O Sapientia (1st Advent Antiphon)
O SAPIENTIA
Incipit page, Book of the Wisdom of Solomon, Codex Gigas, 91v. National Library of Sweden
O Wisdom, Which camest forth out of the mouth of the Most High, and reachest from one end to the other, mightily and sweetly ordering all things: Come and teach us the way of prudence.
O Lord Jesu Christ, who art the very Wisdom of God most high,
by whom He made the world, impressing on His creation
the reflexion of His own power and goodness;
Who dost uphold the world in its being and harmony,
as Thou reachest from one end to the other
mightily and sweetly ordering all things;
Who didst visit God's prophets and servants of old,
giving them ever fuller knowledge of His mind and will;
Thou in the fulness of time didst come forth in the incarnation,
clothing Thyself in our nature and living amidst our conditions,
to teach us the way of prudence--
how to use the complex nature Thou hadst framed,
how to escape the snares and temptations by which we are surrounded,
how to attain the blessedness which Thou hast prepared for us.
Blessed be Thy Name for Thy teaching by word and by example,
for the testimony of Thine Apostles and the record of the Scriptures,
for the continual guidance of Thy Spirit and the witness of Thy Saints.
Come now, we pray Thee, by Thy grace
to Thy Church and people,and teach us in our day and need
the way of prudence--
how best to promote Thy Father's glory,
and extend Thy kingdom,
and win our perfect life,
as we so pass through things temporal
as not to lose the things eternal.
Wisdom viii. 1, ix. 4, 9, 10; Proverbs viii. 22, sq.; Hebrews i. 1; John i. 3; Ecclesiasticus xxxiv. 3. sq.