St George’s Cathedral Choir release ‘O’ Antiphons recordings
Beautiful recordings of the Great Advent Antiphons have been released by St George’s Cathedral Choir
St George’s Cathedral Choir have released a special recording of the ‘O’ Antiphons to mark the countdown to Christmas.
The ‘O’ Antiphons, also known as the Great Advent Antiphons, have been prayed in the Catholic Church since the 8th Century in the seven days before Christmas.
They make this time of preparation for the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ holy, allowing us the opportunity to meditate on Christ’s coming and what it means for us.
Each ‘O’ Antiphon is based on Old Testament Scripture text and address the Lord Jesus with one of his Messianic titles.
Sapientia means Wisdom (see Sirach 24:3; Wisdom 8:1)
Adonai means Lord (see Exodus 3:2; Exodus 6:6)
Radix means Root (see Isaiah 52:13, 15; Isaiah 53:2)
Clavis means Key (see Isaiah 22:22; Revelation 3:7)
Oriens means Rising Sun (see Isaiah 9:1; Malachi 3:20 and also 2 Peter 1:19)
Rex means King (see Isaiah 28:16 and also Ephesians 2:14)
Emmanuel means God with Us (see Isaiah 7:14; Isaiah 33:22).
If you would like to pray along with the ‘O’ Antiphons, the Agency for Evangelisation and Catechesis has a prayer resource which guides you through each Antiphon, explaining its meaning and providing a reflection to help you meditate on the Lord Jesus, his coming and what he means for us. You can download the resource at aec.rcaos.org.uk/advent.
This Advent, we have been called to reflect on the meaning of Emmanuel (God with us), by Archbishop John Wilson. In a reflection, Archbishop John said the joy of Emmanuel is “that God in Christ dwells among us and remains with us always. He knows you and he loves you. He calls you by name and invites you to walk in his light”.
The Archbishop added that this Advent, we should
“rejoice that Jesus is Emmanuel: God with us, God beside us, God within us”.
You can watch the Choir recordings of the ‘O’ Antiphons on YouTube, and they will be released each day from 17 – 23 December on Instagram, WhatsApp, TikTok and Facebook.
- O Sapientia is performed by Leoni Malewezi, St George’s Cathedral Choral Scholar.
- O Adonai is performed by Jonathan Schranz, Archdiocese of Southwark’s Director of Music.
- O Radix Jesse is performed by Sam Poppleton, St George’s Cathedral Choir Lay Clerk.
- O Clavis David is performed by Benjamin Jardim, Sam Poppleton, Adelina Godinho, St George’s Cathedral Choir Members.
- O Oriens is performed by Benjamin Jardim, St George’s Cathedral Choral Scholar.
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O Rex Gentium is performed by St George’s Cathedral Choir Members.
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O Emmanuel performed by St George’s Cathedral Choir Members.
