The O Antiphons 6 - Third and Fourth Sundays

EMMANUEL,

Rex et legifer noster,

exspectatio Gentium,

et Salvator earum:

veni ad salvandum nos, Domine, Deus noster.

O Emmanuel,

our King and our Lawgiver,

Longing of the Peoples ;

yea ; and salvation thereof :

Come to save us, O Lord our God !

The O Antiphons 5 - Third and Fourth Sundays

REX GENTIUM,

et desideratus earum,

lapisque angularis,

qui facis utraque unum:

veni, et salva hominum,

quem le limo formasti.

O King of the peoples,

and desire thereof;

O Cornerstone,

that makest one of two:

come to save man

whom Thou hast made of the dust of the earth.

The O Antiphons 4 - Third and Fourth Sundays

CLAVIS DAVID

et sceptrum domus Israel;

qui aperis, et nemo claudit;

claudis, et nemo aperit;

veni, et educ vinctum de domo carceris,

sedentem in tenebris, et umbra mortis.

O Key of David, and Scepter of the house of Israel;

that openest and no man shutteth;

shuttest and no man openeth :

come to bring out the prisoner from the prison,

and them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death.

ORIENS,

splendor lucis aeternae,

et sol justitiae :

veni, et illumina sedentes in tenebris,

et umbra mortis.

O Dayspring,

Brighness of the everlasting light,

Sun of Justice,

come to give light to them

that sit in darkness and the shadow of death!

The O Antiphons - where?

I am really embarrassed, because the old prayerbook, from which I've been copying the Antiphons, has gone missing. And I missed last weekend too. Big time bummer.

Reminds me of some little thing I wrote down in December 1984 about the anguish of waiting.

The night is empty, dark, and cold.
I trudge along the road
Rememb'ring dimly being told
So long ago when I was young
From dark like this new hope has sprung.
The memory's old and faint and pale
Has little power to lift my load
And free me from my inner jail.

Second Sunday of Advent - O Come, Divine Messiah!

This has long been one of my favorite Advent carols, and last night at Mass at Our Lady of Lourdes, the old French-Canadian parish on the east bank of the Mississippi River, near Sault Saint-Antoine de Padue (the Saint Anthony Falls), the choir (and I) sang two verses in French (my Grand-Père Gosselin was a French-Canadian-Ojibwe mix) . . . and here they are. Note the urgency of Venez, venez, venez ! -- "Come, come, come!"

Refrain:

Venez divin Messe,

Sauvez nos jours infortunés ;

Vous êtes notre vie,

Venez, venez. venez !

Ah! Descendez, hâtez vos pas,

Sauvez les hommes du trépas ;

Secourez-nous, ne tardez pas !

Voyez couler nos larmes ;

Grand Dieu, si Vous nous pardonnez,

Nous n'aurons plus d'alarmes :

Venez, venez, venez !

(Refrain)

Si Vous venez, Roi glorieux,

Nous Vous verrons, victorieux,

Fermer l'enfer, ouvrir les cieux.

Soyez-nous secourable ;

Les cieux nous furent destinés ;

Venez Sauveur aimable,

Venez, venez, venez!

(Refrain)

The O Antiphons 3 - Second Sunday of Advent

RADIX JESSE,

qui stas in signum populorum,

super quem continebunt reges os suum,

quem Gentes deprecabuntur :

veni ad liberandum nos, jam noli tardare.

O Root of Jesse,
who standest as an ensign for the people,
at whom the kings shall shut their mouths,
whom the peoples shall seek :
come to deliver us, do not delay.