Today is the feast of St. Dominic of Silos, an abbot who lived in Spain in the 11th century.
O Key of David
"Come, lead the captives from their prison." With the key of His almighty power, the Redeemer has opened the prison in which poor, sinful man was languishing in darkness and in the shadow of death.
Key of David, come and deliver the captives from their prison. The Church wishes that by the practice of virtue we should free ourselves from sin and unfaithfulness. She asks God that He may spare us from punishment, deliver us from His wrath, from an evil death, and from hell. The Church prays that God may free us from a heart that clings to the world, from a spirit that is pleased with worldliness, from a human respect that degrades us. She urges us to return kindness and affection for scorn, love and compassion for persecution. Our Holy Mother the Church prays that we may be delivered from ourselves, from our self-love, and from all our secret sins. She prays that God may detach our hearts from all that can bind them to earth, for he who has been freed from the things of the earth is free with the freedom of Christ.
Key of David, come and deliver the captives from their prison. By Thy coming free us from all that separates us from God. Bring us freedom and redemption; incline us to surrender ourselves completely to God. So all pray for each, and each for all.
Excerpted from The Light of the World by Benedict Baur, O.S.B.
4th O Antiphon:
O Key of David, And scepter of the house of Israel,
Thou openest and no man dare shut,
Thou shuttest and no man dare open,
COME
Lead from prison, the fettered one,
The dweller in darkness and the shadow of death.
O Radiant Dawn
O eternal Sun, come and enlighten us, for where Thou art not, there is darkness, death, and wickedness. "Come and enlighten all who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death."
"But now [you are] light in the Lord" (Eph. 5:18). In the Church the light has now appeared to us on the first Christmas night, on the day of our baptism, daily in the Mass and at the time of Holy Communion, and in the many inspirations and promptings of grace. How thankful we should be for this light, which is Christ.
But we have yet to reach the full measure of the stature of Christ. Alas! we let ourselves be burdened by earthly sorrow, we are distracted by the excitement of the moment, and our spiritual growth is hampered by our attachment to the things of this world. Fervently we should repeat that plea of Holy Mother the Church. "0 dawning Sun of righteousness, come and enlighten us, who yet sit in the darkness of suffering, of human reasoning, and of self-love."
The light of Christ will be revealed perfectly only when we meet Him at the time of His second coming. Then we shall be brought into the light of glory, and we shall "shine as the sun in the kingdom of the Father" (Matt. 13:48). "Sown in corruption we shall rise in incorruption" (I Cor. 15:42). May the day of enlightenment come soon!
Excerpted from The Light of the World by Benedict Baur, O.S.B.
5th O Antiphon:
O Dawn, splendor of eternal light,
And sun of justice,
COME
and shine on those seated in darkness,
And in the shadow of death.