“O Key of David and Sceptre of Israel,
what you open no one else can close again;
what you close no one can open.
O come to lead the captive from prison;
free those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.”

In the time of the prophet Isaiah, the king of Damascus and the king of Israel wanted to draw the king of Judah, Ahaz, into a coalition against Assyria. When he refused, the anti-Assyrian alliance attacked him and Ahaz, frightened, turned to the Assyrian for help. Isaiah opposed the request for help from the king of Assyria and exhorted Ahaz to put his trust only in the Lord.

O Root of Jesse’s stem,
sign of God’s love for all his people:
come to save us without delay!

Advent is a season of tending life and a season of becoming. That God who ’is’, who only is - who has no ‘was’, who has no ‘will be’ - now, in the Incarnation is becoming God is doing something that as God He could not do: He could not change, He could not grow, He could not become. He is the ‘is-ness’ that is the heart of being.

O Adonai, Lord and leader of Israel,
You appeared to Moses in a burning bush
and You gave him the Law on Sinai.
O come,
and save us with Your mighty power.

We don’t often think of Moses as an Advent ‘figure,’ and yet here he is on this night, a week before the birth of Christ, and we are reminded by this night’s magnificat antiphon, that Moses’ first encounter with God was in the midst of fire.

Today we begin the beautiful "O Antiphons", which call on the Lord under various titles and express our desire for His Coming.
Today's antiphon addresses the Lord as Wisdom:
O Wisdom, you come forth from the mouth of the Most High.
You fill the universe

We all usually hope for good things - a fine day for the wedding, the birthday present we long for, the healing of a child who is ill, the passing of an exam. Daily we are hoping for good things, things that will bring us peace, make us happy and bring us fulfilment. But if our hope is for this world only we are doomed to be disappointed. Nothing that this world has to offer is ever going to fully satisfy us.

This painting is an attempt to portray the Transfigured Christ of Fra Angelico’s Transfiguration scene in which he portrays Jesus with Moses and Elijah and the apostles Peter, James and John.

Remembering the quote from the letter to the Hebrews: ‘Let us not lose sight of Jesus,’ I try to sit with this image and let it be ‘only Jesus’ that I see while I contemplate on the love that He is about to show me personally in His passion.

O King whom all the peoples desire,
You are the cornerstone which makes all one.
O come and save man
Whom You made from clay.

This antiphon draws our attention to the relationship between God and man.

We coming from clay and burned with God’s love, become living stones in the Mystical Body of Christ.

Mary’s own mystery is so much interwoven with that of her Son. At the Annunciation the angel came and said to her:

"Rejoice full of grace,the Lord is with you... You will conceive in your womb and bear a son,

Tonight the O Antiphons continue in the theme of Our Lord’s Davidic Kingship. The “Key of David” reflects the kingly powers conferred on Jesus as successor to the throne of the David, as well as the fulfilment of God’s promise made to him in 2 Samuel 7 that he would rule over the House of Israel forever. These ‘kingly’ O Antiphons draw forth this aspect of the Lord’s character as Messiah and focus strongly on the nature of His Power.