Column: The Coming of the Emmanuel

December 1, 2022

by Father Connor McGinnis

At risk of stating the obvious, the music we sing in our churches can teach us a great deal about our faith. Beyond merely praising God with song (important as that is), it can actually be a way of deeply expressing the Church’s theology on a given matter. The arrival of Advent gives us an opportunity to dig into the treasury of music that the Church sings, with many of these hymns being perennial favorites. After all, we seldom hear about people going to “Easter concerts.” It seems that music used during Advent and Christmas carries a special significance for many people, and one of the most prominent hymns among the bunch would be "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel."

"O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" has at its origins a thousand-year-old tradition of prayer known as the “O Antiphons.” They are said in the week approaching Christmas during Vespers, the evening prayer segment of the Liturgy of the Hours, which every priest, deacon, and religious prays daily as “the prayer of the Church.”

It is from these antiphons that the verses of "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" developed. The antiphons are themselves instructive, though, allowing us to see for Whom we are waiting:

O Wisdom of our God Most High, guiding creation with power and love: come to teach us the path of knowledge!
O [Adonai,] Leader of the House of Israel, giver of the Law to Moses on Sinai: come to rescue us with your mighty power!
O Root of Jesse’s stem, sign of God’s love for all his people: come to save us without delay!
O Key of David, opening the gates of God’s eternal Kingdom: come and free the prisoners of darkness!
O Radiant Dawn, splendor of eternal light, sun of justice: come and shine on those who dwell in darkness and in the shadow of death.
O King of all nations and keystone of the Church: come and save man, whom you formed from the dust!
O Emmanuel, our King and Giver of Law: come to save us, Lord our God!

Whom and what are we awaiting? We are awaiting Wisdom personified in the Person of Jesus Christ, through Whom all things were made. We are awaiting Adonai, the Lord, the true leader of the people of God. We are awaiting the Root of Jesse’s stem, Jesse being the father of King David, and Jesus being the fulfillment of the promised King to follow David. We await the Key of David, Him Who opened Heaven for us by His death & Resurrection. We await the Radiant Dawn, who is a light in the world to those who would otherwise have no hope. We await the King of all nations – He who now rules and will rule all peoples, places, and times. We await the Emmanuel, which is God present among us, in the flesh, in the person of Jesus Christ.

Perhaps these can serve as points of reflection and prayer over the coming days and weeks. Jesus is the fulfillment of all these hopes; may we so cling to and seek after Him that we might see the realization of these hopes in our own lives.