The Great Antiphons: O Emmanuel

Today is the seventh and final Great O Antiphon, O Emmanuel.  As always, this is the antiphon sung just before the Magnificat at Vespers. It is the last, because tomorrow's Vespers, on Christmas Eve, is the First Vespers of Christmas.

O Emmanuel, Rex et legifer noster,

exspectatio Gentium, et Salvator earum:

veni ad salvandum nos, Domine, Deus noster.

O Emmanuel, our king and our lawgiver,

the hope of the nations and their Saviour:

Come and save us, O Lord our God.

Here is the final part of Pärt's Sieben Magnificat Antiphonen.

O Immanuel, unser König und Lehrer,  du Hoffnung und Heiland der Völker:  o komm, eile und schaffe uns Hilfe,  du unser Herr und unser Gott. O Emmanuel, our king and counselor,  Thou hope and saviour of the nations:  O come, make haste to help us,  Thou our Lord and our God, our God.

The Great Antiphons: O Rex Gentium

Today's Great Antiphon is O Rex Gentium.

O Rex Gentium, et desideratus earum,

lapisque angularis, qui facis utraque unum:

veni, et salva hominem,

quem de limo formasti.

O King of the nations, and their desire,

the cornerstone making both one:

Come and save the human race,

which you fashioned from clay.

And here is Arvo Pärt's setting:

O König aller Völker, ihre Erwartung und Sehnsucht, Schlußstein, der den Bau zusammenhält, o komm und errette den Menschen, den du aus Erde gebildet! O king of all nations, their expectation and desire, Keystone, which holds all things together: O come and save mankind, whom thou hast formed from clay!

The Great Antiphons: O Oriens

Today's Great Antiphon is O Oriens.

O Oriens,

splendor lucis aeternae, et sol justitiae:

veni, et illumina sedentes in tenebris, et umbra mortis.

O Morning Star,

splendour of light eternal and sun of righteousness:

Come and enlighten those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.

Here is Arvo Pärt's setting:

O Morgenstern, Glanz des unversehrten Lichtes: Der Gerechtigkeit strahlende Sonne: o komm und erleuchte, die da sitzen in Finsternis, und im Schatten des Todes. O morning star, incandescence of pure light,  radiant sun of righteousness;  O come and enlighten those who sit there in darkness  and in the shadow of death.

O Emmanuel

Today is the seventh and final Great O Antiphon, O Emmanuel.  As always, this is the antiphon sung just before the Magnificat at Vespers. It is the last, because tomorrow's Vespers, on Christmas Eve, is the First Vespers of Christmas.

O Emmanuel, Rex et legifer noster,

exspectatio Gentium, et Salvator earum:

veni ad salvandum nos, Domine, Deus noster.

O Emmanuel, our king and our lawgiver,

the hope of the nations and their Saviour:

Come and save us, O Lord our God.

Here is the final part of Pärt's Sieben Magnificat Antiphonen.

O Immanuel O Immanuel, unser König und Lehrer, du Hoffnung und Heiland der Völker: o komm, eile und schaffe uns Hilfe, du unser Herr und unser Gott.

O Emmanuel O Emmanuel, our king and counselor, Thou hope and saviour of the nations: O come, make haste to help us, Thou our Lord and our God, our God

O Rex Gentium

Today's Great O Antiphon is O Rex Gentium.

O Rex Gentium, et desideratus earum,

lapisque angularis, qui facis utraque unum:

veni, et salva hominem,

quem de limo formasti.

O King of the nations, and their desire,

the cornerstone making both one:

Come and save the human race,

which you fashioned from clay.

And here is Arvo Pärt's setting:

O König aller VölkerO König aller Völker, ihre Erwartung und Sehnsucht, Schlußstein, der den Bau zusammenhält, o komm und errette den Menschen, den du aus Erde gebildet!	O King of All NationsO king of all nations, their expectation and desire, Keystone, which holds all things together: O come and save mankind, whom thou hast formed from clay!

O Oriens

Today's Great O Antiphon is O Oriens.

O Oriens,

splendor lucis aeternae, et sol justitiae:

veni, et illumina sedentes in tenebris, et umbra mortis.

O Morning Star,

splendour of light eternal and sun of righteousness:

Come and enlighten those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.

Here is Arvo Pärt's setting:

O MorgensternO Morgenstern, Glanz des unversehrten Lichtes: Der Gerechtigkeit strahlende Sonne: o komm und erleuchte, die da sitzen in Finsternis, und im Schatten des Todes.

