Wednesday, December 17, 2014

The Octave Before Christmas


That begins today, and is commemorated by a series of special Antiphons which are sung during the Divine Office. They are called the Great O Antiphons as each on starts with the exclamation "O".

O Sapientia
O Adonai
O Redix Jesse
O Clavis David
O Oriens
O Rex Gentium
O Emmanuel

The practice of sing the Antiphons goes back at least to 5th century, but the origin of the custom is unknown. There is a good - albeit brief article here, if you'd like more information. 

O Sapientia



1 comment:

Katrina said...

There's lovely. I like the way the Church throws her heart into celebrating. It's beautiful. :-)