O Dawn,
splendor of eternal light,
and sun of justice,
come, and shine
on those seated in darkness,
and in the shadow of death

Continuing Huw Raphael’s O Antiphon Challenge.

As someone who lives in a technologically advanced society, I tend to forget about the fact that we take for granted the ability to turn on a light switch and illumine our lives. This is something that our ancestors would consider to be decadent. In fact, we have ordered our lives around this ability and “burn the midnight oil” and consider as weak those who go to bed early.

Even in this society, we must remember that God and light are entwined. As we hear at Liturgy, God is the “Fountain of all light”. The feast of Theophany (the end of the Christmas Season) is the “Feast of Lights”. We light candles in the darkness of churches to honor God, the light of our world. An especially beautiful moment in the Presanctified Liturgy of Great Lent is when the priest brings out a candle and reminds us “The Light of Christ Illumines All”, and in fact, those newly baptized are called “The Newly Illumined”.

So, as we approach the Nativity of Christ, the Incarnation, the beginning of Christ’s life in our world, we ask him to “shine on those seated in darkness”.

Oriens,
splendor lucis aeternae,
et sol justitiae:
veni, et illumina
sedentes in tenebris,
et umbra mortis.