O Come O Come Emmanuel

A hauntingly beautiful melody with deep meaning

Photo by Max Beck on Unsplash

O come, O come, Emmanuel And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear

The roots of the well-known Advent hymn “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” are ancient, dating back to medieval times. The lyrics are based on a series of antiphons, short liturgical texts sung or recited in Christian worship.

O come, O come, Thou Lord of might Who to Thy tribes, on Sinai’s height
In ancient times didst give the law
In cloud, and majesty and awe

The precise authorship of the original Latin text is uncertain, but it is believed to have been composed around the 8th or 9th century. Each antiphon addresses Christ with a different title derived from Old Testament prophecies, emphasizing the longing and anticipation for the arrival of the Messiah.

• O Sapentia (Wisdom) — “O come, Thou Wisdom from on high”