Kirkepiscatoid

OOOOOO k. I meant to start posting these on the 17th. But I'm behind, ok? I decided this year, to pay more attention to the O Antiphons during Advent. I have been familiar with them for a long time, but some chanted/sung versions of them seem a little "dirge-y" to me.

For the un-initiated, The “O Antiphons” refer to the seven antiphons that are recited (or chanted) during the special period of Advent preparation frin December 17-23. The exact origin of the “O Antiphons” is not known, but we know they have been referenced from other texts as far back as 500 a.d. They outline the different roles for Christ as prophecied in the book of Isaiah.

So I got to thinking...what would happen if I wanted to make these a little less "Early Church" and bring them to the baby boomer crowd? So I am re-working each of the O Antiphons to 50's, 60's and 70's music. Here's the first one. I've put the "real" O Antiphon first, followed by my new um...creation. Anyway, this was the one for Dec. 17:

O Sapientia: “O Wisdom, O holy Word of God, you govern all creation with your strong yet tender care. Come and show your people the way to salvation.” Isaiah had prophesied, “The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him: a spirit of wisdom and of understanding, a spirit of counsel and of strength, a spirit of knowledge and fear of the Lord, and his delight shall be the fear of the Lord.” (Isaiah 11:2-3), and “Wonderful is His counsel and great is His wisdom.” (28:29).

O Sapientia to the tune of “Only You” (with apologies to the Platters)

Oh, oh Wisdom
O holy word of God
You-oo go-o-vern
All of creation
Only you, and you alone
With your strong and tender care
Can show your peo-ple to God’s great sal-va-tion

Oh, oh, Isaiah
Isaiah prophesied
That the spirit of God will rest on you
Of wisdom, understanding
Of counsel and of strength
Of knowledge and fear, fear of the Lord

Oh, oh, Adonai
Our fear is your delight
For it’s true that God is our true light
When you hold my hand I understand
Your power and your might
You’re my Lord my God, my sacred Adonai.