"O Clavis David"

Saturday 20 December 2008

"O Clavis David"

"O Key of David, Scepter of the house of Israel; that openeth and no man shutteth, and shutteth, and no man openeth: come, and bring forth from the prisionhouse the captive, who sitteth in darkness and in the shadow of death."


Dom Guéranger reflects:

"....thy Mother's womb affords thee the sweetest rest, and thou receivest from her the profoundest adoration and the tenderest love. But, dear Jesus, it is thine own blessed will that thou leave this loved abode. Thou hast, O Eternal Light, to shine in the midst of this world's darkness, this prison where the Captive, whom thou art come to deliver sits in the shadow of death. Open his prison-gates by the all-powerful Key. And who is this Captive, but the human race, the slave of error and vice? Who is this Captive, but the heart of man, which is thrall to the very passions it blushes to obey? Oh! come and set at liberty the world thou has enriched by thy grace, and the creatures whom thou has made to be thine own Brethren."

Here is a recording of the Antiphon, courtesy of the Oxford Dominicans:

Link:

• What Does the Prayer Really Say?

(image: chantblog)