...And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together....but encouraging one another....
Hebrews 10.24-25
Here's the link to all the posts, from Tuesday 21st February (Shrove Tuesday) through to Easter. There are no posts for the Sundays in Lent.
This is course from some years back, and I am pleased to have the opportunity of revisiting it!
His daily emails for Lent are going to be on The Screwtape Letters; if you are signed up for his emails, as I am, then that's what is going to be coming through. I shall probably ignore them this year, and concentrate on Mice and Marshwiggles.
I shall put a link to this page on my homescreen for easy access.
O Clavis David – O Key of David (usually sung on December 20th)
Read through the prophecy and the words of the anthem and hymn. Listen to the plainsong a couple of times, and take five minutes to reflect. Note down thoughts that come to mind. Listen to the plainsong again.
from the Bible
"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
"To
open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that
sit in darkness out of the prison house."Isaiah 42:7.
The Antiphon;
O Clavis
David, et sceptrum domus Israel; qui
aperis, et nemo claudit; claudis,
et nemo aperit: veni, et
educ vinctum de domo carceris, sedentem
in tenebris, et umbra mortis.
Translation
O Key of
David and sceptre 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.
The Plainsong
from the Hymn
O come, Thou Key of David, come And open wide our heav'nly home; Make safe the way that leads on high, And close the path to misery. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to thee, O Israel.
O Radix Jesse – O
Root of Jesse (usually sung on December 19th)
Read through the words below; listen to the antiphon being sung, reflect for 5 minutes...
The prophecies;
"A
shoot shall come out from 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
The Antiphon in English;
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.
The Antiphon in Latin;
O radix Jesse, qui stas in signum populorum,
super quem continebunt reges os suum,
quem Gentes deprecabuntur:
veni ad liberandum nos, jam noli tardare.
The
verse from the hymn O Come, O come Emmanuel;
O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free Thine own from Satan's tyranny; From depths of hell Thy people save, And give them victory o'er the grave. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to thee, O Israel.
This is the second of the seven 'O' Antiphons, usually usually sung on December 18th
Take some time to read the words below, then listen to the Antiphon being sung. Reflect for 5 minutes, picking out themes and words that particular come to mind.
Then listen again.
This Antiphon takes its inspirations from these prophecies;
"[…] 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
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.
In Latin
O Adonai, et Dux domus Israel,
Qui Moysi in igne flammae rubi
apparuisti,
Et ei in Sina legel dedisti:
Veni ad redimendum nos in brachio
extento.
From the hymn 'O come, O come Emmanuel';
O come,
Adonai, Lord of might, Who to Thy tribes, on Sinai's height, In ancient times didst give the law In cloud and majesty and awe. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.
It is usually sung on 17th December, at vespers, the others following every evening until the day before Christmas Eve.
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.
Here is the entry from https://www.themathesontrust.org/library/the-o-antiphons
O Sapientia: “O Wisdom, O holy Word of God, you govern all creation with your strong yet tender care. Come and show your people the way to salvation.”
Isaiah had prophesied,
“The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him: a spirit of wisdom and of understanding, a spirit of counsel and of strength, a spirit of knowledge and fear of the Lord, and his delight shall be the fear of the Lord.” (11:2-3)
“Wonderful is His counsel and great is His wisdom.” (28:29).
And here is the antiphon sung by Cantate Regensburg
The suggestion is that you read the words of the antiphon, and the related prophesies, and listen to the music once or twice. Then give yourself at least five minutes to reflect. Make a note of what comes to mind.
Then listen to the music again.
You could commit the words of the antiphon to memory, and use them as a starter for prayer through the week.
For the next 5 Thursdays, we shall be reflecting on the 'O' Antiphons. I have extracted some information from wikipedia, and also given a link where all the antiphons can be found.
The plan will be to have a look at the translation and background for each antiphon, listen to it twice through (they are very short), spend about 5 minutes thinking (and maybe jotting down any ideas) and finally sharing anything if we want to. We'll finish by listening through again maybe, or whatever seems good at the time.
I found that the words of the antiphon make a useful 'hook' for prayers during the week.
All the antiphons can be found by
following this link;
Other source;
Wikipedia which is where the information below comes from;
The O Antiphons (also known as the Great
Advent Antiphons or Great Os) are Magnificatantiphons 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.
There were many later traditions
throughout the Middle Ages surrounding
their performance, and Amalarius wrote a detailed commentary
on them in the ninth century.
The first letters of the titles, from
last to first, appear to form a Latin acrostic, Ero cras, meaning 'Tomorrow,
I will be [there]', mirroring the theme of the antiphons. This is formed from
the first letter of each title – Emmanuel, Rex, Oriens, Clavis, Radix, Adonai, Sapientia.
Such acrostics were popular among early medieval writers, and some scholars
have taken this as further evidence for their antiquity, but this view is not
universally accepted.
Each antiphon has the following structure:
·a Messianic title preceded by "O". Example: "O
Wisdom"
·elaboration of the title: "coming forth from the mouth of
the Most High, reaching from one end to
the other, mightily and sweetly ordering all things"
·the verb "come"
·elaboration of the request to come: "and teach us the way
of prudence”
Next week we'll start a series on the 'O' Antiphons... if you want to find out more before then, well, google, google google!
Music
It it is well with my soul
In Paradisum - Faure
In paradisum deducant te angeli; in tuo adventu suscipiant te martyres, et perducant te in civitatem sanctam Jerusalem. Chorus angelorum te suscipiat, et cum Lazaro quondam paupere æternam habeas requiem.
"May the angels lead you into paradise; may the martyrs receive you at your arrival and lead you to the holy city Jerusalem. May choirs of angels receive you and with Lazarus, once (a) poor (man), may you have eternal rest."
