A Reflection On The Antiphons During The Season Of The Advent

Greetings to the good men of ROK as we enter the final week before Christmas. To those especially who have been fasting and preparing with quiet of soul for the Feast, I dedicate this article on “Sapientiatide” (or “Wisdomtide”) – the time of heightened expectation in the week before Christmas.

As I’ve said before, it certainly is my intention to be broad in my writing here, generally; but in the midst of such seasons as Advent/Christmas, and Lent/Easter, I would be remiss not to discuss our civilization’s highly developed traditions. So, this article and the next will deal closely with Christmas. This article is also longer than normal, as it has elements that are intended to be consumed one day at a time in the upcoming week.

The O Antiphons

osapientia

The very, very old melody of the first O Antiphon, “O Wisdom”

Each day of the week preceding Christmas, Western Christians since at least the 8th century have chanted the “O” Antiphons” at Vespers. Christianity reckons the beginning of the day from sundown, so the evening service of Vespers marks the passage from the old day into the new. The canticle of the Magnificat, which the Virgin sang upon visiting her cousin, is thus rightly set in Vespers to reflect the end of the Old Covenant (St. John the Baptist) meeting the beginning of the New (Christ, in the Blessed Virgin).

This canticle is the “high point” of the service, especially on solemn occasions; while singing it, more lights were sometimes lit, incense was brought forth, and the clergy removed their head-coverings. During this week before Christmas, the O antiphons are doubled, the Church is incensed, the bells are rung continuously and all remain standing throughout the whole Magnificat.

The antiphons provide rich material for meditation and reflection. Each antiphon moves forward through all God’s works for man’s salvation, beginning with the eternal, pre-existent plans of Providence, and ending on Doomsday; but, working backwards, they form an acrostic that points forward: ERO CRAS (“Tomorrow I shall be;” many local, medieval variants had a longer, eight-day usage that spelled out VERO CRAS, “Truly, Tomorrow”). This sets the tone – the antiphons contemplate the penetration of the eternal into time, seeking to save mankind. “Truly, tomorrow,” the All-Maker shall be upon us; let our hearts be ready!

I had gone and written a lengthy article on this, at the end of which I was going to recommend to the men the Fish Eaters website for some further information. But upon heading to the webpage myself, I saw that a great deal of information on the antiphons is already there, along with midi files that play the melody, and a clickable musical note that will open musical notation. So, I will include only my thoughts on the themes of the antiphons, below, and some further resources for those who wish to pray them this week.

Some Reflections on the Antiphons

17th December: O Sapientia

This speaks of the Wisdom of God, Alpha and Omega, the first cause and final end of all creatures, the embodiment of that providence which sees and rules and arranges all things. The verse cites the famous “fortiter et suaviter” (“strongly and suavely,” key concepts, I think, to masculinity), taken from Scripture to describe God’s providence (Wisdom of Solomon 8:1). This finds echoes in St. Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius’ Consolation of Philosophy, and St. Thomas Aquinas’ discussion of providence in the Summa.

18th December: O Adonai

This antiphon addresses Christ the Lord, Adonai in Hebrew. Adonai is a title of great significance, for it became the word used in place of the ineffable name of God, the “tetragrammaton,” YHWH. In the same way, Christ is the “image of the invisible God,” and “the exact figure of His substance.” Additionally, the burning bush, in which God appeared to Moses, was understood from ancient times in the Church as a prefiguration of the Incarnation.

The bush ablaze with godly fire, yet unharmed thereby, is an image of the blessed Virgin, from whom and in whom the Deity came to dwell; whose substance He joined to Himself, when He united the human and divine natures in His one Person. She was suffused with the Divine Presence as no other creature before or since, yet was not destroyed thereby.

Shortly after God reveals Himself to Moses in the bush, He says: “I am the Lord who will bring you out from the work-prison of the Egyptians, and will deliver you from bondage: and redeem you with a high arm, and great judgments.” Similar terms are used in Moses’ canticle after crossing the Red Sea. The return to Sinai resulted in the giving of the Law – thus, in all these ways, the Adonai antiphon points to Christ the Lord Incarnate, Giver and the Fulfillment of the Law, the New Covenant ministered by God in the flesh rather than mediated through angels on Sinai, “a mountain that might be touched, and a burning fire, and a whirlwind, and darkness, and storm.”

19th December: O Radix Iesse

This antiphon refers to Christ as being of David’s blood, from the root of Jesse, bound up in the history of Israel and the Jews, yet coming forth for all people.

root of jesse

A Medieval Illumination, with typical absence of shyness in depicting the descendants of Jesse coming out of his “root.”

20th December: O Clavis David

We saw that the Exodus story was a prefiguration of the salvation Christ would bring to all men, fulfilling what was done only politically and for the Jews in ancient times. The theme continues here; the prior antiphon hinted at the “prison-houses of Egypt,” but now treats of the prison-house of death and hell. Christ calls Himself “the Holy One and True, he that hath the key of David; he that openeth, and no man shutteth; shutteth, and no man openeth.” And again: “I am the First and the Last; alive, and was dead, and behold I am living forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of hell.” From ancient times, Christians depicted Christ’s victory over hell by showing hell’s gates and locks shattered and strewn at his feet.

