The O Antiphon at Evening Prayer on Dec 17 (In loving memory of Bill who , every year, sent me the O Antiphons in Latin, from the 17th through the 23rd)

                                      December 17

  

O Wisdom,
you come forth from the mouth of the Most High and reach from one end of the earth 

to the other,

mightily 

& sweetly ordering 

all things: 

Come & teach us the way of prudence. 

O Antiphons are the countdown to Christmas - they mean that Christmas is coming whether the goose is getting fat or not...  (If you know about antiphons and O Antiphons, don’t bother reading this. But if you don’t:)

Antiphons are sentences that introduce the psalm or Daily Office canticle on a special feast day, occasion or season. It changes the em-pha-sis as my old music teacher, choir director, organist and friend Mr Ellfeldt used to say. Antiphons are a real blessing to those who say the psalms and canticles on a repeated basis year after year, adding variety and focus. 

The O Antiphons are antiphons on the Song of Mary, Magnificat, (BCP Pg 119) the invariable canticle at Evening Prayer. They begin today, December 17, and end on December 23rd, the night before Christmas Eve, The are called “O Antiphons” simply because they all begin with O..... You know them without knowing it if you know the Advent hymn “O Come, O come, Emmanuel.” In the current Episcopal Hymnal, it is # 56 and it has the dates they are each used and a brief explanation at the bottom of the page.)