The O Antiphons: All Seven in Latin and English, December 17 to 23
The O Antiphons are seven short prayers the Church sings at Evening Prayer in the last week of Advent, one each evening from December 17 to 23, before and after the Magnificat. Each one calls Christ by a title from the Old Testament and then makes the same plea: come.
The O Antiphons in 2026: Thursday, December 17 to Wednesday, December 23
Thursday, December 17
O Sapientia · O Wisdom
O Sapientia, quae ex ore Altissimi prodiisti, attingens a fine usque ad finem, fortiter suaviterque disponens omnia: veni ad docendum nos viam prudentiae.
O Wisdom, who came forth from the mouth of the Most High, reaching from end to end and ordering all things mightily and gently: come, and teach us the way of prudence.
Sir 24:3; Wis 8:1; Is 11:2–3 · Sung as: “O come, thou Wisdom from on high”
Friday, December 18
O Adonai · O Lord
O Adonai, et Dux domus Israel, qui Moysi in igne flammae rubi apparuisti, et ei in Sina legem dedisti: veni ad redimendum nos in brachio extento.
O Adonai, Ruler of the house of Israel, who showed yourself to Moses in the flame of the burning bush and on Sinai gave him the law: come, and with your arm stretched out, redeem us.
Adonai is Hebrew for “Lord”, the word God’s people said out of reverence in place of his holy name. Here the Church gives that title to Christ.
Ex 3:2; Ex 20:1–17; Is 33:22; Ex 6:6 · Sung as: “O come, O come, thou Lord of might”
Saturday, December 19
O Radix Iesse · O Root of Jesse
O Radix Iesse, qui stas in signum populorum, super quem continebunt reges os suum, quem Gentes deprecabuntur: veni ad liberandum nos, iam noli tardare.
O Root of Jesse, who stand as a sign for the peoples, before whom kings shall keep silence, to whom the nations shall pray: come and set us free, delay no longer.
Is 11:1, 10; Is 52:15 · Sung as: “O come, thou Rod of Jesse, free”
Sunday, December 20
O Clavis David · O Key of David
O Clavis David, et sceptrum domus Israel, qui aperis, et nemo claudit, claudis, et nemo aperit: veni, et educ vinctum de domo carceris, sedentem in tenebris et umbra mortis.
O Key of David, scepter of the house of Israel, who open and no one shuts, who shut and no one opens: come, and lead out of the prison house the captive who sits in darkness and the shadow of death.
Is 22:22; Rv 3:7; Is 42:7; Lk 1:79 · Sung as: “O come, thou Key of David, come”
Monday, December 21
O Oriens · O Radiant Dawn
O Oriens, splendor lucis aeternae, et sol iustitiae: veni, et illumina sedentes in tenebris et umbra mortis.
O Radiant Dawn, brightness of eternal light and sun of justice: come, and give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.
Oriens is the rising sun; the hymn calls him the Dayspring.
Mal 3:20 [4:2]; Is 9:1 [9:2]; Lk 1:78–79 · Sung as: “O come, thou Day-spring, come and cheer”
Tuesday, December 22
O Rex Gentium · O King of the Nations
O Rex Gentium, et desideratus earum, lapisque angularis, qui facis utraque unum: veni, et salva hominem, quem de limo formasti.
O King of the Nations, the One they long for, the cornerstone who makes the two into one: come, and save humankind, whom you shaped from the clay.
Hg 2:7; Is 28:16; Eph 2:14, 20; Gn 2:7 · Sung as: “O come, Desire of nations, bind”
Wednesday, December 23
O Emmanuel · O Emmanuel
O Emmanuel, Rex et legifer noster, exspectatio Gentium, et Salvator earum: veni ad salvandum nos, Domine, Deus noster.
O Emmanuel, our King and Lawgiver, the One the nations wait for, and their Savior: come and save us, O Lord our God.
Is 7:14; Is 33:22; Gn 49:10 · Sung as: “O come, O come, Emmanuel”
References follow the New American Bible (NABRE); other Catholic Bibles’ numbers are in [brackets]. Your hymnal may word the verses a little differently, and may have five verses or seven.
Print them for the table
Two pages: the seven antiphons to pray from, with this year’s dates and the hymn verse for each, and seven ornaments to cut out and hang, one each evening, beside the wreath or on the Jesse tree. In color, or in black and white for children to color.
- Color · Letter (PDF, 1.4 MB)
- Color · A4 (PDF, 1.4 MB)
- Black and white · Letter (PDF, 1.2 MB)
- Black and white · A4 (PDF, 1.2 MB)
Parishes, schools and parish bulletins are welcome to print and copy them.
ERO CRAS
Read from the last to the first, the Latin initials (Emmanuel, Rex, Oriens, Clavis, Radix, Adonai, Sapientia) can be read as ERO CRAS: “Tomorrow I will be there.” No one knows whether this was planned, but it fits: the last antiphon is sung on December 23, the eve of Christmas Eve.
How to pray them at home
In the evening, light the Advent wreath. Read tonight’s antiphon aloud, slowly. Pray Mary’s song, the Magnificat (below). Read the antiphon once more. Then sing its verse of O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, if your hymnal has it (each antiphon above shows which). It takes a few minutes. Children can say the word “come” with you, or sing the refrain.
Praying alone? Pray it the same way, aloud or in silence, with one candle or none. Tonight the whole Church is praying these same words with you.
Missed a night? Simply begin again tonight.
Mary’s song (Luke 1:46–55)
My soul doth magnify the Lord. And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. Because he hath regarded the humility of his handmaid; for behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. Because he that is mighty, hath done great things to me; and holy is his name. And his mercy is from generation unto generations, to them that fear him. He hath shewed might in his arm: he hath scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart. He hath put down the mighty from their seat, and hath exalted the humble. He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away. He hath received Israel his servant, being mindful of his mercy: As he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his seed for ever.
Douay-Rheims translation
The hymn
“O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” grew out of the O Antiphons. The Latin hymn, Veni, veni, Emmanuel, was first printed in Cologne in 1710 with five verses, and John Mason Neale put it into English (1851, revised 1861). Verses for Wisdom and for the Desire of Nations were added later (in English by Henry Sloane Coffin, 1916), so your hymnal may have five verses or seven. The hymn begins where the antiphons end: with Emmanuel.
The same texts also return as the Alleluia verse at weekday Mass in these days, in a slightly different order.
Keeping a Jesse tree? On December 19 the antiphon calls Christ the Root of Jesse, the shoot from the stump your tree is named for.
Pray the O Antiphons with a guide
A narrated O Antiphons prayer for the seven evenings before Christmas Eve, in the app.
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