O Oriens – O Dayspring Antiphon for December 21

O Oriens – O Dayspring. The word Dayspring today is considered archaic, yet it is a word that is beautiful and poetic. The word is used in the King James translation of the Bible. It means the dawn of the morning or daybreak. The symbol for Dayspring is often a rising sun as it breaks the horizon a the dawn of a new day. The imagery is beautiful, as is the sunrise of each new day. The Dayspring image is one of my personal favorites. And keep watching for there will be a new Collection of Designs Called Dayspring in whites and golds for Christmas and Easter.

Latin Phrase:

O Oriens,

splendor lucis aeternae, et sol justitae:

veni, et illumia sedentes in tenebris, et umbra mortis.

English:

O Morning Star,

splendor of light eternal and sun of righteousness:

Come and enlighten those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.

“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness—on them light has shined.” Isaiah 9:2

And from the song of Zechariah at the birth of his son John:

And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest;
For you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways,
 To give knowledge of salvation to His people
By the remission of their sins,
 Through the tender mercy of our God,
With which the Dayspring from on high has visited us;
 To give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death,
To guide our feet into the way of peace.” Luke 1: 76-79