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, you come forth from the mouth of the most high. You fill the universe and hold all things together in a strong yet gentle manner. O come to teach us the way of truth.
The first antiphon praises divine wisdom. In the Old Testament there is a whole genre of literature called “wisdom literature” which praises the very mind of God in his creation and in his works. At times, wisdom is actually personified and, indeed, was “with God when he created the world” (Wisdom 9).
Wisdom is also seen as proceeding from God like breath (the allusion in the antiphon coming from the mouth of the most high) or the effusion of his glory.
But wisdom is also a human attribute seen as the foundation of all virtue. The awe of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and in the action of living out wisdom, we act gently with power knowing that all power is given to us by god as a gift. This is embodied by the Lord Jesus who acted in that strong and gentle way in his ministry. His coming teaches us to act with prudence in truth.
The wisdom of God forms Christians in the life of strength with gentleness and we reflect that effused glory of God when we do this. By receiving divine wisdom, we embrace the strength and power of the Christian life that calls us to a gentle and ordered living proclaiming in the one who is to come, he who will teach us prudence in truth.
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With grateful thanks to OPChant – an initiative of two Dominican friars – Stefan Ansinger O.P. and Alexandre Frezzato O.P. Find OPChant on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram.
