By Katie Yoder, Catholic News Agency
[CNA] – An emeritus bishop is highlighting an Advent message hidden in the O Antiphons — prayers that are recited or chanted in an ancient tradition leading up to Christmas.
Bishop-emeritus Michael D. Pfeifer, who served as the bishop of San Angelo, Texas, from 1985 to 2013, recently reflected on the O Antiphons, which are prayed from Dec. 17 to Dec. 23 during Vespers (the Evening Prayer of the Liturgy of the Hours) and at Masses in the week before Christmas.
“Composed in the sixth or seventh century, the seven O Antiphons are drawn from the book of the prophet Isaiah, and the first letters of each antiphon form the Latin word SARCORE, which read backwards is ERO CRAS, which means ‘tomorrow I come,’” Pfeifer wrote in a December 2022 statement.
The first letters of each title in the daily “O Antiphons” spell the message ero cras (“tomorrow I come”) in a reverse acrostic:
Dec. 17 — “O Sapientia”/“O Wisdom” (Isaiah 11:2-3; 28:29)
Dec. 18 — “O Adonai”/“O Lord” (Isaiah 11:4-5; 33:22)
Dec. 19 — “O Radix Jesse”/“O Root of Jesse” (Isaiah 11:1; 11:10)
Dec. 20 — “O Clavis David”/“O Key of David” (Isaiah 9:6; 22:22)
Dec. 21 — “O Oriens”/“O Dawn of the East” (Isaiah 9:2)
Dec. 22 — “O Rex Gentiu”/“O King of the Gentiles” (Isaiah 2:4; 9:7)
Dec. 23 — “O Emmanuel”/“God with Us” (Isaiah 7:14)
Pfiefer went on to explain why the O Antiphons end on Dec. 23.
“Traditionally feasts were said to begin on the eve of their celebration, so Christmas begins at sundown on Dec. 24,” he wrote.
The message in the antiphons holds true today, Pfeifer emphasized.
“Each Christmas Jesus fulfills the promise ‘I will come tomorrow’ by being born again as a tiny baby, the Godman, Jesus Christ,” he wrote. “We can make the following O Antiphons part of our Advent preparation for the birth of Christ by using them in our prayers or Advent scriptural readings.”
He added: “Then in gratitude and joy we celebrate the birth of our long-awaited savior, Jesus Christ — Christmas.”
The seven prayers accompany the Magnificat canticle, or the canticle of Mary, explains the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) on their webiste. The USCCB lists the text of the O Antiphons, each one asking the Messiah to come and, together, spelling out his response in the acrostic.
The verses of the Advent hymn O Come O Come Emmanuel also use titles taken from the O Antiphon prayers.
Related: Advent reconciliation and Christmas Mass times in Diocese of Saskatoon (LINK)
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