Photo: Sean Vivek Crasto
The sixth O Antiphon, which will be chanted tonight at Vespers at monasteries around the world:
O King of the nations, and their desire,
the cornerstone making both one:
Come and save the human race,
which you fashioned from clay.
All of these antiphons allude to the Messianic prophecies of Isaiah, with their promise of a coming king. But what kind of king? One that would rule by force and terror as all kings had in Isaiah’s time and throughout human history? Or did these prophecies point to a different kind of king? One that “shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks”? (Isaiah 2:4) A peaceable king for a peaceable kingdom?
O King of the nations, save us, for our desire is to be at peace:
Advent calendar graphics by Oh My Gluestick. They are intended for personal use only and may not be used commercially.
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