O Radix Jesse or O Root of Jesse (December 19)O Root of Jesse, (Isaiah 11:1)
You stand for the ensign of mankind (Isaiah 11:10); before You kings shall keep silence and to You all nations shall have recourse (Isaiah 52:15). * Come, save us, and do not delay (Habakkuk 2:3).
Symbols: Plant with Root and Flower
Pray with your family:
Come to deliver us, and tarry
not.
O Root of Jesse, who stands for an ensign of the people,
before whom kings shall keep silence and unto whom the Gentiles shall
make supplication: Come to deliver us, and tarry not.
O Radix Jesse, qui stas in signum populorum, super
quem continebunt reges os suum, quem gentes deprecabuntur: veni ad liberandum
nos, jam noli tardare.
Read to or with your family:
Isaiah 11:1-11
1 And there shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise up out of his root.
2 And
the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him: the spirit of wisdom, and
of understanding, the spirit of counsel, and of fortitude, the spirit of
knowledge, and of godliness.
3 And
he shall be filled with the spirit of the fear of the Lord. He shall
not judge according to the sight of the eyes, nor reprove according to
the hearing of the ears.
4 But
he shall judge the poor with justice, and shall reprove with equity for
the meek of the earth: land he shall strike the earth with the rod of
his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked.
5 And justice shall be the girdle of his loins: and faith the girdle of his reins.
6 The
wolf shall dwell with the lamb: and the leopard shall lie down with the
kid: the calf and the lion, and the sheep shall abide together, and a
little child shall lead them.
7 The calf and the bear shall feed: their young ones shall rest together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
8 And
the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp: and the weaned
child shall thrust his hand into the den of the basilisk.
9 They
shall not hurt, nor shall they kill in all my holy mountain, for the
earth is filled with the knowledge of the Lord, as the covering waters
of the sea.
10 In
that day the root of Jesse, who standeth for an ensign of the people,
him the Gentiles shall beseech, and his sepulchre shall be glorious.
11 And
it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand the
second time to possess the remnant of his people, which shall be left
from the Assyrians, and from Egypt, and from Phetros, and from Ethiopia,
and from Elam, and from Sennaar, and from Emath, and from the islands
of the sea.
Sing with your family:
O come, o come, Emmanuel,And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here,
Until the Son of God appear.
CHORUS:
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel!
O come, O Rod of Jesse free,
Thine own from Satan's tyranny;
From depths of hell Thy people save,
And give them victory o'er the grave
CHORUS:
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel!
Commentary:
The flower which springs up from the root of Jesse is
another figure of Christ. Isaiah prophesied that the Savior would be born
from the root of Jesse, that He would sit upon the throne of David, and
in Christ this prophecy is fulfilled.
What urgency there is this antiphon. Something that lies below the earth (a root) stands high unto the heavens like a banner! Vexilia Regis Prodeunt we sing in Lent... what is a little root during Advent becomes by Lent the Tree of our salvation. Isaiah 11:10 gives us imagery for our reflection today. The great prophet of Advent tells us that the kingdom of David would be destroyed, but not entirely destroyed. A root would remain. Jesse is David's father. David is Jesse's root. David leads to Christ. After the destruction there remains a root. No matter what the exigencies of life present to us or how turbulent the vicissitudes of the passing world may be, when we cling to the root we are sure to be victorious in the end.
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