Our Advent Prayer Intensifies

The Church begins to pray the O Antiphons today. They are prayed as part of Evening Prayer or Vespers in the Liturgy of the Hours before and after the prayer of the Magnificat.
I always look forward to praying these short but beautiful prayers during these last days of Advent because it means that Christ is very near. Our Advent prayers become more urgent and intense during these days. The busyness and hecticness may also intensify as we hurry to finish our final preparations, shopping, card writing, etc, but use these prayers whose titles are for the different names for the Messiah, to prayerfully focus on what is important. Be still, even for just a few minutes, and know that He is God and He is very near.
Dr. Marcellino D"Ambrosio at the Crossroads Initiative has a wonderful history of the Great O Antiphons.
Last year at this time I wrote my own reflections on these prayers; the links for those are at the end of this post.
Let us make the most of these final days of Advent and prepare our hearts for the coming of our Savior.

ERO CRAS: Tomorrow I will be there!

O Antiphon Reflections from 2009
Dec. 17th: O Sapienta
Dec. 18th: OAdonai
Dec. 19th: O Radix Jesse
Dec. 20: O Clavis David
Dec. 21st: O Oriens
Dec. 22nd: O Rex Gentium
Dec. 23rd: O Emmanuel