Antiphon-1 O Sapientia

Antiphon No. 1 for December 17th

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TEXT OF THE ANTIPHON AND THE MAGNIFICAT IN LATIN AND ENGLISH
First pray the Antiphon; then the Magnificat ; then repeat the Antiphon

LATIN VERSION

ANTIPHON: O Sapientia, quae ex ore Altissimi prodidisti, attingens a fine usque ad finem, fortiter suaviter disponensque omnia: veni ad docendum nos viam prudentiae.

THE MAGNIFICAT:
Magníficat ánima mea Dóminum.
Et exultávit spíritus meus: in Deo salutári meo.
Quia respéxit humilitátem ancíllae suae:
Ecce enim ex hoc beátam me dicent omnes generatiónes.
Quia fécit mihi mágna qui pótens est: et sánctum nómen eius.
Et misericórdia eius in progénies et progénies timéntibus eum.
Fécit poténtiam in bráchio suo: dispérsit supérbos mente cordis sui.
Depósuit poténtes de sede: et exaltávit húmiles.
Esuriéntes implévit bonis: et dívites dimísit inánes.
Suscépit Ísrael púerum suum: recordátus misericórdiae suae.
Sicut locútus est ad patres nostros: Ábraham, et sémini eius in saecula.
Glória Patri, et Fílio, et Spirítui Sancto,
Sicut erat in princípio, et nunc, et semper, et in sæcula sæculórum. Amen.

ANTIPHON: O Sapientia, quae ex ore Altissimi prodidisti, attingens a fine usque ad finem, fortiter suaviter disponensque omnia: veni ad docendum nos viam prudentiae.

V. Domine, exaudi orationem meam.
R. Et clamor meus ad te veniat.

OREMUS: Aurem tuam, quaesumus, Domine, precibus nostris accommoda: et mentis nostrae tenebras gratia tuae visitationis illustra. Qui vivis et regnas cum Deo Patre, in unitáte Spíritus Sancti, Deus, per ómnia sǽcula sæculórum.
R. Amen.

ENGLISH VERSION

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

THE MAGNIFICAT:
My soul doth magnify the Lord.
And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior.
Because He hath regarded the humility of His handmaid:
For behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
Because He that is mighty hath done great things to me; and holy is His name.
And His mercy is from generation unto generations, to them that fear Him.
He hath shown might in His arm: He hath scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart.
He hath put down the mighty from their seat, and hath exalted the humble.
He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich He hath sent empty away.
He hath received Israel His servant, being mindful of His mercy:
As He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to His seed for ever.
Glory be the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost,
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forever and ever, Amen.

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

V. O Lord hear my prayer.
R. And let my cry come unto Thee.

LET US PRAY: O Lord, we beseech thee, mercifully incline Thine ears unto our prayers, and lighten the darkness of our minds by the grace of Thy heavenly visitation. Who livest and reignest with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end.
R. Amen

DOWNLOAD OUR 1ST “O” ANTIPHON POSTER ~ O SAPIENTIA

Click on the PDF file link below and download a Letter Size (8.5 x 11 inch) poster on today's O Antiphon: O Sapientia

Each day's Antiphon will have its own poster.
The Gregorian Chant notation is at the top of the page, followed by few brief meditative thoughts upon the relevance of the Antiphon for our days.

A wonderful keepsake that you will use year after year.

Our Christmas gift to you!

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AN EXPLANATION AND A MEDITATION

The opening Antiphon sings of two essential virtues: WISDOM and PRUDENCE. Both of these virtues can be natural or supernatural. Natural wisdom and prudence can be acquired by our efforts, but supernatural wisdom and supernatural prudence are infused by God into the soul. Wisdom, in its perfection, is the deepest and most valuable knowledge the mind can possess and it centers in the supreme truth; the truly wise man contemplates ultimates, and guides his life by that knowledge. Among the intellectual virtues, wisdom is the greatest. Wisdom exercises judgment over the other intellectual virtues, directs them, and, as a master architect, builds with them.

Wisdom is the highest kind of knowledge we can have. Just as charity is the pinnacle or highest virtue for the will, so too is wisdom the pinnacle and perfection of knowledge and understanding. To have wisdom means seeing and understanding things as God sees and understands things. It takes God’s point of view, and not a human point of view. “I have filled him with the spirit of God, with wisdom and understanding”(Exodus 31:3).

