Advent’s Final Crescendo
Adoration of the Shepherds by Charles Le Brun
There was a radio program in my younger years that aired every afternoon on my way home from school. It was a short program, only four to five minutes long, and the structure was pretty simple. In this program, the host would tell a story that introduced the listeners to a historical occurrence or event. Usually he would focus on a little-known or forgotten fact related to that occurrence or event. As interesting as the history was, the brilliance of the program was how the host withheld a key element of the story from his listeners until the very end. Then, in that final moment of the program, the host’s final words would crescendo in a surprising twist as he disclosed the name of a famous figure to whom the story was referring all along.
For those who grew up listening to this broadcast, I am sure you remember the host. His name was Paul Harvey. Most likely, you can quote along with me the tagline that Harvey used, with a playful smile in his voice, to conclude every broadcast: “And now you know… the rest of the story.” Harvey was a master storyteller. His stories had a way of shedding new light on the familiar. He knew how to build expectancy and leave listeners in dumbfounded awe. For decades, Harvey guided his listeners in a journey of anticipation, fostering admiration and appreciation for figures they thought they knew but had not yet fully seen. In fact, Harvey chose to focus his program on well-known figures because he wanted to convey how there is always something more to consider about a subject. To put it simply, Harvey believed the rest of the story was important because the rest of the story tended to be the best of the story.
The church’s celebration of Advent, in many ways, proclaims “the rest of the story” of Jesus Christ. The four Sundays leading to Christmas serve as both a beginning and an end to the Church’s pilgrimage through the life of Jesus Christ. In Advent, the church recalls the expectation and longing for the first coming of Christ into the midst of humanity while also anticipating the second coming of Christ in final victory. Advent is the experience of hope and expectancy as the season points to the promised Messiah who came to reconcile humanity with God and who will come again to bring an end to all things contrary to the ways of God. In Advent, the church prepares the way for the Kingdom of God by confronting the world in light of Jesus’s incarnation and second coming, awaiting the final destruction of the powers of evil when God’s justice and righteousness will reign and God’s shalom will consume all things. Advent is the crescendo of God’s redemptive narrative, showing the church that the rest of the story is the best of the story because Jesus does not leave the world in turmoil and despair, but he comes to set all things right and to make earth as it is in heaven.
Often around this time of year the church participates in practices that aid in the crescendo of Advent. One common practice is the lighting of candles on an Advent wreath. The progression of light that grows as another candle is lit each week serves as a symbol of the church’s journey through Advent, waiting in expectation and anticipation of the coming Messiah at Christmas. Another common, though perhaps less familiar, practice that embodies the crescendo of Advent is the praying and/or singing of the Great Advent Antiphons in corporate worship, during the daily office, and in the home. Notably, antiphons are not only an Advent practice. In fact, they appear regularly throughout the year in liturgical prayer services like morning and evening prayer. For those unfamiliar with an antiphon, it is a short liturgical statement, often taken from scripture, that is sung or recited around a psalm reading or canticle. Their purpose is to prayerfully invite the community to approach the psalm or canticle in light of the season, feast, or rite being celebrated.
Since their purpose is to invite the community into the mindset and attitude of the liturgical season, the Advent antiphons focus on preparing the way for Christ. For instance, one common antiphon used during the Advent season is Isaiah 40:3, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the LORD; Make straight in the desert a highway for our God.’” While antiphons are commonly used throughout the season of Advent, a special group of antiphons are used during the final seven days of Advent, especially in vespers services leading up to Christmas Eve. (Notably, some church traditions added a concluding eighth antiphon to the original seven, so they begin reciting the antiphons one day earlier.) These seven antiphons are known as the Great Advent Antiphons, or the “O” Antiphons because of the way each one starts with the word “O” and then addresses Christ with seven different Messianic titles. Each of the seven titles is based on an Old Testament prophecy, namely ones found in Isaiah, that foreshadow the character and work of Christ. When the seven Great Advent Antiphons are held together, they offer the church a magnificent theology through liturgy, orienting her in prayerful reflection through ancient biblical imagery and drawing upon Old Testament messianic hopes to proclaim the coming of Christ to earth. The beauty of the Great Advent Antiphons is that they show Christ is not only the fulfillment of Old Testament longings, but also present ones as well. The repeated use of the imperative "Come!" in each antiphon helps the church embody the longing of the whole world—past, present, and future—for the Divine Messiah. In offering these prayers, the church acknowledges the afflictions of fallen humanity, and it cries out for Christ’s coming reign, which will make right all that is wrong. In essence, the Great Advent Antiphons sum up the entirety of the world’s Advent longings as they paint in vivid terms the fallen condition of humanity and its need for a Savior.
Below are the seven Great Advent Antiphons listed in order by date, along with the titles of Christ in both Latin and English and each one’s biblical basis from the book of Isaiah:
Day 1, December 17: O Sapientia, meaning O Wisdom (Isaiah 11:2-3)
“O Wisdom, who proceeded from the mouth of the Most High, reaching from one end to the other and ordering all things powerfully and gently: come to teach us the way of prudence.”
