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Featured Term (selected at random):ROOT OF JESSE A symbol of Christ, "a shoot springs from the root of Jesse" (Isaiah 11:1). St. Ambrose explains the root as the family of the Jews, the stem as Mary, the flower as Christ. The great O antiphon of December 19 is sung "O Root of Jesse who standeth as an ensign of the people before whom kings will keep silence and unto whom the Gentiles will make supplication, come to deliver us and tarry not." Often represented as a flourishing tree, it carries the six-pointed star of Israel at is base and the...

“O Root of Jesse, Come” (Isaiah 11:1-10; Romans 15:4-13; Matthew 1:1-17)Today we continue with the third of the seven O Antiphons of Advent, these prayers addressing the coming Christ. This one begins, “O Root of Jesse.” You see it there on the page facing Hymn 357, as well as in your bulletin. Let us now pray this antiphon together: “O Root of Jesse, standing as an ensign before the peoples, before whom all kings are mute, to whom the nations will do homage: Come quickly to deliver us.” “O Root of Jesse, Come.” The Scripture on which this antiphon is...