Using the "O" Antiphons during Vespers

If you look at the Vespers service in The Lutheran Hymnal (page 42) or Lutheran Service Book (page 231) you will notice that the Magnificat appears to already have an antiphon, it just doesn't repeat at the end of the canticle.

From TLH:
V: Let my prayer be set forth before Thee as incense:
R: And the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.

My soul doth magify the Lord...


From LSB:
L: Let my prayer rise before You as incense:
C: The lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.

My soul magnifies the Lord...

According to Deacon Dulas, the response of "Let my prayer..." is not an antiphon.  It is a versicle. 

ABOUT VERSICLES, by Iggy Antiochus

Simply put, a versicle is a short text from Scripture laid out in two parts:

* The pastor or leader begins the text: Let my prayer...
* The congregation or group responds: [And] the lifting up...

Note: Lutheran Service Book provides rubrics so that Vespers may be prayed in a congregational setting or in a private setting such as a father leading his family, students gathering for prayer, devotional time before studying the Word, etc.

So, if you are going to use the O Antiphons in Vespers, Deacon Dulas suggests the following order:

Versicles: 

Let my prayer..

And the lifting up...

Antiphon:

O Adonai...

Magnificat:

My soul doth magnify...

Antiphon:

O Adonai...

Listen to the "O" Antiphons each day between now and December 23 at LutheranTimeOut.org.

Deacon Dulas: "O Adonai"

Here's the 2nd in the series on the "O" Antiphons by Deacon Jerry Dulas.

Listen to today's antiphon at lutherantimeout.org.

~~~~~

As we stated yesterday, each "O" antiphon has an Old Testament prophetic type of the Messiah (or two), and a promise of grace and blessing attached to it.

Looking at the second "O" antiphon --

O Adonai,

et Dux domus Israel,

qui Moysi in inge flammae rubi apparuisti,

et ei in Sina legem dedisti:

Veni, ad redimendum nos in brachio extento.

O Adonai*,

and Leader of the house of Israel,

who appearedst in the bush to Moses in a flame of fire,

and gavest him the Law in Sinai:

Come, and redeem us with an outstretched arm.

translation Lutheran Brotherhood Prayerbook

*not usually translated; Adonai means "God of the covenant"

--one can see that there are actually two prophetic types of the Messiah sung about in this antiphon. Even though this antiphon is typically referred to as "O Adonai," the second prophetic type, "Leader (or Ruler) of the house of Israel," also reveals something about who the Messiah is to be. The promise of blessing attached to this "O" antiphon is that the Messiah will redeem us with His outstretched arm.

Adonai, the God of the covenant, is our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the one who was promised, by a covenant, to Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and David. As the seed of David, He is the One Who sits on David's throne, and rules the house of Israel as the God of the covenant; the God who is the promised Messiah.

Two of this pre-incarnate Messiah's many appearances are mentioned in the antiphon: the appearance to Moses in the fiery bush, and the giving of the Law to Moses on Mount Sinai as lightning rained down. Notice that both of these appearances are to Moses, and both call to mind means that produce light, i.e., fire and lightning. These images are to call to mind the deliverance by Moses, from the bondage of slavery in Egypt, of the people of Israel. Our Christ, our dear Lord Jesus, delivers us from the bondage of slavery to sin with His outstretched arms on the cross. He redeems us with His outstretched arms.

So in the matter of one day, we go from the first "O" antiphon which pointed us toward the incarnation of our Lord Jesus, the Son of God, in the flesh, straight to His death on the cross. Such is the way of the Church, driving sinners to the cross, to receive forgiveness, life and salvation.

God was born in the flesh, to suffer and die for sin. So it is a little too simple to say that the true meaning of Christmas is "the birth of Jesus." And we get this silly notion of singing happy birthday songs to Jesus, as if the Church is celebrating Jesus' birthday. The Church is not. The Church is celebrating the incarnation of God in the flesh, Who will suffer and die for our sins. Therefore, it is more proper to say that the true meaning of Christmas is "the birth of God in the flesh of mankind in the person of Jesus, that He might fulfill the law perfectly for us, and suffer and die for us."

Through this suffering and death, He brings light to the whole world; the light of salvation. This is after all the theme of Christmas, "Our Lord Jesus Christ is the Light of the World." This is partly why Christmas takes place shortly after the Winter Solstice, because the world, at the birth of God in the flesh, slowly begins to increase daily in more and more light. Hence, the allusions to the scenes with light in the antiphon, to point us to our Covenant God, who is the Light of the World.

