The O Antiphons: 17 DecemberO Sapientia
ENGLISH: O Wisdom, who came from
the mouth of the Most High, reaching from end to end and ordering all things mightily and
sweetly: come, and teach us the way of prudence.
Listen to this chant from the Liber Usualis: mp3
Scripture Reference:
Proverbs 1:20; 8; 9
I Corinthians 1:30
Relevant verse of Veni, Veni Emmanuel:
O come, O Wisdom from on high,
who orders all things mightily,
to us the path of knowledge show,
and teach us in her ways to go.
The version from the Dominican antiphonarium:
REFLECTION: (ENGLISH: O Wisdom, who came from
the mouth of the Most High, reaching from end to end and ordering all things mightily and
sweetly: come, and teach us the way of prudence.)
On December 17th we enter into that final stretch
of our Advent preparation. In the Church's solemn prayer of the hours, at Vespers, the
great "O Antiphons" are sung. Today we have the first.
The Son is Eternal. There was never a time when He was not. Through Him all things were
made. Through Him order was given to the primal chaos. Thus, the marvelous and sweet order
we observe in the universe is due to the eternal wisdom of the eternal Word. That same
well-ordering eternal Word is the Word made flesh, who dwell among us beginning with His
coming birth at Bethlehem.
Each of the "O Antiphons" carries Old Testament biblical figures. At the same
time each one carries an element of the New Covent. These two characteristics are
juxtaposed and a third dimension emerges which serves as a point of meditation when
considering the Incarnate Word, the Son of God made flesh.
In today's "O Antiphon" - "O Sapientia" - we are drawn into the
Old Testament's
wisdom literature. Wisdom is a divine attribute. The divine Wisdom is personified. Wisdom
is the beloved daughter who was before Creation, Wisdom is the breath of God's power,
Wisdom is the shining of God's (transforming) glory. (See Sirach 24:3 and Wisdom 8:1.)
Wisdom is also something which we deeply desire. It is also a human attribute, not just a
divine attribute, though authentic human wisdom is never separated from a relationship with God.
Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, as we learn from the psalms as
well as the school of
personal hard-knocks. From this convergence of awesome respect for God with
the experience of
learning through life's mysterious calendar, we understand (if we are wise) that wisdom is
more than mere knowledge. It is something more than love. It is something more than just
a special astuteness regarding how to get along in life, a certain kind of savoir
faire. Rooted as it is in fear
of the Lord, true human wisdom is both love and that knowledge of God that seeks to understand,
the knowledge that is completed by faith.
The Prologue of John's Gospel refers to the "Verbum caro factum...the Word made
flesh". He is the divine Logos... the eternal thought/word/reason. Through Him all
things were made. Without Him nothing can be. So, the New Testament image in the Prologue of John
brings to completion the imagery of Wisdom. He, the Word, is the archetype of the material universe. All
things are ordered in and to Him.
Our lives, to be happy, need order. Our individual private lives and our collective
lives in larger society must have structure and order. They must be disposed in
such a way that the real and genuine good of all is fostered and promoted. Thus, in human
governance we struggle to find the proper balance of exercise of power (without which
governance and order is not possible) and gentle concern for the individual and community
(without which there is mere imposition and tyranny and exploitation for some end material
or ideological). Wisdom permits the balance of these.
This first "O Antiphon" shows us the Creator of all that is invisible and
visible, the whole of spiritual and material creation. It is moving according to
an eternally
disposed plan of divine Providence toward an inexorable end: that God may be all in
all. In this end the blessed elect will participate. We have had the way opened for us toward
this end by the Word (divine) made flesh (human). Our humanity now sits in transformed
glory at the right hand of the Father in an indestructible bond with the Son's divinity.
The risen Christ is the new Adam...the new Creation. With unspeakable sweetness He orders our salvation. With
irresistible power all things exist and move
according to His will. Our lives have meaning only in Him, according to His guidance, who handles us
"suaviter et fortiter".
Our Old Testament and New Testament figures and images merge into a new point of reflection for our
lives which today's "O Antiphon" underscores as "prudence"
- "Come...Teach us
the way of prudence!"
"Prudence" comes from the Latin "to see/look ahead". It is one of the
four "cardinal" virtues, one which other virtues depend. Prudence is a habit of
the intellect that allows us to see in any circumstance what is virtuous and what is not.
Prudence helps us to seek what is virtuous and avoid what is not. Prudence perfects the
intellect (rather than the will) in practical decisions. It determines which course of
action must be taken. It indicates what the golden mean is hic et nunc...here and
now. This mean is at the core of every virtue. Without the virtue of prudence courage becomes
foolhardiness... rushing in to the wrong danger in the wrong way at the wrong time.
Without the governing of prudence mercy devolves into slackness and enervated weakness,
spinelessness.
But this is still a kind of prudence which is merely human prudence, not
looking beyond the issues of daily life. We must also look beyond this vale of
tears. In addition to the prudence which grows out of the school of hard-knocks and which
becomes a sound and good habit through repeated acts, there is another prudence, an
"infused" prudence. This kind of prudence is a grace given us by
God out of His merciful love. This greater prudence, which governs other
grace-filled virtues, cannot be separated from the life of grace. It is exercised in the
state of grace. Mortal sin is its enemy. This higher kind of prudence
helps us to determine the proper things that help us to salvation. It
helps us to avoid things that
slam the door that Christ opened (mortal sin). Thus, prudence cannot be separated from
charity, which is in the soul as a characteristic of sanctifying (habitual) grace.
Today in the opening "O Antiphon" we sing to Emmanuel who is
coming. We plead
with Him, for He orders all things "sweetly and strongly."
He teaches us how to avoid things that harm us, both in material concerns and
in our pursuit of the happiness of heaven. He teaches us true prudence.
Take stock: is there something going on in my life that needs to be examined
in prudence? Am I doing something which is
going to be an obstacle to the happiness of heaven? Christ is coming, both at Christmas
as the infant King and the
end of the world as the Judge and King of fearful majesty. This is a cause to
rejoice. But it is also cause to prepare prudently and well the way of the Lord
and make straight His paths before He comes, as we heard about on "Gaudete"
("Rejoice!) Sunday of Advent.