page_title: O Antiphons
section_title: O Rex Gentium
hierarchical_section_title: O Antiphons / Analysis / O Rex Gentium
caption_attribution_description: Cristo Redentor, statue on Corcovado mountain in Rio de Janeiro, by Paul Landowski
context_page_description: The O Antiphons, also known as The great Os, are Magnificat antiphons used at Vespers of the last seven days of Advent in Western Christian traditions. They are also used as the Alleluia verses on the same days in the post-1970 form of the Catholic Mass, although the Lectionary moves O Emmanuel to the 21st, uses Rex Gentium on both the 22nd and 23rd, and places O Oriens on the morning of the 24th, with authorization for the traditional ordering from the 17th through the 23rd.
  They are referred to as the "O Antiphons" because the title of each one begins with the vocative particle "O".
  Each antiphon is a name of Christ, one of his attributes mentioned in Scripture. They are:
  17 December: O Sapientia
  18 December: O Adonai
  19 December: O Radix Jesse
  20 December: O Clavis David
  21 December: O Oriens
  22 December: O Rex Gentium
  23 December: O Emmanuel
  In the Catholic Roman Rite, the O Antiphons are sung or recited at Vespers from 17 December to 23 December inclusive. Some Anglican churches also use them, either in the same way as modern Roman Catholics, or according to a medieval English usage.
context_section_description: Latin:
  O Rex Gentium, et desideratus earum,
  lapisque angularis, qui facis utraque unum:
  veni, et salva hominem,
  quem de limo formasti.
  English:
  O King of the nations, and their desire,
  the cornerstone making both one:
  Come and save the human race,
  which you fashioned from clay.
  See Haggai 2:8: Et movebo omnes gentes, et veniet desideratus cunctis gentibus.  Compare the Greek πάντα τὰ ἔθνη.
  Isaiah had prophesied:
  "For a child has been born for us, a son given us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6
  "He shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore." Isaiah 2:4
  "But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.Isaiah 64:8
  
  Also compare Isaiah 28:16 and Ephesians 2:14
caption: Prince of Peace
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