1
Sunday, November 29
A Yearning that Started Long Before Jesus Was Born
An introduction to the ‘O’ Antiphons and their origins in the monastery.
- Jewish Apocalypse and Daniel
- O Sapientia / O Wisdom
- O Adonai / O Lord
A Three-Week Live Study · Sundays This Advent
The O Antiphons · Yearning for the Messiah
People were waiting for the Messiah… even before Jesus was born in a stable.
Advent isn’t a mini-Lent. It’s a time to remember that our world is a mess. We all are yearning for the Messiah. And although the Jews did not accept Jesus as the Messiah, their yearning for the Holy One of Israel can guide our thoughts as we wait for the Second Coming of the King.
“You sages, forsake your wisdom and become simple like children; you kings, give up your crowns and your treasure and bow before the King of Kings.”
St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross
The O Antiphons are a medieval journey through the last week of Advent.
No, you’re probably not a religious sister in a convent. But you can explore the O Antiphons.
Especially if you’re a Catholic wondering how long this season of suffering may last, or if you have given up on re-establishing happy family ties, perhaps a little monastic inspiration is welcome? In fact, people have been yearning for the Messiah since long before Jesus was born of the Virgin in a crude cave near Bethlehem.
As always, Mary is our Mother and our Guide. We can ask her to pray for us to persevere even in the midst of so many evils. She will not abandon us.
Take a little time on Sunday nights, for the first three weeks of Advent. Stare with us boldly into the bleak night and name the many demons prowling to discourage and even harm our faith. And then with confidence, we will fall into the arms of the Holy Family and prepare to sing our own Hosannas.
The three sessions
Each session runs about an hour: teaching, Scripture, and real discussion. You will not be lectured at for sixty minutes.
2
Sunday, December 6
What Kind of a King Will God Send?
Searching for the Savior in the Book of the Prophet Isaiah.
- O Radix Jesse / O Root of Jesse
- O Clavis David / O Key of David
- O Oriens / O Daystar
3
Sunday, December 13
Preparing Our Souls for the King of Kings
“Behold the handmaid of the Lord.”
- O Rex Gentium / O King of the Nations
- O Emmanuel / God with us
- Rorate Caeli / Drop down dew
Your teacher
Kristen West McGuire
Author · Publisher · Speaker
A little pencil. And a big mouth. Punctuated by prayer. Kristen West McGuire earned a B.S. in Psychology from Georgetown University and an M.Div. from Wesley Theological Seminary. She swam the Tiber in 1990. (Check out her interview about her conversion on the Coming Home Network!) Over the years, she’s been a research associate, an autism services aide, an executive director for a non-profit, a fundraiser (friend-raiser), an event planner, and even a chaplain at a mental institution! Yes, it’s a little disjointed. But amid all the work, she and her husband raised eight wonderful children. Sure, motherhood might not count much on a resume. But…how else do you become the Queen of the Possible?
Her regular columns on The Feminine Genius Substack are posted weekly in the Secretum Meum Mihi section, exploring the wounds of mid-life and the healing offered in Jesus Christ. Secretum Meum Mihi is Latin for “my secret is mine.” She teaches courses through The Feminine Genius, including The O Antiphons: Yearning for the Messiah.
- Author, The Glory to be Revealed in You: A Spiritual Companion to Pregnancy; Woman as Prophet of Love: Meditations on Mulieris Dignitatem; and Holy Helpmates: Successful Male-Female Partnerships Through the Ages
- Guest, The Journey Home, and frequent catechist in her local parish
- Former Catholic Community Coordinator at Malmstrom AFB
- Host of the My Secret is Mine podcast
- Parent of children with special needs
The particulars
This online study meets live on Zoom, in a small group. Each session runs about an hour: teaching, Scripture, and real discussion.
When
Nov 29
to Dec 13
Three Sundays, weekly
Time
7:30 pm
Eastern · about an hour
Where
Zoom
Taught live
Cost
[$ price]
Small group
Advent begins November 29
Three Sundays. Yearning for the Messiah.
Sundays, November 29 to December 13, at 7:30 pm Eastern, with Kristen West McGuire.