O Emmanuel, our King and Lawgiver,
the One whom the peoples await and their Saviour:
O come and save us, Lord our God!

This last of the O Antiphons is the culmination of them all. All the previous themes of the antiphons, wisdom and radiant light, kingly authority, and law, take on flesh in Emmanuel, the Incarnate King who will bring the salvation and liberation that previous antiphons have besought.

O King whom all the peoples desire, you are the corner stone
which makes all one.
O come and save us whom you made from clay.

O King whom all peoples desire – all peoples desire Him because they are made by Him as St Augustine reminds us: “You have made us for Yourself O God and our hearts are restless until we can rest in You.” In our O Antiphon today we cry out to Him to come to save us

O Rising Sun,
you are the splendour of eternal light and the sun of justice.
O come and enlighten those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death.

I chose this antiphon for my reflection because the image of light versus darkness is very powerful and is one to which we can all relate. I felt drawn to this image because the world seems to be a very dark place at present and I feel the need to make my home in the Word of God, so as not to be sucked in to its mindset.

“O Key of David and Sceptre of Israel,
what you open no one else can close again;
what you close no one can open.
O come to lead the captive from prison;
free those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.”

In the time of the prophet Isaiah, the king of Damascus and the king of Israel wanted to draw the king of Judah, Ahaz, into a coalition against Assyria. When he refused, the anti-Assyrian alliance attacked him and Ahaz, frightened, turned to the Assyrian for help. Isaiah opposed the request for help from the king of Assyria and exhorted Ahaz to put his trust only in the Lord.

O Root of Jesse’s stem,
sign of God’s love for all his people:
come to save us without delay!

Advent is a season of tending life and a season of becoming. That God who ’is’, who only is - who has no ‘was’, who has no ‘will be’ - now, in the Incarnation is becoming God is doing something that as God He could not do: He could not change, He could not grow, He could not become. He is the ‘is-ness’ that is the heart of being.

O Adonai, Lord and leader of Israel,
You appeared to Moses in a burning bush
and You gave him the Law on Sinai.
O come,
and save us with Your mighty power.

We don’t often think of Moses as an Advent ‘figure,’ and yet here he is on this night, a week before the birth of Christ, and we are reminded by this night’s magnificat antiphon, that Moses’ first encounter with God was in the midst of fire.

Today we begin the beautiful "O Antiphons", which call on the Lord under various titles and express our desire for His Coming.
Today's antiphon addresses the Lord as Wisdom:
O Wisdom, you come forth from the mouth of the Most High.
You fill the universe

We are pleased to announce that our new Christmas Candles are now available and can be purchased from our online shop.

The story behind our new Birthday Card.

One of our dear Sisters hails from the west of Ireland, not too far from Ballinasloe, Co. Gslway, and until she entered our monastery, lived a life of almost Franciscan love for the beauty of all that surrounded her on the family farm.