Continuing the theme of the universal salvation, prefigured in the political history of Israel: as David was King of Israel, so of His line would come the King of all. Thus the prophesy of the Patriarch Jacob over his son, Judah would be fulfilled: “The scepter shall not be taken away from Juda, nor a ruler from his thigh, till He come that is to be sent, and He shall be the expectation of nations” (Genesis 49:10).

Christ hinted that if the Messiah was the Son of David, yet He was greater than David. He asked, “How say they that Christ is the son of David? And David himself saith in the book of Psalms: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, sit thou on my right hand, Till I make thine enemies thy footstool.’ David then calleth him Lord: and how is he his son?” That is the subject of this antiphon – Christ, son of David, God of David, with the key of David to destroy hell and rule as king of all.

21st December: O Oriens

The antiphons now pass from the pepole of Israel to all mankind. The last antiphon referred to Him as the son of David, the Sceptre of the house of Israel, and entreated him to lead forth the prisoner, singular (i.e., Israel); this antiphon refers to Him as the “dayspring,” i.e., the rising sun, ascending from the East to traverse all the way to the West, shining upon all men.

Those who formerly were of Israel rejected their King, the Heir of David; now people from all nations shall be grafted into Israel, and confess Him as King of All. Therefore, this antiphon no longer asks for deliverance of “him” that sits in darkness and the shadow of death,” but “they that sit” therein. The terms (“Sun of Justice,” “Dayspring”) point to the book of Malachi, last in the books of the prophets, referring to God’s relationship as Lord and Saviour of all the Gentiles, beyond just the people of Israel.

Most importantly, “oriens” literally means “rising,” – i.e., the rising sun, the East – and form ancient times the Christians used this title for Christ in His Resurrection (rising up from the earth, like the sun from the horizon); this Antiphon points to His Resurrection.

sol iustitiae

Summing up the themes of O Clavis and O Oriens, this Stained Glass depicts Christ as He shows Himself in the Apocalypse – the Morning Star and Sun of Justice, holding the key to death and hell, surrounded by seven golden candlesticks and holding seven stars, breathing forth the sword of truth.

22nd December: O Rex Gentium

This antiphon, after the Resurrection of Christ as the Rising Sun of Justice, comes in the place of the Ascension. The corresponding antiphon for the Ascension begins “O Rex Gloriae,” with the same melody as “O Rex Gentium,” and is the only other antiphon beginning with the words “O Rex” in all the Church year.

The connection, therefore, is strong; it is made all the more striking by its exposition of Christ, Who “makes two into one,” and formed man “from the mud of the earth,” for these are themes the Fathers continually mention in discussing the Ascension: how Christ united two natures into one, bringing the divine nature down to man, Whom He formed from the mud of the earth, and raising our nature up to the heights, seating it in Himself upon the throne of God. Let all mortal flesh keep silence before such a marvelous exchange.

23rd December: O Emmanuel

This antiphon addresses Emmanuel, “God among us,” God present, hinting both at Christmas, and at the Lord’s return to once again stand in our midst as the Just Judge. In both cases, judgment is implied – the first time, in gentleness, the second time, in the dreadful day of Doom, the Last Day. As with the antiphons O Clavis David and O Oriens, where the antiphon is slightly modified to reflect a subtle change in meaning, this antiphon is similar to yesterday’s; but whereas yesterday refers to the “desideratus gentium” (the one Whom the gentiles desired, past tense, and now have), this antiphon refers to the “expectatio gentium” (the one Whom the Gentiles await, i.e., Christ as the Judge Who shall come again).

Praying The Antiphons

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For those who wish to observe this ancient tradition in some way, I recommend following the general advice on the Fish Eater’s page, which has the Latin and English texts, recordings, printed music, etc., for the antiphons, along with the text of the Magnificat, here.

More specifically:

  1. Around sundown, go to a suitable, quiet place (before an image of Christ or the Cross, the Christmas Tree or Wreath, etc.)
  2. Reflect for a bit on the theme of that evening’s Antiphon – read related Scripture passages, listen to hymns and carols related to it, meditate quietly, or whatever strikes you as appropriate
  3. Chant the Antiphon, then the Magnificat, then the Antiphon again (intone or read them aloud if you won’t be chanting them);
  4. Pray the Lord’s Prayer;
  5. Add, if you like, the proper prayer from the website below
  6. Conclude your prayer, and don’t be in a rush to dissipate your recollection or quiet. I usually listen to carols, read, pray, take a walk, work quietly at Christmas preparations, etc., afterwards.

Incidentally, I know that you all will get this at least a day late to start with O Sapientia; you can catch up on whatever you missed on the first day you have this, and go from there.

This site has a “chapter” (related Scripture passage, for meditation) and an oration corresponding to each Antiphon, with which you may wish to conclude your prayer:

(Be aware that he is discussing a German variation, where “O Sapientia” begins on the 13th; for our purposes, it begins on the 17th, and the others follow in order).

In Closing

I hope this article is actually interesting to the men of ROK, and I’ll ask forgiveness if it is not. I wanted to offer a method for observing each day of this week in preparation for Christmas, as a gift to you all, so that you may be keener of mind and spirit when the day arrives.

Don’t forget to peruse the other pages of the Fish Eaters website for Christmas Traditions – you won’t be able to keep all of them (nobody does – some were popular in one place, some in another), but now is the time to find some that resonate with you, and to be prepared for them when the day arrives.

