Fourth O Antiphon: O Clavis David (December 20th)
The O Clavis David is the fourth Antiphon of the O Antiphons, prayed on December 20th of Advent.
The meditation portion is not part of the O Antiphons, but is found in Dom Guerenger’s The Liturgical here. It is simply included here for your spiritual enrichment.
Fourth O Antiphon: O Clavis David
O Clavis David et sceptrum domus Israel, qui aperis, et nemo claudit; claudis, et nemo aperit; veni, et educ vinctum de domo carceris, sedentem in tenebris, et umbra mortis.
Translation: O Key of David, and scepter of the house of Israel! who opens, and no man shuts: who shuts, and no man opens; come, and lead the captive from prison, sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death.
Pray the O Antiphon & the Magnificat
The Magnificat
| Antiphon: O Clavis David et sceptrum domus Israel, qui aperis, et nemo claudit; claudis, et nemo aperit; veni, et educ vinctum de domo carceris, sedentem in tenebris, et umbra mortis. Magníficat ánima mea Dóminum. Et exultávit spíritus meus: in Deo salutári meo. Quia respéxit humilitátem ancíllae suae: Ecce enim ex hoc beátam me dicent omnes generatiónes. Quia fécit mihi mágna qui pótens est: et sánctum nómen eius. Et misericórdia eius in progénies et progénies timéntibus eum. Fécit poténtiam in bráchio suo: dispérsit supérbos mente cordis sui. Depósuit poténtes de sede: et exaltávit húmiles. Esuriéntes implévit bonis: et dívites dimísit inánes. Suscépit Ísrael púerum suum: recordátus misericórdiae suae. Sicut locútus est ad patres nostros: Ábraham, et sémini eius in saecula. Glória Patri, et Fílio, et Spirítui Sancto, Sicut erat in princípio, et nunc, et semper, et in sæcula sæculórum. Amen. Repeat Antiphon | Antiphon: O Key of David, and sceptre of the house of Israel! who opens, and no man shutts: who shuts, and no man opens; come, and lead the captive from prison, sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death. My soul doth magnify the Lord. And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior. Because He hath regarded the humility of His slave: For behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. Because He that is mighty hath done great things to me; and holy is His name. And His mercy is from generation unto generations, to them that fear Him. He hath shewed might in His arm: He hath scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart. He hath put down the mighty from their seat, and hath exalted the humble. He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich He hath sent empty away. He hath received Israel His servant, being mindful of His mercy: As He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his seed for ever. Glory be the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forever and ever, Amen. Repeat Antiphon |
Meditation
O 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. Scarcely an inch of this ground has not witnessed the miracles of the justice and mercy of Jehovah, Thy Father, to the people of the old Covenant, which is so soon to end. Before long, when Thou hast come from beneath the virginal cloud which now hides Thee, Thou will 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 receives 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 hast 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 has enriched by Thy grace, and the creatures whom Thou has made to be Thine own brethren.
From The Liturgical Year, by Dom Guerenger.
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