The Great "O" Antiphons
Prayer & Spirituality
"TOMORROW I WILL BE THERE!"
The Great "O" Antiphons of Advent December 17th to 23rd.
There are seven short verses sung before the Magnificat during Evening Prayer of the Church on the seven days before the vigil of Christmas. They each begin with the exclamation "O". Each of them ends with a plea for the Messiah to come. As Christmas approaches the cry becomes more urgent.
The antiphons were composed in the seventh or eighth century when monks put together texts from the Old Testament which looked forward to the coming of our salvation. They form a rich mosaic of scriptural images. These seven verses, or antiphons as they are called, appear to be the originals although from time to time other texts were used. They became very popular in the Middle Ages. While the monastic choirs sang the antiphons the great bells of the church were rung.
A curious feature of these antiphons is that the first letter of each invocation may be taken from the Latin to form an acrostic in reverse. So the first letters of Sapientia, Adonai, Radix, Clavis, Oriens, Rex, and Emmanuel, provide the Latin words: ERO CRAS . The phrase spells out the response of Christ himself to the heartfelt prayer of his people:
"TOMORROW I WILL BE THERE".
Why not join with the Prayer of the Church each evening and reflect on these words preparing for Christmas day by day?
You can download a prayer companion by clicking on the PDF documents on the right.
You may also be interested in

This year we are offering a Daily Reflections for the 40 weekday's that make up Lent and Holy Week.Interestingly, Sundays aren't counted as part of the 40 days — because Sunday is always a feast day!Using the lectionary readings set for each day there will be a picture, reflection and prayer.These can be used as an individual devotion or a 'jumping off' starter for sharing...

On 1 September 2023 Bishop's Stortford Circuit and the Herts and Essex Border Ecumenical Area will officially come together to form the new Herts and Essex Border Ecumenical Area! It will be composed of thirteen churches including four URCs, two Local Ecumenical Projects, seven Methodist churches and be staffed by three Methodist presbyters, 1½ URC ministers, a full-time administrator...

Saturday 1 April 202310.00am — 1.00pmYou are warmly invited to come along to the Annual Spring Fair at Roydon URC which is to be held on Saturday 1 April between 10am and 1pm.There will be lots of stall and refreshments on offer too, and there is plenty parking at the church.Entrance is FREE!So, put the date in your diary...We look forward to welcoming you.Roydon United...
Calendar

Roydon URC, Harlow Road, Roydon, CM19 5HD

Epping URC, Lindsey Street, Epping

Leaside Church, Ware

Leaside Church, Ware
News stories




Publications



