Advent music choices

[Hare]

I note with much discomfort, that the latest edition of my diocesan "music planner" suggests "O come, O come Emmanuel" for the first Sunday of Advent. I, and I know many others, staunchly (and in the face of protests from congregations) reserve this hymn for after the 17th of December, when the "O" Antiphons take prominence in the liturgy. I am sure this will have been discussed before, but I am annoyed that this abuse seems to be receiving approval at diocesan level (even if the diocesan liturgy committee is not an official "voice" of the diocese)

[Southern Comfort]

The problem with Advent is that there are two different and conflicting structures at work:

Divine Office and Weekday Lectionary
Up to 16 December — 'O' Antiphons traditionally forbidden
December 17-24 (excluding the 4th Sunday of Advent) — One 'O' Antiphon for each day (in the Office and the weekday Gospel Acclamations)

[A secondary problem here is that the sequence of antiphons is not the same for the weekday Gospel Acclamations as for the Office, and neither of them follows the order of verses in "O come, O come, Emmanuel" !]

Sunday Lectionary
1st Sunday of Advent — The Second Coming
2nd and 3rd Sundays of Advent — The Coming of our Redeemer
4th Sunday of Advent — pre-Christmas

The text of "O come", dealing as it does with ransoming captive Israel, setting people free, making straight the way that leads on high, etc, is clearly orientated towards the coming of our Redeemer, the Messiah who will liberate his people. There are also overtones of the Second Coming. It is therefore possible to say that the best Sundays to use this hymn are actually the 2nd and 3rd Sundays, and perhaps the 1st Sunday, but not the 4th Sunday, regardless of what is going on in the Divine Office. It is the structure of the Sunday Lectionary that we are dealing with in parish celebrations.

If I wanted a 'theme song' for the four Sundays of Advent, I would probably pick the Taizé Wait for the Lord or Bernadette Farrell's Litany of the Word.

[Peter]

It is therefore possible to say that the best Sunday to use ... ["O Come, o come Emmanuel ..." is] not the 4th Sunday...

And yet the 4th Sunday of Advent in Year A is the only one on which "Emmanuel" is mentioned explicitly in the readings.

[John Ainslie]

I would have to side with Peter and against Southern Comfort. The O antiphons with their reverse acrostic ERO CRAS ('I will be [coming] tomorrow') were in liturgical use by the eighth century and were incorporated into novenas of preparation for Christmas widely since the middle ages: see http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11141b.htm for details. As such they delineate the final stage of Advent and preparation for Christmas.

Yes, these antiphons do not occur in the Mass, and the 4th Sunday of Advent has a particular and timely Marian theme in all three years. But, in original or hymn form, they are worth keeping us waiting for that last novena period.

How about having a novena of preparation for Christmas in your parish centred around these antiphons? I remember the one in my home parish in the 1950s. It's how I first learnt to love them.

[Gabriel]

Unlike John SC's view has my sympathy. To return to the original question is it an abuse to recommend or use 'O come, O come Emmanuel' on the First Sunday of Advent - definitely not. Is it a good thing to use on that Sunday - possibly. Yes, it can reflect themes in the readings; no, custom retains its use to the final days of the season. But that custom is not the same as saying it should only be used on the Fourth Sunday of Advent where at Mass it has no greater recommendation than other possible texts.

Or perhaps as John recommends we should use it devotionally.

[keitha]

I'm not sure there is a "right" or "wrong" way in this - it is, I think, really a question of what is most appropriate to the mass in question. There will be some subjectivity there because people may reach different views on that. If, in the light of the prescribed 'theme', readings and prayers of the mass (and the homily if the preacher, say, wants to concentrate and reflect upon a particular thread in the mass), one piece is more appropriate than another, then surely we should go for the more appropriate one. There are plenty to choose from. If O come fits the bill, it can go in (whatever Sunday in Advent it is). The Mass is not necessarily constrained by the same norms that apply to the Office.

All that having been said, (1) I like having O come as the final hymn on Advent 4 (if we have one) and the first hymn at the Office of Readings before the Mass of Christmas Night because it seems to me (and I accept that others may have other views) appropriate and (2) the idea of having it on Advent 1 seems a little odd to me. Maybe it is worth asking the authors of the diocesan planner in question what their thinking is on this - they may well have a perfectly good reason that none of us have thought of.

[organist]

I like to keep "O come" until Advent 4. We use "When God is a child" by Brian Wren for the lighting of the wreath candles.

[HallamPhil]

But what music do you choose to express what is in this year's Advent readings ... that the inconceivable is imagined by Isaiah, lame leaping, blind seeing, calf laying down with the lion, swords into ploughshares etc and most inconceivable of all (pardon the pun) that a child will be born to a virgin? How do you express the unimaginable ... akin to Martin Luther King's I have a dream ? Not by trotting out the standard Advent stuff just 'because it's what we've always done' in Advent. This is the stuff of joyful expectation rather than re-visiting old notions of it being another penitential season with (for some) pink vestments indicating a relaxation in observances we no longer keep. How and when we sing O come, O come Emmanuel doesn't rock my boat by comparison.

Rant over! Now experiencing joyful expectation of some considered sharing!

[Southern Comfort]

I like having O come as the final hymn on Advent 4 (if we have one)

For me, the quintessential final hymn on Advent 4 is "Lo, he comes with clouds descending", with a super descant (by a well-known composer) for the last verse !

[mcb]

For me, the quintessential final hymn on Advent 4 is "Lo, he comes with clouds descending"

Why then, SC? It's a 'second coming' hymn, so might it be more suitable for early in Advent?

Actually the best fit seems to be for the Year B readings for Christ the King (and for the Sunday before).

[Southern Comfort]

For me, the quintessential final hymn on Advent 4 is "Lo, he comes with clouds descending"

Why then, SC? It's a 'second coming' hymn, so might it be more suitable for early in Advent?

Actually the best fit seems to be for the Year B readings for Christ the King (and for the Sunday before).

I think it's an emotional thing. We've had "O Jesus Christ, remember when thou shalt come again", through "Hark! A herald voice is calling" and "On Jordan's bank" to "The Angel Gabriel"; and now we're right on the cusp. "Lo! he comes......" with a superb tune. Yes, I know it's Second Coming, but it's now.... And you can imagine Christ being borne by clouds of angels to be born in Bethlehem. Call it sentimental, but it's powerful. Tomorrow, we celebrate the incarnation of the risen Christ and those glorious scars.

[VML]

Does anyone here use Tony Barr's 'Rain down, justice?'
We have sung it for years in our parish, and it is well liked and seems appropriate. I don't see why it was left out of CFE, when it was in the original Celebration and HON.