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Pope Saint Paul VI (3 April 1969): “Although the text of the Roman Gradual—at least that which concerns the singing—has not been changed, the Entrance antiphons and Communions antiphons have been revised for Masses without singing.”

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Views from the Choir Loft

The “O Antiphons” Begin Tonight

Andrew Leung · December 17, 2015

CTL O Antiphons ODAY IS DECEMBER 17. It is seven days before Christmas Eve. Today is the day that Advent gets even more intense. The Church have chosen special Antiphons and Readings for the coming week to help us prepare the coming of Christ. The “O Antiphons“ are a set of antiphons for Vespers that is prayed during the coming seven days.

The reason why they are called the “O Antiphons“ is because each of them start with the letter “O”. In the Liber Usualis, they are called the “Great Antiphons”. They were mentioned in the 6th century and they were used in Rome by the 8th century. The texts of these antiphons are from the Old Testament Prophetic and Wisdom Books. These antiphons are recited or sung before and after the Magnificat, or the Canticle of Mary. Each of the antiphons begins by calling out a title of Christ:

O Sapientia………….O Wisdom

O Adonai……………..O Lord

O Radix Jesse………O Root of Jesse

O Clavis David……..O Key of David

O Oriens……………..O Dayspring/Dawn

O Rex Gentium…….O King of Nations

O Emmanuel………..O Emmanuel (God is with us)

There is a very cool fact about these titles. If you take the first letters of each titles and spell out from the last one, you will get: “EROCRAS”. And the Latin words “ero cras” means “I will be (there) tomorrow”. Here are the pages of the Great Antiphons from the Liber Usualis (Solesmes 1957) with English translations:

    * *  PDF • THE GREAT ANTIPHONS OF ADVENT

CTL James MacMillan OWADAYS, many of us still sing the “O Antiphons” in Advent, just in a different setting. The text of the famous Advent hymn, O Come, O Come Emmanuel, is from the Great Antiphons. And actually, Jeff Ostrowski just wrote about the Original Setting of the Tune yesterday.

As I was searching through other pieces that are related to the Great Antiphons, I found this Percussion Concerto below. The concerto, “Veni, Veni, Emmanuel“, was composed by Sir James MacMillan, a leading composer who have just been named Catholic of the Year by the Catholic Herald magazine. He has written music for Pope Benedict’s visit to England in 2010 and he has been commissioned recently to write a work for Shrine of Fátima’s centenary which will be attended by Pope Francis. James MacMillan is also the founder of Musica Sacra Scotland, an organization that promotes Gregorian Chant in Scotland.

The Scottish composer took the tune of the hymn as the theme of his work. It is a very interesting and intense piece! It is a non-liturgical piece. But one can listen to it and meditate on Mary and Joseph’s intense and difficult trip right before the birth of our Lord.

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Andrew Leung

Andrew Leung currently serves the music director of Vox Antiqua, conductor of the Cecilian Singers, and music director at Our Lady of China Church.—(Read full biography).

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President’s Corner

    Latin Liturgy Association
    We note with pleasure that Mrs. Regina Morris, president of the Latin Liturgy Association, has featured—on page 4 of Volume CXXIX of their official newsletter—the three (3) terrific versions of the Stations of the Cross found in the Brébeuf Hymnal. One of the main authors for the blog of the Church Music Association of America said (6/10/2019) about this pew book: “It is such a fantastic hymnal that it deserves to be in the pews of every Catholic church.”
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    “Music List” • 28th in Ordinary Time (Year C)
    Readers have expressed interest in perusing the ORDER OF MUSIC I’ve prepared for 12 October 2025, which is the 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C). If such a thing interests you, feel free to download it as a PDF file. As always, the Responsorial Psalm, Gospel Acclamation, and Mass Propers for this Sunday are conveniently stored at the dazzling feasts website alongside the official texts in Latin.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    PDF Download • “Offertory” for this Sunday
    This coming Sunday, 12 October 2025, is the 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C). Its OFFERTORY ANTIPHON (PDF) is gorgeous, and comes from the book of Esther, as did the ENTRANCE CHANT last Sunday. Depending on a variety of factors, various hand-missals (all with Imprimatur) translate this passage differently. For instance, “príncipis” can be rendered: King; Prince; Lion; or Fierce lord. None is “more correct” than another. It depends on which source text is chosen and what each translator wants to emphasize. All these pieces of plainsong are conveniently stored at the blue-ribbon feasts website.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    New Bulletin Article • “12 October 2025”
    My pastor requested that I write short articles each week for our parish bulletin. Those responsible for preparing similar write-ups may find a bit of inspiration in these brief columns. The latest article (dated 12 October 2025) talks about an ‘irony’ or ‘paradox’ regarding the 1960s switch to a wider use (amplior locus) of vernacular in the liturgy.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “American Catholic Hymnal” (1991)
    The American Catholic Hymnal, with IMPRIMATUR granted (25 April 1991) by the Archdiocese of Chicago, is like a compendium of every horrible idea from the 1980s. Imagine being forced to stand all through Communion (even afterwards) when those self-same ‘enlightened’ liturgists moved the SEQUENCE before the Alleluia to make sure congregations wouldn’t have to stand during it. (Even worse, everything about the SEQUENCE—including its name—means it should follow the Alleluia.) And imagine endlessly repeating “Alleluia” during Holy Communion at every single Mass. It was all part of an effort to convince people that Holy Communion was historically a procession (which it wasn’t).
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Canonic” • Ralph Vaughan Williams
    Fifty years ago, Dr. Theodore Marier made available this clever arrangement (PDF) of “Come down, O love divine” by P. R. Dietterich. The melody was composed in 1906 by Ralph Vaughan Williams (d. 1958) and named in honor of of his birthplace: DOWN AMPNEY. The arrangement isn’t a strict canon, but it does remind one of a canon since the pipe organ employs “points of imitation.” The melody and text are #709 in the Brébeuf Catholic Hymnal.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“How can we account for differences in the Gospel accounts? Well, suppose after we left Church today, there was a terrible accident or explosion or fire. Soon the news media would be here, interviewing people as to what they saw or heard. Each person would probably say or report what struck him—or what he saw or noticed. All these reports would be different and yet they would be true.”

— Fr. Valentine Young (February 2019)

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