Advent Antiphon: O Wisdom

O come, thou Wisdom, from on high, Who ord'rest all things mightily;

to us the path of knowledge show, and teach us in her ways to go.

December 17, the first day of the beautiful and haunting O Antiphons! Among the most splendid poetry of the church, these ancient antiphons form the basis of the favorite Advent hymn "O come, O come, Emmanuel."  The church uses them in her liturgy as the Magnificat antiphon for Evening Prayer and also as the verse of the Gospel Acclamation at Mass. As you can see from the quotation above, the order of the O antiphons in the liturgy differs from that in the familiar hymn. The first one salutes Christ as Wisdom.

One of the psalms often used during Advent is Psalm 25, which asks God to teach us his ways and show us the path we must walk. This Advent antiphon, whether in the original text or in the hymn, succinctly and poetically sums up this request. Also, it follows the ancient Christian tradition of identifying Christ with the Wisdom of God. When you think of it, some of the greatest figures of ancient Israel prized wisdom and knew to ask God for this gift: King David in the great penitential Psalm 51, and of course, his son King Solomon, whose beautiful prayer for wisdom is found in the Book of Wisdom, chapter 9.  Chapter 8 of the same book contains a number of references that the Christian tradition applies to Jesus. Read it and you'll be amazed. And of course, read chapter 9 to pray for wisdom. Where do you need God's gift of wisdom in your life? Ask King Solomon to join you in prayer.