Day 2, December 18: O Adonai, meaning O Lord or Ruler (Isaiah 11:4-5 and 33:22)
“O sacred Lord of ancient Israel, who showed yourself to Moses in the burning bush, who gave him the holy law on Sinai mountain: come, stretch out your mighty hand to set us free.”
Day 3, December 19: O Radix, meaning O Root of Jesse (Isaiah 11:1)
“O Flower of Jesse’s stem, you have been raised up as a sign for all peoples; kings stand silent in your presence; the nations bow down in worship before you. Come, let nothing keep you from coming to our aid.”
Day 4, December 20: O Clavis, meaning O Key of David (Isaiah 22:22)
“O Key of David, O royal Power of Israel controlling at your will the gate of heaven: come, break down the prison walls of death for those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death; and lead your captive people into freedom.”
Day 5, December 21: O Oriens, meaning O Radiant Dawn (Isaiah 9:1)
“O Radiant Dawn, splendor of eternal light, sun of justice: come, shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.”
Day 6, December 22: O Rex Gentium, meaning O King of the Nations (Isaiah 2:4)
“O King of all the nations, the only joy of every human heart; O Keystone of the mighty arch of man, come, and save the creature you fashioned from the dust.”
Day 7, December 23: O Emmanuel, meaning O God with Us (Isaiah 7:14)
“O Emmanuel, king and lawgiver, desire of the nations, Savior of all people, come and set us free, Lord our God.”
As is the case with any ancient liturgy of the church, those who first arranged these antiphons did so with a definite purpose. Looking through them, you’ll notice how they crescendo through the last seven days of Advent, building anticipation, longing, and expectancy as the church walks closer and closer to the vigil of Christmas on December 24. The antiphons beg God with mounting impatience to come and save His people. They climb climatically through the history of God’s redeeming work, pointing backward in hopeful assurance that what God has done in the past he will do in the future. Ultimately, they conclude with the grand promise that God will not leave us nor forsake us, but that He will be Emmanuel, God with us.
The promise of Emmanuel is Advent’s final crescendo, which the Great Advent Antiphons capture in more ways than one. As previously mentioned, the Great Advent Antiphons are used during the seven days leading up to the great Christmas vigil, i.e., Christmas Eve. On Christmas Eve, then, as the church prepares to celebrate Christ’s incarnation, it also looks back upon the Advent journey, remembering the promises of the coming Messiah proclaimed in the antiphons. When looking backward, beginning with the last antiphon and taking the first letter of each—Emmanuel, Rex, Oriens, Clavis, Radix, Adonai, Sapientia—the Latin words ero cras are revealed. In English, these two Latin words mean “tomorrow, I will come” or “tomorrow I will be there.” Thus, as the church comes to Christmas Eve and looks back upon the Great Advent Antiphons, Jesus is there saying, “Tomorrow, I will be with you.” The Great Advent Antiphons, therefore, not only intensify the church’s preparation for Christ throughout the season of Advent, but they also bring the church’s waiting for Christ to a joyful conclusion, just as Christ in his return will bring all things to a joyous end.
While many church traditions today do not practice the Great Advent Antiphons, the legacy of the antiphons endures in the popular hymn “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.” As a way of retrieving and contextualizing a forgotten liturgical practice in the church, the antiphons were versified and collected as a singular hymn, with the addition of the refrain, “Rejoice! Rejoice, O Israel! To thee shall come Emmanuel!” The hymn has become a favorite due to the Advent themes it reflects, such as the longing for Christ to come and bring justice, peace, order, and restoration to the earth. Though most iterations of the hymn today do not follow the original order of the antiphons, the hymn still captures the purpose well. In particular, the hymn invites the church to look backward and forward at the same time, remembering the significance of the incarnation while also longing for the second coming of Christ. It acknowledges the need for Emmanuel, calling the church to rejoice, for tomorrow he comes.
The older I get, the more I find how much the church and the world needs the season of Advent. We live in a world, in a nation, and in a church that is gripped by an enduring sense of hostility and division, one that we are helpless and powerless to do anything about on our own. We seek healing from the trauma of defeat, destruction, and exile we have experienced because of sin and brokenness. We yearn for restoration, grounded in the hope that God is immeasurably more powerful than we could ever think or imagine. The season of Advent, however, keeps before us the promise of the Messiah who comes to make all things new, the one who comes to rule and judge all peoples of the earth with perfect equity. The season reminds us of the one who comes to end all divisions and to unite all people together as one. Advent assures us that the fullness of heaven will come to earth. Our current circumstances are not the end of the story; rather, Jesus Christ himself is the rest of the story. And so, in the midst of our sorrows and hardships, we confidently wait in Advent’s final crescendo, looking back with joy upon God’s promises and forward in hope as we hear Emmanuel say, “I come to be there with you forevermore.”
Jonathan A. Powers is Assistant Professor of Worship Studies and Associate Dean of the E. Stanley Jones School of Mission and Ministry at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky; he also serves as a member of the Firebrand Editorial Board.