23rd December - O Emmanuel

O Emmanuel, You are our king and judge, the One whom the people await and their Saviour. O come and save us, Lord our God.

Today we have the 7th and last 'O Antiphon' - it is a cry from the heart to our Saviour to come and save us. It is also a cry of hope because we know that He will come and will save us - so we prepare our hearts to welcome His coming as we pray:

Almighty God,
now that the birthday of your Son as man is drawing near,
we pray that your eternal Word,
who took flesh in the womb of the Virgin Mary,
and came to dwell among us,
will show your unworthy people the greatness of His love and mercy,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirt
God, for ever and ever.