Day 4 of the Novena of Aguinaldos...
and the Third of the O Antiphons: O Radix Jesse
Today is the Third of the O Antiphons, O Radix Jesse (O Root of Jesse). Christ the King, the Lord! Divine Wisdom, Adonai, the powerful God, is at the same time man with flesh and blood of the house of Jesse, the father of King David. Truly, the right of kingship has now passed from the house of David. The glory that once clothed the royal family has faded and withered, leaving only a blighted and withered root. But from this root is to spring a glorious blossom, the King of the world. "He shall rule from sea to sea and from the river unto the ends of the earth. Before Him the Ethiopians shall fall down and His enemies shall lick the ground. The kings of Tharsis and the islands shall offer presents: the kings of the Arabians and of Saba shall serve Him" (Ps. 71:8-11). To Him God has said, "Thou art My Son. . . . I will give Thee the Gentiles for Thy inheritance, and the utmost parts of the earth for Thy possession" (Ps. 2:7 ff).1
We continue with the Novena of Aguinaldos (aguinaldos means "bonuses" or "benefits").
The Novena of Aguinaldos
Make the sign of the Cross.
Prayer for Every Day
O Most Gracious God of infinite love, You loved humankind so much, You gave us in Your Son the best pledge of Your love, so that Jesus, made human in the womb of a Virgin and born in a manger, would be our health and remedy. I, on behalf of all humanity, give You infinite thanks for such a sovereign benefit. In return for this great gift, I offer You the poverty, simplicity, humility and other virtues of Your Incarnate Son. I implore You by His divine merits, the discomforts He suffered when He was born, and sweet tears He shed in the manger, that You prepare our hearts with profound humility, a burning love and with total disdain of all that is material and earthly, so that the newborn Jesus will find in our hearts His crib and abode forever. Amen.
Pray three Glory Bes
Daily Consideration
Day 4: December 19
From the womb of His Mother, the Child Jesus began to put into practice His entire submission to God, which continued without any interruption throughout His entire life. He adored His Eternal Father, loved Him, and submitted to His will, accepting with resignation the state of His being and fully acknowledging all of His weaknesses, His humiliations, and all of His discomforts. Who among us would want to go back to a similar state, with the full enjoyment of reason and reflection? It was thus that the Divine Child entered His painful and humble path, and began to humble Himself before His Father, in order to teach us what God deserves from His creatures and to atone for our pride, the source of all our sins. Do we desire to make a real prayer? Let us begin to form in it an exact idea, meditating on the Child in the womb of His Mother. The Divine Child prays in the most perfect way: He does not speak; He does not meditate, nor does He get caught up in tender affections. He simply accepts and offers the state in which He came into the world as His prayer with the intention of honoring God. In this state, He highly expressed everything that God deserves, and how He wants to be loved by us. Let us join with the prayers of the Holy Child in Mary's womb; let us unite to His deep submission and let this be the first affection of our sacrifice to God. Let us be invisible to our own eyes and may God be our all.
Prayer to the Blessed Virgin
O Heavenly Queen, by your great virtues and especially for your humility, you merited God’s favor to choose you for His mother. I beg you to prepare my soul and the souls of all those who at this time are praying this Novena for the spiritual birth of your beloved Son. Oh, sweet Mother! Instill in me something of that profound contemplation and great tenderness you felt while you awaited His coming, so that you make us less unworthy to see Him, love Him, and adore Him for all eternity. Amen.
Pray three Hail Marys
Prayer to Saint Joseph
O great St. Joseph, husband of Mary and foster father of Jesus! I give infinite thanks to God for having chosen you for such a great ministry and for having bestowed upon you all the gifts proportionate to such greatness. I beseech you, for the love you had for the Divine Child, that you embrace my earnest desires to see Him and receive Him sacramentally, while we wait to see Him and enjoy Him in His Divine Essence in heaven. Amen.
Pray one Our Father, one Hail Mary, and one Glory Be
The Memorare to the Child Jesus
Remember, O Sweet Holy Child Jesus, that You have said to Venerable Sister Margaret of the Blessed Sacrament, and to all of Your devotees, these words so full of consolation for our poor, burdened and suffering humanity: “Draw from this Divine Heart. Ask all that you desire through the merits of My Holy Childhood. Nothing will be refused to you." Full of confidence in Thee, O Jesus, Who are Truth itself, we come to make known all our misery to you. Help us to lead a Holy life in order to attain a Blessed Eternity. Grant us through the infinite Merits of Your Incarnation and of Your Childhood, the graces of which we are most in need. No, we shall not be deceived in our hope. We abandon ourselves to Thee, O Omnipotent Child, in virtue of Your Divine Promise, You will favorably receive and deign to grant our prayer. Amen.
