The O Antiphons are about 1500 years old. In the last seven days of Advent, they declare seven names of Christ. They are most commonly known as the verses of the hymn "O Come, O Come Emmanuel."


V
O Dayspring,
splendor of light eternal and sun of righteousness:
Come and enlighten those who dwell in darkness 
and the shadow of death.

You call me from the city scape and hearth
to a spacious inner landscape,
horizon unobscured,
where I can watch the slow crescendo of the dawn.
The steadiness, the sweet return of morning’s child,
hope’s advent,
mysterious, winsome one
wins over the shadows of the night.