Advent - the promise and power of yearning

As we enter into the last week of Advent, we are blessed with the riches of the ancient liturgical prayers known as the “O Antiphons”. 

Traditionally these antiphons were prayed in the Divine Office during Vespers as part of the Magnificat Antiphon. This custom goes back to around the 6th century or so. But for those of you who do not pray the Divine Office, you will notice that these have also become the Gospel Acclamation for daily Mass. 

These antiphons really help us to understand the prophecies of the Messiah, and give us a solid scriptural context to understand what we celebrate every Christmas. But at the same time, the antiphons are placed in a particular order that emphasises for us the stages of God’s revelation of himself in the Old Testament and brings us into sharing this divine drama so that the intense longing and yearnings expressed in the antiphons become our own personal prayers. As each day goes on, the invocation at the end of the antiphon increases in intensity. 

These antiphons are also the basis for the Christmas carol “O come Emmanuel” - which can also be a beautiful song to sing everyday during this last week of Advent, so that we can soak in the prophecies of scripture and allow the Holy Spirit to speak to us. 

The website Rorate Caeli has an excellent post about the history and meaning of the antiphons, and there is a chart made by a monk who connected each of the antiphons to a particular mystery of the life of Christ and connects it to the gifts of the Holy Spirit as outlined in the book of Isaiah (Isaiah 11:2-3), which is the traditional list of gifts of the Spirit that we receive at Confirmation. So this may be a different way for you to use the O Antiphons for personal meditation in preparation for Christmas. 

Christmas is so much more than just warm fuzzy nostalgic feelings. The Liturgy teaches us there is something far more powerful, mysterious, awe inspiring, wonderful and even cosmic that all of us Christians participate in and allow people are invited into - salvation in the Messiah and through Him, united to Him in baptism to become fellow children of God by the mystery of the Incarnation - the Word of God, the Son who became flesh and dwelt among us. 

I hope these O Antiphons open you up to the true meaning of Christmas, and in union with the Liturgy you are able to experience the burning desire, the deep yearning, the excitement and the powerful hope of calling upon Jesus to come and save us - to come again in all His glory, and to come flesh within us even now through the Eucharist, as we remember His first coming when he humbled himself as a little child so that we would accept him without fear

Come teach us the way of prudence!

Come and redeem us with outstretched arm!

Come deliver us, and delay no longer! 

Come and free those held captive in prison!

Come and free those who dwell in darkness and in the shadow of death! 

Come and save the human race who you made from clay!

Come and save us our Lord and God! 

Come Lord Jesus! 🙏

https://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2022/12/the-o-antiphons-history-theology-and.html?m=1

Albertus Magnus - mystic and scientist

As many of you may have noticed, I often emphasise and share information about the Doctors of the Church. I try to share devotion to them because the Popes have declared them as Teachers (the meaning of the word Doctor in Latin) for the whole Church, and so they are not only important but it also means we should try to learn about them and more importantly, from them. 

Today is the memorial of St Albert the Great. He is famous for being the teacher of St Thomas Aquinas, who is one of the most famous of all the Doctors of the Church. But St Albert is also a Doctor due to his own merits and teachings, not because of his famous pupil student. 

He is the Patron Saint of Science due to his study of the natural world and his writings about plants, animals and nature in general. But he was not just a philosopher who taught Aristotle to St Thomas Aquinas, but also a man of prayer and a mystic. 

As Pope Benedict XVI said about him in one of his Wednesday Audiences: 

“He still has a lot to teach us. Above all, St Albert shows that there is no opposition between faith and science, despite certain episodes of misunderstanding that have been recorded in history. A man of faith and prayer, as was St Albert the Great, can serenely foster the study of the natural sciences and progress in knowledge of the micro and macrocosm, discovering the laws proper to the subject, since all this contributes to fostering thirst for and love of God. “ 

Here is a link for a short book attributed to St Albert on union with God aka “cleaving to God” that I highly recommend. It is easy to read, short chapters, and most importantly gives good simple advice on prayer. But this is not a book about saying certain prayers and devotions, but on the true and beautiful mystical way of prayer we call contemplation. The focus is on how to seek after and strive for union with God. Please take the time to read it, or save it and read a page or two a day 🙏 it’s worth it, I promise you! 

