Advent...O come...

I love, absolutely love Advent. It is such a brilliant season; the expectation of Christmas, the increased number of parties, the rose-tinted memories, the carols, carolling and Christmas chart hits, the nagging realisation that I really should start preparing for Christmas sooner, and on
it goes. It is a season for family, laughter, friends and light.

But it's so much more...

Advent is the first season in the Church of England's calendar. And in this season we remember the two comings of Jesus - his first in Bethlehem as a baby, his second as Lord and King of the Universe to usher in his new kingdom. We live our lives in reference to these comings. His first bringing forgiveness and peace with God, his second fulfilling the whole of creation's purpose. We live diligently and faithfully assured of the certainty of both. The second coming of Christ has really been a topic that has grown in my mind this last year and a half. I am more convinced than ever that we need to live accordingly...

So I wanted to highlight one way, in Advent, the church makes us focus on Jesus' return.

One hymn we sing in Advent is 'O Come O Come Emmanuel'. It is an ancient tune, using even more ancient lyrics, but for many the liturgical significance passes them by.

From 17th December, at evening prayer (vespers) before reciting the Magnificat (Mary's song of praise from Luke) the 'O Antiphons' are used. (An Antiphon is a shared response that all the congregation join in). Each night uses a different theme, taken from the phrse ERO CRAS, which is latin for "Tomorrow, I will come". Each letter from the phrase is used to describe a different aspect of Jesus; each antiphon a name of Christ, or one of his attributes mentioned in Scripture:

December 17: O Sapientia (O Wisdom)
December 18: O Adonai (O Lord)
December 19: O Radix Jesse (O Root of Jesse)
December 20: O Clavis David (O Key of David)
December 21: O Oriens (O Dayspring)
December 22: O Rex Gentium (O King of the nations)
December 23: O Emmanuel (O God is with us)

You get the idea – each day takes a letter (in reverse) from ERO CRAS

E – Emmanuel
R – Rex
O – Oriens

C – Clavis
R – Radix
A – Adonai
S – Sapientia

Cool, huh??

The carol is lyrical paraphrase, and we don’t tend to sing them in order (as such) or necessarily using every verse:

O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Wisdom from on high,
Who orderest all things mightily;
To us the path of knowledge show,
And teach us in her ways to go.

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan’s tyranny;
From depths of hell Thy people save,
And give them victory over the grave.

O come, Thou Day-spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here;
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And death’s dark shadows put to flight.

O come, Thou Key of David, come,
And open wide our heavenly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.

O come, O come, great Lord of might,
Who to Thy tribes on Sinai’s height
In ancient times once gave the law
In cloud and majesty and awe.

O come, Thou Root of Jesse’s tree,
An ensign of Thy people be;
Before Thee rulers silent fall;
All peoples on Thy mercy call.

O come, Desire of nations, bind
In one the hearts of all mankind;
Bid Thou our sad divisions cease,
And be Thyself our King of Peace.


You can spend significant time in Advent meditating on these themes. (Indeed my Advent blogging this year will focus on those seven days from 17 December)

I warmly invite you this Advent to think carefully about Jesus, his first coming as Prince of Peace, but also his long anticipated return as King of All. We join with countless saints who have whispered the petition, ‘O Lord, come... come tomorrow even... come now...come’

Indeed, Maranatha!