~~~~~

Deacon Dulas also provides this setting from Liber Usualis.  It is a different psalm tone than the one you'll here on Time Out.

~~~~~

Deacon Dulas is ordained into the pastorate and member of the Evangelical Lutheran Diocese of North America (eldona.org).  In his own words, "My call is to serve as deacon and missionary-at-large to MN and WI at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Tony, WI.  We are starting a mission here in Mayer, MN, and the surrounding area called St. Matthew Ev. Luth. Mission." 

"O" Antiphons and "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel"

The Advent carol, "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" is a verse form of the "O" Antiphons.  Using the antiphon for December 18, here is how things line up in Lutheran Service Book.

O Antiphon:

O Adonai and ruler of the house of Israel,

Who  appeared to Moses in the burning bush

and gave him the Law on Sinai:

Come with an outstretched arm and redeem us.

Hymn Stanza:

O Come, O Come, Thou Lord of might,

Who to Thy tribes on Sinai's height

In ancient times did give the Law

In cloud and majesty and awe.

Using Deacon Dulas' definition from yesterday, the Old Testament reference to Christ in the antiphon is "Adonai" and the promise or blessing is that God would "redeem us."

When you apply this criteria to the hymn verse, "Lord of might" is the Old Testament reference to Christ, omits the promise or blessing is missing.  Each of the hymn verses uses only the Old Testament description without asking for the promise or blessing.

Another unique feature of the hymn is that they are not ordered in the same way as the O Antiphons. 

Antiphon for December 17 = Stanza 2

Antiphon for December 18 = Stanza 3

Antiphon for December 19 = Stanza 4

Antiphon for December 20 = Stanza 5

Antiphon for December 21 = Stanza 6

Antiphon for December 22 = Stanza 7

Antiphon for December 23 = Stanza 1

The Service of "O" Antiphons uses the prose text of the antiphon, the correlating hymn text and the appropriate reading from Scripture or the inter-testamental books.  Also, a short message can be preached about each antiphon.

Listen to the "O" Antiphons each day between now and December 23 at lutherantimeout.org.

Keep an eye out here at All for Hymn for Deacon Dulas' expositions on the O Antiphons.

Advent III: Sound of Majesty

If you have not heard the Dale Warland Singers (DWS) sing "Prepare the Way, O Zion" then Sunday's broadcast of Sound of Majesty is must-listen material.

The Singers use a different translation and a slightly different melody than Lutheran Service Book. 

Dale Warland Singers:

O blest is He that came

In God the Father's name.

Lutheran Service Book:

Hosanna to the Lord

For he fulfills God's Word.

Original Swedish:

Välsignad vare han

Som kom i Herrens namn.

Literal Translation:

Blessed is He

Who came in the Lord's Name.

I like the imagery of the LSB, yet the traditional translation is more faithful to the literal translation.

Here's the tune used by the Dale Warland Singers.  This setting is in Swedish with solo voice and, I believe, solo bagpipe!  All you experts on historic instruments, please enlighten us in the comment box.

And for another Swedish tradition, here is the same tune sung on the Commemoration of St. Lucia. Each year a girl is chosen to be St. Lucia. She wears a crown or wreath of candles. I am not Swedish and have only witnessed this once, so perhaps someone could enlighten us in the comment box.

Here's the tune found in LSB, to yet another translation.

Other highlights from this broadcast include Scripture readings from the historic lectionary for Advent III and excerpts from a sermon from Martin Luther preached on this day.

Listen to Sound of Majesty Sundays through Fridays at Midnight ET on www.moodyradiochicago.fm (old links to wmbi.fm will redirect).  Listen to a few months of archives and find other information here.

The direct link to last Sunday's broadcast is here, and the playlist is here.

Deacon Dulas: Chanting the "O" Antiphons

Deacon Dulas on the O Antiphons continues.  Note that Deacon Dulas is referring to the Magificat tune in the Order of Vespers from The Lutheran Hymnal (1941).  The tune for Vespers in Lutheran Worship (1981) and Lutheran Service Book (2006) may also be used.

~~~~~

Each "O" antiphon can be easily set to the Magnificat tune of the Hymnal by using the colon as the separation between the two half verses, and assigning the first two syllables of each half verse to the intonation notes of each line of the Magnificat.

If one desires to chant these antiphons to the ancient psalm tones, every antiphon is chanted according to the solemn tone 2D, see below for an example.

Here is another the ancient solemn tone set to the key of F major. Each note of the intonation, mediation, and termination is sung to a separate syllable. Syllables falling on slurred notes are sung to two notes.

If one desires to chant them according to the ancient tones, they may be render as such:

a) Antiphon, chanted by Cantor; Magnificat, chanted by choir in unison; Antiphon, chanted by Cantor.

b) Antiphon, chanted by choir in unison; Magnificat, sung to the tune in the hymnal*; Antiphon, chanted by choir in unision.

