Father William Saunders, in the Arlington Catholic Herald, explains the meaning of the Seven-Fold Announcement: "The 'O Antiphons' refer to the seven antiphons that are recited (or chanted) preceding the Magnificat during Vespers of the Liturgy of the Hours. They cover the special period of Advent preparation known as the Octave before Christmas, Dec. 17 to Dec. 23, with Dec. 24 being Christmas Eve and Vespers for that evening being for the Christmas Vigil... The importance of 'O Antiphons' is twofold. Each one highlights a title for the Messiah: O Sapientia (O Wisdom), O Adonai (O Lord), O Radix Jesse (O Root of Jesse), O Clavis David (O Key of David), O Oriens (O Rising Sun), O Rex Gentium (O King of the Nations) and O Emmanuel [O God with us]. Also, each one refers to the prophecy of Isaiah of the coming of the Messiah... According to Professor Robert Greenberg of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, the Benedictine monks arranged these antiphons with a definite purpose. If one starts with the last title and takes the first letter of each one - Emmanuel, Rex, Oriens, Clavis, Radix, Adonai, Sapientia — the Latin words ero cras are formed, meaning, 'Tomorrow, I will come.'" Heady stuff, that.
Reflecting on this reminded me of a parallel with the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit: Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Knowledge, Fortitude, Piety, Fear of the Lord. Recall how we've all heard that "Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;" (Prov 1:7 and 9:10) so that the gifts of the Holy Spirit, beginning at the smallest, then move upward toward the greatest. Similarly, in these messianic titles, we actually begin with Wisdom, then moving upward through His progressively more explicit titles, culminate with the presence of God Himself. Just some food for thought, in this Advent season.
// originally posted 12.19.03 - 12:10 pm
cool
// originally posted 12.20.03 - 8:29 am
Father Keyes actually thinks this reflection is more than cool. He said he's going to use it in a homily at tomorrow's Mass.
// originally posted 12.20.03 - 7:39 pm