18 December - Veni O Sapientia
17 December onward is associated with the tradition of the O Antiphons - a set of texts sung over the last days before Christmas as part of the daily worship, originally at Vespers (the evening service in Catholic tradition) to accompany the Magnificat - a canticle we'll come to hear later in the series.
Later, these antiphons have been collected into an Advent carol known more widely as "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel". This is named for the last of the antiphons, but the usual English-language order places the verse at the start of the carol. Here I've used the text in the Westminster Hymnal - the first Catholic hymnal authorised for use in England and Wales.
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Veni, o sapientia! Gaude, gaude, Emmanuel Veni, veni Adonai! Gaude, gaude, Emmanuel Veni o Jesse virgula! Gaude, gaude, Emmanuel Veni clavis Davidica! Gaude, gaude, Emmanuel Veni, veni o oriens! Gaude, gaude, Emmanuel Veni, Veni, Rex Gentium, Gaude, gaude, Emmanuel Veni, veni Emmanuel! Gaude, gaude, Emmanuel Amen. |