One of the things about this particular book that helped me to go deeper in prayer - is the way he emphasises that we constantly need to cling onto the humanity of Jesus and take refuge/shelter in His wounds. He links this in with the scripture from the Song of Songs about how a dove finds safety in the cleft of a rock, and so we too should fly to to side of Jesus for our place of rest and refuge. 

https://motherofmercychapter.com/Library/albert-the-great-on-cleaving-to-god.pdf

May you have a fruitful Lent that strengthens you in hope

As we enter into the Holy Season of Lent today, I wanted to remind you what its all about. 

No doubt many of you will see a bombardment of messages online about requirements for fasting, obligations for fasting, obligations about penance etc…  Although I’m sure it is well meaning - these messages and emphasis on Lent often cause a type of anxiety within us that makes us scared of Lent instead of eagerly embracing it. 

Yes Lent is hard, yes Lent is long. But the goal of Lent is not about being miserable and self denial for the sake of it, rather it is about being led by the Holy Spirit WITH Jesus into the desert (Matt 4:1) - where Jesus teaches us how to not be overcome by sin and the devil. We participate in Jesus’ own encounter of the desert where he recapitulates in his own person, the entire journey and history of Israel. The journey through the desert is our personal intensive spiritual bootcamp, but communally as the Church as the Mystical Body of Christ we are united to Jesus the Head who leads us through the desert to become sharers in his victory over the devil. 

Prayer, fasting, penance, mortification and almsgiving are all means to an end. They are not the goal itself. Our goal is union with Christ who frees us from bondage of the devil and sin. This they are useful tools in our spiritual journey and discipline, but although they are essential, they are only part of a greater whole - freedom in Christ. 

So this Lent, I pray that you can enter into the spirit of Lent far beyond giving up chocolate, or coffee and then struggling after a few days. Lent is a long marathon, not a sprint. So many of us get worn out after a few days, break our fasts, forget to do prayers - then feel guilty and bad, regretting even starting Lent. This means for most of us we never experience Lent as being fruitful. For most of us it is often an incredibly unfruitful time. 

Part of the reason for this obviously is to do with spiritual warefare, and the devil attacking us so we give up before we even start. He loves to sabotage us so we get frustrated and give up - despair always comes from him. 

But often we are not disciplined in our spiritual life as a whole, and so don’t practice fasting or mortification much (if at all) throughout the year - and so this is why Lent for us so often is a major failure. We can’t just go cold turkey with things. Asceticism is about time and patience. Time with God, time reading scripture - so that we can hear the Holy Spirit and truly be led by him into the desert with Jesus. Asceticism isn’t only about denial, it is about training for love, training for God so that our entire life is transformed by the Gospel and we have the capacity to be filled by God and restored to the image of Christ. 

So take some time to reflect on your chosen penances, and see if they are realistic for you. Check if they are motivated by the love of God and actually will help you spiritually to meet your goal of union with God. Or have you mistakenly chosen things that sound “good” on paper but you never practice in your life and so you now want to try practice it during Lent - but always fail? As Jesus teaches us “he who is faithful in little things will be faithful in great things” (Luke 16:10). As Christians our entire life should be based on practicing self control, and this Lent becomes the powerhouse that trains us and strengthens us to be able to continue practicing self control for the rest of the year, and the rest of our lives. 

May the Fathers and Saints help us to understand how to make this Lent fruitful and meaningful, so that instead of anxiety, fear and failure - you have a gracefilled time of transformation and growth so that you become worthy of the fruits of repentance (Matt 3:8).

Transformed into Christ

Today is the memorial of St Henry de Ossò. He was a Spanish priest who spent much time and energy in teaching others through catechesis. Inspired by St Teresa of Avila, he ended up founding a congregation of teaching sisters called “The Society of St Teresa”. 

It struck me in his writings how passionate he was about the necessity of uniting to Christ. But not in a generic sense - an absolute conformity of our whole life to the life of Christ, so that we can be transformed into Christ via our imitation and conformity to him. So that learning to think think and behave as Jesus did, we learn his own very thoughts and feelings - so that his heart becomes our own. 

His entire thought was based on the mystery Incarnation. Through the mystery of God becoming flesh in Jesus Christ, our own flesh and humanity has now been sanctified and redeemed. His entire life and ministry saves us, not just his crucifixion and resurrection. Not just his preaching the Gospel. But his day to day existence of living - breathing, eating, sleeping. All of this was done for our salvation, which was the entire purpose for our existence. So the more that we live our entire daily life imitating Christ, learning to think and feel like him - then our conformity to him results in our transformation into him, so that our entire existence also saves us. Everything I do in Jesus united to him becomes part of Jesus’ own life that saves us all. 

