Antiphon-2 O Adonai

Antiphon No. 2 for December 18th

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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 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.

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 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.

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 Adonai, and Leader of the house of Israel, Who appeared to Moses in the fire of the burning bush, and gave him the Law upon Sinai: come to redeem us with Thy outstretched arm.

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 Adonai, and Leader of the house of Israel, Who appeared to Moses in the fire of the burning bush, and gave him the Law upon Sinai: come to redeem us with Thy outstretched arm.

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 2nd “O” ANTIPHON POSTER ~ O ADONAI

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!

antiphon_2_o_adonai_8_x_11.pdf
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AN EXPLANATION AND A MEDITATION

"ADONAI" is "LORD." Adonai (Hebrew meaning "lord, ruler") is a name bestowed upon God in the Old Testament. It is retained in St. Jerome's Vulgate translation of the Bible and the translations of the Bible that are based on the Vulgate. No other name applied to God is more definite and more easily understood than this. It is the Name God gave Himself, when He spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai: "And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: I am the Lord, that appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, by the name of God Almighty; and my name, ADONAI, I did not show them" (Exodus 6:2-3).

Adonai became the Hebrew word that the Jews used when they found the four-lettered word for God's name to be too sacred to pronounce aloud. Christ is Lord of Creation. We sang this yesterday in the antiphon "O Sapientia".

Christ is also Lord of the Covenant with the People He chose. The Lord made covenants with Noah, Abraham, and Moses. He guided them and all the People. He gave them Law. He protected and feed them. The Lord delivered them from bondage to Pharaoh and unending slavery. He went before them with arm outstretched.

The Lord still goes before us with outstretched arm and our foes are put to flight at the sight of His banner. Egypt was nothing else but a symbol of sin, and Pharaoh was a symbol of the devil, from whom God rescued them through Moses, who was a symbol of Christ. And Christ the Lord would come to continue that work and, with arms outstretched upon the Cross, He would rescue us from cruel slavery of sin and the devil.

“And thou, Bethlehem Ephrata, art a little one among the thousands of Juda: out of thee shall He come forth unto Me that is to be the ruler in Israel: and His going forth is from the beginning, from the days of eternity” (Micheas 5:2).

“And thou Bethlehem art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come forth the captain that shall rule My people Israel” (Matthew 2:6).

“The Lord God shall come with strength, and His arm shall rule” (Isaias 40:10).

“For he that made thee shall rule over thee, the Lord of hosts is His name: and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, shall be called the God of all the earth.” (Isaias 54:5).

“He shall judge the poor with justice, and shall reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: land He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked. And justice shall be the girdle of His loins: and faith the girdle of His reins” (Isaias 11:4-5).

“The Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king: he will save us” ( Isaias 33:22).

“Keep the law of the Lord thy God” (1 Paralipomenon 22:12).

“Woe to you, ungodly men, who have forsaken the law of the most high Lord”(Ecclesiasticus 41:11).

“And the glory of the Lord dwelt upon Sinai, covering it with a cloud six days: and the seventh day he called him out of the midst of the cloud. And the sight of the glory of the Lord was like a burning fire upon the top of the mount, in the eyes of the children of Israel” (Exodus 24:16-17). Moses goes up the mountain and remains there, being instructed by Lord, for forty days and nights. He finally comes down with the Law of the Lord.

God loves fire as a symbol to represent Himself, and this is very appropriate, for God is charity or love (1 John 4:8). “And the Lord appeared to Moses in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he saw that the bush was on fire and was not burnt”(Exodus 3:2).

We also speak of the “fire of love” in the prayer to the Holy Ghost, Who came down upon Our Lady and the Apostles at Pentecost in the form of tongues of fire. We see flames of fire bursting out the Sacred Heart, as He says, “See how my heart loves men…” Our Lord further stated that: “I am come to cast fire on the earth; and what will I, but that it be kindled?” (Luke 12:49).

So clearly fire represents both God and love. There is a link between the law that was given to Moses and the fire that Moses sees in the burning bush, that link is the link of love: a love of the Lord and a love of the Law of the Lord.

“The fear of God is the beginning of his love” (Ecclesiasticus 25:16).

“Love the Lord your God, and walk in all His ways, and keep all His commandments”(Josue 22:5).

The Lord Jesus echoes the Old Testament: “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15).

“Love therefore is the fulfilling of the law” (Romans 13:10).

“The Lord keepeth all them that love Him; but all the wicked He will destroy” (Psalm 144:20).