Desire and Longing: Praying with the O Antiphons

Longing and Desire

Advent is a season of desire and longing. The readings and prayers that the Church gives us during this time of the year are meant to stir up in our hearts the same yearning of the people of ancient Israel. During the time of the prophets, many of the chosen people were exiled from their homeland. God’s covenant promises seemed far, distant, and unreasonable. But through the prophets, God exhorts his chosen people to hope. He forms them to be a people of expectation. Among the great prophets, Isaiah—with his promises of a Messiah—is given to us as a special guide on our Advent journey. For this Third Sunday of Advent, Isaiah proclaims in our first reading: “Those whom the Lord has ransomed will return and enter Zion singing, crowned with everlasting joy; they will meet with joy and gladness, sorrow and mourning will flee” (Isaiah 35:10). Ransom, return, singing, joy, gladness—can you feel the longing in those words? 

The people of Israel waited for centuries for these prophecies to be fulfilled with the coming of the baby Jesus. Over time, desire and longing mature and grow in the human heart. But if you’re like me, you probably don’t like to wait. The comforts of contemporary life have conditioned all of us to expect immediate results. One of the conveniences of modern technology I love is online shopping. I find it delightful to be able to do my Christmas shopping with just a few clicks, and in a couple days, it all arrives at my front door. But the life of faith requires time and patience. Hope unfolds in attentive waiting, and hope and waiting can seem painful at times. Hope means allowing desire and longing to build in our hearts. 

The Two-Fold Focus of Advent

During the first few weeks of Advent, we have been exhorted to prepare for the second coming of Christ and we have prayed with John the Baptist’s admonition to “prepare the way of the Lord.” Beginning December 17^th—about a week out from Christmas Day—the season of Advent shifts, and we begin to ponder more intently on that first coming of Jesus as a baby on Christmas Day. Our daily Mass readings begin to recount the events leading up to the birth of Jesus, found in the gospels of Matthew and Luke. For the Fourth Sunday of Advent this year, we will hear about Joseph’s dream, in which the angel tells him to take Mary into his home, for the child to born will be Emmanuel. 

With this shift to more intentionally prepare for Christmas, our longing and desire for Jesus to come into our lives builds all the more. For any family awaiting the birth of a baby, the final weeks and days until delivery are a time of heightened anticipation and special preparation. For us, knowing that the baby to be born is the promised Emmanuel, our desire and longing during these final days of Advent crescendos. 

The O Antiphons

Among the liturgical elements that mark the final days of Advent are the ancient “O Antiphons.” Beginning in the fifth or sixth century, the Liturgy of the Hours in many monasteries began to ascribe Our Lady’s Canticle, often call the Magnificat, to be prayed each evening at Vespers. Along with this beautiful canticle of praise, the Church offers an antiphon—a short versicle sung before and after the canticle itself—to mark the particular feast or season of the year. During the final seven nights before Christmas Eve, the O Antiphons quickly became a fixture at Vespers alongside Our Lady’s Magnificat. 

They are called “O” Antiphons because each antiphon famously begins with the acclamation “O.” In the ancient chant, you can hear the longing contained in the chant notation provided for this little word. With the “O” is added a unique title of Jesus, originating from the prophets of old. Each of the seven days has its own title: O Wisdom, O Lord, O Root of Jesse, O Key of David, O Dawn, O King of the Nations, O Emmanuel. These titles are carefully chosen, as the first letter of the original Latin titles, when spelled backwards, reveal the Latin words “Ero cras,” which translates as, “Tomorrow, I will come.” 

The antiphon is punctuated, about halfway through, with the word “come”—“veni” in the original Latin. This little word, which expresses the central desire of Advent, is sung in a manner which conveys the deep cry of the human heart. “Come!” we cry, as we longingly await Jesus, our fulfillment and our hope. The content of each antiphon goes on to express our particular desires for his coming: teach us, redeem us, deliver us, lead us, free us, save us. 

The Vincentian Christmas Novena

I first encountered the O Antiphons when I began praying the Liturgy of the Hours in my first year of college seminary years ago. It was a particular delight in those years to also take part in the choir of our seminary’s annual Christmas Novena, during which we would sing the antiphons in their original Latin, with the “O” and the “veni” giving voice to my own heart’s desire for the baby Jesus to come into my life. The Christmas Novena has been a tradition for the Vincentians and the Daughters of Charity for centuries, and we inherited that tradition from the Vincentian fathers here at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary from the time of our seminary’s first foundation in Perryville more than 200 years ago. What a delight it will be to include this beautiful Vincentian tradition as part of our preparation for Christmas here at “The God Minute.” I pray that you find in these ancient prayers and chants an expression of the deep longing and desire that is swelling in your heart during this beautiful time of the year.