May God grant you all to come safely to Christmas Day, and give you great joy on it. Our effeminate and commercialized world will speed by it half-consciously; but for the man that makes time for it, it is a time when the heavens are thrown open and the things above will gladly communicate their joys to men on earth.

Yes, this is “Wisdomtide!” When I contemplate Christ in the crèche, I always think of the last Antiphon (“Emmanuel, God with us”) and these words spoken by Wisdom, with which I now conclude:

The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his ways, before he made any thing from the beginning. I was set up from eternity, and of old before the earth was made. The depths were not as yet, and I was already conceived, neither had the fountains of waters as yet sprung out: the mountains with their vast bulk had not as yet been established: before the hills I was brought forth. He had not yet made the earth, nor the rivers, nor the poles of the world. When he prepared the heavens, I was present; when with a certain law and compass he enclosed the depths, when he established the sky above, and poised the fountains of waters, when he compassed the sea with its bounds, and set a law to the waters that they should not pass their limits, and when be balanced the foundations of the earth. Yea, even then I was with him forming all things: and was delighted every day, cavorting before him at all times and making merry throughout the whole orb the world: and my delights were to be amongst the sons of men. – Proverbs 8:22-31

Read More: A ROK Christmas Benediction From Brother Cui Pertinebit

70 thoughts on “A Reflection On The Antiphons During The Season Of The Advent”

  1. I went to the fish eaters web page, but I am struggling to find the information on the antiphons mentioned in this article (although I did find a lot of interesting links during my search that I saved for later reading). If someone did find the information on the antiphons, can they share the link?

  2. Slightly off topic for Christmas, but since this mentioned doomsday, I’ll bring it up
    —I can’t conceptualize hell whatsoever.
    take the year 1850. I wasn’t alive in 1850. was I missing God? was I sad? was I in hell? some ether zone? What was I doing hundreds of years ago? I didn’t exist until 1986, before my conscious there was no me. I wasn’t happy, sad, or anything – because I didn’t exist.
    So if hell is simply an ‘absence of God’, how would you even know it without consciousness?. To lose, or suffer, you have to observe the suffering for it to hurt you. Like a video game where you’re aware you died.
    But without consciousness, how would you perceive where you were? You would need some level of consciousness to recognize you lacked God.
    Someone in hell would have to be aware that they’re in hell, otherwise theyd be like me in 1850 – just nothingness.
    Don’t want to derail a Christmas thread, I just personally find this aspect quite confusing.

    1. Interesting thought. Likewise you could argue that any living entity that does not posses consciousness cannot therefore know God, if consciousness is a prerequisite for knowing God? This would mean that animals and perhaps even plants are permanently in a state of hell while living on our planet. I can’t imagine this to be true. However, it’s possible, that hell could be nothing more than an awareness of God’s absence, but, yet again we can say that of perhaps the majority of human beings in life? Yet, if these people never had an awareness of God’s presence during their lives then their hell would be very similar to their earthy existence? It’s also debatable that if these people were asked if their lives are hellish because of God’s absence that the majority of them would answer yes (how could they answer anyway if they don’t even know Him), perhaps they’re extremely content without Him, in which case their (future) Hell might be very agreeable!

      1. The concept of hell is mysterious throughout Western religious literature. The Bible presents it as gehenna, sheol, a fiery place, and an outter darkness.
        Perhaps we can just assume that it is not where you want to go, and leave it at that? Perhaps it is different for different people?

        1. Gehenna is a Persian concept. There’s seven degrees unlike their heaven which has nine. Sufi Muslims describe it in various terms such as you mention. The concept of Hell is an insult and affront to my mind. I agree with the Russian Christian writer Nikolai Alexandrovich Berdyaev that as true Christians, none of us can smugly be happy with the fact that our fellow lapsed Christians will spend their eternity in hell while the rest of us enjoy paradise. This is an affront to every Christian virtue and something that could not be tolerated by a loving and benign God. I agree with him.

        2. that’s why they do missionary work and whatnot to try and convert people.
          but if God wanted us to ‘freely choose God’, then why did he give the early disciples the enormous advantage of, ya know, witnessing supernatural shit which would make most anyone a believer. They were given absurd supernatural evidence which would make it easy for them to believe.
          If I saw the sun dance, or a dead man rise again, my human mind would have direct evidence, and believing would be easy.
          Apparently only the early ones get this advantage, the rest just have to take their word for it.
          Understanding the human mind, God would have to know that showing people a miracle would make most all of them permanent believers. but to show some people supernatural things, and others don’t get to witness, he blames them for not believing?

        3. I agree, it feels like an insult to me, too. During my meditations, I thought about the people here who said that I would burn in hell for exploring my own spirituality. It made me sad and ashamed. And then I was thinking about why I was feeling that way and what it meant. It meant: Why would they say such a thing to me for wanting to be happy and confident and loving? How cruel.
          In a sense, some Christians are similar to SJWs. Tearing down the happiness they are forbidden from having.

        4. Exactly. Fair enough that god wants us to choose freely whether to live with him – but why on earth would god not simply show himself to us so that the choice does not become one of ‘Does he even exist?’ I mean, what is the point? That you will be punished for not having chosen something you did not even know exists? Now, they can say ‘It is the harsh reality’. Alright, alright. But why would god do such a thing? It does not make any sense.
          But I have to disagree on another point here. The supernatural is no proof of one god. The supernatural is simply a proof of supernatural powers – which any spiritual entity can possess. Besides, what does supernatural mean? Is it not merely the description of forces that are not yet explored?