This gives this part of the liturgy a true antiphonal nature, i.e., responses back and forth between two groups, or persons.

~~~~~

Thanks, Deacon!

Catch the O Antiphons in real time starting today, December 17, over at LutheranTimeOut.org.  Hear them first at Noon ET on piratechristianradio.com, and then at your convenience later after 12:15 pm ET on Time Out's website.

Visit St. Matthew Evangelical Lutheran Mission in Mayer, Minnesota where Deacon Dulas.  This mission post is about 1 hour west of Mall of America and about 1 hour northwest of Shakopee. 

*The psalm tones are compatible with the Magnificat in Vespers in TLH, LW, and LSB.  If you sing the 2nd tone in the key of C, you can use it with LSB's Evening Prayer in place of the printed antiphon.  Over at lcms.org you can find audio files of LSB's Matins and Vespers.  Click here for the direct link to the Magnificat, beginning with the response, "Let my prayer rise..."

Introducing the "O" Antiphons and Deacon Dulas

Layman Dan and Southern Lutheran Kantor teamed up to present the "O" antiphons in real time.  Catch Time Out's Advent Special starting today with daily episodes straight through to the next regular broadcast on Christmas Eve.  The first broadcast will air today on piratechristianradio.com at Noon Eastern and post at 12:15 pm ET on LutheranTimeOut.org.

In conjunction with this, I asked my new Facebook friend to write a few paragraphs for each of these broadcasts.  Deacon Jerry Dulas is an ordained minister with the Evangelical Lutheran Diocese of North America (more info at eldona.org).  His post is with St. Matthew Evangelical Lutheran Mission, Mayer, Minnesota.

Here is Part I with background on the O Antiphons as well as the application of today's unique antiphon.

~~~~~

On December 17th, the Church begins her final preparations for Christmas with the chanting of seven special solemn "O" antiphons before and after the Magnificat at Vespers. Each "O" antiphon comprises two parts,

a) An Old Testament name and prophetic type (or two) of the Messiah,
b) a promise of grace and blessing to be delivered at the coming of the Messiah.

So, if one looks at the first "O" antiphon for December 17th --

O Sapientia,

quae ex ore Altissimi prodisti,

attingens a fine usque ad finem,

fortier suaviter disponensque omnia:

Veni, ad docendum nos viam prudentiae!

O Wisdom,

Who came out of the mouth of the Most High,

and reacheth from one end to another mightily,

and sweetly doth she order all things:

Come, and teach us the way of prudence!

one can see that the prophetic type of the Messiah is "Wisdom," and the promise or blessing which she brings is "prudence."

Wisdom comes from God, she is one of His attributes, to fear God is to begin to get wisdom, and to have wisdom is to have prudence, that is knowledge, and not knowledge only, but knowledge of salvation.

Wisdom comes down from heaven, and takes on human flesh, and gives to the Church and her children the knowledge of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Knowledge of the incarnation is wherein lies true wisdom, and not just assent to the facts, but the true knowledge and wisdom that comes from faith and confidence in those facts. The facts that state that God became flesh and dwelt among us, and pours out the wisdom of His Holy Spirit upon us through Word and Sacrament.

Herein is where the Church begins her final preparations for Christmas, by directing our eyes of faith to the incarnation of the Son of God in our flesh through antiphons connected to the Song of Mary, the bearer of God in the flesh.

~~~~~

Regarding the text of the first O Antiphon, Deacon Dulas says,

The antiphon "O Sapientia" is taken from two books of the Apocrypha. The first part is taken from the Book of Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 24:3. The second part from the Book of Wisdom 8:1. One can see easily from reading these words in context the great allusions to Our Lord Jesus Christ. If you have access to these writings, it is recommended to read these words in context.

I asked Deacon Dulas why "Wisdom" is referred to as "she."  He explains...

The word for "Wisdom" in both Hebrew, Greek, Latin and German, the four theological languages, takes the feminine gender, and so Wisdom is always referred to as a she. Also, Holy Scripture describes Wisdom as a woman, so just like the Church is likened to a bride, wisdom is likened to a woman, and is always referred to as a she.

In the next post, chanting the O Antiphons.

Just for Fun: Straight No Chaiser

Over 10 million views on youtube.  The group got to do a reunion tour and a PBS pledge week special (check local listings, mine aired the concert on Monday night).

On a personal note, I worked with the grandfather of one of these guys in 2000.  This was before youtube and before I even had my own computer.  I remember him saying, "My grandson is in an a capella group at Indiana University called "Straight No Chaser" and they are really a lot of fun!"

Note: You can x-out of one of the ads, and the other one disappears in a few seconds.