This is so profound and yet so simple. Our baptism makes us a new creation on Christ, so that our whole life is a process of transformation into Christ. Everything we do as Catholics is oriented to this. Then we we receive Jesus in the Eucharist he mysteriously unites us to himself and transforms us into himself, giving us the power to continue living out our life in union with him. Then with Christ living in me (Galatians 2:20), every little thing I do in him and with him becomes sanctifying moments where my life becomes the life of Christ… as St Henry de Ossò beautiful says: 

What an inspiring thought! I will live, sleep, speak, listen, work, suffer—I will do everything, I will suffer everything in union with Jesus, with the same divine intention and sentiments that Jesus had and with which He suffered, which is what Jesus wants of me.

May all of us learn how to “Live Jesus!” so that together with St Paul we can truly say “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20)

May every Mass and Holy Communion you receive bring you into conformity to Christ, so that you may be transformed into him. 

May your transformation in Christ show others the beauty and light of Christ, so they too desire him. 

May your love of Christ overflow in all that you do, so that others desire to be Children of the Father, just as you are in Christ. 

May the peace of Christ strengthen and fortify you, so that others seek to be anchored to the cross and crucified together with Christ. 

May the life you live now, be the eternal life we will one day live with Christ, who loves us and feeds us even now in the Eucharist - which is his very own life. 

Magi or Kings - Does it matter? The answer is yes!

The Feast of the Epiphany is also called the feast of the “Three Kings” in many parts of Europe. 

In the traditional iconography and symbolism about Epiphany, you will often see the Magi of the Gospel of Matthew portrayed as 3 Kings. Why is this? Usually around this time of year you will hear “scholars” who will have all sorts of esoteric theories about the identity of the Magi and will make a point to discredit the traditional symbolism of the 3 Kings. They will claim that any details we have of them outside of the Gospel narrative is unscriptural and therefore incorrect. But I disagree… 

As mentioned in a previous post, it is vital for us to understand who the Messiah is and how Jesus Christ fulfills these biblical messianic prophecies. 

The Gospel of Matthew refers to the men of the east as the Magi. Various people have interpreted this to mean they were magicians, or astrologers, or even Zoroastrian priests. But the common consensus is that they were not kings. So where did the traditional understanding come from for us to consider them as kings? 

This confusion is the result of trying to read and interpret the New Testament outside of the context of the Old Testament. Because what is oblivious to us modern readers in the Gospel of Matthew, would have been abundantly obvious to any Jewish reader in the first few centuries after the birth of Jesus. 

Psalm 72:10-11 is one of the scripture verses understood and interpreted by the Church and Tradition as referring to the Magi. This verses refers to the “Kings of Tarshish, Sheba & Seba” bringing gifts to a Jewish Davidic King, as well as them submitting to him through bowing down in homage. Importantly, you can see that this verse refers to the kings of 3 different nations, but it can also be interpreted as referring to 3 Kings in total. 

Later on in verse 15 of Psalm 72 you will see it mentions a gift of gold coming from Sheba. This is interesting because it is connected to how the Queen of Sheba visited King Solomon and brought him gifts of gold (1 Kings 10:1-2). The abundance of gifts that the Queen of Sheba brought to King Solomon was brought there via camel, which helps to explain why the Magi are often represented as being on camels although camels are not mention by the Gospel of Matthew. Camels are also mentioned in the prophecy of Isaiah that says camels from Midian, Ephah and Sheba will bring gifts of gold and frankincense (Isaiah 60:5-6). 

Once you are immersed in the Old Testament scriptures and are aware of the messianic prophecies, it is now easy to see why the early Church understood the visit of the Magi as the fulfilment of the prophecies in Isaiah 60 & Psalm 72 of kings paying homage to the  David King of the Jews.  Foreign kings submitting to the King of Israel and doing homage to him, is also connected to biblical prophecies regarding “all nations and peoples” who will one day worship the God of Israel. This beautifully begins with the homage of the 3 Magi Kings to Jesus, and at the end of time will be complete when all people’s will come to worship the God of Jacob on Mount Zion (Isaiah 2:2-3). 

Now with this fuller biblical context, the message of the Gospel of Matthew makes so much more sense! 

