The Other Major Antiphons for the End of Advent

The best known feature of the Office in Advent is of course the O Antiphons, which will be upon us on Sunday, said with the Magnificat from December 17-23. Their prominence has perhaps overshadowed some of the other riches of the season, which has an unusually large number of proper texts. In addition to the daily antiphons of the Benedictus and Magnificat, the psalms at Sunday Matins also have their own antiphons, which is not true of either Lent or Passiontide, and each individual Sunday has another set of five antiphons for the psalms of Lauds and Vespers, also used at the minor Hours of the day.The last six ferias before the vigil of Christmas also each have a proper set of antiphons to be sung with the psalms of Lauds, and repeated at the minor Hours, though not at Vespers; they are one of the most beautiful parts of the Gregorian repertoire. If December 17 is a Sunday, as it is this year, these begin on Monday the 18th; otherwise, on the 17th, along with the Os.A folio of the winter volume of the Hartker Antiphonary, end of the 10th century, beginning with the 3rd antiphon for Monday. San Gallen Stiftsbibliothek. Cod. Sang. 390. I have here set them out in tables, with the Latin on one side and an English translation on the other. With the Latin, I have indicated the psalms and canticles with which they are currently sung according to the Breviary of St Pius X. Prior to his reform in 1911, the third psalm of Lauds each day was Psalms 62 and 66 said together as a single psalm, and the fifth was Psalms 148, 149 and 150, also said together as a single psalm.On the English side, I have noted the Biblical citations in the text; “vs.” stands for “verse”, indicating that the antiphon is a verse of the psalm or canticle with which it is sung. Many of them are not Scriptural at all, and some of them, such as the very first one, Ecce veniet Dominus, are either vaguely or only partially taken from the Bible. The traditional corpus of Breviary antiphons is very ancient, and some of the Biblical citations come from the Old Latin version of the Bible used before St Jerome’s Vulgate translation, such as the antiphon Deus a Libano which is said with the canticle of Habacuc.Monday Aña 1 Ecce veniet Dominus,princeps regum terræ: beatiqui parati sunt occurrere illi.Psalm 50 Behold the Lord shall come, thePrince of the kings of the earth:blessed are they that are pre-pared to meet him. (Apoc. 1, 5) 2 Cum venerit Filius hominis,putas inveniet fidem superterram? Psalm 5 When the Son of Man shallcome, thinkest thou that Heshall find faith upon the earth?(Luke 18, 8) 3 Ecce jam venit plenitudotemporis, in quo misit DeusFilium suum in terras.Psalm 28 Behold, the fullness of time hathalready come, in which Godhath sent His Son upon thelands. (Galatians 4, 4) 4 Haurietis aquas in gaudiode fontibus Salvatoris.Canticle of Isaiah, chapter12, 1-6  Ye shall draw waters in joy fromthe fountains of the Savior.(vs. 3) 5 Egredietur Dominus de lo-co sancto suo: veniet ut sal-vet populum suum. Ps. 116 The Lord will go forth from Hisholy place, He will come to savehis people.Tuesday Aña 1 Rorate, caeli, desuper,et nubes pluant justum; ape-riatur terra, et germinet Sal-vatorem. Psalm 50 Drop down dew, ye heavens,from above, and let the cloudsrain the Just One; let the earth beopened, and bud forth a Savior.(Isaiah 45, 8) 2 Emitte Agnum, Domine,Dominatorem terræ, de Petradeserti, ad montem filiaeSion. Psalm 42 Send forth the lamb, O Lord,the ruler of the earth, from Petraof the desert, to the mount of thedaughter of Sion. (Isaiah 16, 1) 3 Ut cognoscamus, Domine,in terra viam tuam, in omni-bus gentibus salutare tuum.Psalm 66 May we know, o Lord, Thy wayupon the earth, Thy salvation inall nations. (vs. 3) 4 Da mercedem, Domine,sustinentibus te, ut Prophe-tae tui fideles inveniantur.Canticle of King Ezechiah,Isaiah, 38, 10-20  Reward them, o Lord, thatpatiently wait for Thee, thatThy prophets may be foundfaithful. (Sir. 36, 18) 5 Lex per Moysen data est;gratia et veritas per JesumChristum facta est.Psalm 134 The law was given by Moses;grace and truth came by JesusChrist. (John 1, 17) In many medieval Uses, the first antiphon of the following set, Prophetae praedicaverunt, was said with the Psalms of either Lauds or Vespers, or both, in the Little Office of the Virgin Mary during Advent.The Nativity with the Prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel, by Duccio di Buoninsegna, 1308-11. (From the website of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.; click to see in high resolution.)Wednesday Aña 1 Prophetae praedica-verunt nasci Salvatorem deVirgine Maria. Psalm 50 The prophets foretold that theSavior would be born of theVirgin Mary. 2 Spiritus Domini superme, evangelizare pauperi-bus misit me.Psalm 64 The Spirit of the Lord is uponme, He hath sent me to preachgood tidings to the poor. (Isa.61, 1, as cited in Luke 4, 18) 3 Propter Sion non tacebo,donec egrediatur ut splen-dor justus ejus.Psalm 100 For Sion’s sake I will not holdmy peace, till her just one comeforth as brightness. (Isa. 62, 1) 4 Ecce veniet Dominus, utsedeat cum principibus, etsolium gloriae teneat.Canticle of Anna, I Kings2, 1-10  Behold, the Lord shall come tosit with princes, and hold thethrone of glory. (vs. 8) 5 Annuntiate populis et di-cite: Ecce Deus Salvatornoster veniet. Psalm 145 Proclaim ye to the peoples, andsay: Behold, God our Saviorshall come. Thursday Aña 1 De Sion veniet Domi-nus omnipotens, ut salvumfaciat populum suum. Ps. 50 From Sion shall come the LordAlmighty to save His people. 