Dec. 17: O Sapientia (O Wisdom)

O Sapientia (O Wisdom)

Do you want to live more the Advent season and escape consumerism?

Vespers of the 17th of December. 

Advent is an extremely rich season.

The first of the great and very ancient 'O Antiphons' are sung today -- well sort of today: the traditions of the church are being obscured, but I will talk about this a later day.

Each evening at Vespers, the Church sings the Magnificat, a melodious antiphon is sung before and after Magnificat.  This antiphon is often tied to the Gospel.  In the last days before Christmas, a special set of antiphons are used after the Magnificat. The "O Antiphons" refer to the seven antiphons used for each of the seven Magnificats at Vespers (Evening prayer) from December 17th to December 23.  (I might be giving too much away to tell you why the Magnificat antiphon of the 24th is not included.) The "O Antiphons" mark out a part of the season of Advent, a kind of Holy Week for Advent.  The already beautiful and intricate offices of Advent become very unique for each day of Advent 'Holy Week'.  Each day five new antiphons are introduced to accompany the psalms of Lauds and the minor hours.  These antiphons are sung only once a year.

Back to Vespers and the "O Antiphon."  Each Antiphon begins with the word "O" -- fortunately Latin and English share this word and it has the same meaning.  The rest of the antiphon is different for each day.  But there you have it -- that is why they are called the "O Antiphons." It should be clear then that each day these antiphons will be calling on someone. "O Someone, do something."

The next word of the antiphon is a name of Christ so we have "O Sapientia" (O Wisdom) on the first day. But one of the interesting things is the first letter of this second word.  The first letter today will then be "S" from Sapientia. This is part of a code which we will break on the evening of the 23rd.

Now here is the whole antiphon for Vespers of the 17th of Dec.:
Latin:

O Sapientia, quae ex ore Altissimi prodiisti,

attingens a fine usque ad finem,

fortiter suaviterque disponens omnia:

veni ad docendum nos viam prudentiae.

Translating to English is pretty easy as Latin text go:

O Wisdom, which from the mouth of the Most High proceeds,

reaching from one end unto the other,

mightily and sweetly disposing all things:

Come to teach us the way of prudence.

In this antiphon, the “someone” that is called upon is named Sapienta, Wisdom, namely the Wisdom which comes out of the mouth of the Most High God and goes out to the ends of the world, strongly putting all things in sweet order.  And what “something” do we ask of this Sweet Wisdom?  Come to teach us the way of prudence, and what else is prudence but the wisdom to dispose all our own actions in strength and sweetness.

As we pass through these final days of Advent, each day a new antiphon is revealed and at the end I will reveal the code.