It vividly comes alive and you understand why the feast day today is called Epiphany - in Greek this means  “manifestation”. An epiphany also has connotations of a sudden realisation of something that now becomes clear or obvious ie… manifest. This is why in the Eastern Traditions, this feast day also commemorates the other 2 theophanies of Jesus - his baptism in the Jordan, and his miracle at the wedding of Cana. 

So far we can see that we have the 3 gifts in the Gospel of Matthew of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Psalm 72 refers to kings of 3 places - Tarshish, Sheba and Seba. Then Isaiah 60 refers to frankincense and gold coming from kings of 3 places - Midian, Ephah and Sheba. 

Is it any wonder then why tradition has identified the Magi as also being 3 Kings according to scripture? Topologically you can then begin to understand the deeper scriptural symbolism that “fills out” the brief sketch of the Magi in the Gospel of Matthew: 

• 3 Kings who recognised the true King of the Jews, instead of King Herod. 
• 3 gifts to the thrice-holy Davidic King of kings, the Annointed one of the Lord. 
• The threefold office of Christ as Priest, Prophet & King receiving gifts according to each office - Gold for a King, incense for a Priest to use in worship, and myrrh to embalm the body of a Prophet who will be killed 

All of this shows that it is perfectly reasonable and makes sense why the Magi are also called the 3 Kings. According to tradition their names are Kasper/Gaspar, Melchior and Balthasar.  Their relics are famously kept in Cologne Cathedral in Germany, as they are considered Saints. 

The Magi manifest and reveal to us the identity of this little infant child born in Bethlehem. The child born to be the Messiah King on the line of David, who’s reign will bring all the nations of the world to worship the thrice holy Triune God of Israel. The child who himself in the flesh is the image of the invisible God who saves us from sin. 

Just as Chapter 60 of Isaiah prophecies about foreign kings bringing incense and gold to the King and worshipping God on Zion, so too does Chapter 61 begin with the very words that Jesus himself quotes in Luke 4:16-21 as he declares himself to be the long awaited Messiah. The beginning of the good news he proclaims in the synagogue, is the very same good news we believe in and proclaim to all nations, all people at all times. 

The good news manifested and witnessed to by the Magi who came to Jesus full of joy (Matthew 2:10). Their encounter with Jesus changed them, so that they left by a different way than they came (Matthew 2:12). After encountering the good news of God in the flesh, they were changed and transformed. 

May these 3 Kings who were wise men, teach us to seek after the wisdom of God which is his glory, even when it looks as foolishness to the world (1 Corinthians 1:18-31). May they encourage us to allow the little child in Bethlehem to truly become the light of our lives so that we no longer try to follow the stars, but always be enlightened by the true Morning Star (2 Peter 1:19) and Sun of Righteousness (Malachi 4:2). May they inspire us through their witness to always joyfully proclaim the good news to all, even in the face of persecution and death - Jesus Christ is Lord! 

Living the hope of Jesus in the Jubilee Year 2025

For the last few years, I have tried to spend some time reflecting on the year that has past and to pray for the Lord to give me a word for the upcoming year. 

Last year I received Matthew 1:23 which I will admit, I received rather skeptically as it is very generic and also being so close to Christmas it was easy to dismiss as being something I would’ve recently heard. But it stuck with me, and so I reluctantly accepted it - but without appreciation or any gratitude. 

But the other week as I was preparing myself to reflect on the year past and see where the word that the Lord gave me has applied - it struck me quickly that it was exactly the word I needed for this past year! It can be very easy to talk about Practicing the Presence of God in a general way, but that is very different from learning how to live everyday the reality of Emmanuel - God with us! Not just a generic “us”, but more specifically God-with-me. God always present with me and in my life, in the ordinary day to day mundane messiness of my life without any dramatic signs or phenomena. 

Learning to not only recognise and appreciate this concrete presence of God-with-me, has forced me also to focus on the presence of Jesus with me at all moments and times. In the good and bad times, in the boring and mundane times. In my times of strength and achievement, but also just as present in my times of struggle with health and even mediocrity. My moments of unfaithfulness,  often manifested Jesus’ faithfulness to me more than any other moments in prayer and contemplation, his gentle faithful and loving presence with me always and everywhere. 