        5. Not necessarily would you believe. In Who He is and what He came to do. You would believe in the miracles. Because you couldn’t deny them. Even the Pharisees -certainly no fan boys- didn’t deny them; they just said he shouldn’t perform them on the Sabbath. And, if He was (from) God, He wouldn’t. Because it is work. Anyway, Christ even rebuked people who needed miracles to believe. As miracles are not the foundation and when they don’t happen in front of your eyes regularly, your faith falters easily. Because miracles are consequences, not causes. He is the Cause. So, better to believe without the miracles (although we like ’em much as it is spirit commanding matter).

        6. Well, I was brought up a Roman Catholic so the whole evangelical protestant notion that you’ll find often here, of the dammed and the saved, of eternal damnation and the divine rapture is anathema to much of my thinking on religious issues. I suspect, that I wasn’t probably a very good and observant Catholic either, but, the thing about Catholicism is that it’s not as literal minded as the protestant faith which tells believers about how superior they are to everyone else, who by their accounts are going to burn in hell for all eternity.
          What a smug and self-satisfied creed this is when you critically think about it? It seems to lack any notion of Christian love or forgiveness. Additionally, it’s completely self-centered in that “your salvation is all about you” and well fuck everyone else, because they’re all going to hell anyway, including of course Catholics.
          If, I ever return to any type Christian belief (which I doubt I will) it will, I’d imagine be only by understanding or reprising Christianity through a Catholic or Eastern Orthodox prism.

        7. I find religions that need to be backed up by alleged “miracles” very dubious in the first place. Besides, the Sun that danced around the sky in Fatima years ago, in which thousands saw it, I’m sure was very impressive, but, did it really happen? I doubt it. It couldn’t scientifically happen anyway without destroying the planet, and why did no one else on that day in the world see the sun doing a brake dance in the sky? Why? Because it never happened.
          Instead there was a mass hallucination and everyone then called this a “miracle” ! Besides, suppose some outside force did cause this hallucination, which is plausible, why does everyone think that its the Christian God or Our Lady that did it? Maybe it was UFOS, maybe it was the Hoppi Sun God, maybe, maybe….and this is the problem I have with the Christian “Miracle Sideshow”.

        8. Agreeing with the premise that there is a super natural realm is only the first step toward truth. It is an important first step because it is the mark of the modern man rejecting modern nihilism and returning to classical philosophy. Once you’re on the track you have but only to select the correct religion. You are in a world of competing religions and your job is to select the correct one. And in this task you have 2 resources: reason, and intuition. Some say that the intuition is a supernatural power, a gift, an enlightenment, etc.
          For me, reason brought me to the realization that Christianity is the most likely, rational, religion to choose. Next after that is Islam. Then is Judaism. The others are insufficient and even reject reason in many ways, e.g. Buddhism is less a religion and more a philosophy. Hinduism does not deliver the reasoned understanding of our cosmos required.
          For me, once I came to the rational understanding that Christianity is the most reasonable religion to choose, I had a “religious experience” and became an actual believer. I was given a gift, a gift of faith/intuition/enlightenment/inner peace, whatever you want to call it.
          Perhaps you can have inner peace too, but I think that you will require reason first. Some people get the gift of intuition first, especially women it seems. They may never have a strong reasoned faith and live by their spiritual intuitions their whole lives. But it seems you are not the type. Most men aren’t. They need reason AND faith. And many great minds have come to Christ in that regard. Humble yourself and reason it out.

        9. that’s what I don’t understand. I went to catholic school, they always told us ‘never put God to the test’, but then they go on and on about the shroud of turin, the day the sun danced, lazarus, Jesus moving a boulder, etc…
          they tell us we shouldn’t need physical proof, but then they tell fairytales of supposed supernatural physical proof the early disciples got to see.

        10. I survived a Catholic education too! There’s so many contradictions in it- it’s rational but also deeply superstitious- it talks about revelation and then produces a whole load of secondary theology, the list is endless!

        11. One must live by moral reasoning, correct? Unless one admits that they are strictly amoral. Do you? I doubt it. I bet you go around telling people how they ought to and ought not to behave. I’ve seen you do it. You’re mad that people don’t behave the way you think they ought to.
          Let’s be honest. For many thousands of years it has been the role of religion to go around telling people what they ought and ought not do. So you’re going around doing what religious people do- making up rules about how they ought to behave and giving them shit when they don’t do what you think they ought to do.
          It’s not like science or reason delivered you this moral code of yours. You just made it up based on what seems right to you. You’re just like every other religious person, making up myths, gods, values, morals, etc.
          This is why I say every man must choose a religion, or choose amorality. Which have you chosen?

        12. Ah, maybe I did indeed do that. These days, I find that a bit silly. As long as people leave me alone, they can do whatever they want to do.

        13. I’m certainly glad my parents sent me to a Catholic school for a few years. My education was light years ahead of the public school students. I will admit I was lacking in knowledge on two topics, relative to the public school kids: sex and drugs.

