O Wisdom

Today, we begin the days of late Advent, when expectation climbs toward its climactic expression in the O-antiphons, sung with the Song of Mary at Vespers, as well as with the Alleluia at Mass.  These antiphons are very old, dating from around 600 A.D., the time of Pope Gregory the Great.

Each one opens with the vocative ‘O,’ both a direct address and a cry of longing.  The shape of the ‘O’ symbolizes the fullness of time, ripeness, wholeness, eternity.  We may think of an illuminated manuscript, where the first letter is ornately decorated with flowers, trees, birds, beasts, or people.  What do we see when we look through the round window?  Each ‘O’ is like the womb of Mary, containing within it the promised One whom we desire, the fulfillment of our hope.  They are invocations addressing the Lord, but instead of using the name Jesus, he is called by a particular epithet drawn from the Old Testament.  To express the continuity of our expectation and desire with that of our forebears, we name him: Wisdom, Adonai, Root of Jesse, Key of David, Dawn, King of the Nations, Emmanuel.

The antiphons are structured as collects, the Church’s ancient form of a prayer of petition.  As in every collect, the central point is what we are asking for.  We are asking first and foremost that he come, which radically speaks the meaning of Advent and our unqualified need for Christ to come into our lives.  This is followed by a specific expectation of a salvific action: we are asking him to teach, redeem, set free, release, enlighten, unify, and save, these actions increasing in intensity and scope from the first to the last antiphon.  During these final days of Advent, I would like to look with you through the window of each ‘O’ on its salvific contents, focusing on what it is we are asking for, and remembering that we ask not only for ourselves, but as intercessors for the people of our time.

O Wisdom, uttered by the mouth of the Most High, reaching from one end of earth to the other with great power, yet ordering all things with gentleness, come!  Teach us the way of prudence!

What do we see through the round window of O Wisdom?

We find ourselves at the dawn of creation, with God’s Word with him from the beginning, spoken from his mouth, and present in all that was made.  Wisdom is an artisan, powerfully designing and executing the miracle of life from one end of the cosmos to the other.  She is a child, playing in gentleness with mountains and rivers, trees and flowers, birds and animals.  Her special delight is reserved for human beings, with whom she walks along the paths of history, calling out, guiding, leading to the fullness of life.  Our forbears knew that all creation bears God’s fingerprints, and that our human vocation is to steward the earth and all it holds as God’s representative in the world.  They knew that wisdom is God’s likeness in the human being, laboring for the good of creation and all people, a stranger to no realm of knowledge and expertise, from animal husbandry to political science to the contemplation of God.  She is the special gift of a leader, and it is Solomon who shows us the search for wisdom as indispensable for service to humanity.

What are we asking for?  What is our need, our desire, our hope?

We need to be taught.
More than ever, we need to learn prudence, foresight, wisdom to discern our use of the resources of our world, not taking for granted any element of material creation.  Wisdom is needed along with mastery of human and natural sciences, to refuse distortions and false oppositions and find a way for life to flourish in all places and in all people.  In particular, we need to learn wisdom to exercise power in gentleness, at the service of the least, drawing near to all people in their struggles and making it possible for them to thrive, toward a higher end than material prosperity.

We stand in the name of the Church and for the people of the world we pray: Come to us, O Wisdom, mind and heart of Christ, eyes and ears of Christ, teach us to live in the world with reverence for creation, for all life, and for each person, making use of every gift of our nature under your guidance.

Image: Linda Witte Henke, The Great O Antiphons