Keep your O! O Emmanuel.

“O Emmanuel, our King and our Lawgiver, the Expectation of all nations, and the Savior of all: Come, Lord, O come to save us, our Lord and our God.” —Magnificat antiphon for December 23

O Emmanuel! Without a doubt, the most treasured and well-known name for God in this season of anticipation.

On this final day, the perfect name of God is revealed. This name describes our relationship with the Eternal One. His coming is not an abstract idea, but a tangible nearness. From the depths of our whole being, we say: Emmanuel.

Emmanuel … God with us. Only made possible by the consent and cooperation of one woman. Hail, full of grace, ushers in the dawn of our salvation.

For the past seven days, we have prayed these O Antiphons coupled with Mary’s Magnificat. Within her is Emmanuel, Wisdom, Adonai, the Desire of All Nations. She exults, “Let the will of God be done in me.” She is the one who announces that God turns everything upside down and makes it new!

At Christmas, Jesus came to us to bring us to God. He came knowing our frailty and brokenness, coming as a child so that we would not fear loving him.

Jesus, let me hold you as your mother held you. Let me gaze into your eyes, let me feel your heartbeat next to mine. Holding you, I hold the eternal and all holy One. Embracing you, I embrace the deepest longing of my existence.

For your meditation this day. From the monks of Saint John’s Abbey: