Tomorrow, 17th December, the Church silently selects her top liturgical gear. In the seven days before Christmas every collect, every antiphon and every piece of scripture has the sharpest of focus.
The days are shaped by the texts of the Magnificat antiphons which we sing each night at Vespers. Each antiphon highlights a title of Christ, our Messiah. The Latin names of the antiphons form an acrostic.
S apientia ( Wisdom)
A donai (Lord)
R adix Jesse (Root of Jesse)
C lavis David (Key of David)
O riens (Rising Sun)
R ex Gentium (Ruler of the Nations)
E mmanuel (Emmanuel)
This spells the Latin words ero cras, I will be here tomorrow. It’s a beautiful way of keeping the last days of Advent.