Advent Traditions: Our "O Antiphon House"

I first learned about the "O Antiphons" about twelve years ago, and was immediately drawn to them.  I was not yet married and life was quite a bit quieter in those days.  I remember lighting a candle in my cute, little apartment and saying the prayers from The Christmas Novena Brochure .   I remember praying for my future husband, wherever he may be, and for maybe......someday....a big family to light many candles during the month of December and join me in anticipation during the dark days of Advent. 

Well, here we are.....twelve years later.  There is "Husband" and there is "Big Family" (by Seattle-standards anyway).    But, Quiet?  Cute?  Little?   Not really words I use anymore to describe my life, but I still have the "O Antiphons!"    From the  Women for Faith and Family website:

On the evening of December 17 the final phase of preparation for Christmas begins with the first of the great "O Antiphons" of Advent. These prayers are seven jewels of liturgical song, one for each day until Christmas Eve. They seem to sum up all our Advent longing for the Savior.

The "O Antiphons" are intoned with special solemnity in monasteries at Vespers, before and after the Magnificat, Mary's prayer of praise and thanksgiving from the Gospel of Luke (2:42-55), which is sung every evening as the climax of this Hour of the Divine Office.

A vestige of the "Great Os" can be seen in verses of the familiar Advent hymn, "O Come, O Come Emmanuel".

Inspired by the Parade of "O Antiphon Houses" the past couple of years, my mom and I worked on this last January when she was here after Christmas.  She did SUCH A BEAUTIFUL job, and we are so excited to use our Antiphon House this year!  

Here are the seven blocks, with the date, the symbol, and the Latin title:

Then, for the House......we spray painted it purple, and put ERO CRAS at the top, as this is my FAVORITE part of the beauty and perfection of the "O Antiphons."

From this article:

"...........the Benedictine monks arranged these antiphons with a definite purpose. If one starts with the last title and takes the first letter of each one - Emmanuel, Rex, Oriens, Clavis, Radix, Adonai, Sapientia - the Latin words ero cras are formed, meaning, “Tomorrow, I will come.” Therefore, the Lord Jesus, whose coming we have prepared for in Advent and whom we have addressed in these seven Messianic titles, now speaks to us, “Tomorrow, I will come.” So the “O Antiphons” not only bring intensity to our Advent preparation, but bring it to a joyful conclusion.

The bottom left and right are images from Christmas cards.  On Dec. 17 when we begin the Antiphon House, those nativity images are slightly covered with the blocks and then are gradually revealed as we get closer to Dec. 25, as we pray them and move each block to its designated place:

Here is a close up of one day, with the Antiphon attached to the back:

  

I hope you enjoyed the tour through our new "house" that will appear in a mere nine weeks!  And, it is absolutely worth your time to tour the other O Antiphon Houses that I linked at the beginning of the post.  It's so amazing how others have incorporated these beautiful gems into their Advent traditions!

Comments

[Kimberly]

Oh! That is so cute! I love it! I am going to have to look into it for my family. No doubt my husband will call it one of my "schemes" but that is so beautiful.

[aussieannie]

Beautiful Suzanne, that looks so appealing!

[stef]

That's so beautiful, Suzanne! Thanks so much for sharing.

[Ruth]

This is so beautoful, Suzanne!

[Barbara]

Wow, Suzanne -- another one of your beautiful and thought-filled ideas, shared in a timely manner for the rest of us. Praise God for the blessing of your family -- quite the testament to the power of prayer in a young woman's life!

[Christine]

Thank you for sharing the finished product. Your O Antiphon House is beautiful!