Advent – It’s that time of year when we prepare for Christ’s birth with joyful anticipation and watchful waiting! We do this through the weekly lighting of the Advent candles; we see the seasonal blue colour in our church hangings; we note changes both in our liturgy and music.
Musically speaking, many congregations sing a special hymn (or verse) when lighting the Advent candles, which highlight the themes of hope, peace, joy and love over the four Sundays leading up to Christmas. Then, there are the hymns. In the secular world of shopping malls and concerts, Christmas carols are being sung long before December 24, but in the church we sing hymns about preparing the way of the Lord, prophesies of Christ’s coming, and the visitation of an angel to the Virgin Mary.
Liturgically and musically and we omit the Gloria. Often, it is replaced by the Kyrie (Lord, have mercy) or Trisagion (Holy God, Holy and Mighty). In a sense, this omission builds up our anticipation to the moment when we can once again sing it with even greater joy on Christmas Eve. We also include the saying or singing of the Magnificat or Canticle of Mary. (My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God, my saviour). This might be in the form of a chant or a hymn paraphrase such as Tell Out My Soul (CP 362), My Soul Proclaims Your Glory, Lord (CP 363), or Heavenly Message (CP 269).
A popular plainsong-like hymn that we sing during Advent is O Come, O Come Emmanuel (CP89). The text is based on the O antiphons used in the Roman Catholic Church during Vespers (aka Evening Prayer in the Anglican Church) along with the Magnificat, from December 17-23. Here, “antiphons” mean short prayers — not to be confused with antiphonal singing, which is when one group sings a phrase and the other responds.
Drawn from the prophet Isaiah, these antiphons are sometimes called the Great Os of Advent. Each one begins with the word “O,” calling out the seven titles given to Jesus, one for each day of the week. In Latin they are:
Dec. 17 – Sapientia (Wisdom)
Dec. 18 – Adonai (Lord)
Dec. 19 – Radix Jesse (Root or Rod of Jesse)
Dec. 20 – Clavis (Key, as in Key of David)
Dec, 21 – Oriens (Radiant Dawn or Dayspring)
Dec. 22 – Rex Gentium (King of the Nations)
Dec. 23 – Emmanuel (God with Us)
If you arrange these Latin titles backwards, beginning with Emmanuel, the first letter of each one spells out Ero cras, an acrostic which translates as “Tomorrow, I will be (there)” or “Tomorrow, I will come.” When I first learned about this, I immediately went straight to my hymn book to check the verses. Sure enough, the seven antiphon titles were there, but not in that order. Even so, knowing this gives me a greater appreciation of the hymn and somehow makes my preparation for Christmas feel even more special. To me, Advent is just as exciting as Christmas Eve. There are so many great hymns to sing while we wait. Some of my favourites are People Look East (CP91), O Come, Divine Messiah (CP95), Comfort, Comfort Ye My People (CP100), and Prepare the Way O Zion (CP102). What will you do or sing as you wait? How will Advent be special for you?
