ERO CRAS - Tomorrow I Will Come

"O come, O come, Emmanuel!"

You know Christmas is close when the Church begins to pray the "O Antiphons."

From Dec. 17-23, the octave before Christmas, the antiphons are part of evening prayer in the Liturgy of the Hours, and during Mass on these days, in the alleluia verses before the Gospel reading. We can also use the O Antiphons in our private prayer.

Using Old Testament titles for the awaited Messiah, we pray longingly for the Lord to come:

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops lists the antiphons this way:

December 17
O Wisdom of our God Most High,
guiding creation with power and love:
come to teach us the path of knowledge!

December 18
O Leader of the House of Israel,
giver of the Law to Moses on Sinai:
come to rescue us with your mighty power!

December 19
O Root of Jesse’s stem,
sign of God’s love for all his people:
come to save us without delay!

December 20
O Key of David,
opening the gates of God’s eternal Kingdom:
come and free the prisoners of darkness!

December 21
O Radiant Dawn,
splendor of eternal light, sun of justice:
come and shine on those who dwell in darkness and in the
shadow of death.

December 22
O King of all nations and keystone of the Church:
come and save man, whom you formed from the dust!

December 23
O Emmanuel, our King and Giver of Law:
come to save us, Lord our God!

Catholicculture.org, using the Latin titles for Christ, provides some background on the antiphons:

"In the first, O Sapientia, we take a backward flight into the recesses of eternity to address Wisdom, the Word of God. In the second, O Adonai, we have leaped from eternity to the time of Moses and the Law of Moses (about 1400 B.C.). In the third, O Radix Jesse, we have come to the time when God was preparing the line of David (about 1100 B.C.). In the fourth, O Clavis David, we have come to the year 1000. In the fifth, O Oriens we see that the line of David is elevated so that the peoples may look on a rising star in the east, and hence in the sixth, O Rex Gentium, we know that He is king of all the world of man. This brings us to the evening before the vigil, and before coming to the town limits of Bethlehem, we salute Him with the last Great O, O Emmanuel, God-with-us (from He Cometh by Fr. McGarry).

"As Elsa Chaney in Twelve Days of Christmas states, 'They seem to sum up all our Advent longing as they paint in vivid terms the wretched condition of mankind and his need of a Savior.'

"The 'O' Antiphons are the verses for the ancient hymn O Come, O Come Emmanuel. The first letter of the Messianic titles: Emmanuel, Rex, Oriens, Clavis, Radix, Adonai, Sapientia—spell out Latin words ERO CRAS, meaning, 'Tomorrow, I will come.'"

Make the antiphons part of your Advent prayer. Some suggest writing the antiphons on slips of paper to carry with you to pray throughout the day. Family activities using the antiphons also are available.

Implore Jesus to come to your hearts and homes, beginning with today's antiphon:

"O come, O Wisdom of our God Most High!"



Inspired by the Year of Faith, Susan Szalewski began writing weekly columns for us. Although that year is over, we liked them so well that we asked her to keep writing. Thankfully, she said yes. So watch for these on Thursdays and see the Year of Faith Blog here.