Seeker

Yesterday I blogged about the 1st of the great O Antiphons of Advent and explained how these sung responses to 'Mary's Song' are used during the last week of the 'run up to Christmas'. Today's antiphon is O Adonai. Adonai is usually translated as 'Lord'. It stands for the personal name of God, revealed to Moses, represented by 4 consonants (YHWH) in the Hebrew scriptures and considered too holy to be spoken. One English translation of the O Adonai antiphon is: "O Adonai and leader of the House of Israel, who appeared to Moses in the fire of the burning bush and gave him the law on Sinai: Come and redeem us with an outstretched arm." Another translation has the last line as 'come and set us free'. A more generally known version is this verse from the Advent hymn 'O Come Emmanuel': O come, O come, Thou Lord of might, Who to Thy tribes, on Sinai's height, In ancient times did'st give the Law, ...

Yesterday I posted the first of the refrains ('antiphons') used to accompany Mary's Song (the Magnificat) at Evening Prayer during the last 7 days of Advent. The second, used this evening is 'O Adonai'. One English translation is: "O Adonai and leader of the House of Israel,  who appeared to Moses in the fire of the burning bush  and gave him the law on Sinai:  Come and redeem us with an outstretched arm." 'Adonai' is generally translated as 'Lord' - it stands for the personal name of God, revealed to Moses, represented by 4 letters in the Hebrew scriptures and considered too holy to be spoken. Once again Malcolm Guite has a sonnet inspired by today's Antiphon and the Bible readings that are its basis (Exodus 3:2; Exodus 24:12; Isaiah 11: 45; Isaiah 22:22) There's a reflection with some wonderful images on the blog of Blue Eyed Ennis, based on today's antiphon. And for listening, looking and praying I like...