2 Convertere, Domine, ali-quantulum, et ne tardes ve-nire ad servos tuos.Psalms 89 Return, o Lord, a little while, anddelay not to come to Thy ser-vants. 3 De Sion veniet, qui regna-turus est Dominus, Emma-nuel magnum nomen ejus.Psalm 35 From Sion shall come the Lordwho is to rule, Emmanuel isHis great name. 4 Ecce Deus meus, et hono-rabo eum: Deus patris mei,et exaltabo eum. Canticle ofMoses, Exodus 15, 1-19  Behold my God, and I will honorHim, the God of my father, andI will exalt Him. (vs. 2) 5 Dominus legifer noster,Dominus Rex noster, ipseveniet, et salvabit nos.Psalm 146 The Lord is our law-giver, theLord is our king, He will comeand save us. (Isaiah 33, 22) Friday Aña 1 Constantes estote, vi-debitis auxilium Domini su-per vos. Psalm 50 Be ye steady, ye shall see thehelp of the Lord upon you.(I Chronicles 20, 17) 2 Ad te, Domine, levavianimam meam: veni, et eri-pe me, Domine, ad te con-fugi? Psalm 142 To Thee, o Lord, I have lifted upmy soul: come and deliver me,o Lord, to thee have I fled.(vss 8-9) 3 Veni, Domine, et noli tar-dare: relaxa facinora plebituae Israël. Psalm 84 Come, o Lord, delay Thou not;forgive the crimes of Thypeople Israel. 4 Deus a Libano veniet, etsplendor ejus sicut lumenerit. Canticle of Habakkuk,chapter 3, 1-19  God will come from the Leba-non, and His brightness shall beas the light. (vss. 8 and 9) 5 Ego autem ad Dominumaspiciam, et exspectaboDeum, Salvatorem meum.Psalm 147 But I will look towards theLord, I will wait for Godmy Saviour. (Micah 7, 7)  The Testament of Moses, by Luca Signorelli and Bartolomeo della Gatta, 1482, Sistine Chapel, Vatican City.The Breviary of St Pius V has no special set of antiphons for Saturday, on which the ones impeded by the feast of St Thomas the Apostle on December 21st are used. (Obviously, this is not done if Saturday itself is the 21st.) However, the antiphon for the Old Testament canticle from the impeded set is replaced by a proper antiphon Exspectetur, which corresponds to the Canticle of Moses in Deuteronomy 32. When the vigil of Christmas falls on a Sunday, as it does this year, the Thursday set is impeded by St Thomas, and omitted that year; the antiphons from the Fourth Sunday of Advent are anticipated to Saturday, with Exspectetur for the canticle.This custom was changed in the Breviary reform of St Pius X; Saturday is given its own antiphons, and those impeded by St Thomas’ day are simply omitted. Of the four new antiphons, the first and fifth (Intuemini and Paratus esto) are found in several very old chant manuscripts, and were widely used in the Middle Ages; the second and third (Multiplicabitur and Ego Dominus) appear to be new compositions made specifically for this reform.Saturday Aña 1 Intuemini, quantus sitgloriosus iste, qui ingrediturad salvandos populos.Psalm 50 Behold ye how glorious is thisone, that cometh in to save thepeoples. 2 Multiplicabitur ejus im-perium, et pacis non eritfinis. Psalm 91 His empire shall be multiplied,and there shall be no end ofpeace. (Isaiah 9, 7) 3 Ego Dominus prope fecijustitiam meam, non elon-gabitur, et salus mea nonmorabitur. Psalm 63 I the Lord have brought my jus-tice near, it shall not be afaroff, and my salvation shall nottarry. (Isaiah 46, 12) 4 Exspectetur, sicut pluvia,eloquium Domini: et de-scendat, sicut ros, super nosDeus noster. Canticle ofMoses, Deut. 32, 1-43  Let the word of the Lord beawaited, like the rain, and letour God descend upon us likethe dew. (vs. 2) 5 Paratus esto, Israel, in oc-cursum Domini, quoniamvenit. Psalm 150 But I will look towards theLord, I will wait for God mySaviour. (Amos 4, 12) Finally, on December 21st and 23rd, there are special antiphons to be said with the Benedictus, the last of these an especially fitting final word of the season, before the special office of the vigil of the Nativity. (Nolite timere is used for the commemoration of Advent on the feast of St Thomas, unless the feast is transferred off the 4th Sunday of Advent.) Aña Nolite timere: quintaenim die veniet ad vos Do-minus noster. Fear ye not, for on the fifth dayour God will come to you. Ana Ecce completa suntomnia, quae dicta sunt perAngelum de VirgineMaria. Behold, all things are fulfilledwhich were said by the Angelabout the Virgin Mary?