Dec 21 O Oriens, O Morningstar

Icon- The Pre-Eternal Christ Creating the Stars

O Oriens,
splendor lucis aeternae, et sol justitiae:
veni, et illumina sedentes in tenebris, et umbra mortis.

The Light of the World, William Holman Hunt 19th century

O Morning Star,
splendour of light eternal and sun of righteousness:
Come and enlighten those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.

The Son of Righteousness Shall Rise, Susan Tilt 21st century

VENI, veni O Oriens,

solare nos adveniens,

noctis depelle nebulas,

dirasque mortis tenebras.

Gaude! Gaude! Emmanuel,

nascetur pro te Israel!

O clavis David - Antifone

Dec 20 O Clavis David

O Clavis David, et sceptrum domus Israel;
qui aperis, et nemo claudit;
claudis, et nemo aperit:
veni, et educ vinctum de domo carceris,
sedentem in tenebris, et umbra mortis.

O Key of David and sceptre of the House of Israel;
you open and no one can shut;
you shut and no one can open:
Come and lead the prisoners from the prison house,those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death

Anointing of David, 3rd century

VENI, Clavis Davidica,

regna reclude caelica,

fac iter tutum superum,

et claude vias inferum

Gaude! Gaude! Emmanuel,

nascetur pro te Israel!

Icon of Christ Liberating the Captives in Hell- The Dark Church, Cappadocia

Dec 19 O Radix Jesse: O Root of Jesse

A tender shoot has started up from a root of grace,

as ancient seers imparted from Jesse's holy race:

It blooms without a blight, blooms in the cold mid-winter,

turning our darkness into light.

This shoot Isaiah taught us, from Jesse's root should spring;

The Virgin Mary brought us the branch of which we sing;

Our God of endless might gave her this child to save us,

Thus turning darkness into light.

Lyrics: Otto Goldschidt - trans. W Bartholomew

Icon of the Tree of Jesse, written by Tatiana Grant

O Radix Jesse, qui stas in signum populorum,
super quem continebunt reges os suum,
quem Gentes deprecabuntur:
veni ad liberandum nos, jam noli tardare

O Root of Jesse, Guache, by Ansgar Holmberg, CSJ

O Root of Jesse, standing as a sign among the peoples;
before whom kings will shut their mouths,
whom the nations will implore:
Come to deliver us, and do not now delay.

Tree of Jesse with all ancestors in trunk: Herrad of Hohenburg, Hortus Deliciarum (before 1195; colored sketch).

Veni, O Jesse virgula,

Ex hostis tuos ungula,

De specu tuos tartari

Educ et antro barathri

Gaude, gaude, Emmanuel

Nascetur pro te, Israel.

Jesse Tree, Jan Mostaert (1472-1555)-Rijks Museum, Amsterdam

Tree of Jesse, Chagall, 20th century

The Tree of Jesse, from the Lambeth Bible- 12th Centuty

Dec 18 O Adonai

The Great Day at Sinai, by Yitzhak ben Yehuda

O Adonai, et Dux domus Israel,
qui Moysi in igne flammae rubi apparuisti,
et ei in Sina legem dedisti:
veni ad redimendum nos in brachio extento.

Moses Before the Burning Bush, Domenico Feti (1613)

O Adonai, and leader of the House of Israel,
who appeared to Moses in the fire of the burning bush
and gave him the law on Sinai:
Come to redeem us with an outstretched arm.

Icon of the Theotokos, Unburnt Bush- Crete

Veni, veni, Adonai,

qui populo in Sinailegem

dedisti verticein maiestate gloriae

Gaude! Gaude! Emmanuel,

nascetur pro te Israel!

Adonai by Daniel Gautier

Dec 17 O Wisdom

from the Narthex of St. Sophia Johannite Church, Conover, NC

O Sapientia, quae ex ore Altissimi prodiisti,
attingens a fine usque ad finem,
fortiter suaviterque disponens omnia:
veni ad docendum nos viam prudentiae.

O Wisdom, coming forth from the mouth of the Most High,
reaching from one end to the other,
mightily and sweetly ordering all things:
Come to teach us the way of prudence.

Sophia, the Holy Wisdom of God, written by Diana Arkhi, based on a Russian icon

Veni, O Sapientia,

quae hic disponis omnia,

veni, viam prudentiaeut doceas et gloriae.

Gaude! Gaude! Emmanuel

nascetur pro te Israel!

Icon of Sophia, Holy Wisdom of God, Novgorod Cathedral of haggia Sophia

St John Damascus, Defender of Icons and Hymn Writer

ANACREONTIC HYMN
by St. John Damascene


From my lips in their defilement,
From my heart in its beguilement,
From my tongue which speaks not fair,
From my soul stained everywhere,
O my Jesus, take my prayer!
Spurn me not for all it says,
Not for words and not for ways,
Not for shamelessness endued!
Make me brave to speak my mood,
O my Jesus, as I would!
Or teach me, which I rather seek,
What to do and what to speak.

I have sinned more than she,
Who learning where to meet with Thee,
And bringing myrrh, the highest-priced,
Anointed bravely, from her knee,
Thy blessed feet accordingly,
My God, my Lord, my Christ!
As Thou saidest not 'Depart'
To that suppliant from her heart,
Scorn me not, O Word, that art
The gentlest one of all words said!
But give Thy feet to me instead
That tenderly I may them kiss
And clasp them close, and never miss
With over-dropping tears, as free
And precious as that myrrh could be,
T'anoint them bravely from my knee!
Wash me with Thy tears: draw nigh me,
That their salt may purify me.
Thou remit my sins who knowest
All the sinning to the lowest --
Knowest all my wounds, and seest
All the stripes Thyself decreest;
Yea, but knowest all my faith,
Seest all my force to death,
Hearest all my wailings low,
That mine evil should be so!
Nothing hidden but appears
In Thy knowledge, O Divine,
O Creator, Saviour mine --
Not a drop of falling tears,
Not a breath of inward moan,
Not a heart-beat -- which is gone!

John in defense of icons

Of old, God the incorporeal and uncircumscribed was never depicted. Now, however, when God is seen clothed in flesh, and conversing with men, I make an image of the God whom I see. I do not worship matter, I worship the God of matter, who became matter for my sake, and deigned to inhabit matter, who worked out my salvation through matter. I will not cease from honouring that matter which works my salvation. I venerate it, though not as God. How could God be born out of lifeless things? And if God's body is God by union, it is immutable. The nature of God remains the same as before, the flesh created in time is quickened by, a logical and reasoning soul.
I honour all matter besides, and venerate it. Through it, filled, as it were, me. Was not the with a divine power and grace, my salvation has come to thrice happy and thrice blessed wood of the Cross matter? Was not the sacred and holy mountain of Calvary matter? What of the life-giving rock, the Holy Sepulchre, the source of our resurrection: was it not matter? Is not the most holy book of the Gospels matter? Is not the blessed table matter which gives us the Bread of Life' Are not the gold and silver matter, out of which crosses and altar-plate and chalices are made? And before all these things, is not the body and blood of our Lord matter? Either do away with the veneration and worship due to all these things, or submit to the tradition of the Church in the worship of images, honouring God and His friends, and following in this the grace of the Holv Spirit.
from St. John Damascene On Holy Images, trans. by Mary H. Allies