45 VENI, VENI, EMMANUEL!
An antiphon. The term denotes a short versicle said at the beginning and close of a psalm or psalms in the Breviary Offices. This antiphon is by an unknown author. Dr. Neale, who supposes it to be of twelfth-century date, published a translation of it in 1851, beginning, “Draw nigh, draw nigh, Emmanuel,” an altered version of which occurs in “Hymns Ancient and Modern” as an Advent hymn, with first line altered to, “O come, O come, Emmanuel” (No. 36).
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| Emmanuel, come! we call for Thee; Come, set Thy captive Israel free, Who, sore at heart, in exile wait Their absent Lord, who tarries late. Joy, joy, Emmanuel shall be born For thee, O Israel, forlorn. | | Come, Root of Jesse! for our foes In cruel snare our souls enclose; 46 Bring us, we pray, from hell’s dark cave, From gulf profound Thy people save. Joy, joy, &c. | | Come, come, O Harbinger of day! Cheer Thou our hearts with heavenly ray, Dispel the clouds of night that roll, The dark of death that fills the soul. Joy, joy, &c. | | Come, Key of David! in Thy might Unlock for us the realms of light; Make safe the path that upward tends, Close Thou the way that downward wends. Joy, joy, &c. | | Come, come, O Thou Almighty Lord! From Sinai once went forth Thy word, When in the midst of eddying flame, Thou didst Thy law in might proclaim. Joy, joy, &c. | |