Greater Feria (Wednesday)

Wednesday 23 December 2009

FERIA QUARTA INFRA HEBD. IV ADVENTUS
Greater Feria
2nd Class, Violet
(Lauds II, Preces; Mag. Ant. 'O Emmanuel')

"O Emmanuel"

"O Emmanuel, our King and Lawgiver, Desire of all nations and their Salvation: Come and save us, O Lord our God."

Dom Guéranger reflects:

"We adore thee, O Emmanuel! in this thy journey, and we reverence the fidelity wherewith thou fulfillest all that the prophets have written of thee, for thou wouldst give to thy people the certainty of thy being the Messias, by showing them, that all the marks whereby he was to be known, are to be found in thee. And now, the hour is near; all is ready for thy Birth; come, then, and save us; come, that thou mayest not only be called our Emmanuel, but our Jesus, that is, He that saves us."

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

And to finish off, a recording of the great Advent hymn, O Come, O Come, Emmanuel:

For more on the history of the hymn, please see this article by the great chant expert Mary Berry, reproduced at NLM here.

Link:

• What Does the Prayer Really Say?