O Antiphons - O Emmanuel

St Lazaire Cathedral Nativity

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

English:

O Emmanuel, our king and our lawgiver,
the hope of the nations and their Saviour:
Come and save us, O Lord our God.

The antiphon O Emmanuel (O God with us) comes from Isaiah's prophecy about the birth of a very special child, who will be the presence of God dwelling amongst us: "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel"(Is 7:14)

Whatever we may think of the Incarnation, the sheer wilfulness of God's trust ought to make us gasp, right into our hands, in a world where good and bad mix, where danger and life giving joy mix, the Most High in that moment of intimacy allows the Divine Presence not only to take on, but become one of the people of earth! In this the role of Mary and of her husband Joseph is paramount, for it is her courage and acceptance of an enormous burden, with risks beyond all telling, and Joseph's sense of honour and integrity that allows this birth, this very important birth, to take place. God with us, is now present in the Christ, who in his birth, ministry, passion and death leads us to the expectation of fulfilment as children of God with him, and heirs to the Kingdom of God ,for not only do we celebrate his coming amongst us, we rejoice in his triumph over death.

O Emmanuel

ERO CRAS the acrostic reads,
Tomorrow I will come!
With pleading hearts we have waited,

Some with the intensity of Prophet and Magi,
Others with the dull ache of missing faith,
Looking, seeking, desiring-something!

The poet made his wise men
Travel in a cold-coming,
And we see them with their gifts, reaching out.

Astronomer priests, they follow the Star
Which leads not to a place but a hovel.
Where the court of the King is filled with animals all.

Here is his entertainment, the lowing of the Ox,
Warm gentle straw-filled breath of the Ass,
The gentle growl of Dog, brisk purr of Cat.

The Child is content, with these beasts he knows his place,
Eden reborn, paradise regained,
Creatures, all creatures, together in peace.

With us Emmanuel, God who is always with us,
Never far, Morning Star always present-
In the poor, and the small ones of life!

Canon Robin Gibbons Dec 24 2019