        14. “As long as people leave me alone, they can do whatever they want to do.”
          This is a perfect example of religious style moralizing. You either invented that little dictate out of thin air, or you plagiarized it from a religion, e.g. the Golden Rule.
          It is an irrational belief. There is no reason people should leave you alone. There is no reason people should be able to do whatever they want to do. You just made it up because it sounds good to you. It’s not rational.
          Meanwhile, religious people have systematically worked out philosophies of morality that are clearly written down for all to see and understand, and have lasted many ages. This is the definition of rational. Morality must begin with the metaphysical though. It cannot be found in nature and therefore must be delivered by a metaphysical source.
          So since you already practice a religion, I urge you to choose a religion that makes rational sense. Don’t just make up and choose whatever you like and don’t like. Ideally, you should choose a religion the delivers rationality as well, since you cannot “reason that you are reasonable” and you need to also have a metaphysical source for human rationality.
          Your theology needs a lot of work.

        15. “I survived a Catholic education!”
          Is this some kind of joke? You “survived” a Catholic education? ZOMG. Did you also “survive” being “forced” to go to church and Bible studies? Wow. Just. Wow. So brave. I am literally crying knowing that you survived such oppression and hatred and trials.
          Meanwhile Yazidi girls are being kept in Muslim slave pits to be gang raped. One “survived” and made it to the UN to testify about it.

        16. I was speaking with the person I sent the post too. Not you. It’s called humor. And you should learn how to discern such subtle states in life, be mature, act like a man, not like some incensed lefty.

        17. Catholic schools are the best if you can survive all the prayers and one’s first confession, but, levity apart, I found the Jesuits about the best teachers you can get.
          Well the sex wasn’t so bad- there was a Scared Heart around the corner- you couldn’t help but meet up with members of the opposite sex while reading one’s catechism on the bus in the morning! (I’m glad I missed the drugs part)

        18. You will find that as you explore your moral opinions and apply skepticism toward your own beliefs and views that much of what you do and say in life is not rational.
          And you will find that as you explore physics that the entire cosmos is irrational, absurd, nightmarish.
          And you will find that here you are, defying all irrationality. “Something” must have made you rational in this absurd cosmos. That “something” also made other people, and also made the rules of morality by which everyone and everything relates.
          Its the only rational explanation.

        19. I’ve wondered this too. Why did God only appear in the flesh one time, show some miracles, then leave? But, to do otherwise begs the question of the need for faith and grace, and reduces God to a sideshow that, like a performing dog, has to perform every so often to convince us of His ‘skills’ and interest in humanity. Think of it: God would have to return to Earth every so often to “prove” His existence with miracles. What’s the point of faith?

        20. The point of faith is to take us from where we are to an unknown future…ask Newton, Copernicus, Bacon, all believers who knew science and faith together are “both eyes open.” Try it sometime, you see better.

        21. Oh, I am spiritual, so I know what you mean. Without a connection to some kind of divine consciousness, where would you get the ideas necessary for good science? I simply do not subscribe to Jesus-dick-sucking religion.

        22. What do you think religion is? Religion is behaving according to your beliefs about the supernatural. For some this means a kind of worship ritual. For others it means following a certain code of morals. For others it means converting others to believe the same things.
          You follow a certain code of morals and then go around telling people right from wrong. You have spiritual beliefs. You are a religious person already.

        23. So you admit to the idea of “divine consciousness” at least. Apart from your disparaging “Jesus-dick sucking” (do Muslims or scientific materialists also suck dick?) part, where do you suppose the “divine consciousness” derives? What is its source? Just as you maybe right to decry a “god in the gaps” argument, what say you to a “gods of future discoveries” argument that claims, “we may not know now, but science will discover later.” Not too scientific to me. I challenge you to post what you DO believe about the unknown, as opposed to a staid and immovable eliminative materialist point of view, please.

      2. It is also arguable that animals are much more intimately connected with god than we are, as they lack the language to deny him. Animals possess a pineal gland just like we do; many argue that this is the source of divine consciousness.
        Maybe god is to animals simply just another emotion, another force of life. Without explicit self-awareness or the ability to ‘see oneself in others’, it is very possible that animals are unable to project parts of their selves into the outside world, thus making the separation of self and god impossible, thus living their lives in ever untattered confidence.

        1. The pineal gland is common to most advanced mammals. In fact it was Renee Descartes, the father of the Enlightenment who proposed that it was the seat of the soul. This is ironical considering that his mechanical view of human nature has now become the predominant view by which we view reality in the west .
          I like your idea about language and the obvious observation that apart from ourselves everything else in nature is silent and mute. I believe that language more than any other faculty we have, allows us to be detached from the natural world and which allows us uniquely to project ourselves into the fabric of reality, which may include that of God or the divine on occasions.

        2. Language is one thing, but there are others. I think that language as much as any other sense can serve as a distraction from the whole. One can be focused on words and visuals (like me), but one could also reasonably get addicted to touch, smell, taste.
          It is interesting, though. Imagine that we as humans would not be able to express anything beyond simple emotional squeaks and screams, but still be as intelligent as we are. Now, think about how this would influence our spirituality
          When I say ‘project god into the outside world’, I mean to throw up the question: How did one actually get there? What kind of pain made one do it?
          One explanation could be that whenever a kid expressed greatness and divine inspiration, parents shamed it and called it ‘stupid’. They said: You are nothing. Be humble. Look there, there is god. And so, the kid learned that it is only allowed to feel divine glory when it is thinking about Jesus. But how would you achieve that without language, I wonder? Well, you could simply use empathy. Whenever you would see that divine spark in somebody’s eyes, you would beat them – but if they were in a church, you would let them be. Classical conditioning.
          Without language, it becomes much more obvious what we are doing to one another. Without language, there is no distraction from the emotional implications of our deeds. No laws to cite, no morals to justify, no rhetorics to cover up. Just the simple act.

