Today begins the Golden Nights - seven days preceding Christmas Eve, when we intensify our prayers for our Lord's coming by reciting the 'O Antiphons' before and after the Magnificat.
Tonight we begin with O Sapientia - O Wisdom. I use the translation provided by Fisheaters.
O Sapientia, quæ ex ore Altissimi prodiisti, attingens a fine usque ad finem, fortiter suaviterque disponens omnia: veni ad docendum nos viam prudentiæ.
O Wisdom that comest out of the mouth of the Most High,
that reachest from one end to another, and orderest all things mightily and sweetly,
come to teach us the way of prudence!
If you have sung, "O Come, O Come Emmanuel", which is taken from the O Antiphons, you will recognize the verses:
O come, Thou Wisdom from on high,
Who orders all things mightily;
To us the path of knowledge show,
And teach us in her ways to go.
Christ Pantokrator, 13th century, Hagia Sophia (which translates to "Holy Wisdom"), Istambul, courtesy of Wikipedia
