O Adonai

As we explained yesterday, the Church begins to proclaim the Seven Solemn Antiphons starting today.

What is an Antiphon?

Antiphons are verses used in the liturgy to encourage the active participation of the people. For example, when we proclaim the psalm, the congregation responds with a verse. So, we can say that an antiphon is an exclamation intended either to meditate on God’s greatness or to ask something of Him.

The Church recites seven titles and seven petitions between December 17 and 23, all of which point to Jesus.

Today, we hear the following Antiphon before the Gospel:

O Adonai 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.

This is a twofold verse because, on one hand, it is a petition, asking for God’s help, and on the other hand, it is a description of God’s power and how He has acted in history.

Today, we implore O Adonai, which means O Lord. We are asking God to save us as He once saved the Israelites in Egypt.

In this antiphon, we both ask and describe: the Messiah is depicted as a new Moses.

Moses was called by God to lead His people with a miraculous sign — the burning bush that was not consumed by fire. The Fathers of the Church have said that the burning bush symbolizes Mary. Just as the bush was covered with God’s power but was not destroyed, so too was Mary, who conceived the Emmanuel without losing her virginity.

So, just as Moses was called from a burning bush cover with the power of God without destroying it, the new Moses — Jesus — will be called through a woman covered by the power of God, without losing her virginity.

Moses received the Law from God on the mountain. The new Moses, Jesus, will give us a new Law on another mountain — the mountain of the Beatitudes.

In summary, the Savior will be like Moses, but greater. Moses prophesies about it: “A prophet like me will the Lord, your God, raise up for you from among your own kindred; to him you shall listen.” (Deuteronomy 18:15)

When we look at the life of Moses, we see a foreshadowing of what the Savior will do — not just for one nation, but for all of humanity.

Moses led the Israelites to salvation and taught them how to serve God. Jesus, however, came to save all people and teach us how to love and serve God. He is greater than Moses because Moses was only a figure, a shadow, of the true Savior.

“If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me” John 5:46

Matthew 5:17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”

O Adonai 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.