The next in Huw Raphael’s O Antiphon Challenge *

O King of the Nations,
and the one they desired,
keystone,
who makes both peoples one,
come and save mankind,
whom you shaped from the mud.


I am intrigued by this reading as there is so much I’d like to talk about. Philippa spoke very eloquently about the keystone who is Christ, so I won't add anything to that point.

One of the things that catches me the most about this antiphon is the ending line “whom you shaped from the mud”, for as Genesis 2:7 tells us:

the LORD God formed the man [g] from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. (Genesis 2:7).


When I read of the creation, I am reminded of one of my favorite Gospel passages is the healing of the man born blind in John 6

1As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"
3"Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life. 4As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. 5While I am in the world, I am the light of the world."
6Having said this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man's eyes. 7"Go," he told him, "wash in the Pool of Siloam" (this word means Sent). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.
Icon from Archangel Books



I am struck by how the forming of man and the healing of the blind man are very similar in form. How God creates a whole man from the dust and uses his breath (or spittle) to complete the healing. Yesterday's Dynamis reading explored blindness in the scriptures and how we apply it to our life.


Orthodoxy affirms that we are blind and do not see
perfectly even when the Lord heals one or another aspect of our lives.
The life in Christ is a process of continuing growth in faith. We pray,
receive the Holy Mysteries, study Scripture and the Fathers, and His
light grows within us. He continues to take us beyond the familiar, to
heal us in small steps as we are able to bear the Light, and then He
sends us back home into the Church.

So, in conclusion, remember that our creation, our healing, and our salvation cannot be completed without Christ, who is the King of All Nations and our cornerstone. Our journey to the Nativity quickens as we draw near.

*Deb asked me about the O Antiphon Challenge. The O Antiphons are a series of prayers used in the Western Liturgical Rite (Catholic, Anglicans and Western Rite Orthodox) in the days preceding Christmas. Huw Raphael issued a challenge to bloggers to post a meditation on each antiphon. He had a great schedule worked out, and I have basically missed every date, my apologies.
The entire series is here and Huw’s mediations have been posted on his blog, you can read each of them from the link on the right side of his blog.

Another note – would someone from the Western Rite send me to a link to an online recording of these? I’ve never heard them. Thanks!