seen from United States
seen from Canada
seen from Maldives
seen from Bangladesh
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Bangladesh
seen from Jordan
seen from Romania
seen from United Kingdom
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from China
seen from Nepal
seen from United States
seen from United Kingdom
seen from Indonesia
Advent wreath for the Third Week of Advent
Evening Prayer for the winter Ember Wednesday after the Third Sunday of Advent.
Sapientiatide begins the Great O Antiphons on the Magnificat with:
O Wisdom, which camest out of the mouth of the Most High, and reachest from one end to another, mightily and sweetly ordering all things: Come and teach us the way of prudence.
O Adonai
This evening is the second Great O Antiphon of Sapientiatide in medieval English usage.
O Adonai, and Leader of the house of Israel, who appearedst in the bush to Moses in a flame of fire, and gavest him the law in Sinai: Come and redeem us with an outstretched arm.
— Antiphon on the Magnificat
The O Antiphons (also known as the Great Advent Antiphons or Great Os) are Magnificat antiphons used at vespers on the last seven days of Advent in Western Christian traditions. They likely date to sixth-century Italy, when Boethius refers to the text in The Consolation of Philosophy. They subsequently became one of the key musical features of the days leading up to Christmas.
English usage
Although the antiphons and dates shown above have been fairly universally recognised throughout western Christendom, an alternative English medieval practice arose of moving all of the antiphons forwards by one day (commencing therefore on 16 December) and adding another (eighth) antiphon on 23 December, with the acrostic thus becoming Vero cras, "truly, tomorrow". This is the antiphon O Virgo virginum (O Virgin of virgins), with the following text:
O Virgo Virginum
Latin:
O Virgo virginum, quomodo fiet istud?
Quia nec primam similem visa es nec habere sequentem.
Filiae Jerusalem, quid me admiramini?
Divinum est mysterium hoc quod cernitis.
English:
O Virgin of virgins, how shall this be?
For neither before thee was any like thee, nor shall there be after.
Daughters of Jerusalem, why marvel ye at me?
The thing which ye behold is a divine mystery.
Given the English origins of this alternative, it has traditionally been the version used in the Church of England (including Canterbury Cathedral) until recent times, and is the version printed in traditional Church of England liturgical sources including the English Hymnal and New English Hymnal. From 2000, however, the Church of England appears to have taken an official step away from English medieval practice towards the more widely spread custom, as Common Worship makes provision for the sevenfold version of the antiphons, and not the eightfold version.
Advent Wreath for the Fourth Week of Advent
Evening Prayer for the Wedneday after the Fourth Sunday of Advent
Sapientiatide: the final Great O Antiphon
O Virgin of virgins, how shall this be? For neither before thee was any like thee, nor shall there be after. Daughters of Jerusalem, why marvel ye at me? The thing which ye behold is a divine mystery. — Antiphon on the Magnificat
Advent Wreath for the Fourth Week of Advent
Evening Prayer for the Tuesday after the Fourth Sunday of Advent
Sapientiatide: The Great O Antiphons
O Emmanuel, our King and Lawgiver, the Desire of all nations, and their Salvation: Come and save us, O Lord our God. — Antiphon on the Magnificat
Advent wreath for the Fourth Week of Advent
Evening Prayer for the Winter Ember Saturday and Eve of the Fourth Sunday of Advent
The fourth Great O Antiphon of Sapientiatide:
O Key of David, and Scepter of the house of Israel: that openest and no man shutteth, and shutteth and no man openeth: Come, and bring the prisoners out of the prison-house, and him that sitteth in darkness and the shadow of death. — Antiphon on the Magnificat
Advent wreath for the Third Week of Advent
Evening Prayer for the Winter Ember Friday after the Third Sunday of Advent
The third Great O Antiphon of Sapientiatide:
O Root of Jesse, which standest for an ensign of the people, at whom kings shall shut their mouths, unto whom the Gentiles shall seek: Come and deliver us, and tarry not. — Antiphon on the Magnificat
Advent wreath for the Third Week of Advent
Evening Prayer for the Thursday after the Third Sunday of Advent
The second Great O Antiphon of Sapientiatide:
O Adonai, and Leader of the house of Israel, who appearedst in the bush to Moses in a flame of fire, and gavest him the law in Sinai: Come and redeem us with an outstretched arm. — Antiphon on the Magnificat
