O Come, Thou Wisdom From on High
The Hymn:- O come, Thou Wisdom from on high,
- Who orderest all things mightily;
- To us the path of knowledge show,
- And teach us in her ways to go.
- Rejoice! Rejoice!
- Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.
Latin Text:
- O Sapientia, quae ex ore Altissimi prodiisti,
- attingens a fine usque ad finem,
- fortiter suaviterque disponens omnia:
- veni ad docendum nos viam prudentiae.
English Translation:
- O Wisdom, who proceeds from the mouth of the Most High,
- Who reaches from one end to the other,
- Who mightily and sweetly orders all things;
- Come to teach us the way of prudence.
LSB “O Antiphons” under Hymn 357 and in Treasury of Daily Prayer p. 1025:
- O Wisdom, proceeding from the mouth
- of the Most High, pervading and
- permeating all creation, mightily
- ordering | all things*
- Come and teach us the way
- of | prudence.
The Antiphon focuses us on Wisdom as both a title and an attribute of Christ, that He is the Word of God who speaks for God, that He is with God as creator of all things, and ruler of all things through his Wisdom. The petition we bring to Divine Wisdom is that He come and teach us His way of prudence; to teach us to govern ourselves and guard ourselves wisely in this world avoiding danger and evil.
