After a flurry of rejoicing and rose on Sunday for Advent III we return now to a period of solemn expectation, as the feast of Christmas draws very near.
During the next seven days, the Church meditates each day on a different characteristic or type of the Messiah recorded in the Hebrew Scriptures. Each day has a title, and today's is O sapientia or Wisdom.
The text of the special antiphon prayed at Evening Prayer today is as follows:
O Wisdom, That comest out of the mouth of the Most High, That reachest from one end to another, and dost mightily and sweetly order all things: come, to teach us the way of prudence!
Here is a musical setting of that text (from c. 1693) by Marc-Antoine Charpentier, an extract from a larger work containing each O Antiphon.