How delightful to see in this painting both little Johns, the Baptist and the Theologian, together with the Incarnate Word, Holy Wisdom. Note that the little Evangelist is already writing the opening words of the Prologue of his Gospel.
Beginning today, I will offer reflections on each of the Great O Antiphons. At the Monastery of the Glorious Cross where I serve as chaplain, the Great O's are sung not only at Vespers each day, their traditional place, but also during the Gospel procession of the Mass as the Alleluia Verse.
The Arrival of Holy Wisdom
We know that in the reform of the Lectionary, the O Antiphons, formerly sung only at Vespers, were also given a place within the Mass itself, becoming the verse of the Alleluia before the Gospel. The General Instruction on the Roman Missal emphasizes the importance of the procession with the Book of the Gospels. It is a kind of parousia, the glorious appearing of the Lord “amid cries of gladness and thanksgiving, the throng wild with joy” (Ps 41:5). It is the arrival of the Bridegroom; His advent is greeted with jubilant alleluias and with lighted lamps. It is the descent of the all-powerful Word from the royal throne “into the midst of the land that was doomed” (Wis 18:15). The Alleluia is the Church’s ecstatic cry of welcome; it is an eschatological song. The arrival of Christ in the sacramental Word anticipates His arrival in glory upon the clouds of heaven (cf., Mt 24:30).
Make Known to Us Your Ways
“O Wisdom coming forth from the mouth of the Most High God, Your lordship is over all that is, stretching from the beginning to the end, You who order all things with might and with sweetness, come teach us the path of prudence. Make known to us Your ways.” You see how, in the context of the Gospel procession, the age-old text shines with a new and immediate meaning.
Prudence
We acclaim Christ the Logos in His appearing as Holy Wisdom, the eternal Wisdom of the Father, and we make a very specific petition: “Come, teach us the way of prudence.” What is prudence? It is the habit of using our reason, in every circumstance, to discern what is our true good and of choosing the means to achieve it. Saint Thomas calls prudence “right reason in action.” Prudence is an austere virtue because it means that we will not allow our decisions, our course of action, or our reactions to be determined by our emotions.
When we allow our choices to be determined by fear — fear of loss, fear of rejection, fear of making a mistake, fear of failure, fear of the future, or any other fear — we are not being prudent. When we allow our choices to be determined by an unwise love, a disordered love — we are not being prudent. When we choose impulsively, we are not being prudent. When we delay choosing and put off acting, we are not being prudent. Prudence has to do with choosing wisely so as to act wisely. And so today, we cry out to Wisdom, begging to be taught the way of prudence.
The Word Sent Forth
Our plea is answered immediately in the Gospel. In response to our cry, the Word is sent forth ex ore Altissimi, “from the mouth of the Most High.” Fortiter. The might of God comes to us in our weakness. Suaviter. The gentle sweetness of God comes to us in our bitterness. “Come to teach us the way of prudence.” The prudence of God comes to rescue us from our folly.
The Cortège of Wisdom
The “secret and hidden Wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glorification” (1 Cor 2:7) is revealed to us and for us in the proclamation of a particular Gospel. Holy Wisdom comes to us enfleshed in a human story; the long genealogy of Saint Matthew invites the ancestors of Christ to precede Him in His advent, to surround him in His appearing, to join with us today in hearing and in adoring. All of the names pronounced in the Genealogy together form the royal cortège of Wisdom.
Wisdom in Our Midst
Will the advent of Holy Wisdom, her arrival and appearing in our midst, leave us unchanged? Today is the meeting of our weakness with the might of the Logos, the meeting of our harshness with God’s disarming gentleness, the meeting of our shortsightedness with the prudence of the ages. Shall we plead for Wisdom’s arrival and then refuse her advances? Shall we retreat before the arrival of the long-desired Word? Or shall we go out to meet Wisdom with lighted lamps?
The Taste of Wisdom
Holy Wisdom’s arrival in the sacramental Word is completed by her arrival in the mysteries of Christ’s Body and Blood. Our communion with Wisdom is two-fold: in Word and in Sacrament. Our acclamation of the Gospel is, already, the expression of our readiness to welcome the Word and to taste of Holy Wisdom in the adorable mystery of the Eucharist. And so, we go to the altar, Wisdom’s table. To our “Come!” Wisdom replies, in turn, “Come, eat my bread and drink the wine which I have mingled for you. Forsake childishness, and live, and walk by the ways of prudence” (Pr 9:5-6).
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