Posts Tagged ‘Advent’

Preparing Our Hearts for Christmas: O Clavis David

December 20th, 2008

The O Antiphons are a set of liturgical prayers prayed during evening prayers over the last few days of Advent. They are a beautiful way to prepare our hearts for Christ’s coming, so I’m sharing them with you each day for the next week, along with some scripture verses and my own short prayer for each day.

Read this post to learn more about the O Antiphons.

December 20th: O Clavis David

“O Key of David and scepter 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.”

Click here to hear this antiphon in Latin.

“I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David; he shall open, and no one shall shut; he shall shut, and no one shall open.” (Isaiah 22:22)

“His authority shall grow continually, and there shall be endless peace for the throne of David and his kingdom. He will establish and uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time onwards and for evermore.” (Isaiah 9:7)

May the Key of David, He who came to “proclaim freedom for the prisoners and… to release the oppressed”, come to each of us this day and bring freedom to all.

Rejoicing in the journey -
Bethany Stedman

Never Miss A Post – Receive free updates via RSS or Email

If you like this post please consider buying me a cup of tea (Suggested: $3 a cup)



Preparing Our Hearts for Christmas: O Radix Jesse

December 19th, 2008

The O Antiphons are a set of liturgical prayers prayed during evening prayers over the last few days of Advent. They are a beautiful way to prepare our hearts for Christ’s coming, so I’m sharing them with you each day for the next week, along with some scripture verses and my own short prayer for each day.

Read this post to learn more about the O Antiphons.

December 19th: O Radix Jesse

“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.”

Click here to hear this antiphon in Latin.

“A shoot shall come out of the stock of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.” (Isaiah 11:1)

“On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious.” (Isaiah 11:10)

May the root of Jesse, the only true King from the line of kings, he who rules over all the earth, come to each of us this day.

Rejoicing in the journey -
Bethany Stedman

Never Miss A Post – Receive free updates via RSS or Email

If you like this post please consider buying me a cup of tea (Suggested: $3 a cup)



Preparing Our Hearts for Christmas: O Adonai

December 18th, 2008

The O Antiphons are a set of liturgical prayers prayed during evening prayers over the last few days of Advent. They are a beautiful way to prepare our hearts for Christ’s coming, so I’m sharing them with you each day for the next week, along with some scripture verses and my own short prayer for each day.

Read this post to learn more about the O Antiphons.

December 18th: O Adonai

“O Adonai, the 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.”

Click here to hear this antiphon in Latin.

“… but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist, and faithfulness the belt around his loins.” (Isaiah 11:4-5)

“For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our ruler, the Lord is our king; he will save us.” (Isaiah 33:22)

May Adonai, the Lord of lords, the high judge, rich in mercy, come to each of us this day and in his power bring peace and redemption to all.

Rejoicing in the journey -
Bethany Stedman

Never Miss A Post – Receive free updates via RSS or Email

If you like this post please consider buying me a cup of tea (Suggested: $3 a cup)



Preparing Our Hearts for Christmas

December 17th, 2008

Personally I had never heard of the O Antiphon’s until recently, and I am guessing that many of you have never heard of them either. So, since today is the day when the Advent Antiphons begin being read during Vespers (evening prayer) I thought it would be a good time for us to learn about them together.

The word antiphon means response (the literal Greek is “opposite” “voice”). Antiphons are a form of call and response usually song or chanted during a religious service (such as Vespers or Mass). The O Antiphons are a specific set of liturgical prayers said or sung during the last few days of Advent. There are 7 parts to the O Antiphons and traditionally one part is said each of the last 7 days before Christmas Eve. Each antiphon focuses on a particular name of Jesus taken from the prophecies of the Old Testament, particularly the prophecies of Isaiah. Here are each of the seven in order:

December 17th: O Sapientia (O Wisdom)
December 18th: O Adonai (O Adonai)
December 19th: O Radix Jesse (O Root of Jesse)
December 20th: O Clavis David (O Key of David)
December 21st: O Oriens (O Morning Star)
December 22nd: O Rex Gentium (O King of the nations)
December 23rd: O Emmanuel (O Emmanuel)

The first letters of each of the titles taken backwards spell out the Latin “Ero Cras” which means “Tomorrow, I come.” You may have recognized as you read these that the song “O come, O come, Emmanuel” was written based on these antiphons.

The history of the O Antiphons is not entirely clear, but we do have references to them as far back as the 6th century and we know that by the 8th century they were commonly used in Rome and many other churches and monasteries.

I think this tradition of the O Antiphons is a truly beautiful way of engaging in Advent and calling forth the coming of Christ Jesus. So, over the next seven days I will post each of the seven antiphons along with scripture verses to go with them. I hope you find them as meaningful as I do.

Here’s the first one…

December 17: O Sapientia

“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.”

Click here to hear this antiphon in Latin.

“The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.” (Isaiah 11:2-3)

“…he is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in wisdom.” (Isaiah 28:29)

May Jesus, wisdom himself, the origin and keeper of all insight and understanding, come to each of us this day.

Rejoicing in the journey -
Bethany Stedman

photograph by Beth Stedman

Never Miss A Post – Receive free updates via RSS or Email

If you like this post please consider buying me a cup of tea (Suggested: $3 a cup)



Advent Art Exhibit Opening

December 15th, 2008

The art exhibit is in full swing and will be going on until Thursday. We did have to reduce the hours a bit, but it’s a good thing and I’m feeling good about where it’s at and what we’ve learned in the process. The best part of the week so far has definitely been the Opening on Thursday night. We had a great turn out (I didn’t get a head count, but I’d guess around 45 or so – we gave out over 60 tickets for it so I guess we could have had up to that many but I think it was a little less). Here are a few pictures from the Opening so you can get an idea of what I’ve been up to lately:



For more pictures click here.

I’ll leave you with this Advent Prayer by Henri Nouwen that a friend just shared with me yesterday. I hope it speaks to you as much as it spoke to me:

Lord, Jesus,
Master of both the light and the darkness, send your Holy Spirit upon our preparations for Christmas.
We who have so much to do seek quiet spaces to hear your voice each day.
We who are anxious over many things look forward to your coming among us.
We who are blessed in so many ways long for the complete joy of your kingdom.
We whose hearts are heavy seek the joy of your presence.
We are your people, walking in darkness, yet seeking the light.
To you we say, “Come Lord Jesus!”
Amen.

Rejoicing in the journey -
Bethany Stedman

photographs by Beth Stedman

Never Miss A Post – Receive free updates via RSS or Email

If you like this post please consider buying me a cup of tea (Suggested: $3 a cup)