O Antiphons

Published on December 17, 2017December 17, 2017 by KateLeave a comment

They’re here!! I love the O Antiphons of Advent. These ancient prayers are what make up the text to my favorite Advent hymn O Come O Come Emmanuel. I never get tired of it. The O Antiphons are used as part of Evening Prayer the last 7 days before Christmas Eve. So today is the first day:

O Wisdom of our God Most High,

guiding creation with power and love:

come to teach us the path of knowledge!

Each of these 7 days I’m going to be posting on the Daily Graces Facebook page which Antiphon is for their day as well as a short prayer that echoes the idea of that antiphon.

If you haven’t already, check out the page and be sure to “like” it so you get all the Antiphons. I’m purposefully not posting these daily in the blog in an effort to decrease email traffic during these last days of Advent. I don’t know about you but my email has been exploding the last two weeks with sales, promotions and gift guides. While one or two were genuinely helpful, it’s been a chore to go through and delete delete delete.

If you’re trying to spend time away from your computer or phone to help you better prepare your heart for Jesus’ birth, be sure to check out the USCCB page which has all the Antiphons listed. You can copy them down and pray them each day without needing any technology besides pen and paper! Or if you have access to Evening Prayer the Antiphons are listed there as well.

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Well I’m not used to posting from my phone and accidentally published this before it was finished! I wanted to wish you all a blessed Gaudete Sunday, a Happy Advent and a very Merry (early) Christmas!

May peace and joy always reign in your hearts and your homes

Daily Advent Prayer Experiences for 2016 by DailyGraces.net

December 22, 2016 – Unity

Published on December 21, 2016December 16, 2016 by KateLeave a comment

O King of all nations and keystone of the Church:
come and save man, whom you formed from the dust!

Today’s antiphon is particularly insightful for our world today. We are recognizing that Jesus is King of all nations. He is not king over some nations or peoples. Nor is He king over a special selection of people, particularly those who agree with our understanding of Jesus or our worldly perspective. If we are to shout this antiphon as it is intended (today even gets an exclamation point at the end of it), then we are recognizing the universality of Jesus as King of all nations, of all peoples.

This antiphon was especially important for the early Church because of the divide that existed between the Jewish people and the Gentiles (basically everyone who wasn’t a Jew). There were many laws and customs that restricted or even forbid contact between the two groups, mostly imposed by the Jewish side of the equation. If Jesus is King of all nations, then that means that He is King over Jew and Gentile alike.

Think of our world today, particularly the political tensions that have arisen in America yes, but many other countries as well. Consider Syria and other war-torn countries where the mentality of “us vs. them” is literally killing people of every age every single day. Today’s antiphon reminds us that Jesus is both King and keystone, or cornerstone. Jesus is the King of unity. This unity is foundational, the cornerstone, of the Church. As members of Christ’s Church, this unity is supposed to course through our veins. We are called to see one another as men and women uniquely and specifically formed by God. There is no room for “us vs. them” when we recognize and love one another as images of God.

*** Please feel free to share your experience, thoughts and offer support to one another in the comments, on Twitter with the #DailyGraces or on the Facebook page.

December 21, 2016 – Light

Published on December 20, 2016December 16, 2016 by KateLeave a comment

O Radiant Dawn,
splendor of eternal light, sun of justice:
come and shine on those who dwell in darkness and in the
shadow of death.

In yesterday’s antiphon, the last line said “come and free the prisoners of darkness!” What could be a more beautiful description than a radiant dawn banishing the darkness of our lives.

We have walked from the kingship of David into a dark time in Israel’s history. The kingdom split, leaving 10 tribes in the north (the Kingdom of Israel) and 2 tribes in the south (the Kingdom of Judah). Even to this day, scholars are not sure what happened to the 10 tribes in the north. They know that the Assyrians came and conquered the northern kingdom, but there are minimal records, if any, about what happened to the people. In the south, the Kingdom of Judah was also conquered but by the Babylonians. These last two tribes are what the Bible, specifically the Old Testament, primarily follows. As you might have already guessed, the fate of the chosen people was pretty grim. It’s no wonder that they were looking for the Emmanuel, the Messiah

How appropriate that today, the darkest day of the year, is the day that we celebrate Jesus, the coming Light of the World – O Radiant Dawn.

Each of us have dark corners, places we are not proud of and would rather not others know about. In his Catholicism series, Bishop Robert Barron talks about the windshield of a car as similar to our lives. When we are driving in the dark with no light our windshield looks nearly spotless. It would be easy to deceive ourselves into thinking that perhaps we have no problem spots, no reason to evaluate how our lives are going. However, when we are driving toward the light we can see every imperfection, every problem, every area where we need to grow, change and transform.

What is beautiful about our God is that when we orient ourselves toward His light, it is not glaring or harsh. Rather, God’s light is full of love and splendor. Yes, we see the places where we fall short, but in the sight of God’s love and mercy we can see that there is a way forward. There is forgiveness, mercy and compassion. We are freed from our imprisonment to sin as we step forward into God’s glorious light.

*** Please feel free to share your experience, thoughts and offer support to one another in the comments, on Twitter with the #DailyGraces or on the Facebook page.