Naomi's Notes - 12/09/07
O Come, O Come, Emmanuel. We usually sing this song near the beginning of each Advent season. The text by itself is meaningful, but when we understand its fascinating history, we find even deeper meaning.
The entire text is a set of brief prayers that has been traced to the 9th century. Together the prayers form the "Great Antiphons" or "O Antiphons." The tune, VENI EMMANUEL (it is common practice to list tunes in capital letters) has been connected with this text since the 15th century.
Antiphons basically are alternating refrains, either chanted or sung. The "O Antiphons" (so titled because each verse begins with "O") were used in evening services during "The Octave before Christmas," a special seven-day period of Advent in the Latin Church, lasting from December 17th thru 23rd.
These seven "O Antiphons" (our hymnal uses only four of them) each highlighted a title for the Messiah from Old Testament prophecy: O Sapienta (Wisdom); O Adonai (Lord); O Radix Jesse (Root of Jesse); O Clavis David (Key of David); O Oriens (Rising Sun); O Rex Gentium (King of the Nations); O Emmanuel (God with Us).
When the initial letters of each title (Sapienta, Adonai, Radix,...) are combined, they spell "sarcore," which when spelled backwards creates the phrase, "ero cras," Latin for "tomorrow, I will be." Scholars debate whether or not all of this is coincidence, but it does seem meaningful that "O Emmanuel," the seventh and final antiphon, translates as "God with us," and that December 24th (Christmas Eve) falls the day after the sequence of O Antiphons is completed.
Today, most of the familiar sacred Christmas music we use dates from the 15th thru 19th centuries, and our secular carols mostly come from the early 20th century. When we sing O Come, O Come, Emmanuel - even if we only sing a few of the verses, in the "wrong" order - we have a unique opportunity to experience a connection with believers in the Medieval Church who also were observing Advent. This is just one example of what the late worship theologian, Robert Webber, called "ancient-future worship," connecting with our heritage in the present and future age.
Rather than being seen as mere trivia, I hope that the above history helps make us more aware that we are joined with a huge throng of Christians, both past and present, who for centuries have observed Advent and celebrated Christ's coming into the world. This helps deepen my worship experiences during Advent season; I hope it enriches yours as well.
"O Come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here,
Until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel!"
See you in worship this Sunday –
Naomi