        3. I agree. Without language we’d be largely one with the whole undifferentiated realm of pure nature. This would be a world conditioned almost entirely on the reflexes of our emotions and instincts like any other animal. However the “Logos” meaning the word or utterance that allowed us to point beyond the pure phenomenal experiences of been born, of eating, of procreating and of dying, was I suspect our greatest act of both liberation and alienation. Paradoxically its allowed us to progress spectacularly as a species beyond the “brutal facts of life” by allowing us (especially males) to master our environments and build and explore the world around us, while at the same time, also creating an incurable schism between us and the rest of creation. That was the price that we had to pay.
          Yes, it would difficult to imagine the spiritual life with the guiding “Logos” that allows us to literally in-form ideas about the divine or God into our hearts and minds. The tragedy is as you say, with children who might naturally be attuned to these influences and have the “spark” or know how to “shine” with this capacity, have it then beaten out of them by ignorant parents, because the child’s spiritually doesn’t conform with some Christian/Muslim churches idea of “the God” they must believe in to be good Christians/Muslims.
          In some Christian communities at least, like the monks, you’ll sometimes still come across those special bred of monks in the community that are holy and simple and speak very little, so in rare occasions, you can find an abundant spiritual life in the absence of language, but it’s rare I’d imagine.

        4. I suppose what I mean is the male animus forming principle in life- that which imprints form and order on the chaos and irrationality of the world. The word is an integral, even primary, instrument of masculinity in the world.

      3. St. Alphonsus Liguori mentioned the example of some saints, who encouraged us to thank God for the gift of our rational souls whenever we beheld animals, because they cannot know God as we do, and we should not take our status for granted.
        But, Hell is more than the absence of God, and thus the experience of the animals is not very much like Hell.

        1. How did he know that they don’t know God? Why is a rational soul the only measure that applies to this state of knowing? Maybe their the innocent ones who always know God. There’s lots of rational human beings who either don’t know God or think they know God because they’re rational. A rational person who’s pure evil surely doesn’t know God, do they?

        2. Interesting question. I think that even animals must have some awareness of God even thought their reasoning abilities are nowhere near ours. I heard stories where nearby horses did go down on their front knees and bowed their heads during consecration at an outdoors mass. Another similar occurance with a camel, and one dude even caught it on video for us skeptics. Everybody was dumbfounded, especially the priest.

        3. “I heard stories where nearby horses did go down on their front knees and bowed their heads” Wow, I loved to have seen that. I think it was Schopenhauer that said the plants followed by animals were the forms of creation least tainted by original sin. In plants because their sexual organs are non-fleshy and in animals because they’re hidden discretely underneath.
          I think awareness and consciousnesses are the states that differentiate humans from everything else in creation through varying degrees of complexity. It’s hard to say if they have souls though, perhaps they’ve a different type of soul, not rational ones like our souls.

        4. I didn’t say “don’t know God;” I said “cannot know God *as we do,*” i.e., they know God, but not as man does.

    2. You did exist in 1850 as well as 1850 nanoseconds after the big bang. But it depends on what you mean to say by “you.” Your body, it’s materials, have existed for a long time. From the dust he made you.
      Now, what else do you believe about “you”? Do you believe you have some kind of spirit, soul, or otherwise supernatural/mystical essence?
      And if so, you will need to think through all the properties of that essence. Where is it located, where did it come from, where is it going, how did it get there, etc.
      If you’re not willing to do this exercise in logic then perhaps you can smoke a bowl of hash to make all the confusion go away.
      Alternatively, if you don’t believe there is a supernatural essence about you and about the world, then since you are nothing more than an animated sack of meat, a cloud of atomic particles, then you should just kill yourself to make all the confusion go away.
      I have found that once you reason through the supernatural you can find some measure of peace and understanding. Most of the confusion goes away, and the rest of the confusion is minor and irrelevant.

      1. then why did my ‘spirit’ and ‘essence’ only come about when my brain formed at birth? In 1850, I was just dust and mud. only when my brain formed did I become ‘me’ with a spirit and whatnot. Meaning, once my brain activity is gone, any recognition or self awareness will be gone too.
        and your suggestion that I kill myself – that’s the point, you can’t handle the reality of death so you need to invent an elaborate story to make yourself feel better when you see an Alzheimer’s patient in a nursing home, that their complete lack of any function transforms into a supernatural paradise. You are afraid of sudden loss of consciousness, which happens to us all eventually. then we return to dust, like before you were born and weren’t aware of anything good or bad.

        1. You have not answered my question, instead you’re just trying to attack my beliefs and strawman my fears.
          Do you believe there is a supernatural essence to “you” or not? You need to decide. Are you nothing more than a sack of meat, or is there something transcendent about you?
          You have 3 options, as I said.
          1. You can distract yourself with more stupid accusations against me, or drugs, or porn, or indifference. Whatever you need to take the pressure/focus off yourself.
          2. You can select “meat sack” and live your life accordingly. And we can then talk about what that means to live according to the knowledge that everyone is just a stupid sack of meat.
          3. You can continue to work on the theory that there is a transcendent/supernatural realm.