This year has not been as “busy” for me as previous years, nor have I had a lot of “achievements” to be proud of. This has forced me to step back and reflect time and time again by asking myself “why do I feel I need to DO something to PROVE myself?” then praying - “Lord what are you trying to teach me right now? Why am I struggling to rest in you? Why do I keep struggling with a sense of unworthiness and failure, instead of rejoicing in your love for me and your presence that sustains me and offers me rest?” 

So in a sense, this year has been for me a year of purification and detachment. Forcing me to find my nourishment and rest in Christ, instead of creating my own sense of worth through accomplishments. In another sense, it has felt a mixture between a dark night of senses, combined with a second “novitiate” for me as a hermit. Learning to let go of identity and externalism, so I can remain in the desert with Christ so he can give me rest and peace of soul. The peace that cannot be understood, that only he can give me and continuously calls me back to (Philippians 4:7, John 14:27). 

Part of this “letting go” and detachment has been in accepting that I am now on a Disability Pension and for the first time since I have been about 11, I no longer need to or have to work. But the Lord still keeps me busy through my online ministry with others, often ministering to me through the same words I am using to help others in their walk with the Lord. 

Moments that I am grateful for this year 

- Having my Disability Claim approved 

- Finally completing my Diploma in Counselling 

- Becoming a Registered Counsellor with the Australian Counsellors Association 

- Starting my online Private Practice “Logismoi Therapy”

- Designing my own Logo & creating the website for it as well www.logismoitherapy.com.au 

- Continuing to support others in Climbing the Mountain Spiritual Direction, especially seeing the progress made by directees I have worked with long term. The surprise of requests from new directees, as well as letting go other directees who have chosen not to continue for their own reasons but still remaining in contact with me 

- Continuing my Graduate Level Studies in Spiritual Theology with Avila Institute 

- The birth of my first niece Macy Voštan! 

- The visit of my Aunty Beth & Uncle Eric from England visiting us to spend time together 

One of the hardest parts of this year has been learning the difficult news of my mum having Stage 4 Lung Cancer. It has been a fine line between trying to remain positive and support my mum during treatment, while also preparing myself (emotionally and spiritually) for the inevitable reality when the time comes. 

It hit me the other week, that this is exactly why the Lord gave me the word of Matthew 1:23. Without the preparation from this word, and learning to live this reality everyday - I do not think I would have been able to handle the news about my mum’s diagnosis as well as I have. This does not mean that I have not had moments of crying and grief in accepting the news, because Lord knows how weak I am and how much I love my mum! But at the same time, in the midst of the grieving preparation/processing the news - I have been able to have a subtle but firm peace, knowing that God-is-with-me, my Emmanuel always faithful and ever loving. Purifying and strengthening my faith, while always drawing me deeper to himself through faith in darkness. But always trusting in his promise at the end of time to wipe away all  my tears (Rev 21:4). So that I can feel the presence of the Lord in my mum’s love for me, and that she too will experience Jesus’ love for her through my relationship with her. 

So what new word has the Lord given me for 2025? 

As I prayed today, I was reflecting on it also being the 2 year anniversary of the death of my beloved Pope Benedict XVI. Going through my saved quotes of his, I was reminded of his teachings on the virtue of Hope and the essential necessity of it in our spiritual life. I then felt the Lord speaking to me - “Do not live as one without hope!”. As I looked this up I found it in 1 Thessalonians 4:13, but the context is regarding grieving the loss of loved ones. So as I prayed on this to discern if this is really the word the Lord is giving me, I then felt him confirm it for me with the words “you have a living hope” which come from 1 Peter 1:3. 

With this upcoming year 2025 it could be easily for me to dismiss this word and confirmation from the Lord because this year is also the Jubilee Year of Hope! But believe it or not, I completely forgot about this until after I reflected on the verses from the Lord and then saw that 2025 is the Jubilee Year of Hope. So rather than invalidating my word, I see it as confirming it for me! This is because it is clear that not only is the entire Church called to live out our Hope in 2025, but in my own personal way the Lord is also calling me to learn how to live as one with WITH hope, because it is Jesus himself who is my living hope! 

Thankyou Lord for your love for me that can so easily be forgotten, dismissed or ignored. So you yourself through the mystery of your Incarnation have become love made flesh as my Emmanuel, God-with-me. Your faithful presence is always the source of my hope, because are the Lord of the living who gives me new life - you are my living hope always with me, now and forever. Amen 🙌

The longing desire for God - expressed in the power of “Oh!”