O Morning Star O morning star, incandescence of pure light, radiant sun of righteousness; O come and enlighten those who sit there in darkness and in the shadow of death.

O Clavis David

Today's Great O Antiphon is O Clavis David - O Key of David.

As ever, this is sung at Vespers, just before the Magnificat.

O 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 sceptre of the House of Israel;

you open and no one can shut;

you shut and no one can open:

Come and lead the prisoners from the prison house,

those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.

And here, once again, is Arvo Pärt's setting.

O Schlüssel DavidsO Schlüssel Davids, Zepter des Hauses Israel, du öffnest, und niemand kann schließen, du schließt, und keine Macht vermag zu öffnen: o komm und öffne den Kerker der Finsternis und die Fessel des Todes.

O David's KeyO David's key, sceptre of the house of Israel, That which thou openest, none can secure, That which thou securest, no power may open; O come and unlock the prison of darkness and the fetters of death

O Radix Jesse

Today's in the series of Great O Antiphons is O Radix Jesse.

As usual, here is the chant, as sung at Vespers before the Magnificat:

O 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, standing as a sign among the peoples;

before you kings will shut their mouths,

to you the nations will make their prayer:

Come and deliver us, and delay no longer.

And here is Arvo Pärt's setting:

O Sproß aus Isais WurzelO Sproß aus Isais Wurzel, gesetzt zum Zeichen für die Völker, vor dir verstummen die Herrscher der Erde, dich flehen an die Völker: o komm und errette uns, erhebe dich, säume nicht länger.

O Scion of Isaiah's LineO Scion of Isaiah's Line, predestined to be a sign for the nations, the rulers of the earth fall silent before thee, the nations cry unto thee: O come and save us, bestir thyself, delay no longer.

O Adonai

O Adonai is the second of the Great O Antiphons.

Here is the chant setting, as sung at Vespers today.

O Adonai, et Dux domus Israel,

qui Moysi in igne flammae rubi apparuisti,

et ei in Sina legem dedisti:

veni ad redimendum nos in brachio extento.

O Adonai, and leader of the House of Israel,

who appeared to Moses in the fire of the burning bush

and gave him the law on Sinai:

Come and redeem us with an outstretched arm.

And here is Arvo Pärt's setting: 

O AdonaiO Adonai, der Herr und Führer des Hauses Israel, im flammender Dornbusch bist du dem Moses erschienen, und hast ihm auf dem Berg das Gesetz gegeben. O komm und befreie uns mit deinem straken Arm.	O AdonaiAdonai, the Lord and leader of the house of Israel, In the burning bush hast thou appeared unto Moses And given him the law upon the mountain: O come and deliver us with thy powerful arm O come and deliver us with thy powerful arm O come and deliver us with thy powerful arm, Adonai.

O Sapientia

As part of our Advent ritual, we always sing O Come, O Come Emmanuel around our Advent wreath.

The hymn is of course a metrical adaptation of (five of) the Great O Antiphons; the antiphons for Vespers for the week preceding Christmas, sung just before the Magnificat.

The Great O Antiphons start today.

I was going to blog about both the O Antiphons and the hymn, but find that the Wikipedia entries on both cover all that I was going to say, and indeed more than I knew.

The entry on the Great O Antiphons is here; there is only one thing I would argue with, and that is the suggestion that the reverse acrostic, Ero Cras, is a coincidence. There is no place for coincidence in my theology...

The entry on O Come, O Come Emmanuel is here. I was fascinated to read Neale's original version; I had only known the Ancient and Modern version.

Here is the chant version of O Sapientia, the first of the O Antiphons, sung at Vespers today.

O Sapientia, quae ex ore Altissimi prodiisti,

attingens a fine usque ad finem,

fortiter suaviterque disponens omnia:

veni ad docendum nos viam prudentiae.

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.

Here is Arvo Pärt's setting (in German)

O Weisheit O Weisheit, hervorgegangen aus dem Munde des Höchsten, die Welt umspannst du von einem Ende zu andern, in Kraft und Milde ordnest du alles: O komm und offenbare uns den Weg der Weisheit und der Einsicht, O Weisheit.

O Wisdom O Wisdom, proceeding from the mouth of the Most High, Thou encirclest the world from one end to the other, Thou orderest all things with might and mercy: O come to us and reveal the way of wisdom and of understanding O Wisdom.

PS I have just noticed that this (in a poor and simplified translation, of course...) is also used as the verse for the Alleluia in today's Mass in the Ordinary Form.