        2. Not sure what is all this about “exist in 1850 as well as 1850 nanoseconds after the big bang”. I always thought you exist when you started to be alive on your mother’s womb, but not before. As for “Hell”, I dont think the “suffering” of not being with God in the after life is something we can understand. That is why it was described as physical suffering so the simple minded humanity had something to compare it with.

    3. I think I may be misunderstanding your question. If I’m understanding it right, the answer would be this:
      Those in hell are conscious and aware; Hell is more than the mere privation or absence of God (that would be the Limbo of the Infants).

    1. Thanks, Quintus. I was worried this article would be too abstruse; I’m gratified if not all find it so!

      1. Even if it’s a bit advanced for where many of us are on our spiritual journey, it needs to be shared. Plant the seed!

      2. Not at all! The images and metaphors can seem strange at first but they speak to our deepest spiritual yearnings.

  3. Hello I’ve been a reader of RoK for a while but only decided to make this account because of the new Christian content coming out.
    I was baptised as an Anglican as a 5 year old but when I grew older and learnt about the history of the Anglican church I turned away from it as I didn’t agree with the way it was founded.
    I had been looking into perhaps going to a catholic church since it had been around for so much of history, but with the popes blatant socialist leanings as well as his statements about christian taking in muslims, the enemy of western civilization since its founding, I find it hard to justify going to one. His latest statements about not trying to convert Jews really raised questions with me about what it is he was trying to push.
    So now I’m looking into Orthodoxy even though I live in an Anglo country. From a very cursory glance it seems that the Orthodox follow doctrine alot more closely and don’t take in any of the Liberal/socialist bullshit thats affliciting the west.
    I just wanted to ask if anyone has had the same questions I have about what path to follow? I started off just learning PUA and now 3 years later I’ve gotten laid a decent amount of times that I feel like theres something missing in life.

    1. As a Catholic, I can completely identify with your conundrum. A seemingly apostate church on the one hand and the seeming purity of the Orthodox on the other.
      Most modern Catholic churches are a cesspool of milquetoast, leftist crap and attending mass at one of them is agonizing. Ask a priest for advice and you will get some half-assed psychotherapy instead of a manly, “Look…Jesus said this and you need to do it”
      As you mentioned, the pope is sure as Hell, not helping matters.
      Still, I am a Catholic in spite of all the flawed humans who make up the church. That is because it is the one, true Church with a direct line of descent from Jesus Himself. No other church can legitimately claim that. Further, Catholic teaching, that is, the entirety of the philosophy is complete and flawless. Every contingency is covered. That does not mean that you will get the answer that you want, but you will get an answer steeped in wisdom that will be nigh impossible to refute.
      The Catechism…
      http://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/what-we-believe/catechism/catechism-of-the-catholic-church/
      With a thirst for real Christianity, I would suggest you search locally for either an SSPX chapter or a Dominican Priory. There I think you may find what you are looking for.

      1. I grew up as an Anglican but the Anglican church has moved too far away from orthodoxy. The final straw for me was when our vicar stopped the use of the Nicene creed in favour of some woolly ‘affirmation of faith’. When I questioned it, he said the Nicene Creed was ‘just a bunch of words thought up by a group of men hundreds of years ago’. The Nicene Creed is the touchstone of orthodoxy and that was it for me. I converted to Catholicism.

      2. Thank you for your reply, I will read that ebook when I get time. What I am worried about the most is that if I go to a catholic church (I’m in Australia) I’ll have to sit down and listen to the crap Dalrock has posted about on his blog before in regards to “Marry up those sluts” and accepting “born again virgins” and all that other BS. I will look into those chapters you mentioned, I didn’t even realise that was a thing.

    2. I was baptized and tonsured a monk in the Orthodox Church, and am now a Catholic… but, you’re right to point out that most people who claim the title of “Catholic” nowadays, are apostates. If you want to talk to me about it, and why I made the choices I did, send me an email. This handle is my gmail address.

    3. I would find a place in your area that offers the Traditional Latin Mass. I would recommend the FSSP as a starting point: http://fssp.com/press/. The Masses are God centered and reverent and the homilies rich in the traditions of the Church. The post Vatican II Church and new Mass will leave you empty. I would make SSPX my second choice.

    4. A bit off the beaten path, but you should check out a Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (LCMS) church, if you can find one. Presbyterian Church of America (the denomination of Dr. R. C. Sproul) can also be excellent.
      It will always vary on the pastors and congregation. These denominations tend to be less corrupt than other protestants, so I’d give them a look.
      And remember, any pastor who discourages his congregation from looking at other churches (“church shopping”) is grubbing for your wallet, not your soul.

  4. Brother Aurelius, I understand this is off topic, but what is your opinion on Hermetism?
    It seems to have a relations with many religions like Christianity, Judaism and even Zoroastrianism. While I was browsing through the Wikipedia page, I was surprised to know that Isaac Newton himself studied and translated Hermetic texts!
    I look forward to your reply.

  5. Enjoyed this article immensely. 12 years of Catholic school and they never got into this level of detail about the advent season. Interesting to read about the imagery of the “morning” and “eastern sun” as well.

