Discovering and praying the O Antiphons Think of the song – O Come O Come Emmanuel – the O Antiphons are in it! So what are they? Seven days, beginning December 17th, before the vigil of Christmas (Christmas Eve), the Church sings a different O Antiphon each day in Vespers right before and after they say the prayer of Mary in response to her cousin Elizabeth – the Magnificat. The O Antiphon verse is also used in the Alleluia before the Gospel at Mass each of these days. Each O Antiphon (that dates back to the 4th century) prays for the coming of God to save us and uses a different title or symbol each day that is used for the Messiah in the Old Testament; for example, O Wisdom, O Sacred Lord, O Flower of Jesse’s Stem, O Key of David, O Radiant Dawn, O King of all the Nations, O Emmanuel. This brings us to the vigil of Christmas! I came across a website that has some suggestions in how to bring this prayerful verse into your home. See what you think here!