O SAPIENTIA

Antiphon sung by the Dominican student brothers at Blackfriars in Oxford.

December 17

O Wisdom that comest out of the mouth of the Most High,
that reachest from one end to another,
and orderest all things mightily and sweetly,
come to teach us the way of prudence!


O Sapientia, quæ ex ore Altissimi prodiisti,
attingens a fine usque ad finem, fortiter
suaviterque disponens omnia:
veni ad docendum nos viam prudentiæ.
____________________

Isaiah 11:2-3

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.

He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
or decide by what his ears hear;
_____________________


In the Sarum [Anglican] use, all eight antiphons are used, beginning on December 16 and ending on the 23, leading up to the First Mass of Christmas, the Eve of December 24. In the Roman use, the observance begins on December 17, but only the first seven antiphons are used, and the observance ends, as with the Sarum use, on December 23.

Reposted with slight editing from last year, and the year before, and.... Rather than think of the reposts as due to laziness, please regard them as Wounded Bird traditions. Thank you. And I know it's not 2006, but enjoy anyway.

Text of the antiphon from Fish Eaters. Fish Eaters is a Roman Catholic website, which begins the antiphons on December 17.

At Speaking to the Soul at the Episcopal Café, Vicki Black posted a lovely meditation on today's "O" from Praying the O Antiphons of Advent by Mary Winifred.