  6. The level of detail in this article is impressive, and I will need to read it again to ingest it all. I youtubed some of the antiphons and listened, and that sparked me looking up some of the music we sang when I was a kid in the Episcopal church. Found some of the Evensong service’s music we’d always use. Although I have yet to haul myself back to church, I do think that I will go back to the Episcopal church as opposed to joining a praise band non-denominational church like so many here. I had contemplated choosing a church based on the number of hot women, but I think I want what I grew up with, even though I don’t care for many of the Episcopal Church’s choices currently.

    1. You’ll want to make sure to look for an “High-Church” Episcopalian parish. Anglicans/Episcopalians are divided into “high” and “low” church styles; the low-church parishes will be almost like Methodists, pop-rock and felt banners and general womanly silliness. The High-Church parishes will tend to be more tasteful, with a greater emphasis on providing the best music and aesthetics.

      1. Thanks for the advice, Brother. The local church I was a choirboy for as a boy, and the cathedral of the diocese we sometimes traveled to, were of the high church distinction. The church I wish to attend locally, based on their website, seems to be of the same, with the Eucharist, liturgy, vestments, and church calendar. The only banners I care for are the liturgical calendar banners. I remember the Lent preparations as a boy; all banners would be stricken, and the Easter banner buried in a chest for the season. Upon Easter, it was exhumed, checked for damages (I think we had a spare stashed someplace just in case), then it got marched in right behind the Cross.

  7. Thank you very much for this. I was raised Catholic but have never heard of the Antiphons and I only discovered the tradition of extra fasting during the Ember days last year.
    I do have however fond memories of the Rorate Caeli mass from childhood, where all kids gathered in a dark church with lights and candles. I do not understand why they no longer do this stuff. It is as if they took away fine dining and forced us on a McDonalds diet. Those of us who remember bits and pieces of the old ways are angry as hell and confused. No wonder why the McChurches are empty. I would have never become Catholic in the first place if all I knew was the modern Western mass, and I have a lot of respect for you for finding this path in this confused world despite growing up an athiest.

    1. They have forced the Mcmass on everyone, because the people who did so deliberately and consciously desired to destroy the Church and Western Civilization. They were successful, because we have remained complacent; the only thing to be done, is to insist again on the ancient glories and to eschew the unjust authority which has usurped the places and offices of the Church, so far as most men can see.
      Why God should have assisted so miserable an atheist and dissolute heathen as myself, is something only His wisdom and largess can explain.

  8. I’m going to pose a question that popped into my head today. As we approach Christmas, everything reinforces the fact that at heart, Christianity is a religion of peace. Contrast that with Islam, in which violence in the name of the religion is most definitely presented as a valid possibility.
    Does that not give Islam a competitive advantage over Christianity?
    (BTW I want to pre-empt mention of the Crusades: these were exceptional events for which Christianity’s essential pacifism was temporarily suspended, in order to push back against aggressive Islamic expansionism.)

    1. I think the competitive edge comes from virtue, which prefers peace but does not shy away from war when necessary. Christian civilization routinely defeated, checked and surpassed Islamic civilization. Islam, the Church has often told us, is God’s scourge against the Church; when the Church forsakes Him, He sends Islam to recall them to their duty and first love. When we repent, we always overcome.
      But will we repent this time?

      1. Fascinating: I have been pondering the question for a few days and I came to exactly the same conclusion.
        Ours is at heart a religion of peace but also a religion that fully understands the human condition, and an unfortunate part of the human condition is the occasional necessity for war. As the Preacher tells us phlegmatically, there is a time for peace and a time for war. The archetype of the Warrior is not fully denied in our Faith while that archetype is embraced and nurtured in Islam.
        In my reflections I have felt that the incursion of Islam is calling us back to the Church. The fight is spiritual before it is physical.

  9. It makes me angry that these deeper aspects of our Western culture have been destroyed. Thank you for bringing these to the men of ROK.

    1. It is my very great pleasure. Several years ago, when I started to see the beauty, the glory, the exuberance, the profundity and the richness of our culture, I began to be very angry indeed how our culture was continuously denigrated, and we were advised to respect and celebrate far, far inferior cultures in its stead.
      European man has much to be proud of, little to be ashamed of, in his rich and ancient patrimony. Even our most “shameful” periods are not without witness to the great gifts we have received from our Maker.

      1. I live in New Zealand, where there is a politically mandated equivalence between the British-origin and Maori cultures. My son’s education takes place in this milieu. We were visiting the Victorian bath house in Rotorua, which is now a museum. There is the obligatory Maori section to the museum. In the Maori section, you see the same stuff you see in every other Maori exhibition. In the preserved Victorian side of the building, there are Greek statues and intricate engineering structures to bring the hot water to the baths. He pointed out to me that it’s weird how the Maori stuff is all the same when the Europeans have done so many different things. He expresses, in his own way, his unfiltered frustration at how an inferior culture is celebrated as equal to an advanced culture. Many people feel the same here but are afraid to say so.

        1. Well, they’re shooting themselves in the foot. I guess they really are stupid enough to believe that children are just entirely empty shells who receive whatever conditioning society gives them, and that simply putting Maori and European culture in the same room with “equal respect” will result in children respecting it.
          …when any sane man can remember his own childhood, and knows that putting primitive hovels and pots next to the White man’s achievements, is only going to confirm every little boy and girl in the opinion they would otherwise have held only dimly and without much conviction: “Maori sure are stupid.”

  10. I have learned a lot from this article. Thank you for sharing your wisdom and knowledge Cui.

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