Seeker

The 3rd of the Advent O Antiphons (refrains) sung with the Magnificat (song of Mary) at Evening Prayer today is 'O Radix Jesse' meaning 'O Root of Jesse'. If you don't know what the Advent O Antiphons are take a look at the 1st post in this daily 2016 series for the last week of Advent.  What's the 'Root of Jesse' got to do with the run-up to Christmas? Why refer to Jesse in this last week of Advent? Who was Jesse anyway? Many hundreds of years before Christ, Jesse was a sheep farmer in Bethlehem and father of many children. Jesse was faithful to God and is significant as the father of his youngest child David who was anointed by the prophet Samuel to be King over Israel. (You can read that story in 1 Samuel 16: 1 - 13 ). Both Jesse and King David are listed in the Gospel of Matthew's genealogy of "Joseph the husband of Mary,   of whom Jesus was born,   who is called the Messiah." ( Matthew 1: 1 - 17 ) By the time of...

Chartres Cathedral in France has some amazing stained glass. This photo is of the Jesse window, created about 1150 A.D., one of the few windows that survived the fire of 1194. Jesse was the father of King David into whose family Jesus was born many generations later. The 3rd of the Advent O Antiphons (refrains) sung with the Magnificat (song of Mary) at Evening Prayer today is 'O Radix Jesse' meaning 'O Root of Jesse'. One of the Bible passages on which it is based is Isaiah 11: 1 - 11 which begins: "A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord." An English translation of the original Latin antiphon for today is: "O Root of Jesse, standing as a sign among the peoples; before you kings will...