December 20
FOURTH
ANTIPHON
O Key of David
O
Key of David, and Sceptre of the house of Israel! Who
openest, and no man shutteth: who shuttest, and No
man openeth; come and lead the captive from prison, Sitting
in darkness and in the shadow of death.
0 Jesus, Son of David ' heir to his throne and his power! thou art now
passing over, in thy way to Bethlehem, the land that once was the kingdom of
thy ancestor, but now is tributary to the Gentiles. Scarce an inch of this
ground which has not witnessed the miracles of the justice and the mercy of
Jehovah, thy Father, to the people of that old Covenant, which is so soon to
end. Before long, when thou hast come from beneath the virginal cloud which now
hides thee, thou wilt pass along this same road doing good, healing all manner
of sickness and every infirmity, and yet having not where to lay thy head? Now,
at least, thy Mother's womb affords thee the sweetest rest, and thou receivest
from her the profoundest adoration and the tenderest love. But, dear Jesus, it
is thine own blessed will that thou leave this loved abode. Thou hast, O
Eternal Light, to shine in the midst of this world's darkness, this prison
where the Captive, whom thou art come to deliver, sits in the shadow of death.
Open his prison-gates by thy all-powerful Key. And who is this Captive, but the
human race, the slave of error and vice? Who is this Captive, but the heart of
man, which is thrall to the very passions it blushes to obey? Oh! come and set
at liberty the world thou hast enriched by thy grace, and the creatures whom
thou hast made to be thine own Brethren.
Virgin and Child with the Infant St John the Baptist and Gabriel
by Ferdinand Bol
ANTIPHON
TO THE ANGEL GABRIEL
O Gabriel! the Messenger of heaven, who camest unto me through the closed doors, and didst announce the Word unto me: Thou shalt conceive and bear a Son, and he shall be called Emmanuel.
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