For God’s way of thinking is not our way of thinking: “For My thoughts are not your thoughts: nor your ways My ways, saith the Lord” (Isaias 55:8). The Bible says that there is a devilish wisdom and a human wisdom, but these are not of God: “Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?” (1 Cor. 1:20).

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (Psalm 110:10). “To fear God is the fulness of wisdom” (Ecclesiasticus 1:20). “The perfection of the fear of God is wisdom and understanding” (Ecclesiasticus 21:13).

Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, as we learn from the Books of Psalms and Wisdom, as well as the school of personal hard-knocks. From this convergence of awesome respect for God, with the experience of learning through life's mysterious and providential events, we understand (if we are wise) that wisdom is more than mere knowledge. It is something more than just love. It is something more than just a special astuteness regarding how to get along in life, a certain kind of savoir faire. Rooted, as it is, in fear of the Lord, true human wisdom is both love and that knowledge of God that seeks to understand, the knowledge that is completed by Faith.

Today's "O Antiphon" matches wisdom with prudence - "Come...Teach us the way of prudence!" Wisdom may well see the end of all things, the purpose of all things, but the end or goal has to be achieved somehow. That is where the prudence comes into the picture.

Prudence is a very important virtue, because, as St. Thomas Aquinas says, prudence should permeate all the virtues, much like charity must permeate all the virtues, in order to make them supernatural and meritorious. Today, it is obvious that the world is imprudent—the Catholic world included. St. Thomas Aquinas says that, ultimately, imprudence finds its source in lust, and never has the world been so permeated with lust as it is today.

Prudence can be a natural virtue, or it can be a supernatural virtue. A natural prudence will take no account of Divine Teachings, nor will it cooperate and respond to Divine Grace. It seeks to base itself on human reason alone. This kind of prudence is an imperfect prudence, for it ignores the words of Our Lord, who said: “Without Me, you can do nothing!”

Prudence examines all possible means to an end, and checks to see if their action is reasonable, morally right, and not marred either by excess or deficiency. For prudence is the knowledge of how things ought to be done; it is the knowledge of how to act in any given circumstance, of how to conduct one’s life rightly. St. Augustine says that prudence is "the knowledge of what to seek and what to avoid."

Prudence is an intellectual virtue that consists of the habitual knowledge of how to act rightly. But prudence is so closely linked to the will and action, that all moral virtues require the direction of prudence. That is why it is also known as the “rein of all virtues”, for it is by the rein that a horse is guided and led. However, prudence is not the supreme king or guide, but is a servant of truth and correct principles, which it sifts through, in looking for an answer how to act or react in any particular situation.

Prudence contains three acts. The first is COUNSEL, which relates to finding out the different ways of accomplishing an end in view; for to consult is to seek. The second act JUDGES what counsel proposes and this is the part of man's reason, but reason also tends to the execution of the work, and thus…The third act COMMANDS the will to carry out the way, which was proposed by the intellect and which the judgment has approved. Hence, counsel, judgment and command are the three acts which constitute the virtue of prudence.

Prudence does not deal with the end, the goal or the purpose of things, but addresses the best means by which an end, goal or purpose can be achieved. It shows us the right way to achieve it. Wisdom always looks to the final end of all things and why all things were made—they were made by God and for God.

A person in the state of grace has prudence, for he has charity, and charity cannot exist without prudence. But different people may have varying degrees of prudence depending upon:

(a) Whether or not they take time to seek and study the correct principles that should guide action;
(b) Whether or not they curb their evil passions and tendencies;
(c) Whether or not they exercise their memory of past events, which should serve as guides to action;
(d) Whether or not they consult wise teachers or books to help them in their decisions.

Wisdom teaches us to be prudent. Prudence means using the things of this world in such a wise way, that they lead us to our final end in Heaven. But if we are not wise and prudent, we will use the things of this world in such a bad way that they will end up leading us to Hell. The choice is ours, let us choose wisely. Jesus is the Eternal Wisdom of God, the wise Word of God, who is the Way, the Truth and the Life. By following the Wisdom of Christ, we will save our souls.