O Emmanuel!

December 23 O Emmanuel!

O Emmanuel, our king and our Lord,
the anointed for the nations and their Savior:
Come and save us, O Lord our God.
(LSB 357)

Listen to Chaplain Daenzer sing it here.

And so we come to the last Vespers of Advent. Tonight the Great “O” Antiphon will be “O Emmanuel,” for tomorrow we will celebrate that the Child of Mary is none other than God Himself with His people. If you read the titles for the Great “O” Antiphons backwards from this day, you have ERO CRAS: “I will be (here) tomorrow.” Advent is nearly over, and the joys of the nativity are about to begin.

O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel!
(LSB 357:1)