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Prayer — Liturgical & Canticle

Antiphonae Maiores

The Great O Antiphons

Early medieval (8th–9th centuries); attested in the Roman antiphoner by 800 AD

The seven Magnificat antiphons of the seven days before Christmas Eve — each invoking Christ under a distinct messianic title from the Old Testament.

The Prayer · Multiple Versions

Latin · Original

December 17:
O Sapientia, quae ex ore Altissimi prodisti, attingens a fine usque ad finem, fortiter suaviterque disponens omnia: veni ad docendum nos viam prudentiae.

December 18:
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.

December 19:
O Radix Iesse, qui stas in signum populorum, super quem continebunt reges os suum, quem gentes deprecabuntur: veni ad liberandum nos, iam noli tardare.

December 20:
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.

December 21:
O Oriens, splendor lucis aeternae, et sol iustitiae: veni, et illumina sedentes in tenebris, et umbra mortis.

December 22:
O Rex Gentium, et desideratus earum, lapisque angularis, qui facis utraque unum: veni, et salva hominem, quem de limo formasti.

December 23:
O Emmanuel, Rex et legifer noster, expectatio Gentium, et Salvator earum: veni ad salvandum nos, Domine Deus noster.

English

December 17:
O Wisdom, who came forth from the mouth of the Most High, reaching from end to end, mightily and sweetly ordering all things: come and teach us the way of prudence.

December 18:
O Adonai and leader of the house of Israel, who appeared to Moses in the burning bush and gave him the Law on Sinai: come and redeem us with outstretched arm.

December 19:
O Root of Jesse, who stands as a sign to the peoples, before whom kings shall keep silence and whom the Gentiles shall seek: come to deliver us, and tarry not.

December 20:
O Key of David and Sceptre of the house of Israel, you open and no one closes, you close and no one opens: come and lead the prisoner from the dungeon, those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death.

December 21:
O Dayspring, brightness of light eternal and sun of justice: come and shine on those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death.

December 22:
O King of the Gentiles and their desired One, the cornerstone who makes both one: come and save the human race, whom you fashioned from clay.

December 23:
O Emmanuel, our King and Lawgiver, the desire of the Gentiles and their Saviour: come to save us, O Lord our God.

When the Prayer is Said

Each evening at Vespers — sung as the antiphon for the Magnificat — on December 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, and 23. Set as the hymn 'O Come, O Come, Emmanuel' in the Anglophone Catholic and broader Christian tradition.

History & Background

The Great O Antiphons — also called the Greater Antiphons — are the seven antiphons sung with the Magnificat at Vespers on the seven evenings of December 17 through 23 in the Roman Office. Each invokes Christ under a distinct Old Testament messianic title: O Sapientia (Wisdom), O Adonai (Lord), O Radix Iesse (Root of Jesse), O Clavis David (Key of David), O Oriens (Dayspring), O Rex Gentium (King of Nations), and O Emmanuel (God-with-us). The initials of the seven titles in reverse order — EROCRAS — spell the medieval Latin Ero cras ('Tomorrow I shall be'), the message Christ is taken to be addressing to his Church through the seven days of Advent.

They are first attested in the 8th-century Roman antiphoner. The widely-loved Advent hymn O Come, O Come, Emmanuel (in Latin Veni, Veni, Emmanuel) is a 19th-century English versification of the seven Antiphons, set to a 15th-century French processional melody.

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