Pause in Advent - O Antiphons 1 - O Sapienta

I am scheduling a 'Pause' in Advent' post for every day until Friday 23rd December.

Tonight is the night when the first of the seven 'O Antiphons' are sung at Vespers in monasteries, convents, churches,abbeys and cathedrals everywhere.

I have used several sources to find out about these antiphons, and wikipedia is as good a place as any to start.   

The O antiphons, so called because they each start with 'O', followed by a name given to the Messiah in the Old Testament prophecies, were probably written around the time of the 6th Century in Italy. Many peoplewill be familiar with them without knowing, from singing the Advent hymn 'O Come, O Come Emmanuel'.

Starting today, I shall post the text in Latin and Englaish, the verse from the hymn, and a link t the Antiphon. I invite you to take a short time to read the words, listen to the antiphon once or twice (they are very, very short) and reflect on the words.

Each year that I do this, I discover more hidden within the meanings, and this has become part of my Advent.

Let's begin;

O Sapienta

From the Bible;

"The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord."                                                            Isaiah 11:2-3

 

“…he is wonderful in counsel and excellent in wisdom”                            Isaiah 28:29

The Antiphon in Latin;

O Sapienta quae ex ore Altissimi prodiisti,

Attingens a fine usque ad finem,

Fortiter suaviterque disponens omnia:

Veni ad dodecendum nos viam prudentiae.

And in English;

O wisdom, coming forth from the mouth of the Most High,

Reaching from one end to the other,

Mightily and sweetly ordering all things:

Come and teach us the way of prudence.

  

From the hymn;

O come, Thou Wisdom from on high,
And order all things, far and nigh;
To us the path of knowledge show,
And cause us in her ways to go.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.