Reveal among us the light of your presence, that we may behold your power and glory.
Antiphon O Clavis David
O Key of David and sceptre of the House of Israel;
you open and no one can shut;
you shut and no one can open:
Come and lead the prisoners from the prison house,
those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.
(cf Isaiah 22.22, 42.7)
Deep within the clay, and O my people
very deep within the wholly earthen
compound of our kind arrives of one clear,
star-illumined evening a spark igniting
once again the ember of our lately
banked noetic fire. She burns but she
is not consumed. The dew falls gently,
suffusing the pure fleece. Her human flesh
adorns its Lord, and lo, the wall comes down.
And—do you feel the pulse? —we all become
the kindled kindred of a King whose birth
thereafter bears to all a bright nativity.
Prayer
Heavenly Father,
who chose the Blessed Virgin Mary
to be the mother of the promised saviour:
fill us your servants with your grace,
that in all things we may embrace your holy will
and with her rejoice in your salvation;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
John Tavener. Annunciation (1992). Winchester Cathedral Choir, dir David Hill.
"Greetings, favoured one, the Lord is with you." Luke 1:28. The Annunciation. Artist unknown. Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, c. 1410-30.
May the Lord, when he comes, find us watching and waiting. Amen.
