Longing...

Lis sings in a Gregorian chant group once a month in Stamford. They came and sang a chant at our wedding while the register was signed. Gregorian chant really isn’t my cup of tea but I’ve been a couple of times to try and get it. Stephen, who leads the group, is extremely passionate about it all and is on a mission to convert my unease into sharing his passion! 

Tonight we focussed on the tradition in some churches in the days before Christmas to sing or say an Advent Antiphon. These are sung or said in evening prayer just before the Magnificat. Remember that really the Magnificat is a summary of the ethics of the Gospel which Mary understands her Son will embody. Perhaps I didn’t get the chanting right but the words of them spoke to me especially as this year I’m really really frustrated that Christmas frippery has begun so early.    

Each begins with the acclamation "O" and ends with a plea for the Messiah to come. As Christmas approaches the cry becomes increasingly urgent. I share here when each one is meant to be used.    

 

 December  17 – O Sapientia: "O Wisdom you come forth from the mouth of the Most High. You fill the universe and hold all things together in a strong yet gentle manner. O come to teach us the way of truth."

 December 18 – O Adonai: "O Adonai and leader of Israel, you appeared to Moses in the burning bush and you gave him the Law on Sinai. O come and save us with your mighty power."

 December 19 – Radix Jesse: "O Stock of Jesse, you stand as a signal for the nations; kings fall silent before you whom the peoples acclaim. O come to deliver us, and do not delay."

 December  20 – O Clavis David: "O Key of David and sceptre of Israel, what you open no one else can close again; what you close no one can open. O come to lead the captive from prison; free those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death."

 December 21– O Oriens: "O Rising Sun, you are the splendour of eternal light and the sun of justice. O come and enlighten those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death."

 December 22 – O Rex Gentium: "O King whom all the peoples desire, you are the cornerstone which makes all one. O come and save man whom you made from clay."

 

December 23 – O Emmanuel: "O Emmanuel, you are our king and judge, the One whom the peoples await and their Saviour. O come and save us, Lord, our God."

Advent begins on Sunday. Sunday is Advent Sunday not Christmas Sunday! One church in our circuit has its carol service on Sunday afternoon for goodness sake! We need before the feast a time of longing for that feast to come. I think longing is a huge emotion in the world at the moment. 

People long for a better life, for a new beginning, for health, for love. Surely Advent is a gift the Church offers to people to express that longing. When I was little, we had one holiday (to Cromer!) and you had to wait for it to come and you longed for it to come (until you got to Cromer and were bored rigid as the parents dragged you to Dennis Lotis Sings at the end of the pier!) You saved up to buy things, you received gifts for birthdays, not every day. You longed for special days to come, not taking them for granted. 

We need to remember the longing prayers expressed by God’s ancient people. The Psalter has hundreds of words that are about exasperation. God will act but not in our timescale. Isaiah puts it well in the 64th chapter of his prophesy: “Why won’t you tear the heavens open and come down?” I love the fact the Antiphons get more and more urgent and probably louder as we get nearer Christmas. Ending with “O come and save us!” I’m just wondering after my hour of being with the chant group tonight whether our worship needs more longing in it. Do we allow people the space to express their deepest longings they bring into the sacred space we share as a mixed bunch of humanity as we come together? 

On Sunday, I’m sharing our Circuit Advent Service - note - not Circuit Christmas Carol Service as someone has called it - with the acting Superintendent of our Circuit, Debbie. It’s been fun to put an act of worship together with her. We haven’t a single carol in the thing! I’ve insisted O come o come Immanuel is included, and now in the intercessions, after tonight, the good folk of the Fens will be introduced to the Advent Antiphons! They make for powerful intercessory prayers. 

I watched screaming children today while out and about in Kings Lynn. How parents keep them calm with incessant Christmas in their faces I do not know. The children want Christmas to come today. Waiting is alien. Longing is a reality for them and it gets more painful the longer the wait goes on. We are weeks away from the General Election. We long for a better future for our country and we make our choice thinking deeply about how what we long for might be enacted. We need time to think and ponder before we go into the wooden booth and use the little pencil on its string or we put a postal vote in a postbox. It’s too important to just do it. I’m really annoyed there appear to be no hustings in my new constituency. It’s a safe seat for the sitting MP, the Secretary of State for exiting the European Union! But it would have been good for us to hear him and others...

O come, and do something God! That’s the prayer we say over and over in the season we enter on Sunday. We wait and we long and we expect. And maybe after the longing we will be surprised...

And here’s a little something from a Catholic site that might interest you as I end: 

It is interesting to note that the first letter of each antiphon – Sapientia, Adonai, Radix, Clavis, Oriens, Rex, Emmanuel – when read backwards forms an acrostic in Latin: "Ero cras." This can be understood as the words of Christ, responding to His people’s plea, saying, "Tomorrow I will be there."