As we enter into the final week of Advent, I wanted to remind you about the beautiful and powerful “O Antiphons” that the Liturgy gives to us during this time. These Antiphons are poetic scriptural prophecies about the Messiah and highlight important typological symbolism prophesied about Christ in the Old Testament. 

Just as Jesus taught the disciples on the way to Emmaus about how all of the Prophets and Moses spoke about him before they could recognise him in the “breaking of the bread”(Luke 24:30-35) - so too does Jesus still reveal himself to us today through the Liturgy (Luke 24:26-27). 

Traditionally these O Antiphons are prayed in the Divine Office before the Magnificat during Evening Prayer/Vespers from 17-23 December. You may notice that there is a simplified version of these that are part of the Gospel Acclaimation during Mass from the same period of 17-23 December. 

It can be a good custom to take one of these each day to meditate on, so the Holy Spirit can help you enter into the deeper meaning of the final week of Advent. As I recently highlighted to you all in previous post, one of the prophecies about Jesus is as the “Desire of the Nations” and the link between the season of Advent and the yearning of the Patriarchs and Prophets in the Old Testament for the Messiah.

Think about how we use the term “Oh” in everyday life… it is often used as a form of exacerbation as well as exclamation! Oh my goodness! Oh yes! Oh well… oh that’s ok… Oh wow!! This helps to highlight the felt sense we are meant to feel and experience in praying the “Oh” Antiphons. As you pray them and hear them, meditating on them and feeling the expectation of the desire for salvation - listen to what the Lord is speaking to your heart through them. 

Which Messianic title and invocation speaks the most to you today?  What do you feel the Holy Spirit revealing to you in these words passages? 

• Do you feel yourself feeling excited and yearning for the Coming of the Lord with a burning desire?
• Or do you have a faint ache in your heart that starts to awaken hopefully? 

So this final week, intensify your own desire and yearning for Christ - learn how to pray to him according to his Messianic titles and discover a new depth to your understanding of who Jesus the Christ is for you, and for all who believe in him 🙌

—-

- O Sapientia/O Wisdom (December 17) 

O Wisdom (Sirach 24:3), You came forth from the mouth of the Most High (Sirach 24:3), and reaching from beginning to end You ordered all things mightily and sweetly (Wisdom 8:1). * Come, and teach us the way of prudence (Isaiah 40:14).

- O Adonai/O Lord and Ruler (December 18) 

O Adonai (Exod 3:14) and Ruler of the house of Israel (Matt 2:6; Micah 5:1; 2 Sam 5:2), You appeared to Moses in the fire of the burning bush (Exod 3:2) and on Mount Sinai gave him Your Law (Exod 20). 

* Come, and with an outstretched arm redeem us (Jeremiah 32:21).

- O Radix Jesse/O Root of Jesse (December 19) 

O Root of Jesse, (Isaiah 11:1) You stand for the ensign of mankind (Isaiah 11:10); before You kings shall keep silence and to You all nations shall have recourse (Isaiah 52:15). 

* Come, save us, and do not delay (Habakkuk 2:3).

- O Clavis David/O Key of David (December 20) 

O Key of David, (Isaiah 22:22; Revelation 3:7)  and Scepter of the house of Israel (Numbers 24:17): You open and no man closes; you close and no man opens (Isaiah 22:22). 

* Come, and deliver him from the chains of prison who sits in darkness and in the shadow of death (Ps 107:10).

- O Oriens/O Rising Dawn or Morning Star (December 21) 

O Rising Dawn, (Jer 23:5; Zechariah 3:8; 6:12), Radiance of the Light eternal (Habakkuk 3:4; Wisdom 7:26; Hebrews 1:3) and Sun of Justice (Malachi 3:20): 

* Come, and enlighten those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death (Ps 107:10; Lk 1:78).

- O Rex Gentium/O King of the Nations (December 22) 

O King of the Gentiles (Jeremiah 10:7; Haggai 2:7), and the Desired of all, You are the Cornerstone that binds two into one (Isaiah 28:16; Matthew 21:42; Ephesians 2:20). 

* Come, and save man whom You fashioned out of clay (Genesis 2:7).

- O Emmanuel/O God-with-us (December 23) 

O Emmanuel (Isaiah 7:14; 8:8; Luke 1:31-33), our King and Lawgiver (Genesis 49:10; cf. Ezekiel 21:32), the Expected of the nations and their Savior (Isa 33:22): 

* Come, and save us, O Lord our God.