O Sapientia 2021

O Wisdom, that comest from the mouth of the Most High, that reachest from one end to another, mightily and sweetly ordering all things, come and teach us the way of prudence.

Many years ago, I stumbled across a book which described a very charming medieval custom, by which the O antiphons were assigned to different members of a cathedral chapter or monastic community, in reference to their opening words and the various position within the house. One version is given by a post from nine years ago on the blog A Clerk of Oxford. “The right of intoning one of the O Antiphons was jealously limited by immemorial custom to certain higher officers in the community and each of these great functionaries had his own appropriate antiphon. In most monasteries, the antiphon O Sapientia (O Wisdom) was reserved to the Abbot and O Adonai to the Prior. Some antiphons were intoned by the obedientiary or functionary most closely associated with the theme of the antiphon: O Radix Jesse was reserved to the gardener, O Clavis David to the cellarer whose duty it was to keep things under lock and key, and O Rex Gentium to the infirmarian, since the antiphon contained the clause, ‘Come and save (or heal) man whom you have formed out of clay.’ ” If memory serves, O Sapientia might also be given to the cathedral schoolmaster, and O Emmanuel to one of the boy choristers. If anyone knows more about this custom, or can point to a reference that gives more information, please be so kind as to leave a note in the combex. Prope est jam Dominus: venite, adoremus!