illumination for these days in which we are approaching Christmas.
