mittenDay 7 of the O Antiphons: O Emmanuel. Last one, Christmas is nearly upon us! #OAntiphons
Well, yesterday (whatever day that was) got away from me, so here's Day 6 of the O Antiphons: O Rex Gentium (O King of the Nations). I'm just sneaking it into Matins instead of last night's Vespers. (Day 7 to follow later.) #OAntiphons
Carmelite QuotesQuote of the day, 23 December: Blessed Marie-Eugène
What we are going to do during these days is this: to make our faith, our affection, and our love more penetrating and greater. And with this loving gaze, we will go to the Virgin Mary, to Our Lady of Life who is there upon the altar, and we will tell her our joy: Prope est iam Dominus — “The Lord is near.”
We know, O Virgin, that in a few days you will give us Jesus. And so we already congratulate you—not only for your purity and your integrity, but for your motherhood.
We remain close to you in order to receive this Child Jesus, this Incarnate Word whom we dare to touch, whom we wish to receive in our arms as though He were our own: He is Emmanuel, God with us.
He became incarnate to be with us, so that we might touch Him, embrace Him, and that through this outward and tangible contact we might realize an interior contact of faith and love, still deeper and more effective for our souls.
Blessed Marie-Eugène of the Child Jesus
Heureuse Celle qui a cru, Homily for the Fourth Sunday of Advent (1960)
de l’Enfant-Jésus, M 2017, Heureuse Celle qui a Cru, edited by Institut Notre-Dame de Vie, Éditions du Carmel, Toulouse.
Translation from the French text is the blogger’s own work product and may not be reproduced without permission.
Featured image: AI-generated artwork in the style of Gari Melchers, created using Midjourney.
#BlessedMarieEugeneOfTheChildJesus #Emmanuel #IncarnateWord #OAntiphons #VirginMary
Day 5 of the O Antiphons: O Oriens (O Morning Star). This one is my favorite! #OAntiphons
Quote of the day, 22 December: St. Teresa
O Son of the Eternal Father, Jesus Christ, our Lord, true King of all! What did You leave in the world? What could we, your descendants, inherit from You? What did You possess, my Lord, but trials, sufferings, and dishonor?
You had nothing but a wooden beam on which to swallow the painfully difficult drink of death. In sum, my God, it does not fit those of us who want to be your true children, and hold on to their inheritance, to flee suffering.
Saint Teresa of Avila
The Foundations, chapter 10
Teresa of Avila, St 1985, The Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila, Kavanaugh, K & Rodriguez, O (trans.), ICS Publications, Washington DC.
Featured image: Christ carrying his Cross by Italian painter Giovanni Pietro Rizzoli, known as Giampetrino (active 1495–1549); oil on poplar, ca. 1510–1530. Image credit: National Gallery, London (Public domain)
#Advent #ChristTheKing #OAntiphons #StTeresaOfAvila #suffering
Day 4 of the O Antiphons: O Clavis David (O Key of David). This is my second favorite one. #OAntiphons
Day 3 of the O Antiphons: O Radix Jesse (O Root of Jesse). More information on the prayers (there's a cool acrostic that they form: "ero cras". meaning "I will be there tomorrow") https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O_Antiphons #OAntiphons
Quote of the day, 20 December: St. Edith Stein
If we live with the Church, the Advent bells and hymns will stir a holy longing in our heart; and if we have been introduced to the inexhaustible source of the Liturgy, Isaias, the great prophet of the Incarnation, will rouse us day by day with his powerful warnings and promises: “Drop down dew, ye heavens, from above, and ye clouds, rain the just. The Lord is here, let us adore Him. Come, Lord, and do not delay. Rejoice, Jerusalem, with great joy, for thy Saviour comes to thee.”
From the seventeenth to the twenty-fourth of December the great O antiphons of the Magnificat (O Wisdom, O Adonai, O root of Jesse, O key of David, O sunrise, O king of the nations) cry ever more longingly their “Come to deliver us.” And it sounds with increasing promise: “Behold, everything is fulfilled” on the last Sunday of Advent, and finally: “Today you shall know that the Lord will come and tomorrow you will see His glory.”
Saint Edith Stein
Stein, E 1931, The mystery of Christmas: incarnation and humanity, translated from the German by Rucker, J, Darlington Carmel, Darlington UK.
Featured image: Following in the footsteps of Saint Teresa of Avila in the 2015 Centenary year of her birth, photographer José-María Moreno García captured this image of the main door to the Carmel of Villanueva de la Jara. Image credit: José-María Moreno García / Flickr (Some rights reserved)
Day 2 of the O Antiphons: O Adonai. It's a very old Advent practice, and these prayers are to be said at Vespers, so evening is the "right" time for them. More about the practice, if you haven't encountered it before: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O_Antiphons #OAntiphons
Quote of the day, 19 December: St. Teresa of Avila
O King of Glory and Lord of all kings! How true that Your kingdom is not armed with trifles, since it has no end! How true that there is no need for intermediaries with You!
Upon beholding Your person, one sees immediately that You alone, on account of the majesty You reveal, merit to be called Lord. There’s no need for people in waiting or for guards in order that one know that You are King.
Here on earth, if a king were all by himself, he would fail to be recognized. However much he would want to be recognized as king, he wouldn’t be believed; he would have no more to show than anyone else. It’s necessary that one see the reason for believing he is a king, and that is the purpose of these artificial displays. If he didn’t have them, no one would esteem him at all; the appearance of power doesn’t come from him. It is from others that his display of grandeur must come.
O my Lord! O my King! Who now would know how to represent Your majesty! It’s impossible not to see that You in Yourself are a great Emperor, for to behold Your majesty is startling; and the more one beholds along with this majesty, Lord, Your humility and the love You show to someone like myself the more startling it becomes.
Nevertheless, we can converse and speak with You as we like, once the first fright and fear in beholding Your majesty passes, although the fear of offending You becomes greater. But the fear is not one of punishment, for this punishment is considered nothing in comparison with losing You.
Saint Teresa of Avila
The Book of Her Life, ch. 37, no. 6
Teresa of Avila, St 1985, The Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila, Kavanaugh, K & Rodriguez, O (trans.), ICS Publications, Washington DC.
Featured image: Antiphonaire à l’usage de l’église de Sens, folio 16v. Eighteenth-century manuscript on parchment, 129 folios, attributed to Abbé Jean Lebeuf (French, 1687–1760). Image credit: Bibliothèque Nationale de France (Public domain)
#Advent #humility #KingOfHeaven #OAntiphons #StTeresaOfAvila