The seven "O Antiphons" (also called the "Greater Antiphons" or "Major Antiphons") are prayers that come from the Breviary's Vespers during the Octave before Christmas Eve, a time which is called the "Golden Nights."
Each Antiphon begins with "O" and addresses Jesus with a unique title which comes from the prophecies of Isaias (Isaiah) and Micheas (Micah), and whose initial letters, when read backwards, form an acrostic for the Latin "Ero Cras" which means "Tomorrow I come." Those titles for Christ are:
Sapientia
Adonai
Radix Jesse
Clavis David
Oriens
Rex Gentium
Emmanuel2
Come to deliver us, and tarry not.
Traditional Antiphon: O Root of Jesse, who stands for an ensign of the people, before whom kings shall keep silence and unto whom the Gentiles shall make supplication: Come to deliver us, and tarry not.
O Radix Jesse, qui stas in signum populorum, super quem continebunt reges os suum, quem gentes deprecabuntur: veni ad liberandum nos, jam noli tardare.
The flower which springs up from the root of Jesse is another figure of Christ. Isaiah prophesied that the Savior would be born from the root of Jesse, that He would sit upon the throne of David, and in Christ this prophecy is fulfilled.3
Isaias 11:1
And there shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise up out of his root.
Isaias 11:10
In that day the root of Jesse, who standeth for an ensign of the people, him the Gentiles shall beseech, and his sepulchre shall be glorious.
Micheas 5:1
Now shalt thou be laid waste, O daughter of the robber: they have laid siege against us, with a rod shall they strike the cheek of the judge of Israel.
Romans 15:8-13
For I say that Christ Jesus was minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers. But that the Gentiles are to glorify God for his mercy, as it is written: Therefore will I confess to thee, O Lord, among the Gentiles, and will sing to thy name. And again he saith: Rejoice, ye Gentiles, with his people. And again: Praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles; and magnify him, all ye people. And again Isaias saith: There shall be a root of Jesse; and he that shall rise up to rule the Gentiles, in him the Gentiles shall hope. Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing; that you may abound in hope, and in the power of the Holy Ghost.
Apocalypse 5:1-5
And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne, a book written within and without, sealed with seven seals. And I saw a strong angel, proclaiming with a loud voice: Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof? And no man was able, neither in heaven, nor on earth, nor under the earth, to open the book, nor to look on it. And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open the book, nor to see it. And one of the ancients said to me: Weep not; behold the lion of the tribe of Juda, the root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.
December 19
O Root of Jesse, who standest as the standard of the people ; before whom Kings shall not open their lips; to whom the nations shall pray: come and deliver us; tarry now no more.
At length, O Son of Jesse! thou art approaching the city of thy ancestors. The Ark of the Lord has risen, and journeys, with the God that is in her, to the place of her rest. "How beautiful are thy steps, O thou daughter of the Prince," [Cant. vii. 1.] now that thou art bringing to the cities of Juda their salvation! The Angels escort thee, thy faithful Joseph lavishes his love upon thee, heaven delights in thee, and our earth thrills with joy to bear thus upon itself its Creator and its Queen. Go forward, O Mother of God and Mother of Men! Speed thee, thou propitiatory that holdest within thee the divine Manna which gives us life! Our hearts are with thee, and count thy steps. Like thy royal ancestor David, "we will enter not into the dwelling of our house, nor go up into the bed whereon we lie, nor give sleep to our eyes, nor rest to our temples, until we have found a place in our hearts for the Lord whom thou bearest, a tabernacle for this God of Jacob." [Ps. cxxxi. 3-5.] Come, then, O Root of Jesse! thus hid in this Ark of purity; thou wilt soon appear before thy people as the standard round which all that would conquer must rally. Then, their enemies, the Kings of the world, will be silenced, and the nations will offer thee their prayers. Hasten thy coming, dear Jesus! come and conquer all our enemies, and deliver us.
— Dom Prosper Gueranger
The Liturgical Year
CUSTOMS
For celebration of the O Antiphons from December 17-24, your family could prepare an O Antiphon House, a little cardboard house with eight hinged windows, each hiding the appropriate symbol for the O Antiphon of the day. There is also a ninth window depicting the Nativity scene for Christmas Day. The windows are opened one by one each day at the singing of the antiphon, or incorporated during the December 16-24 Christmas Novena. The house can be drawn on flat cardstock, or later shaped into a Tower, by bending the cardstock into a circle.
These instructions are based on ideas taken from Family Advent Customs by Helen McLoughlin, Twelve Days of Christmas by Elsa Chaney…4
https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2024-12-19
https://fisheaters.com/customsadvent10.html
https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2024-12-19
https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/activities/view.cfm?id=957