Antiphons

OFTEN a verse chosen from the psalm, the ANTIPHON summarizes the dunamis/inner meaning of the psalm in light of the hour of prayer or the feast being celebrated. Here a modern antiphon composed for the Common of Abbots alludes to the inheritance of Christ, an allusion to the reward of personal consecration in light of the sacrificial language of Psalm 118 (119)

PRESERVE me, God, I take refuge in you.

²I say to the Lord: “You are my God.”

My happiness lies in you alone

(ANTIPHON) Response

⁷I will bless the Lord who gives me counsel,

who even at night directs my heart.

⁸I keep the Lord ever in my sight:

since he is at my right hand, I shall stand firm.

(ANTIPHON) Response

³He has put into my heart a marvellous love

for the faithful ones who dwell in his land

⁴Those who choose other Gods increase their sorrows.

Never will I offer their offering of blood

Never will I take their name upon my lips

(ANTIPHON) Response

⁹And so my heart rejoices, my soul is glad;

even my body will rest in safety

¹⁰For you will not leave my soul among the dead,

Nor let your beloved know decay.

(ANTIPHON) Response

⁵O Lord it is you who are my portion and cup.

it is you yourself who are my prize.

⁶The lot marked out for me is my delight:

welcome indeed the heritage that falls to me!

(ANTIPHON) Response

¹¹You will show me the path of life,

the fullness of joy in your presence,

at your right hand hapiness for ever.

(ANTIPHON) Response

IN THIS gregorian antiphon for the Feast of Christmas the music of the chant rises and falls as expresses the soul’s hope “out of the depths” (de profundis) for God and the abundant outpouring of His love in the Incarnation - God’s “copiosa” response to the hope of Israel.

DE PROFUNDIS clamavi ad te Domine *
² Domine exaudi vocem meam

fiant aures tuae intendentes *
in vocem deprecationis meae

³si iniquitates observabis Domine *
Domine quis sustinebit

⁴ quia apud te propitiatio est *
propter legem tuam sustinui te Domine

sustinuit anima mea in verbum eius *
⁵ speravit anima mea in Domino

⁶ a custodia matutina usque ad noctem
* speret Israhel in Domino

⁷ quia apud Dominum misericordia
* et copiosa apud eum redemptio

⁸ et ipse redimet Israhel*
ex omnibus iniquitatibus eius

THIS prolix responsory represents the musical and poetic application of the practice of lectio divina to the liturgy. Meditation on the meaning of Corpus Christi, the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ, has interwoven the Lord’s parable of the great feast (which does not have a happy ending) with the cry of Wisdom in Proverbs to “drink the wine” she has mixed. This responsory is also the focus of both readings in the Office of Readings for Wednesday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time (v. 3, pp. 209-213: Prov. 9:1-18; Commentary of Proverbs by Procopius of Gaza).

THIS English antiphon for the Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time is based on the prolix responsory above:

          
              M

        y soul 
        is 
        thirsting for God,

          the God 
        of my life

          when can 
        I enter and see

        the face 
        of God?

              Response

        I would 
        lead the rejoicing crowd

        into the 
        house of God

        amid cries 
        of gladness and thanksgiving,

        the throng 
        wild with joy.

              Response

        Send 
        forth your light and your truth;

        let these 
        be my guide.

        Let them 
        bring me to your holy mountain,

        to the 
        place where you dwell, 

              Response

        I will come 
        to the altar of God,

        the God of 
        my joy.

        My 
        redeemer, I will thank you on the harp,

        O God, my 
        God.

              Response

        Praise the Father, 
        the Son and Holy Spirit

        both now 
        and for ever;

        the God 
        who is, who was, and is to come

        At the end 
        of the ages.

              Response

ISTEN, O daughter, give ear to
my words:

forget your own people and your father's house.

So will the king desire your beauty:

He is your lord, pay homage to him.

Response

And the people of Tyre shall come with gifts,

the richest of the people shall seek your favor.

The daughter of the king is clothed with splendor,

her robes embroidered with pearls set in gold.

Response

She is led to the king with her maiden companions.

They are escorted amid gladness and joy;

they pass within the palace of the king.

Response

Sons shall be yours in place of your fathers:

you will make them rulers over all the earth.

May this song make your name for ever remembered.

May the peoples praise you from age to age.

Response

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